Seasons

rainbowIt is the beginning of winter in Melbourne, Australia and you can feel the difference. Mornings seem to be icy cold and there is a reluctance to leave the warm bed covers for the cold room.

As I went out for my morning walk this morning, I was pondering the seasons and how we can be assured that a new season is just around the corner. I love every season. Summer with the days at the beach and being certain that the washing will dry every day. Autumn with the cooler days and nights and the beautiful colours in the changing leaves. Winter with the snuggling up inside, enjoying reading and playing board games as a family. Spring with evidence of new life and the fresh expectancy of what is to come.

There are also seasons in our life. Seasons of busyness, seasons of dryness, seasons of beauty, seasons of barrenness. The list goes on. They are individual seasons though and our seasons don’t generally marry up with others and their own individual seasons. Just as I look at our ornamental pear trees in the front yard and can bemoan they are not losing their leaves as quickly as the ornamental pear trees up the road which are ten years older and planted at a different time of the year, I also can’t look at others and judge or bemoan where I am at and covet where they are at.

We are all called to lead our own life, in community, but to walk our walk. We are not called to walk our life as another person. God has us in different seasons at different times.

I was pondering this morning that one of the hardest times seems to be when we feel that God seems to have abandoned us or we can’t hear His voice. As I pondered that further, I wondered, is that just because we can’t hear what we are wanting to hear or we just don’t hear about the issue we want to hear about. Usually in those times, we can still see evidence of God around us. He just seems to be communicating with us differently. I then remembered back to a season that was particularly painful for me. Looking back, I can clearly see evidence of God’s hand upon me. I just couldn’t hear Him during that time. I can remember though, when I made the conscious choice to deliberately look for something each day that showed me something about God’s character, He came through each and every day. They were the highlights as I discovered new attributes and new things about God during that time and how He was making Himself known to me during those times. It may have only been a beautifully coloured bird as it swooped down but the colours were startling. It may have been the beauty in a flower. It may have been a Bible verse that stood out. Once I turned my affection to thanking God for the tiny things in that desert season, things began to shift. I also began to realise that I was hearing God, it was just not on the issue I was so desperate to hear Him on, an issue that was extremely painful for me. God was quiet on that issue but loud on several others. Once I turned my heart to thanking Him and worshiping Him no matter what, it changed my whole perspective.

I have a number of friends who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or seasonal depression. It is a mood disorder subset in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms at the same time each year, most commonly in winter months when they are exposed to a lesser amount of sunlight. My friends have realised that holidaying in a warm sunny climate for a few weeks during the winter months makes a huge difference to how they handle the rest of the dreary winter time. They deliberately position themselves to get what they need to be able to handle the rest of the winter season. I wonder, is it about time those of us who are feeling like God isn’t hearing them, those who are in a season of ‘coldness from God’, perhaps need to deliberately reposition themselves and look at how they can reach out and change things completely for a short time in order to hear God clearly again. Some actions that may help may be finding new worship music, a different soaking style, a new method of reading the Bible or listening to an audio version of the Bible, deliberately placing yourself around children or new christians with an insatiable appetite for God that is infectious. Just a thought.

I actually find it interesting that no matter what season (summer, autumn, winter, spring) we are in at the time, we can usually find evidence of other seasons as well. There is not a purity in the season. For example, although it is winter, there are several trees budding at the moment and the gardenias and camellias are flowering beautifully, whilst some trees with leaves are still changing colours and are still to drop their leaves. The same is apparent in our life. Even though we may believe we are in a barren season, we can usually still find evidence of God working in and through our life. It may just be a bit harder to realise.

I encourage you, no matter what season you appear to be in at the moment, to specifically look for the little things God is using to show you He cares.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Select a person for each child/family member to draw a picture for. Look out a window and ask God to highlight something in the environment outside that speaks about this person. Draw this for the person.

2. Group Activation: Have people pair up. Spend a few minutes asking God to highlight the favourite part of this current weather season you are in for this person. Ask Him to then show you more about how that favourite part of the season relates to that persons life and character and journey. Share with your partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show or tell you about a person you know and what season they are about to go into. Ask God to elaborate on the picture you see or words you hear and ask Him for a key for that person for that season. Share encouragingly with that person.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you what season you are in at the moment and what you still need to learn or realise before you enter into the next season. Ask God to reveal to you what He has for you in the next season or a key for that season. Journal God’s and your responses.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend 5-10 minutes with God asking Him to show you where you will be in 3 years time or some geographic area you will go to in that time. Ask God to ‘fill in’ the picture or elaborate on the words. Press in for a clarity about it. Journal what you see, hear, feel.

Which voice is louder?

Out on my morning walk, I was chatting with God as I rounded a corner. I glanced ahead and saw the “lollypop” man’s car up ahead. (This is the person who stops traffic for the school children to cross the main road. He holds a stop sign like a huge lollypop.) I glanced backwards and noticed him across the other side of the main road. I hadn’t seen him as I had walked up the footpath. I immediately felt a sensation within me to go across the road to speak to him. I chose to ignore this feeling and walked ahead, justifying my action by saying to myself, what would I say or do as nothing stood out to me. I glanced backwards again and noticed him observing me. I also noticed that he didn’t appear to be injured so he probably had no need of healing prayer. I walked forward again. One voice inside my head was saying “Keep going. You’re past him now. You can’t go back. You will look foolish. Besides, you don’t know what to say or do.” I immediately recognised this voice as not from God. It wasn’t encouraging. It was full of doubt and feeding insecurity. It didn’t appear to be benefiting anyone.

The feeling of needing to cross the road to speak to him persisted. By this time I had walked on another 30 or more steps. I turned. I could not let go of that feeling that urged me to cross the road to speak to him. I knew that feeling was God. It definitely wasn’t me. I wanted to finish my walk and I was enjoying chatting with God. That was my priority – chatting with God, not stopping to share God’s love with a relative stranger. I needed to get home where my two kids were both sick with colds but enjoying spending some extra time in bed reading and sleeping.

I crossed the road. I realised that even though I had been assisted by this man to cross the road at least 25 times, I didn’t know his name. I introduced myself and asked his name. I shared a number of encouraging words with him that I really felt were true – about his faithfulness, diligence, trustworthiness, etc. None of these words were startling. Anyone in his position could be similarly described. I didn’t mention God or pray for him but what happened next was gold. This man started pouring out his heart. He shared deep things with me about himself. This man actually smiled at the end of our conversation and I realised that I had rarely ever seen him smile. It was as though he felt valued and encouraged.

I re-crossed the road, with his help, and went on my way. I am glad that I didn’t miss that opportunity that God prompted me to share in.

How often do you stop and go with the God prompts or rationalise away the feeling by allowing the ‘voices’ and thoughts in your head to be louder?

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Write the names of every member of the family on individual pieces of paper and put them all in a hat. Every family member then gets to pull out a piece of paper and ask God for a picture or word for that person based around a beach scene. Draw the scene and where that person is, what they are doing and why. Ask them to see where God, Holy Spirit or Jesus is in the picture. Try and draw out of the children more of what they see. Share with each other.

2. Group Activation: Have people pair up. Get people to imagine they are at a busy harbour/port with an open sea ahead of them and a river feeding into the harbour. Get people to ask God where their partner would be in the picture and why. Spend a few minutes asking God to show them more of the scene and what exactly their partner is doing. Then share it with their partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you what type of water vessel (eg boat) He sees you as and why, whereabouts, where going etc. Press in deep with God and ask God heaps of questions, listening for the answers. Journal the responses.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you who He would like you to give a prophetic word to. Ask God to show you them in a scene with water. Try and visualise/imagine with God more of the picture and what type of water, whereabouts, what they are doing, where is God/Jesus/Holy Spirit in the picture etc. Deliver this to the person in an encouraging and edifying manner whether spoken or written word or in a picture.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him to show you what sort of water vessel your church or group you are part of is and why, what is ahead of them, etc. Flesh it out with God, asking Him questions to clarify and seek more of the picture. Write it out, making sure it is encouraging, edifying and comforting. Ask God which leader you should pass this on to and follow your group or church’s accountability guidelines.

Intimacy with God

Young Boy Hugging his fatherWhenever anyone asks me for advice on how they can develop in the prophetic, the first thing that comes to mind, apart from practice, practice, practice is to just spend time with God. Intimacy with God. The prophetic gifting, praying for healing for people, any evidence of supernatural gifts comes out of our relationship with God.

I must share here firstly how there is not a 100% formula for God ie here is an example where the use of a supernatural gift did not come out of a relationship and intimacy with God. Before my dad became a Christian, he was with my mum at my Aunty and Uncle’s baptism in a Pentecostal church. During the service, someone stood up and gave a word in tongues. Not realising what was going on, Mum leaned over to dad and said, “I wish they would talk in English.” A few minutes later, whilst the second person had stood up and was speaking, dad whispered to mum, “Why on earth is that man repeating exactly what that last lady said.” Dad had no concept of the gift of interpreting tongues!! He wasn’t yet a Christian and it blew my mind that he would be able to interpret tongues without being a Christian. God tends to blow my preconceived notions and ‘rules’. God is amazing and doesn’t stick to rules.

From experience, intimacy with Father God is what it is all about. I am more interested in connecting with Father God than using my prophetic gifting. Becoming intimate and closer with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus is my aim.

Just recently I realised that I had an issue with calling God ‘daddy God’. I cannot remember ever calling my earthly father ‘daddy’. I called him ‘dad’ and most likely called him ‘daddy’ when I was younger but it wasn’t something I could remember. I hear other people praying and addressing God as ‘Daddy God’ but it has never felt natural for me to use that term. Thus, I decided I would try and change that. One morning during a walk, I chatted with God about my relationship with my earthly father, forgave my dad for some stuff, confessed some of my stuff and renounced any lies that God would be the same. I then started addressing God as ‘Daddy God’ and really pushed into. I imagined myself being cuddled by Daddy God. I pushed into focussing my thoughts and attention and heart on daddy God. Before long I was crying and feeling new feelings and experiencing new positive thoughts towards Daddy God. I had broken into a new area of intimacy with God. Since that morning, I address Father God as Daddy God most days and wait for a reaction from both Him and me. I am enjoying the new emotions that come with this new revelation of Father God as my daddy.

I find it is out of my intimacy and relationship with God that fresh revelation comes. It is then not hard to ask God for His thoughts about another person and move into communicating to that person God’s heart for them – a prophetic word from God.

What area this week would you like to experience breakthrough in relation to your relationship with Father God, Holy Spirit or Jesus? What is something you could do now to move towards that?

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy!

Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Children / Families Activation: Encourage each child to draw a picture of what animal God would like to be for their dad, or another family member, at the moment and why.

2. Group Activation: Have people pair up. Give everyone a few minutes to ask God who He would like to be at the moment for their partner. Encourage group members to flesh it out with God, asking for more of the picture or word. Then share it with their partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time with God asking Him to give you a picture or image of who God wants to be for you at the moment. Press deeper with God and spend time just sitting with that picture, image or word, repeating it and really savoring what it means for you and your relationship with God.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a person and spend time with God asking Him to reveal something new about Himself that He would like that person to be absolutely sure of. Share with that person.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him what characteristics and assurance a prominent government official needs to gently be aware of about God and how He sees them. Write an encouraging letter to this person, sharing this in a sensitive manner.