By Jim Ware<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was speaking at a men\u2019s conference in the City of London one Saturday morning. All was good \u2013 due to the early start of the conference and with us living in Devon, I travelled up on the Friday night by train and stayed in Canning Town with the Franciscan Friars. I had never met them before but had a great time talking to them about Jesus. The Saturday morning we headed to the venue at Guys Hospital Chapel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Had a great time teaching and training a small group of people about prayer and specifically hearing God\u2019s voice. Once we had finished I headed to London Paddington to catch my train back to Devon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On arrival, I heard a tannoy announcement that \u201cAll trains to the South West have just been cancelled\u201d \u2013 Unfortunately I had just spoken to Mary and confirmed my arrival in Barnstaple. I prayed: \u201cLord who do you want me to speak with? Is there someone who needs to hear from you?\u201d Just then, a further announcement came over the public address system: \u201cTo clarify we have been able to reinstate the train to Penzance from Platform one\u201d it felt like two thousand people went running for that train! While heading down the platform I asked the Lord which carriage and He responded D or F. so I climbed into carriage D took forward facing seat by the window and waited for my journey to start. The train was busy and less than a minute later a woman dressed as a legal clerk walked through from D towards carriage E. I felt the Holy Spirit say: \u201cthere\u2019s your divine appointment\u201d After no more than a few moments she returned and unprompted asked if this seat next to me was free and on me confirming it was she sat down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No more than thirty seconds had elapsed and a further announcement came on over the public address on the train. \u201cWe are sorry to say the train to Penzance at platform one has just been cancelled.\u201d I could not believe it, I was so close to getting home. The woman next to me (we will call her Liz) turned to me and said, \u201cWhere are you going\u201d I said \u201cTiverton Parkway\u201d Liz asked where that was and I explained that it was south of Bristol. She said, \u201cWell I\u2019m trying to get to Bristol. What are you going to do now?\u201d I replied that I was heading for Waterloo station and would try to get across the south towards Exeter then up to Tiverton. Upon hearing this, she asked whether she could join me. I said consented and then contacted my wife to let her know what was going on. So Liz and myself made our way to the underground and across towards Waterloo. It was then things started to get interesting. Liz asked me what I had been doing in London. I began to explain but first said that: \u201cMy answer comes with a health warning, I\u2019ve been in London speaking at a men\u2019s conference helping people to hear God\u2019s voice!\u201d at this point her nonverbal communication closed down and she says \u201cOh, good for you. Your one of those!\u201d I assumed she meant that I was a Christian\/religious person, I replied, \u201cno it\u2019s good for you actually!\u201d Liz said, \u201cNo, I like the facts, I\u2019m a paralegal and I do the facts.\u201d \u201cOh\u201d I said, \u201cthat\u2019s interesting, I like the facts too, particularly having a police background\u201d her nonverbal communication started to open again… \u201cGo on\u201d she said so I proceeded to tell a story for illustrative purposes. I said \u201cdo you know Woolacombe beach in North Devon? (She nodded) and Lundy Island 14 miles off shore?\u201d (Which she also confirmed she knew) \u201cImagine 500 people are standing on Woolacombe Beach and all of a sudden a tsunami comes in. What happens first?\u201d I explained how the water sucks out nearly as far as Lundy and then this enormous wave the size and height of multiple houses come back towards the beach and all 500 of us run for the dunes and get away with our lives by the skin of our teeth. Now if one of the 498 said the following day that it never happened what would the rest of us say?\u201d Liz said, \u201cThey\u2019d be a liar.\u201d I nodded, \u201cthat\u2019s correct\u201d I continued, \u201cIt\u2019s also the same with Jesus. He lived, was crucified, died and rose again on the third day and after he had risen he was seen by over 500 witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By this time, we had arrived at Waterloo, boarded another train towards the South West, and were seated in a packed carriage. Then Liz asked again: \u201cSo what did you say you were doing in London?\u201d I said \u201chelping people to hear God\u2019s voice.\u201d She asked how that worked. I gave her the abridged version explaining you know God speaks because He is kind, it is nice and he never contradicts scripture. Liz protested, \u201cBut I don\u2019t know the bible!\u201d I said, \u201cI do and I\u2019ve got a copy here.\u201d Then she asks, \u201cWhat do I have to do to hear His voice?\u201d I explained that talking to God is just a conversation and that Jesus is with us when two or more are gathered. So at her request I led her in a very simple prayer. I explained that we would start by asking Jesus a question and see what he said. At that point the extremely crowded train carriage went so silent that you could of heard a pin drop. I began: \u201cJesus\u201d She repeated \u201cJesus\u201d I said, \u201chow much do you love me?\u201d she said (With her eyes closed) \u201chow much do you love me?\u201d it was only a few seconds later I opened my eyes and looked over to her. Her mascara was running down her face as the tears flowed. I asked, \u201cDo you mind sharing what you heard?\u201d she said, \u201cI just heard a man\u2019s voice that said I love you more than you know\u2026.Was that Jesus?\u201d I said I can confirm it was in fact Jesus. I opened the bible and showed her a number of verses that substantiated what she had heard. ..After some more tears, she asked, \u201ccan I ask him more questions?\u201d I said go for it and she then started her journey with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We continued on a further few stations, and I got her connected with a church I knew in Bristol so she could continue her faith journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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