Richard Roberts – First of three parts
Several years ago, I was invited to appear as a guest on a live daily nationwide television program. When I arrived, I saw a woman who was to be a guest on the program with me. I was upset because I didn’t like this woman. Though I had never met her, I was convinced she was a fraud, and I did not want to be on a program with a fake.
However, I didn’t have any choice once I arrived. I was introduced and interviewed for a while. Then the host introduced the woman, brought her on stage, and she sat down right next to me. I scooted over as far as I could in my chair. I couldn’t wait for the program to be over because I was afraid someone would see me sitting next to her.
I was asked to pray. Then the woman was asked to pray, but instead she began to prophesy over me. My mouth flew open! She said, “You have dreamed all of your life of having a healing ministry. God is going to give you the healing ministry that you’ve dreamed of.” By this time, tears were beginning to fall down my checks! She continued, “It’s going to be a healing ministry different from your father’s. Your father has laid hands on the sick, but you will have a different healing ministry. It will be a word-of-knowledge ministry. You will not have to lay your hands on people. You will speak, and they will be healed.”
I was instantly reminded of the times my father would come home from crusades, especially from overseas crusades, where sometimes there would be a hundred thousand people waiting to be healed. He would lay hands on some five to ten thousand of them and then collapse. Everyone would be talking about the great and mighty miracles, but my father would come home discouraged and dejected because he couldn’t lay hands on all of them.
We must be careful about the value judgments we make about people. After the program, I approached the woman and said, “I owe you an apology because I thought you were a fake. Please forgive me. I’ve been wrong.” I have gotten to know this lady through the years, and I know her ministry is legitimate and real. She is a woman of God.