Here on Spotlight, the month of October will be dedicated to the subject of prayer. I cannot think of a better kick-off to such a pertinent and yet fundamental facet of the Christian faith.
Do you believe in the power of prayer? The “Prayer Couch” at the Desert Chapel Thrift Store in Hesperia, CA, could quite possibly make you a believer.
Owners, Andy and Mary Crothers-Anderson have witnessed firsthand God’s miracles through the power of prayer.
I read about the unexplained miracle making power of a certain prayer couch in my local newspaper. I was privileged to meet with the couple and hear their account of the steady stream of miracles that have occurred since they opened in January 2015.
“The first time I realized the couch was special and blessed was after my husband prayed for a very distraught woman on it and afterwards, it was as if she had gained a new lease on life,” said Mary, an ordained minister.
Andy says a few days after the first miracle on the Prayer Couch, another woman sat on it and was prayed for regarding her relationship with her estranged daughter. It had been four years since the woman had spoken to her daughter. Andy says she was heartbroken.
“We were in awe when the next day the woman came in to tell us that at
2:45 p.m. the previous day, at the exact time of our prayer, her daughter finally called and left a message saying she wanted to reconcile.”
On the Monday after the article appeared in the paper, Andy said a panic-stricken woman came in the store saying she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She had lumps in both breasts and was scheduled to have a double mastectomy within a few days. They lead her to the couch and covered her in prayer. She came in several days later to report she didn’t have to get the surgery because the doctors said the cancer was GONE!
Delphina Gutierrez, a volunteer at the thrift store, says since she has been working there, not only has she witnessed the miracles, but her twelve-year-old daughter, Ruby has been a recipient when a growth in her foot was healed.
Gutierrez tells of an account of a married couple who came in for prayer. “They’d fallen on hard times. Neither were working and they had financial problems. After the prayer on the couch, the couple came in four days later to report that when they got home, those who owed them money, paid them back, a neighbor bought their used car for $1,800 and the husband got a job!”
Andy recounts another woman who came in shortly after the article ran in the paper. “She came in with her 12-year-old daughter from Compton. Her son is incarcerated at a local detention center. He saw the article and told his mother to come in and sit on the couch for prayer. After praying, she said, ‘you have no idea what this means to me.’”
Andy and Mary say that to date there have been 835 prayers and 18 Pastors have come and blessed the couch.
Mary laughs saying, “God has a sense of humor. I told him I don’t do thrift stores when Andy had the idea of opening.”
“Apparently God not only has a sense of humor but also enjoys a bit of irony,” I said to Mary. “I say this because it’s interesting to me that He would use a thrift store with used, old, and discarded things to perform miracles. Isn’t it just like God, to use the weakness of man to display His power!”
Of course Mary laughed and agreed.
Yes, God is at work at the Desert Chapel Thrift store, for those who were once downtrodden, weak, homeless, jobless, penniless and hopeless, have encountered how PERSONAL and yet powerful the Living God truly is.
Dear readers, it is not only my belief, but I have witnessed myself that God is still in the business of miracles. He longs to show Himself to His people.
We are in what the Bible refers to as ‘the last days’. As we get closer to the second coming of Christ, we will see more and more miracles such as these.
“In ‘the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy. I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below—blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:17-21 NLT
Jesus tells us in Matthew 24: 36, that no one, but the Father knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return, but He does say there will be signs.
Jesus said in Luke 21:29-30 NLT, “Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near.
And in Matthew 24:28 NLT, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”
God is a loving God. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He is pursuing those who are lost to come to Him through his son, Jesus Christ and be saved.
(2 Peter 3:9)
He will use the most seemingly unlikely sources to do so, even including using a broken-down, old sofa!
God is still in the business of saving souls and business is good!
GOD IS STILL IN THE BUSINESS OF SAVING SOULS AND BUSINESS IS GOOD! http://t.co/GrNytKnxGZ
— Beckie Lindsey (@BeckieLindsey_) October 5, 2015
PRAYER REQUESTS: Since we will be covering the topic of prayer this month, I thought it would be great to ask readers for prayer requests. You may either write them in the comments below so that we all can be praying, or you may send me a private email: beckielindsey16@gmail.com
I will continue to report on what I’m calling, The Prayer Couch Chronicles here on Spotlight as the reports come in.
This is a really near article. My hope is people give The Lord credit and not the couch! Ha!
God can touch U anywhere U are….Grocery store….gas station….church…on a road to nowhere. When U open Ur heart n reach out to God and allow Him to work in U… Amazing and miraculous things begin to happen.
Amen! Thanks for commenting 🙂
So good Beckie!! Yes!! God is in the business of hearing and answering prayer!! I love the moments when God calls me to pray for another and when He calls someone to pray for me… I would like to make a prayer request please… My son is in desperate need of Hope in his life right now he is in a difficult situation and is seeking God’s Hand in a mighty way… We are asking that God draw him close and bless him with hope to get through this situation and to continue as he seeks a second chance at life… His name is Lee .. Thank you for your encouragement!!
Eve Harrell
Eve, I’m honored to pray for your son, Lee. Thanks for commenting here. I ask that other readers join me in the prayer below for Lee.
( Andy and Mary, the owners of the thrift store in this article, will see this and pray as well.)
Father God, We lift up Lee to you in prayer. You know every hair on his head (Luke 17:7) and you love him deeply. We pray that he will allow you to make your home in his heart and that you will show Lee in specific and special ways how wide, how long, how high, and how deep your love is for him (Ephesians 3:16-19). Infuse him with new hope that he will know came from YOU. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!
Incredible message and story, Beckie! I love that your focus is prayer and I look forward to visiting with you throughout the month. Thanks so much for sharing! Peace and many blessings to you, Love! 🙂
Tai, I enjoyed interviewing Andy and Mary. It’s an honor to be a part of relaying such a powerful message. Glad you enjoyed it. Blessing to you too!
Hi, Beckie! Hope all is well with you, beautiful friend! Just wanted to let you know that I chose this post as my feature for this week’s blog hop! GOD bless you! 🙂
Tai, Thanks so much. I appreciate the opportunity to share with a wider audience of readers the hope found in Jesus Christ!
You are most welcome, Love! Have a great weekend! 🙂
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Love the article. My God can do miracles anywhere and anytime that he chooses and if he chooses to do them when someone is prayed over on a couch then that is his business and who am I to tell him his business. Love the article.
Tony
Tony, Thanks for commenting. I think there’s much irony in the idea that the ‘creator of all things’ would use a broken and discarded old couch to answer prayers!
As do I but that is how he has always worked. He loves to find us in our weakest state and then use us to change the world. He started it all with simple fishermen and a tax collector. Awesome to say the least.
Tony R
I have to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this. Yes, God can use anything and anyone for His purposes, and He has. But to have eighteen pastors “bless” a sofa? Is their faith in the power of the sofa, or the power of God? It reads a bit as though the couch is magical (for lack of a better word), and that doesn’t sit well with me. HOWEVER, on the flip side, I have experienced God’s blessings and miracles and know that at times His angels and His powers are camoflauged in our everyday items. I just think being in the presence of prayer, with two or more, is more powerful than the couch. I think these people have such a strong prayer life that it wouldn’t matter if the couch was there or not, these miracles would (and will) continue to happen!
Molly, Thanks for your honest response. I know that others may feel the same way and didn’t know how to voice it. I was leery myself upon hearing about the prayer couch.However, after meeting Andy and Mary, I see this as an amazing example of how God uses the broken, weak, and the unexpected to show Himself.
We live in such cynical and confusing times where I believe people are just looking for hope. Many have lost hope in the church and are more likely to find God in a nonthreatening or “judgmental” place such as a thrift store.
I’d like to go on record here to say, IT’S NOT THE COUCH PEOPLE. IT’S THE POWERFUL LOVE OF GOD. He will woo us in whatever ways He finds necessary. I also know the owners, Andy and Mary feel the same way.
There is power in prayer and it doesn’t have to be on a blessed couch.
James 5:16 “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
As always, really enjoyed the article Beckie. The power of prayer is undeniable. He is available whenever and wherever we are. Assuming that not everyone that has come to the thrift store for prayer is a Christian, my prayer is that the individuals that experience these miracles/blessings will come to know Christ and continue their relationship with Him.
GLORY HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH! I was BLESSED by the many post! I aspire to write as well! I LOVE to encourage and spread the Good News, by touchi lives, using social media as a tool. The PRAYER COUCH STORY was so very powerful because I believe & have witnessed it for myself! The very fact that I’m still here, in my right mind & typing this right as my two daughters sleep safely in the bedrooms across the hall in our own place is a miracle. We have experienced homelessness at a level where not even a shelter could take us because there was no room. As a single mother this was the most devastating place to be in, but I didn’t loss faith. We had lost our home. My income changed drastically after my mini stroke & Grand Mal Seizure which was triggered by a extreme sudden drop of blood sugar. This put me in the hospital away for a week & In Home Care for about two years. I was place on Medical Disability & with GOD worked hard to relearn everything from speech to memory, even running my household. I could not return to teaching in public sector, but I can use my gift in private sector & especially serving at church. God is so GOOD ! Lastly, I want you ALL to agree with me that my body is cancer free & the lumps will dissolve from breast in JESUS NAME! I am HEALED
INHISCARE
Yvonnia, You have a powerful testimony of the healing power of our great God! Thank you for taking the time to share your story. I’m praying for your body to be cancer-free in Jesus’ name! May God bless your daughters to see and know how much they are loved by their mother and their heavenly Father. May they walk closely with Him all the days of their lives using the gifts He has given them.
Erin, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m glad you brought up ‘coming to know Christ’.
FYI for you and all the readers: The owners of the thrift store are ministers and encourage Bible study and church attendance. They are also keeping tabs on all who are prayed over as well as recording miracles.
I plan to keep in touch with them and update Spotlight readers on new developments on
The Prayer Coach Chronicles.