I attended the prayer retreat through Schweitzer in the fall of 2025. I wasn’t sure exactly what I signed up for, except that I thought we would be doing a lot of praying. What I learned throughout the weekend was how to pray over people and how to receive prayer myself. The Holy Spirit very strongly pushed me to be prayed over, despite my mental objections.Â
I didn’t really know why I needed to be prayed over, but I literally felt like I was being pushed out of my seat when Bob Casady asked for a volunteer, despite several minutes of silence with no one volunteering. When asked what I wanted prayer for, I said I was having difficulty expressing my words meaningfully. Sometimes they would come out strange and not make complete sense. This was a little disconcerting to me, but I wasn’t extremely worried about it. I was prayed over by two experienced people in front of the group as an example of how to pray over others, guided by the Holy Spirit.
Very quickly, over the next few days, my speech improved. No more tongue-twisting of words. And over the following weeks and months, my marriage began to heal. I knew intuitively that this was related to being prayed over at the retreat. What I mean by ‘healed’ was that my whole attitude toward my husband had changed. I had become less resistant to my husband and more open to a deeper relationship with him. I have experienced so much less frustration and angst toward him. Five months later, I can still say the relationship is healthy and strong.Â
Praise to God, our Father, who can do anything!