He corrects me. When Jesus talks to me, especially about my
unfulfilled dreams, He fills my soul with hope, even if no one or
nothing else gives me hope. And though Jesus’ voice is
patient, it is also relentless.
Hearing Jesus talk to me and seeing Him work in my life and
the lives of others always makes me want to learn more from
Him. I’m excited to be with Him every day. I just know if I had
lived on this earth two thousand years ago, I’d be “on the
team.” I can see myself going with Him to pray for people or to
heal the sick. In fact, those are the ways I most often hear
Jesus talk to me. I hear Him encourage me, saying, “Go. Go and
pray for that teenager. Don’t just tell her family you’ll pray for
her. Get in your car, go to the hospital, lay your hands on her,
and pray over her. Go in my power and don’t be afraid to
believe.”
I also know He’s talking through me while giving a lecture
when I hear words come out of my mouth that I didn’t plan to
say. Words that weren’t written on my speech outline just fly
out of my mouth, such as, “At the end of this talk, I will be
happy to pray with anyone who has a special need or prayer
request or who needs to make a confession of sin.” I’ve said
those words a few times recently, and they’ve cost me no less
than two and sometimes up to four full hours of nonstop,
hands-on praying for hundreds of young men and women.
Each time, I am certain that it is Jesus who prompted me to
invite students to come up to a time of personal, one-on-one
prayer, because I would not have given that excessive amount
of time or energy on my own accord (after traveling all day and
speaking on a platform for an hour). Yet with every prayer, I
sense Jesus coming through me and over each person—almost