Just like last night, Monday night was another night to behold, as God showed up and did many mighty works.
The evening began with black clouds overhead, and although it did rain briefly, it stopped well before the meeting began. But the threat of rain did not deter the people from showing up. More than two hours early, the Tent was filling quickly.
The rain let up, the sun began to shine, and with an hour to go before the 6:30 starting time, the Tent was completely filled. An additional 1,000 chairs had to be set up in the surrounding areas outside of the Tent, and they were filling up as well. In all, there must have been 4,000 – 5,000 people inside and out. What a blessing to see so many people hungry for a move of God in their lives and in their communities.
Once again, the worship team from Destiny arrived and brought down heaven. The anointing on them is clear. God uses them to reveal Himself to His people, and we respond in awe. It is not a concert under the Tent, it is holy awe and a desire for the presence of God.
The young people, as they had last night, came forward and filled the area in front of the platform, as the first notes rang out. Their fervor was infectious and soon many adults and families joined them. We felt a powerful presence of God in the Tent.
Right at 6:30, Mario took the stage and immediately began a plea for souls. This is what I love about Mario, whatever else he does, or is a part of, it always comes back to reaching the lost.
Mario began by telling a story. He spoke of a little girl who has been kidnapped. He described what it would be like if you happened to come upon her alone in a park. Her captor is nowhere to be seen. Would your response be to reason with her on an intellectual level about the merits of leaving with you to go to a place of safety? Perhaps entering into a debate about why it would be best for her to come with you?
Heavens, no! You would approach her and say, “You don’t know me, but I know you. And I don’t have time to explain to you why, but you need to come with me, now!” And you would usher her to a safe place away from her captor, and toward those who can help return her to her parents.
Mario went on to say that, in the same way, we have to stop apologizing for telling people they are lost and in desperate need. Instead, we must begin to grab them out of the enemy’s camp and bring them to a place of safety.
He then invited people to raise their hands if they wanted to make Jesus their Lord. He first asked them to stand up and, finally, to come forward. About 800 people responded. It was such a beautiful sight to again see all those souls stretched from one side of the Tent to the other, and the full length of the aisles.
After Mario prayed with them, they left the Tent to be ministered to by hundreds of volunteers. I followed the crowd outside and was blown away as I saw the line of people stretched clear around the Tent. What a beautiful sight!
As the people were leaving, God directed Mario’s attention to a young woman on his left, who had responded to the altar call and who needed healing in her body. She had suffered from cancer, and Mario ministered to her, saying, “The doctors have put an expiration date on your life. But the Holy Spirit is tearing that label off of you. And God is removing the poison from your body.” Tears of joy were coursing down her face as God miraculously healed her.
Mario then began to speak from the passage in Mark 6, about the time Jesus was in His hometown and was unable to perform miracles.
“Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He did lay His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5-6a).
Because the people knew Jesus as one of their own, their familiarity created a lack of awe and respect for Who He truly was. And their unbelief prevented Him from performing any great works.
Mario then showed the contrast at the end of that same chapter, Mark 6, where the people of Gennesaret responded when they heard He was coming. They brought all the sick and they were all healed:
“And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well” (Mark 6:54-56).
All of a sudden, miracles began to break out all over the Tent, and many, many amazing healings took place. Cancers disappeared, legs were strengthened, migraines destroyed, fear and despair vanished.
While Mario was focused on the healings taking place in one part of the Tent, a cry rang out on the opposite side. There, a woman raised up out of her wheelchair and began slowly walking to the front and across the area in front of the platform. With each step, you could see strength come into her legs, and her walking became easier.
Toward the end, Mario asked everyone who had been healed to stand up. He then called on a man who was standing to his left. Mario began to list all the things that were wrong in this man’s body: his eyes, ears, neck, back, legs, bones, knees, and feet—and he especially emphasized that the man’s heart and pancreas were being healed. It was later revealed that he could not walk without pain, and yet, as he left, he was able to run!
Mario closed out the night with this powerful prayer:
“Father in the name of Jesus and for the glory of God. I’m asking you Lord, to begin to heal. To begin to heal every person in this room. And to do it Lord, for your glory and for your Name that is above every name. And I thank You, that you are doing this supernatural miraculous thing by the hand of God. Amen.”