My First Treasure Hunt

This is some fun stuff.... :)

I went out on a Treasure Hunt this past Thursday the 9th with a group of 5 from our School of Ministry to the Capital City Mall, in Camp Hill. IT ROCKED!

What is a Treasure Hunt you ask?

Well, simply put - the hunt is seeking who God has on His heart to bless through us. He gives us clues to who it is, and we go find them.

How does it work?
Before we went, our group met together and prayed....jotted down some "clues" on our treasure maps. The map is just a list on a piece of paper. Clues are grouped in categories of location, name, appearance, prayer needs, and misc....

In case you're wondering about a Biblical example of this sort of thing. Acts 9:10-18. The disciple Ananias received a word from the Lord by the Holy Spirit of a precise location, a person's name, and a specific 'prayer need' for a divine appointment....

We encountered 4 people on our lists in about 50 minutes...I will highlight one on this post.

One of us had 'silver columns & rainbow' on the list as the description of a location...another had the name Thomas, and three of us had the word depression as a prayer need...

As we walked along, we passed the entrance to Macy's within the mall, and noticed to big stainless steel columns at the entrance. Just inside the store there was a display of Christmas stockings. The stockings at the end of the display were all rainbow prints. To top it off, above the display there was a BIG sign - the word 'believe'...we thought, this has got to be the spot. So we hung out there for a few moments keeping our eyes opened for other clues.....(like a red hat, blue jacket, or platform shoes).

I saw a family (mom, dad, and two little sons) sitting at one of the columns. I wondered if one of the boy's names might be Thomas. I approached and asked "by any chance, is either one of your son's names Thomas?" They said no. But then, the mother said "his middle name is Thomas"...pointing the the younger son who was coughing. "Well, that's good enough for me", I said. And I waved at the other people in my group to join me.

I explained to the family that we are on a treasure hunt...telling them that we met 1/2 hour before coming to the mall to pray about who it is that God would want us to meet and share His Love with, bless and pray with....and that they were "holding" some of the clues (a location surrounded by silver columns & rainbows, and the name Thomas)....

So, we just offer to pray with them, specifically for Zachary Thomas and his cold....they had no problem receiving the prayers.

When we got done praying over Z.T. I felt there was something more. The Lord reminded me that three of us had the word 'depression'. So, taking a chance, I asked our group if they felt there was something more, and they agreed.

I explained to the family that we had another 'clue' on our list. This clue was a prayer need. I took a chance and mentioned the word depression.....

With that, the mother's countenance changed dramatically and she began to cry...she explained to us that their 13 year old son had just been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and that it was so extreme they were talking about institutionalizing him....*yay God*...

We explained to her that The Lord set up this divine appointment. We had the opportunity to pray hope, joy, and faith into this family and into the mother. We were able to declare depression broken, bi-polar disorder canceled, and restoration of their family to begin....

They said they were believers and that they belonged to a church, but hadn't been there in over a month because of their oldest son. We certainly invited them to our church, but rejoiced with them over theirs....

Can I just say - we were all charged and blessed from that encounter....we had three other ones that night, but this one was 'way cool' :)

I did have one person, who I believe was on my list - but he declined prayer...and that happens sometimes.

Sure, it takes some courage to walk up to someone and ask them if you can pray for them....but when you show them a list with two or three things that relate to them, they tend to be a little more open to it. :)

Out of the people we met, two of their names were on the list (Thomas as mentioned above, the other was Sue). All of them had specific locations, one even as specific as a bench outside of Old Navy...3 of 4 had descriptions with their appearance....and of course, they all had prayer needs. :)

It was a fun night.....

This was my first, and certainly not my last, Treasure Hunt.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

The heart of a man is the Treasure of The Kingdom of God. We are here on earth to seek the Treasures, and return it its rightful owner.

But to everyone is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word or message of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge & understanding from the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-8).

Every Christian can hear from God. Jesus said My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27). And just like Jesus, we can do nothing on our own...but only that which the Father is doing. (John 5:9)

Ananias was a Christian like you and me and he heard his directions clearly from the Lord. So too, we must realize that we can hear Him and receive directions from Him.

Hearing the voice of God is something that we all have the capability to do. And, since your mind is renewed (Romans 12:2) and we now, as it says in 1 Corinthians 2:16, understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

Don't second guess yourself. God speaks to you, and through you.

So, go out. Bless someone today because Jesus loves them!