The women praying for one of the female staff here at YWAM Honolulu
We had something beautiful happen during our monday morning worship time…
It started out with one of the leaders asking the women to come pray for one of the female staff members. The women gathered and prayed.
The woman that was being prayed for then wanted to share a public word of encouragement. It was for us! She thanked us for being here and said that after the first month of us being here she realized we had YWAM Honolulu DNA and hoped we stuck around for a while. A couple of people said amen to that. 
That was a nice encouragement.
That was a nice encouragement. After that, something beautiful happened. A guy in his early twenties walked forward and began to share. He shared that God showed him that he often hides, and needs to be transparent. He then confessed publicly to us his addiction to sleeping pills. The room went silent.
The leader didn’t skip a beat, she asked anyone who ever struggled with addiction to come forward and pray for him. Knowing full well that I have struggled with and still struggle with having an addictive personality, I went forward and we prayed.
My back was hurting me after we had prayed for a while so I left the front and returned to my seat. I realized there was hardly anyone in that room that wasn’t standing with this young man, praying for him, and admitting that they had struggled with or currently struggle with addiction.
It reminded me of this:
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”– John 8:1-11
I applaud our leader for dealing with the public confession well. There was not a call for public confession, it was just what the Holy Spirit was stirring in people. I’m grateful for this man’s obedience, his humility in admitting his struggle. I’m grateful for a community that also walks in humility, grace and forgiveness.
Watching and being a part of authentic faith and biblical principals walked out in this community is what has always attracted me to YWAM.
Engage: Read James 5:16. I encourage you to find a community that you can trust, and be transparent and bring things into the light. Leave us a comment and share your story of a beautiful time of worship.
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