Today I want to talk with you about something a little different, I want to share my story about my prayer shawl with you…but first I want to share some interesting facts about the prayer shawl.
• The Tallit (prayer shawl) was to remind the Jew of the word of God. The fringes not only reminded them of the word of God but also their foundational doctrine…the Lord is ONE.
• Wrapping ourselves in a prayer shawl is to aid us to attain a proper mood of reverence before God during prayer or worship.
• When the children of Israel are wrapped in their prayer-shawls, let them [ feel ] … as though the glory of the [divine] Presence were upon them, for . . . Scripture does not say: ‘That ye may look upon them’ [the fringes], but That ye may look upon Him [Num. 15:391, that is, upon the Holy One, blessed be He.” (Midrash Tehillim 2:99, transl. William Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, New Haven 1959)
• The prayer shawl is seen as a ‘closet’ which means an inner chamber or a secret room. The closeting of oneself in the covering of the prayer shawl was a symbolic separation from the world.
• The prayer shawl is a visible symbol of the word of God; it also demonstrates our position and power that belongs to us through the shed blood of Christ. To look upon the prayer shawl was to look upon Jesus. To touch the prayer shawl was to touch Him and His unfailing word.
As many of you know, I love to study and practice the symbols that are shown in the Bible, the prayer shawl is one of those. I have seen awesome healings take place when using a prayer shawl. If you remember, in the New Testament, the woman with the issue of blood said ‘if I can touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole.’ She was speaking of touching His prayer shawl and the fringes that hung from it. She knew the word of God and she knew that touching that fringe was the same as touching God. She did touch it and Jesus knew immediately that power was released. Recently I saw that same type power released as I touched the hem of His garment.
Now, I want to tell you my story, it is a little personal, but powerful and I feel it is time to share it with you. In August of 2010 I began to have very bad female issues. It went on and on. I fasted and prayed and sought God daily as I became weaker and weaker.
It was the worst at night, therefore I wasn’t sleeping either which didn’t help my weariness. One day I received an email from one of our partners, who, at the time knew nothing that was going on with me. She said she had been praying for me and wanted to know if I had a prayer shawl. She said she felt I should use a prayer shawl when I prayed. Yes! I did have a prayer shawl but it never dawned on me to get it out and pray with it.
That night when the issue became more than I could bear, I got my prayer shawl and wrapped it around my body. I said a short prayer and declared that I was indeed touching God, I fell asleep and slept all night, and it was morning before I realized the pain was gone and all the issues had ceased. Wow! I was in awe of God.
I shared my story with Breanne the next day. A couple weeks later she had a bad report from the doctor concerning her upcoming delivery, as we drove home from the doctor she asked if she could borrow my prayer shawl…now, that is like asking for an arm at this point, but I said ‘sure.’ She had extremely high blood pressure at the time, and some other complications.
She began to wrap herself in my prayer shawl, her blood pressure went down and the other complications left as well, needless to say I had to purchase her a prayer shawl before I could get mine back.
And here’s my most recent prayer shawl story. I was dealing with some issues in my feet after being on my feet for months, ministering long hours. My feet felt like they were literally on fire most days. I didn’t share this with a lot of people, certainly not Brailee, my four year old granddaughter. However, one day she was at my house, I was sitting on my bed with my feet propped up. She came in and said she had to pray for my feet. I said ‘okay.’ She proceeded to get my anointing oil and prayer shawl. She put the anointing oil on my feet and said something I didn’t understand, then she wrapped the prayer shawl around my feet and said ‘NOW, NO MORE BURNING!’ My feet have not burned one time since that day. I don’t know how she knew to use the prayer shawl, I don’t know how she knew about the burning, except by the spirit, but her prayer was effective.
Yesterday, Bryson and I were at Wal-Mart and ran into my niece, Jenny. Jenny does not know the Lord and doesn’t want to at this time, but her teenage daughter does. Her name is Makayla. My Mom took Makayla a prayer shawl and some anointing oil and taught her how to pray for people. One day Makayla told her Mom she wanted to ‘try it’ on her. Jenny said okay. Makayla asked what she needed prayer for and her mom replied for the headaches that she has daily. Makayla wrapped the shawl around Jenney and prayed for her. Jenny said to me yesterday, ‘I don’t get it, but I have not had a headache since.’ Praise the Lord!
Now I do know the power is in God alone, however, God has shown us in His word that His power is released in the prayer shawl; Jesus showed in scripture that it was released when we touch this garment called the tallit, or prayer shawl. I saw it happen in my life and Breanne’s life and Jenney’s life as well, I know that it is a symbol of His healing power.
I believe every born again Christian should have a prayer shawl if possible. I believe they should study the symbolism of the prayer shawl and use it in their life.
Healing is ours today, healing in our body, healing in our mind, healing in our finances, it all belong to us through Christ and He brings the manifestation of it through many different avenues…for me, Breanne and Jenny, at times it has been through the prayer shawl. Many times when I had a financial need I have wrapped my wallet up in my prayer shawl and declared that I was touching God with my faith, my need was always met, God is faithful to His word and His word declares there is power in following His ways…one of them is the prayer shawl.
