He Had Been Tormented for Years. Then He Asked Me to Pray!
After a powerful revival meeting in Lindsay, Ontario, I stopped at McDonald's for a cup of tea. What happened next was remarkable! A man who had struggled for years with what he believed was spiritual oppression approached me, desperately asking for prayer. That evening became another opportunity to minister the freedom and love of Jesus Christ.
10/14/20265 min read
He Had Been Tormented for Years. Then He Asked Me to Pray!
Friday, July 31, 2026 | Lindsay, Ontario
It was around 10:30 p.m., and I had just finished an incredible outdoor revival meeting at Faith Christian Fellowship in Lindsay, Ontario. People had received healing, deliverance, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I was so excited about everything the Lord had done that I knew I wasn't ready to crawl into the back of Grace, my ministry van, and go to sleep! I thought I would go out for a cup of tea. At first, I considered going to Tim Hortons, but for some reason, I just didn't feel led to go there. Instead, I went to McDonald's. Little did I know that the Lord had more ministry waiting for me!
When I walked inside, there was a woman standing there waiting. I simply asked her how she was doing, and she immediately began telling me about her elderly father, who was in the hospital emergency department and wasn't doing very well. I told her I was a minister, and as she continued talking, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to offer to pray for her father. She told me the hospital was just across the street. I asked for his name and told her I would go and visit him the following day and pray with him. She was so happy about that, and I began praying with her right there in McDonald's.
A Man Desperately Asking for Freedom
While I was praying with this woman, a man suddenly approached me and began pleading for prayer. He was very loud, distressed and told me he had been experiencing what he described as demonic attacks for years. He said he was a Christian and had been one since he was about five years old, but despite everything he had tried, he couldn't seem to get free from the torment he was experiencing. He was desperate. He had reached a place where he simply wanted it to stop. I told him to calm down and assured him that I would pray with him, but suggested we step outside where we could have some privacy. So outside we went!
And to my surprise, the woman I had just been praying with came outside too. That's when I discovered that they were brother and sister! Both were born again Christians, and his sister had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
Taking Authority in the Name of Jesus
As we stood outside McDonald's, I began ministering to this man about the authority we have in Jesus Christ. I explained that Jesus has already defeated the enemy and that we don't have to live in fear. As believers, we need to understand who we are in Christ, believe what His Word says, and exercise the authority He has given us. Then I prayed with him, taking authority over the spiritual oppression he described and commanding it to leave in the name of Jesus. Afterward, he told me that he was free!
Praise God! After years of struggling, he was rejoicing and saying that he had finally received freedom.
He was so grateful that he even recorded a video testimony describing what had happened. But I knew that wasn't the end of the ministry. There was something else he needed to understand.
Hear His Testimony in His Own Words!
Watch as he shares his personal experience of receiving prayer and freedom in the name of Jesus Christ.
Freedom Also Means Renewing Our Minds
Almost immediately after telling me he was free, he began talking again about the attacks and harassment he had experienced over the years. I stopped him and encouraged him not to keep rehearsing everything he had suffered.
I told him, in effect, that he had just told me he was free, so now he needed to begin thinking and speaking in agreement with that freedom. We talked about renewing our minds to the truth of God's Word, just as Paul teaches in Romans 12:2. I encouraged him to stop allowing the past to dominate his thinking and to begin seeing himself as a new creation in Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I also encouraged him to meditate on the promises of God and speak God's Word over his life rather than constantly focusing on the things he feared.
A Conversation About the Holy Spirit
As our conversation continued, I asked him whether he had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He had not. I began sharing with him about the power of the Holy Spirit and how Jesus told His disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). He had some questions and reservations about speaking in tongues, particularly about interpretation.
His sister, however, was already praying in tongues. As she prayed, I shared what I believed the Holy Spirit was giving me to interpret and encourage them. It became another opportunity to teach them about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the importance of being open to His ministry.
Although the man wasn't ready to receive prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit that evening, I didn't pressure him. I gave him my contact information and told him that whenever he was ready, I would be happy to pray with him again, even over the telephone. He agreed, and we exchanged contact information.
The Ministry Continued the Next Day
Remember the elderly father his sister had told me about when I first walked into McDonald's? Well, I hadn't forgotten him! The following day, I went to the hospital as promised. I visited him in the emergency department, where he was being treated for health concerns, including dementia. I prayed with him for healing and restoration to his mind and body. I also continued encouraging his daughter, who was grateful that I had followed through on my promise to visit.
Later, I spoke again with her brother by telephone. He told me that he had experienced some of the troubling feelings again, but this time he was responding differently. Instead of simply giving in to fear, he was declaring the promises of God's Word and exercising the authority we had talked about.
He was speaking Scriptures about healing and God's protection, and when I talked with him, he sounded much better. That encouraged me because I wanted him not only to experience freedom during prayer, but also to grow in his understanding of God's Word and continue walking in faith.
Ministry Doesn't End When the Church Service Is Over!
When I look back on that night, I think about how easily I could have gone straight to bed after the revival meeting. I had already preached, prayed for people, and ministered for hours. I could have said I'd done enough for one day! But I wasn't ready to sleep, and I felt led to go somewhere other than where I had originally planned.
One stop for a cup of tea turned into prayer for a family, a man asking for freedom, an opportunity to teach about spiritual authority and the Holy Spirit, and a hospital visit the following day.
That's what I love about being led by the Holy Spirit. We never know who we're going to meet or what opportunities the Lord will put before us. Sometimes it's at a church service, sometimes in a park, and sometimes it's outside McDonald's late at night! I remember the words the Lord spoke to my heart years ago:
“Tell them that I love them and tell them about Me.”
And that is exactly what I want to keep doing, wherever He sends me.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17 )
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!
