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A Missouri pastor says he and his congregation stopped armed robbers in their tracks by praying over them during a church service, KSDK reports.
The suspected armed robbers entered All Creation Northview Holiness Family Church in Ferguson, Missouri on February 12. A man carrying two bags questioned the children's service director, raising suspicion among congregants and Pastor Marquaello Futrell, who is also a former police officer.
"I immediately just had the hairs [stand] on the back of my neck. I’m like, 'OK, something’s about to happen,'" Futrell recalled.
The pastor then noticed four young men with masks in his church.
"Me being a former police officer, I immediately noticed their waistbands. I’m like, 'There’s something there,'" Futrell said.
Another parishioner witnessed one of the masked men drop a firearm. But instead of spreading panic among the churchgoers, Futrell carried on with the scheduled service and notified the police.
According to a Facebook Livestream of the service, Futrell approached the suspected robbers sitting in the back of the church.
"Don’t you play with me," he told the men. "I still got a cop anointing and I still know what’s going on, and I still know what’s about to happen. God’s about to change the plot of the enemy. Lift your voices and shout unto God for what he’s about to do."
The congregation then prayed over the men for several minutes.
"See, that wasn’t so bad, brothers," Futrell told the suspected armed robbers following the prayer. "Thank you all for letting us pray for you. And we’re thankful that for whatever reason, the Lord let you all come here. That when you walked on the ground, you walked on Holy Ghost turf."
"You stepped foot on All Creation parking lot. You encountered the move of the Holy Ghost and I just believe that you all will never be the same again," the pastor continued.
The Ferguson Police Department confirmed that four men left the church in a Black car with tinted windows. An investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
"I just heard the Lord say, ‘This is what happens when you illegally trespass,’" Futrell said. "That when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard. The flood will never be greater than the standard."
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