Category Archives: Father’s Heart

Expectations at Christmas

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I was having a coffee with a close friend the other day and she asked me what we were doing for Christmas. I shared how we were going to be getting together with extended family and that I had a real sense that one of the family member’s who has an issue with manipulation and control was going to create a scene and get angry at someone, most likely my husband that afternoon. My friend looked at me and ‘gently’ rebuked me. “Jane, you are always challenging people to watch what they say as your words come true. What you put out there into the atmosphere, what you say, then has power and will come true. I think you should change what you are saying and be an atmosphere changer with your extended family.” Ouch – that really struck me and made me think. Yes. I 100% believe that there is power in our words and we can speak life or death into situations. I had been speaking death and destruction into our Christmas day and I needed to take responsibility to see that peace would reign.

Is there anything you are not looking forward to about this Christmas? Is there anyone whom you are dreading the interaction with? Sometimes Christmas can be so stressful and something we are not looking forward to, yet as Christians we are meant to be celebrating the birth of our Saviour? Below, I have highlighted some questions to ask yourself.

  1. Am I creating an idol out of Christmas with my expectations?
  • Do I have to have the house perfect?
  • Do I need to give (and receive) the perfect present?
  • Are my emotional needs being ‘filled’ or ‘unmet’ by expectations surrounding the perfect Christmas when God should really be taking that place?
  • Am I creating an ‘idol’ out of Christmas with my expectations of the ‘perfect’ Christmas?
  • Is there a lie I’m believing about having the ‘perfect’ Christmas?
  1. How am I spending my time, energy, money and thought life?
  • Is too much time, energy and money being spent on insignificant things?
  • Am I overthinking situations and creating a bigger problem in my mind?
  • Am I spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about what to buy for people?
  • Have I fallen into the trap of people pleasing?

    3. What am I speaking into the atmosphere?

  • Are my words full of life?
  • Am I expecting negative things to happen?
  • Am I vocalising my negative thoughts and expectations?

This Christmas, why don’t you resolve to be the change you so desperately desire within your family and community. Below I have listed five ways of doing this.

  1. Be an atmosphere changer
  • When you come up against someone who is angry or manipulative or a control freak, quietly change the atmosphere by saying something similar to “I see you spirit of manipulation and control. I choose not to partner with you and instead release freedom.”
  • A few months ago, I taught a group of children this by saying “Go manipulation. Come freedom.” The change is incredible.
  1. Watch your words
  • Be careful what you say and how you frame it.
  • Speak life into every situation.
  • Be an encourager.
  1. Realise what you can and cannot change and what you can bring to the situation.
  • Prepare some prophetic words to give to people.
  • Be on the look out for how you can encourage everyone you meet, whether by a smile, a few words, an action etc.
  • Take time to look out for the lonely, the people left out, the refugee, the unloved, the grieving, the ‘prisoner’ (whether in actual prison or a prisoner in their feelings), the person who can’t look you in the eye and doesn’t feel valued. Ask God what you can do or say to show love and to communicate to them that they are important and that you notice them.
  1. Do something just for the heck of it.
  • Have fun.
  • Do something with wild abandon.
  • Laugh out aloud.
  1. Spend some quality time with God

This 2017 Christmas, may you know and feel the love that Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus all have for you and may you be a blessing to those you meet and spend time with.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Bake a birthday cake for Jesus for Christmas Day. Light some candles and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Then each person ask Jesus what His birthday wish is. Share with each other what they hear, feel or sense Jesus saying.

2. Group Activation: Sit in a circle of 5-6 people and choose one person to start with. Everyone asks God how He sees that person and then they share it with them. When everyone has shared, move on to the person on their left and everyone shares how God sees that person etc.

3. Beginner Activation: For one day, purpose to give everyone you meet that day an encouraging word, prophetic word, smile or action. Ask God for ideas.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight someone who is grieving and spend time formulating a prophetic word for that person.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him for a prophetic word for the whole earth. Write it down and then go outside and decree and declare it out aloud.

Advent Blessing

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Last evening at our Healing Rooms team breakup, as the celebration time drew to a close, I was asked to release a blessing over the team. I stood up and started to speak what came to my mind for a blessing for the team for over this time until we reconnected again in February. I didn’t specifically feel anything myself personally but I saw and heard many of the team members being impacted. On the drive home, my husband commented that I should write out an Advent blessing for my blog since it seemed to have a huge impact when I released a blessing at the breakup. I cannot remember what I said. I am also not audibly saying it over you as I don’t yet have the correct equipment. (In January, I am looking at buying the sound gear I need so as to start doing podcasts for my blogs.) But, I am writing a blessing down for you for this season of Advent.

I encourage you to put your name in the space and say this blessing over you out aloud. There is power in not only reading a blessing but speaking it out aloud over you and calling your spirit to attention first. The spoken word is powerful and changes outcomes. It helps grow your spirit on the inside. I would also love to know any impact over you.

“……(your own name)…., I call your spirit to attention and I bless you with knowing how valuable and unique you are. I bless you with knowing how important you are to your family and friends, to God, and to this world. I bless you….(your name)… with an increased awareness of God, Holy Spirit and Jesus in this amazing season of Advent. I bless you with feeling and seeing and hearing a whole lot of new things about Jesus as you prepare for Christmas and the celebration of Jesus birth. I bless you with going deeper in intimacy with God in this season. I bless you with being able to create space in your life and daily activities so that you can hear, see and feel God afresh and in more intimate ways. I bless you with being able to enjoy this season of Advent and New Year and to have fun, laugh aloud and see the good in every situation. I bless you with being able to bring Christ’s peace into every interaction with others, especially those frustrating or annoying or harsh interactions with people, especially family members. I bless your prophetic gifting and your healing gifting that they will increase and become more accurate and go far deeper and bring far more blessings to others than you can ever imagine or hope. I bless you with being able to laugh into the future like the Proverbs 31 woman as you enter into the New Year. I bless you with seeing and hearing and knowing what it is that God has in store for you as you enter this New Year and being able to join with God to see this come to fruition. I bless you with hearing and seeing and knowing God’s goodness and desires and plans for you and I bless you as you seek Him over this time and realise them for yourself. I bless you with being able to have space and time and energy to be able to create space in your calendar and time schedule so as to be able to implement those things and actions that God is calling you to. I bless you with spiritual eyes and spiritual ears to see and hear whom you can encourage in this season and whom to release blessings to. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Spend time as a family blessing each other. Encourage everyone to listen to what God says or shows them to bless the other person with. Take turns receiving and everyone else saying “I bless you with …..”

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs and ask Holy Spirit to show you what to bless the other person with. Begin by calling their spirit to attention and then releasing the blessing over them.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you a friend whom you can pray a blessing over, spend time writing down what God brings to mind and then when you next meet, ask their permission to release the blessing over them.

4. Intermediate Activation: Choose one day as you go about your daily business to release a blessing over various people you meet that day. Frame your words using non christian language and keep it short. Ask God to highlight specific people and what their giftings and strengths are and encourage that in them.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God crafting a blessing to release over your country. Decree and declare it aloud numerous times throughout this season.

Believing that anything is possible

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Believing that anything is possibleHubby and I were in bed last night chatting after a full day of church, hanging out with friends and ministry. Hubby commented on how it was exciting to be in a church where one of the cultural values (whether anyone realises it or not is another question as it is an unwritten and unspoken value) is that of believing that anything is possible with God. Not just believing it, but actively pursuing it.

Core Value:

As we reflected on this more, I realised that whenever we want to see the supernatural become our natural lifestyle, this has to be a core value. That God can and will do anything and that anything is possible with God.

Miracle – an illiterate person able to read the Bible

Yesterday morning in church, we heard an amazing testimony from one of our church members who was ministering in Cambodia. An old village woman had become a Christian and 3 days later wanted to be able to read the Bible but had never had the opportunity to go to school. She heard a testimony from some other people who had supernaturally been given the ability to read the Bible. This lady was prayed for by those people and within 20 minutes or so the lady could read the Bible.

Testimony:

Last night were having a meal with friends and reflecting on the testimonies we hear in church. Most of these testimonies come from the Healing Rooms we are part of. I was voicing that I am a bit tired of hearing about the back pain and the neck aches being healed. Sure, it is a big thing for those people but what about the exciting stuff we see of cancer being healed, eye sight restored, the time I prayed for the lady in hospital who no longer needed a heart lung transplant etc. I then shared how our family had experienced some amazing healings – anaphylaxis, teeth miracles – no longer needing fillings or a root canal etc.

Creative Miracle:

My friend then expressed how she has been waiting for 9 years for a huge creative miracle. Straight away I knew we had to pray for her in this area. So we did. In the natural, it seems completely impossible but with God anything is possible. We joined our faith with hers and her husband’s faith. There were a couple of prophetic acts I asked her to do as I felt they were an important step. A huge step of healing had already been overcome by our friend sharing this unusual and personal issue with us.

Prophetic Act:

In asking my friend to do a certain prophetic act, I was reminded of at least 7 years ago when I was at a ladies’ camp and I really felt to pray for a lady with a thyroid issue who had bulging eyes. This lady at the same time approached me and asked me to pray for her. As I waited briefly to hear from God, I sensed that I was to spit on my hands and place them over her eyes. I was relatively new to praying for physical healing for people and was aghast. “What would the lady think?” As I shared this with the lady, she became very excited. She shared how she had asked God to heal her and that she had told God that she would know if it was going to happen or not if the person praying for healing spat on their hands and placed their hands over her eyes. I learnt a huge lesson that night to be obedient to what God wants you to do.

Where are you currently at in believing for the impossible? Believing with such a certainty, not just that it would be great but a total belief that God can and will do anything.

Align your mind:

If you need help in this area, I encourage you to take a Bible verse from the list below. If you believe the Bible is the Word of God, then meditating on the Bible and verses from it, will help your mind align to what God wants to do.

Bible verses:

  • Job 42:1- 2 Then Job replied to the Lord, ‘I know that you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted.’
  • Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.’
  • Matthew 17:20 Jesus replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’
  • Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.’
  • Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’
  • Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
  • Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God.

Turn these verses into a declaration that you can declare regularly eg “Thank you God that nothing is impossible for you. Thank you God that you say in your Word that whatever I ask for in prayer and believe that I have received, it will be mine. So Father God, I now thank you for giving me (answer to my prayer) and believe that You will give it to me because nothing is impossible for you Father God. Thank you God.”

God is at work:

When we left our friend’s home, nothing had appeared to have occurred in the way of a creative miracle for this lady but something had shifted in the spiritual. I totally believe that God can do this seemingly impossible creative miracle of growing body parts that are no longer there. I also knew that God was at work since we also prayed for my back pain from a pulled muscle that was causing me some incapacity. The pain completely disappeared and I could move freely.

I know that God will come through for this beautiful friend and her miraculous testimony will be huge in her future ministry that she will have in changing teenagers lives and perceptions.

God is in the business of the impossible.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Put together a collection of different food tastes or even a chocolate fondue with different fruit, marshmallows, biscuits, and food textures. Set the scene by sharing how in the Bible in Psalm 34:8, it says to ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’. Encourage family members to select a food and taste it and encourage them to savour the flavour and texture. Ask them to think of how that flavour might reflect God’s goodness or a characteristic of God. Share. Then get everyone to select a different fruit or food and to taste that and whilst doing that to ask God to highlight what it is about that flavour and how it describes or relates to the person sitting on their left. Share again.

2. Group Activation: Grab enough blank paper so that everyone in the room can have one sheet each. Before you hand them out, write down a name from someone in the group on the back of the sheet of paper ie each sheet of paper has a different name on the back with everyone in the room having their name on a sheet of paper. Encourage people not to look at the back of the paper so that they don’t know who they are writing a prophetic word for. Get everyone to quieten their hearts before God and ask God to show, tell or give them a sense of what to write or draw. Allow people ten minutes to hear from God and write the prophetic word. Then, if time, get people to read out what they had written and say who it is for.

3. Beginner Activation: Quieten yourself before God and imagine standing under a huge waterfall. Ask the Holy Spirit to rain down on you. Whilst standing under that imaginary waterfall, ask God to help you tangibly see or hear or feel something from Him. Ask Him to give you a fresh hope for an impossible situation in your life. Ask God to give you a Bible verse or reassurance that He has heard you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight to you something that is impossible to see becoming true but something you so desperately want. If there is nothing you desperately want, think of someone close to you who needs a miracle. Write a declaration out and ask God to give you a prophetic word for that situation. Incorporate the prophetic word into that declaration. Begin declaring and decreeing it.

5. Advanced Activation: Grab a pen and 3 pieces of paper. Ask God to highlight 3 people you know and write each name on the back of a different sheet of paper. Turn the paper over so that you cannot see which name is on which paper. Select one piece of paper and ask God to show or tell you a prophetic word for that person whose name is on the back of the paper (with you not knowing who it is for). Write down what you sense, feel, hear or see. Repeat the process with the other two sheets of paper. Then turn the papers over and read what you wrote for each person. Give the prophetic words to the appropriate people.

Family Outing – Random Acts of Kindness

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like giving water to a dying personA number of weeks ago, I really felt that our family needed to have a focus on being kind to others. I realised that with a teenager in the family, it is far easier to arrange something if there is a friend involved as well. Thus, I contacted a friend who has kids the same age as mine and who love hanging out together. My friend was up for it. I then pitched it to my family who agreed quickly with the suggestion as it meant that they would get to spend some time with their friends.

Fast forward to Sunday. We had lunch together and then set the parameters. We would allow 90 minutes (next time 2 hours would be better as the girls group was late back and the boys group were back on time but had to leave early to be prompt so couldn’t finish all that they wanted to do). The females were in one car (both mums with 2 x 14 year old girls) and the males in another car (both dads with 2 x 11 year old boys). Each group had $20 if they needed to use it but the money wasn’t to be used to determine our activity. We were encouraged to ask God whom He wanted us to bless and to follow those promptings. We had access to paper and pens. We were encouraged to just go out and show kindness to strangers. We also wanted it to be child led and the adults to take a back seat.

Before we left, I shared a story about a young couple on a sinking ship and the husband jumped in the one remaining lifeboat spot to leave his wife to drown. A few of us were horrified that he would do that. I then shared how the lady had an incurable illness and was dying and that he needed to look after the kids at home. From what we observe about people, we don’t always know the full facts and situation that they are facing so the encouragement was to not let that determine our actions.

The boys group went to two different McDonalds where they paid for 20 ice cream cones at each place to be given out to the next 20 customers. The boys had also written notes of encouragement that they asked the cashier to give out as well – “You are awesome”, etc. At the first venue, the staff were hugely impressed and it seemed to have an amazing effect on them. The guys sat back and watched as customers reacted to receiving a free ice cream cone. At the second McDonalds, the staff weren’t as helpful so it made it a bit harder.

The girls started with my friend sensing to drop a gift and welcoming note and blessing to a new neighbour who had moved into the neighbourhood about a month ago. She put it in this neighbour’s letterbox. We then drove to the local shopping centre where the girls had a ball writing notes and putting on the bathroom mirror about the value of a person being in their inner beauty and that they were the fairest of them all (Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?). A $5 note was also stuck to the mirror. We then bought a bunch of 10 roses for $3 and started handing them out to people. We had such an amazing response from people who received them that the girls then went and bought another bunch and handed them out. They also gave away a $10 note to a man (whom was later seen driving an expensive car). One of the girls wrote a note with a bible verse on it for a man’s car whilst I grabbed some wayward shopping trolleys and brought them back to the drop off for trolleys. On the way home, we stopped at various bus stops, post boxes, and a school to leave thank you notes. We also left an anonymous encouraging note in a lady’s letterbox since she had been having a hard time lately.

In the debrief over cake, most of us expressed the desire that we needed to step out of our comfort zone more often. I had never realised how easy it is to give out a rose to a complete stranger when feeling a prompting, and then to give them a word of encouragement. Their countenance changes completely. It was like offering water to a thirsty person. We all seemed to enjoy the experience. We also re-iterated the story about the fact that we don’t know what is happening in other people’s lives. We plan to repeat it in a little while with the girls going with the dads and the boys with the mums as the dads had a tad of trouble keeping everyone focused.

I encourage you and your family, perhaps give something like this a try. It certainly made for a fun afternoon and was a winner as we all got to spend time with friends plus make a difference to some people’s lives in a small way.

Please feel free to comment if you have tried something similar.

Also, I have posted this blog on my other blog site (www.raisingworldchangers.com.au) this week as that blog is about raising our children to impact the world, so if you subscribe to both blogs, I am sorry for the repeat.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: As a family or group, ask God to highlight something you can do for a stranger that will show God’s love to them. You may come up with an act of kindness as a family or each one suggest something. Make the time to go and do that particular activity.

2. Group Activation: Have paper and pens handy. Spend 10 minutes getting everyone to ask God to give them a prophetic word for a stranger and also the colour car it is to go on. When people have finished writing their note, get everyone to go outside and find the car that they feel that the Holy Spirit is saying to put their note on that windscreen. Everyone places their note on the respective windscreens. Come back inside and share how the process felt for people.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to highlight a stranger in your day today. When God highlights that person, ask God what He wants you to do for them. You may also like to ask God at the beginning of the day if there is anything you need to get ready so as to be prepared when He highlights the stranger to you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to stretch you in doing a random act of kindness for a complete stranger today (or someone who causes angst in your life). Deliver the act of kindness along with a prophetic word.

5. Advanced Activation: The next person whom you see, stop and ask God for a prophetic word for them that will encourage them. Try and see if you can deliver the prophetic word immediately ie open your mouth and ask God to fill it with what He wants to tell them.

Carrying the presence of Jesus

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Abstract sunny spring background with grass and leaves

One of the greatest gifts we can give someone is the gift of listening to them and valuing who they are. We have just returned home from ‘blessing’ a house. The occupier of the house is a man with mental illness. He has recently shifted in after being released from a psychiatric ward. He asked his mental health worker if ‘those kind people who blessed my house last year could come and do it again as I won’t feel safe until they come’.

I blogged about this last year, specifically about the fact that when I prayed for him and called his spirit to attention and blessed his spirit he immediately experienced peace and felt he could enter his house which he had refused to enter beforehand & we hadn’t even entered his house then or ‘blessed’ it.

Today, I learnt so much. As did my husband. On the way home, hubby stated that he had felt at a loss as to what to say when we first arrived but he said he learnt so much from the way I talked to this guy. I asked hubby what I had said that had impacted him. Hubby stated that I didn’t say anything but just listened, really listened to the guy’s heart. We met the guy outside his door, on the second floor of an old dilapidated apartment block. He talked for at least 5 minutes about when he was spiritually martyred four years ago and what that felt like and how 2 weeks ago he was speared in his side like Jesus and how just now our phone call had resurrected him. To me, his theology sounded a bit off, along with his mental status. Hubby was at a loss as to what to say. I stood, looked the guy in his eyes and listened. Really listened. I didn’t interject. I didn’t argue. I didn’t think about what I should be saying. I just looked at him and actively listened to what he was saying and his heart. I wasn’t in a hurry. I wanted to honour this man and show him respect and really listen.

After the first 5 minutes, the neighbour came along. Our guy stopped the neighbour and told him that we were there to bless his house. He apologised as he didn’t have any money to pay us. We didn’t want any money and told him that we were doing this out of love for Jesus and wanting to show Jesus’ love to him. The neighbour then shared his story about how he was a Christian, had been taken advantage of recently, how the apartment block was full of ‘ice’ victims, how his 30 year old son had died last year and how that son had once upon a time believed in Jesus.

These men just needed someone to listen to them. I then asked if I could pray for them both before we went into the first man’s house. I also asked if I could anoint them both with oil. They both said yes and had tears in their eyes as I did this. I called their spirits forth and blessed them with identity, significance, peace, hope, joy, purpose etc. This act completely ‘undid’ them and really touched them. These gown men cried as I prayed for them. They both seemed really at peace as I finished praying for them. We then went into the house and blessed it etc as we had been asked to do but the blessing of these men was what really impacted them.

I am finding that people appreciate being anointed with oil, not just for healing but for spiritual significance. I carry a little bottle of oil in my handbag specifically for that purpose. Can I also add that last Saturday at our church’s Healing Rooms, I anointed people with oil for healing as they came to our group for prayer. On Saturday, each person reacted visibly to the anointing of oil. Two people commented that they received an electric shock when I did it and that it was a far better experience than any reiki they had had. Something to think about when you pray for people!!

Do you carry a little bottle of oil with you so you are ready to pray for people? Having the bottle of oil with you ready is in itself a prophetic act – that you are expectant and ready to pray for people.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Gather a bunch of different ribbon offcuts, enough for each person to pick up several different pieces. Sit in a group and ask God to show each member which ribbon He would like to give to each person and why. Focus on one person at a time to be the receiver with the other group members giving the receiver a ribbon each and explaining why that particular piece of ribbon.

2. Group Activation: Use a creative way of getting people into pairs. Have enough sheets of craft paper/paper with pictures on it/photos from calendars etc for everyone in the group, preferably a few pieces of paper more and place these on the floor around the room. Get people to walk around and look at the pieces of paper and ask God to highlight to them a picture/design for their partner. Get them to each pick up the piece of paper that stood out to them and ask God why that particular piece of paper for their partner. People then stand together with their partner and give them the piece of paper and share why they feel God highlighted that sheet/picture for them.

3. Beginner Activation: Listen to some music and reflect on the goodness of God. Ask God to show, tell or give you a picture of a treasure that He would like to give to you. Ask God some further questions about that treasure and why He wants to give that to you. Thank Him for that treasure.

4. Intermediate Activation: If you don’t already have a little bottle of oil that you carry with you, prepare one for yourself. Then ask God to highlight to you this week someone whom you could ask to pray for and anoint with oil.

5. Advanced Activation: Locate an office within your country that supports christian martyrs or christians in foreign countries who have been falsely imprisoned. Ask for an address to send an encouraging prophetic postcard to a christian falsely imprisoned overseas who needs encouragement. Ask God to highlight to you what needs to be written/drawn on your postcard. Please be aware that there are usually important guidelines to follow especially with identification of both sender and receiver.

Eyes on God or my circumstances

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Small cat with big angry male lion shadow

The other day I had my eyes on our circumstance and was saying to God, “I don’t understand, hubby only has a little work (we have a small business) at the moment and not even any quotes. What is happening? We desperately need some money.” I immediately then went to, “Hang on, God has said He will be our provider. Therefore, what do I need to know at the moment? Who does God want to be for me at the moment?” I paused and reflected on that for several moments, getting my focus back on God and not my circumstances. Then I was able to thank Him for the provision that was coming. It didn’t mean that we could just sit back and wait for the money to come in. No. We still have to work but God can orchestrate the circumstances for work to come in.

What do you do when you find that your circumstances don’t match up with your identity and your prophetic words and your promises from God’s Word? How do you react? What’s your ‘go-to’ position/thinking?

If we truly believe and understand who God says we are and who he wants to be for us, then we will live a supernatural lifestyle, not a natural lifestyle. Our prophetic words that have been spoken over us are conditional on us becoming the person who has the identity and character that is needed to steward those prophetic words.

Identity is so important. Who we believe we are in relation to God and how we see ourselves tells us our identity. How we live that out in everyday life says a lot about our beliefs, our theology and our identity. How we see ourselves (our identity) is often reflected in how we pray. Can we decree and declare with confidence or do we approach God like a servant?

I believe that most, if not all of us, don’t actually fully see ourselves as God sees us. He believes in us far more than we tend to believe in ourselves. We need to know who we are in relation to God and let that permeate our own life and change how we act, how we react, and how we think.

Our actions and our doing must flow from our identity. If we see ourselves as God’s child, His beloved, a princess, then that influences every action I make from how I react to my children when they ask the same question for the umpteenth time when I have a 1001 things to do, to how I respond to the car driver who just cut me off in peak hour traffic, to my boss with their huge demands, to the neighbour’s barking dog at 2am.

Take a few moments to ask God how heaven sees you, how you are known in heaven? Ask God to highlight certain things to make it very clear for you. Then reflect on whether your actions and thoughts over the last few days line up with how you are known in heaven. Ask God to show you if there is any part of your identity that He wants to tweak or that He wants you to think differently about. Don’t rush these steps but go on an adventure with God, exploring your full identity in God. I find it worthwhile to journal as I am doing this so that I can go back over it later. It also helps me to stay focused and to really flesh out the hard parts with God. My focus when doing this is that I want to grow and become more God like so I need to allow God to show me the things/ parts/ beliefs/ attitudes/ thinking etc that I need to work on and also how to change them to be more God like. I also line up the things that the Bible says I am and go through and challenge myself as to whether they are my core beliefs too.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Have paper and crayons available and ask everyone to draw a picture of how God loves them. Share what your pictures mean. Then choose someone else to draw for and draw how God loves them.

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs. Ask God to highlight a slogan from a business to you that fits your partner and to show you how it relates to them. Share with your partner. Then ask God for a new slogan for your partner – one that describes who they are and who they are becoming. Share with your partner. Then pray for each other, declaring the new slogan over them.

3. Beginner Activation: Put some worship music on and spend some time enjoying being with God. Ask God to show/tell you how you are known in Heaven. Journal what you sense God saying/showing you. Reflect on your feelings associated with that and then how your behaviour and attitude reflects your heavenly identity.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a person who needs some encouragement. Ask God to show you how He sees them and how they are known in Heaven. Contact this person and share what God has shown you about them with them.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you someone who is going to influence local history in a huge way in the coming year. Ask God to share with you how He sees them and their part in influencing local history. Share this with that person in an appropriate manner.

Time with God

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I was driving down the road the other day and realised just how much I missed having the kids around. Our son had an incredible opportunity to go to a horse riding and adventure camp for the week. It was his first time away from home without us. Our daughter was at a friend’s for a sleepover. I had been enjoying the break and catching up on all I needed to do. As I was driving to pick our daughter up and it suddenly hit me how quiet it was and how much I missed hearing their constant voices and conversation.

As I pondered that, I questioned whether or not there was a lie I was believing about myself and our family. I home school and have the kids around constantly. I enjoy having them around and was now missing them. It is not a normal life style. Was there something I needed healing from? (When something unusual comes to mind or I feel an emotion is suddenly triggered or I react in an unusual manner, I then stop and take the time to ask God, “Is there a lie I am believing?” or “What lie am I believing about either you God or me?”. God is amazing and will always answer me. If there is a lie, then I follow that by asking God to show me when I first started believing it and what was the basis for that lie. I then forgive anybody concerned, repent and then ask  God “What is the truth I need to hear?”. I believe that doing this on a regular basis whenever I am alerted to myself reacting to a situation, that it helps me keep ‘clean’.

At that moment, God’s voice broke through my thoughts and said, “That is how I feel when I don’t have special time with you.” This hit me. I spend time each day praying and meditating on the things of God, love reading His Word, worshiping God, but it is easy to just not have the time to ‘chill’ with God, to just hang out with God, to ask questions of God with no hidden agenda. To just take that special extra time to sit and enjoy God and His Presence.

How about you? In this Christmas season, I find it so easy to get caught up on how we celebrate the event rather than celebrating the person of the event. I encourage you to give up something today and spend that time just enjoying God’s Presence in a fresh, new way.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Put a variety of small objects in a bag eg toy car, feather, ball, small doll etc. Get each person to choose an object and to say how applicable it is to their partner/person on their right.

2. Group Activation: Get into groups of 6-8. Have a pack of UNO cards each group. (If only one pack of UNO cards, you could divide the pack into the number of groups). Everyone has a turn at turning over the top card and completing the required action. Remember to keep it fast. Red card- you give a prophetic sentence to the person on your left, Green card – you give a prophetic sentence to the person on your right. Blue – person opposite. Yellow – choose someone in the group to give a prophetic word to you. Wild card – Every person in the group gives a prophetic word to you. Draw 4 – choose 4 group members to give a word to you. Skip – the next person misses a turn. Reverse – the order is reversed. Draw 2 – you give a prophetic word to two group members.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time listening to God and what His heart is for you at the moment. Write it down and meditate on it. Pray through it. Turn it into a declaration by changing the words to “I declare….”

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a person you could bless spiritually and what to say. Write it down. Find time to pray those words over that person. Start with “I call forth your spirit and bless you with..”

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you  a new way of enjoying Him this week and of hearing Him and His heart for you and for others. Explore different ways of hearing God eg with pictures if that is not your normal way of hearing from God, through nature, dreams, etc

Mantle of invisibility

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Through the fort wallsEarlier this year, I was on my morning prayer walk and was pondering the fact that my 10 year old son was often overlooked. His older sister always seemed to get the limelight. She had just been filmed for a 5 minute television program that would be televised nationally. Before the film crew came to our house, they had initially decided to film both siblings and highlight them both but after a few minutes in our home, they completely excluded Josh in their actions and filming without verbalising anything to us. I was pondering the fact that here was a ten year old boy who had collected over 4,000 pairs of brand new socks for homeless people and distributed them within 8 months (now over 11,000 pairs) and that no-one seemed interested. As I was asking God about this, the thought ‘mantle of invisibility’ came to me. I had previously heard Arthur Burk’s teaching on this via YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osoFi4DE4Es). I asked God to highlight if there were any vows Josh had made at any stage, or us as his parents, about not wanting to be noticed, seen, or wanting to be disguised or hidden. (This is especially the case when children are being bullied and they may say “I wish I could be invisible”, or “I wish….. couldn’t see me” or “I don’t want my teacher to notice me”. This is also very applicable in the case of unwanted pregnancy’s and childhood abuse or anyone who has been a recipient of anger explosions. Hubby was a policeman in his earlier life and also made some comments along those lines when faced with situations hunting for murderers etc.)

After renouncing these vows/words and cutting off any judgements that have resulted from saying them, I then proceeded to pray a prayer similar to this. “Father God, can you please hide and shield Josh from those people and situations you don’t want him to be seen or noticed in and can you please shine your light on him and bring him to the attention of all those that you would want to have him highlighted before.” (The exact wording is not important, more the principle.)

After returning home from my walk, I went about my daily activities until early that afternoon when I received a phone call. The lady on the end of the line informed me that my son had been selected out of 1,000 other people to be filmed and shown on the national news about the local newspaper grants throughout the state. He was one of 1,000 applicants and they chose him and another person to feature on the news. I was gobsmacked. I immediately thought back to the morning’s walk and how I had asked God to highlight him in the areas God wanted to and to shield him from eyes he needed shielding from. Could God work it that quick?

I immediately knew then that a prayer similar to this definitely worked. I encourage everyone to pray something similar. Even yesterday, I prayed with a friend about her husband to renounce any vows he had said (eg he often says “I’m the quiet one, I don’t have a voice.”) and for God to shine His light on her hubby as he was often overlooked for jobs and ministry roles even though he was extremely qualified and suitable for them.

Usually we experience something like this when we have been through a time when we didn’t fully trust God to be big enough to protect us. We had to resort to hiding ourselves or wanting to be hidden as we couldn’t trust that God would have it all under control. Therefore part of our dealing with this needs to be repenting for taking control and not trusting God in that situation.

Do you see a similar pattern in your life? I encourage you to listen to Arthur Burk’s YouTube recording on ‘mantle of invisibility’ and to pray and ask God to reveal to you any time and any words you may have said about wanting to not be noticed or taken seriously or highlighted. Have you ever said/thought/wished “I wish no-one would see me”, “I wish I wasn’t born”, “I wish I didn’t exist”, “Please don’t let anyone see me at the moment” etc.

Another angle of viewing this is to look at your life and see if there are numerous times when you are not noticed, when you haven’t been selected for something when you were the obvious choice and the most qualified. When you contribute something worthwhile to a conversation, are you simply ignored and not acknowledged?

I encourage you to pray over yourself and also each of your children that God would hide you from those people and situations that would seek to harm you and for God to shine His light on you in the places and situations and before the people He wants you to be highlighted before.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Ask God to show/tell/give you each an idea of someone who is not well known to your family but whom you can show God’s love to as a family and in what way. Share together what God has shown/told you. Then make time to share God’s love in the way you have highlighted.

2. Group Activation: Have a time of being quiet before God as a group, each person asking God for a prophetic word or picture for someone in the group to whom they don’t know very well. Then allow time for people to share in the big group, those prophetic words that you just received.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show/tell/give you a prophetic word that will fit in with the flow for your weekly church service about what God would love to do or how He would love to move during that time. Try and do this before you go to church and then sit on it and don’t share it with anyone. During the service, see how it would fit in with the flow of what God is doing that day at church. (This prophetic word will be something you won’t share with anyone. It is a good discipline to receive a word and to be able to sit on it before sharing it or when training to never share it.)

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you someone to whom you walk past on a regular basis but to whom you don’t really notice. Ask God to show you how He sees them and craft that into a prophetic word that you can share with that person the next time you walk past them.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time being quiet before God asking him to show you which department/area in the church He would like to speak to you about and give a prophetic word to. Write it down and let it be viewed by an appropriate trusted person within your church before passing it along to that department.

Worship reflecting our view of God

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girl looking at red balloonsI have been reflecting recently on how the worship styles in the different churches we have been involved in have been quite different. From reciting liturgy to singing songs that focus on what I get from God and on myself, to giving worth to God the Most High. Over the last 5 decades, Hubby and I have been involved in the Brethren Church, Salvation Army, Methodist (now Uniting Church), Baptist, Churches of Christ, and Pentecostal churches. During this time, I have also seen various changes in the churches we have been a part of with song styles from hymns, Scripture in Song choruses, songs of justice, songs focusing on the awe and worth of God, Hillsong music, Bethel music, and songs concentrating largely on my identity in God.

In my reflection, I am tossing around the idea that our song writing illustrates our view of God. If we are writing songs, and then singing songs, about how God sees us, that reflects our view of God. If we are writing and singing songs giving God the worth that He desires, that reflects a different view of God. If we are writing and singing songs about the nations and that translating across indigenous groups, that reflects yet another dimension of God. Simply put, are we singing songs that focus on the awe of God, the love of God, the fear of God or on reminding ourselves who we are to God?

Soren Kierkegaard, a theologian, said that worship is a performance with the congregation being the performers and God the audience. “Worship happens most fully when the community gathers to encounter the living God and respond with everything we’ve got.”

First of all, worship is about God.  It’s less about you than you may think.  It’s not so much about you coming and getting filled up or coming and hearing what you need to hear.  That’s not to say that worship has nothing to do with those things, but they are mostly by-products of worship, not the goal of worship.  What we get out of worship has more to do with our response which always follows an encounter with God.  Worship is first and foremost about God.

Arthur Burk (http://www.theslg.com) describes some dreams he has about worship in his youtube video titled “Egyptian Depression”. He says that worship is an antidote to depression and encourages listeners in the 20.18 minute video to dream about ways you would love to worship God. He listed three himself – John G. Lake, when he was in South Africa during a service, went into a trance for 20 minutes. During this time, his spirit flew to Wales where a member of the audience’s daughter was in an Asylum. He apparently prayed for her, God healed her and his spirit flew back. Another of Arthur’s dreams is in utter quiet and stillness on a lake. Yet another in a lighthouse in the midst of a winter storm in the Atlantic Ocean and being able to experience God as the strong tower talked about in Proverbs 18:10.

Personally I love walking along the beach on a stormy day and hearing the waves crashing near me and feeling God’s love crashing continually in on me and singing hymns of worship to God. I realise that I best hear God when I am in motion, not standing or sitting still. On my morning walk, or in the shower, basically whenever I am moving I tend to experience and hear God more. I also love the strong tower image from Proverbs 18:10 and often imagine God as a strong tower and I am running in to Him. Others love soaking to music whilst lying still on the floor and become immersed in experiencing God then. Others in different aspects of nature. My hubby prefers being in the bush and hearing God clearly there. Others love driving their car and experiencing intimacy with God then. Others find beautiful times of worship and intimacy with God when painting or being creative. Others love the comfy chair where they commune daily with God. Most nights my friend offers her spirit to God for Him to take her where he needs her most, protect her from anything not of God and for the Holy Spirit to guide her. She has been to Syria, North Korea and various other places, ministering to folk, much like John G. Lake did.

What are your dreams of worship, of completely abandoning yourself to God and His goodness and experiencing Him in a fresh new way and experiencing that new characteristic of God that you know about in your head but haven’t truly experienced in your heart? I encourage you to explore various ways this week.

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) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation: Spend a few moments worshiping God and then pray and ask God to show everyone present where His angels are in the room, what they look like and what they are doing. Then get everyone to share. (Children usually can see in the spirit realm if they haven’t been shut down by adults dismissing what they have seen in the past. I will never forget my son on Remembrance Day in Australia which is where we have a national day of pausing and remembering fallen soldiers, sharing how during worship in church he saw angels dressed in army gear standing side by side all around the coastline of Australia protecting the gold that was within Australia. At that stage he had no idea it was Remembrance Day.)

2. Group Activation: Spend some time in worship as a group and then ask God to open everyone’s spiritual eyes to see what He is doing in the room or what is happening in the room in the spiritual realm. For those having difficulty with this, encourage them to begin to imagine some angels coming into the room and what they may look like and be doing etc. Then ask people to share and note any similarities and look for what you need to do next ie if someone sees angels bringing healing, then it would be appropriate to follow this time with praying for people to be healed.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time this week reflecting where you most easily hear and experience God and where you also most love worshiping God. Experiment and see if there is perhaps a new area or new environment or way of encountering God this week. Try and discover the place you most clearly hear God’s voice and feel His comfort.

4. Intermediate Activation: Think of a current concern you have. Spend a few moments worshiping God, giving Him worth. Then imagine approaching the throne room of heaven and taking that concern with you and handing it to God and asking for His perspective on it. Wait and encounter all that God wants to give you.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend some time dreaming with God and asking Him to give you a new song. Ask for His music, rhythm, words. Sing it back to God.

Sharing the gospel with my neighbour

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Our next door neighbour died a fortnight ago. As far as we know, she had never made a personal commitment to accepting Jesus Christ into her life. The morning she was found dead in her hallway by her cleaner, I experienced some pangs of regret. I had never ever shared the gospel with her. I live a busy life being involved in a lot of ministry, but here was an 82 year old lady living next door to me whom I had never shared the gospel with. Would she go to heaven?

I reflected back on the last 9 years of her living behind us in a unit. When she first shifted in, her husband was alive and my children and I loved visiting her. We would have afternoon tea with her several times per week. My son loved her husband and his sense of humour. Unfortunately her husband died three years later after battling cancer. I had the opportunity to pray several times with him and he always loved those times and seemed at peace afterwards. He was a Jehovah Witness but was open to me praying with him and chatting about the gospel. He always seemed to appreciate our visits, chats about heaven and times of prayer, especially towards the end of his life.

Unfortunately my neighbour wasn’t. She grieved deeply after her husband died and became quite bitter and sought solace in alcohol, lots of alcohol. I asked her several times if I could pray with her but she always refused. Her grand daughter died of cancer and she refused all offers of prayer. She never liked talking about God, heaven, what happened after you died or Jesus Christ.

We tried to love her in action. We did a lot of things for her, always backed her car down the driveway for her, baked cookies and meals for her, checked numerous times at midnight that she was o’kay after her personal alarm was activated, bought her food, collected her mail, took out her garbage, trimmed her hedge, etc. She sunk deeper into despair and alcohol and my kids no longer liked to visit her. I was careful to never to visit after 3pm as she would tend to fall and hurt herself after getting up quickly to unlock the door and having drunk alcohol on an empty stomach.

During those years, we went overseas three times on mission trips but we had a person desperately needing Jesus in our own backyard. But a number of times she refused us. Earlier on, we prayed earnestly as a family for her to know Jesus Christ personally, but the prayers dwindled off as we saw no sign of hope.

Last week my daughter and I went to her funeral. We have been to a number of funerals and this one was extremely short and ‘empty’. There was no mention of God. There was encouragement to just think of her as the glamourous lady she was when she was a lot younger.

This has been a huge wake up call for me. It always seems to be easier to love those far off, to see the supernatural expressed with amazing miracles and healing. Our family love prophesying over people and praying for healing. I am involved in prayer ministry and praying for inner healing for several folk each week. Our whole family has undergone training numerous times in how to share the Gospel with unbelievers, especially prior to going on Beach Mission and mission trips, and we each have a 1 minute testimony prepared of how God has changed our life. But what about simple evangelism of loving your neighbour and sharing your faith? Who else may God have placed strategically around us to love and share Jesus Christ with?

Whom has God placed strategically close around you for you to be His witness to?

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 person to ask God for a specific number. Once you have that number, ask God to show you what to draw or write for the person whose house number is that number you received. If the number doesn’t match a house number in your street, look in the next street etc. Try and write a prophetic word that doesn’t have christian jargon in it. When you have all finished, go on a walk as a family and post the picture/prophetic words in the letterbox corresponding to the number that person received.

2. Group Activation: For this activation, you will need enough chairs for everyone in the group. Have everyone standing and put the chairs in the middle in a circle. Basically this is musical chairs. Remove two chairs. Play the music and have everyone walk around the chairs. When the music stops, the 2 people who are left without a chair are out but they have a total of 2 minutes to get a prophetic word for each other and then deliver it. They then sit out and you remove 2 more chairs. Play the music and repeat etc until down to the last 2 people. They then prophesy over each other.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to highlight a family member to you. Then ask God to give you a bible verse for them that will be significant for them and convey God’s heart for them at the moment. Write it out, along with a prophetic word that will encourage and comfort that family member.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight a neighbour to you who doesn’t yet know the Gospel. Spend some time with God, listening to Him and how He would have you best communicate the Gospel to this person. Then do what you hear God telling you.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you a significant societal issue for your country at the moment (eg Safe Schools or homosexual marriage in Australia). Spend some time just listening to God and hearing His Heart on the issue. Ask Him what role He would want you to play in that issue and what He would want you to do. Then do it.