Time slowed.

I stared at the man.
Then at Eddie.
Then back at the man.

My brain was sprinting. My heart pounded so loud I was sure they could both hear it. Eddie had just told this guy I was going to pray for his shoulders, and somehow, this stranger had said yes.

I was frozen in the Home Depot lumber aisle, trying to remember how to breathe. My palms were slick with sweat. I wondered if he’d feel it when I laid my hand on him.

No time left. I forced my foot forward, like dragging it through wet cement, and closed the gap. My damp, shaky hand rose and rested on his shoulder.

“Why did I open my big mouth?” was all I could think before I gathered myself to pray.

The morning started like most in that season. Quiet. Still. Broke.

Year three of my little tech company wasn’t going great. Deep in debt. No new projects. Just enough coming in to stay technically alive. My only teammate was Eddie who, just three months earlier, had introduced me to the gospel. Now as the phones sat silent, we’d spend mornings praying and reading while we waited on God.

That day we opened Acts 3. Peter and John at the temple gate. A man born lame. Peter saying, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you...”

We read it slowly. Out loud. Back and forth. Then we sat and talked: about what the man must’ve felt, what Peter and John knew they carried, and what it meant to give something so powerful when you seemingly had nothing.

That’s when Eddie asked, real casual:

“Would you ever want to go try this?”

I shrugged. “Sure. That’d be cool.”

He tilted his head:

“What about now? We could go to Home Depot or somewhere.”

I laughed nervously. “I mean... yeah. We need to grab a few things anyway.”

Fifteen minutes later, and one crash course in healing prayer, Eddie and I walked through the automatic doors of Home Depot.

As we moved through the aisles, it became clear just how serious he was. Eddie kept scanning, alert, like a man on assignment. Before long he was stopping people and striking up quick conversations, offering short prayers. I didn’t say much. My heart thudded like a war drum. I kept waiting for the moment I’d be called in.

Eventually, we saw a woman limping near plumbing. Eddie walked right over, gently asked her about it, and offered to pray. I stood back, nodding like a nervous intern. She said it felt better. Eddie smiled at me and said:

“See? Not so bad. Just keep watching, you’ll pick it up.”

I smiled back, incredulous.

Then in lumber, we saw a guy in a Home Depot vest restocking wood. Eddie gave a quick hey, and within minutes they were bonding over soccer. After some casual back-and-forth, Eddie shifted the conversation.

“Got any pain in your body?”

“Yeah,” the man said. “Shoulders. Old injury. Hurts every day.”

“Is it bothering you right now?”

“Yeah, late afternoons it gets to stingin’. I’m used to it though.”

I should’ve seen it coming.

Eddie turned to him, grinned, and said:

“Cool if my friend here prays for your shoulders?”

Then he nodded toward me.

My stomach dropped.

And suddenly I was standing in front of a total stranger, wondering how in the world I was supposed to help him.

I took a breath and began.

“Thank you, Lord,” I said softly, “for how much you love your son.”

My voice was unsteady, but held long enough for me to speak a quick “In Jesus’ name… shoulders, be healed.”

And that was it.

As those few words left my mouth, I felt it. A faint tingle in my palms.

Nothing earth shaking and dramatic. But distinct and something I hadn’t felt before.

I stepped back, surprised.

“How’s it feeling?” I asked.

The man rolled one shoulder, then the other. A grin crept across his face.

“Yeah… it feels great,” he said. “I don’t feel anything now. Thanks!”

We prayed once more in thankfulness for the man, then said goodbye.

As we continued walking through the store, I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt like I had stepped into another dimension, one where heaven touched earth and I actually had something to give.

Nothing about my circumstances had changed.

The business was still in debt. I was still very green behind the ears when it came to all this new faith stuff. And my confidence was a sliver of a hope.

But apparently, God didn’t need any of that.

All He needed was a yes.

Most people never pray for healing because they don’t think they’re “ready.”

Not bold enough.
Not trained enough.
Not spiritually mature enough.

Peter and John didn’t heal the man at the gate because he had silver, gold, credentials, or clean robes.
They healed him because they gave what they already carried.

And so did I.

I was scared. In debt. Spiritually green.
But I had the Holy Spirit. I had the name of Jesus. I had a mustard-seed.

That’s all God needs.

If you’ve been born again, you already have something worth giving.
You don’t need to hype it up or work it out—you just need to give it away.

The next time someone near you is hurting, don’t hesitate.

You have something far more precious than silver or gold.

Give them what you already carry.

Until next time,
Addison