Prophetic Acts Bring Change

Calculating the exact mid-way point between the two major cities, we pulled over to the side of the highway. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but a cemetery was beside us. That was a surprise and unexpected. Jumping out of the car, we grabbed a pair of scissors out of a special box, and my son proceeded to cut the air to symbolise cutting the divide between these two cities. There had been a long-standing invisible divide between the two cities, with one wanting to be the capital city of the state and the other winning that role. The jealousy and envy were evident in numerous ways.

We briefly made a declaration as we selected a beautiful rainbow ribbon with the seven colours of the rainbow from our special box and carefully tied the two ends together, symbolising the joining of this area with the promises of God and the seven spirits of God written about in Revelations. There had been 44 deaths from car accidents along this very straight stretch of road in the previous ten years, with the latest fatality being a young girl killed by a senior member of the legal team representing the state. We felt to decree and declare life into this area, this region, these two city fractions.

Hopping back into the car, I swapped roles with hubby and began to drive. Switching on the hire car radio that had previously not been used by us, the song was “I’m alive again”. We all looked at one another in amazement. Was that a coincidence? I am a huge believer that there are no coincidences with God. The next instant, the sun disappeared, and it started raining. The rain lasted about 5 minutes, and then a beautiful vibrant rainbow appeared and ended right in front of us at our front bumper bar. I was shocked. What was happening? Keeping an eye on that rainbow, it guided us into the next city we were travelling to, another forty minutes further on, keeping all the time at our front bumper bar.

This car trip was our family’s first introduction to a prophetic trip where we asked God what the issues were for the various cities/towns/regions we were visiting and what He wanted to show us about those areas. We then asked God to reveal prophetic actions we could do that would help change something in both the physical and spiritual realms.

On that ten-day trip, this incident was only one of the many remarkable outcomes we saw. I believe that God was graciously allowing our family to physically see that the prophetic acts we felt called to do were making a massive difference in the spiritual.

Another significant physical reaction occurred precisely one week after we had briefly stopped to pour out a bottle of pure water on an area of burnt, dry, barren ground. We were running late for a dinner appointment, so as we drove through the countryside, we remembered that this was where we had planned to do the act of pouring out the water. I slowed the car down to a virtual stop, and our son leaned out the window and poured out the water. I am not even sure we stopped long enough to say anything. Exactly one week later, it rained on that very spot – that small area was the only area in the state to get rain. Not only that, but it recorded twice the highest ever recorded rainfall for that area. Coincidence or not?

I believe God graciously allowed our family to see physically that prophetic acts do work as we then travelled interstate and overseas where we didn’t physically see any change at the time we carried out the prophetic actions, but we could have complete confidence that it was making a difference in the spiritual.

One such action was in our nation’s capital. As a family, we travelled to Canberra for a week because we believed God wanted us there. Sure, it was great educationally for the kids. Sure, it was a good time away as a family. But the primary significance was that we felt it was God’s timing, and He wanted us to do something there. I have full confidence that the prophetic actions we did joined with the prayers and prophetic actions of thousands of other Australians to bring a significant change. Exactly one week later, we watched our Prime Minister give her resignation speech and the incoming Prime Minister’s reply. As we were watching this event, our 10-year-old daughter asked, “Now what will happen to all those babies in their mum’s tummies who were going to be killed by the laws Julia Gillard wanted to introduce (for full-term abortion)”?

What is a prophetic act?

A prophetic act is something done (at God’s direction) in the natural (physical) realm that supports God’s workings in the spiritual realm to bring forth results manifested in the natural realm. It somehow opens the channel for God’s presence, power, and victory to be released to have an effect in the physical realm and change outcomes.

It is not a formula or method you can blindly follow to produce different results. God is not a respecter of formulas. It is also not always possible to fully explain or justify the sense behind a prophetic act with our human mind. It is also not worthwhile doing something that constitutes a prophetic act if it doesn’t first come from God.

Thus, it is a physical action that God gives you to do that becomes a sign and decree to forge a breakthrough in the spiritual realm. When praying for healing for someone, I may sense that God wants them to do a prophetic act, so I ask God for more details. I will share with the person I am praying for and give them an option. Do you feel you could, for example, take a step forward as a sign of stepping into the new mindset, etc.? Prophetic acts are powerful visual and kinaesthetic statements to the spirit world.

In today’s culture, we celebrate various occasions that once began as very symbolic and prophetic, but the significance may have dimmed for some people, e.g. 21st birthday key symbolising the key to the door, the wedding ring symbolising eternal love.

Biblical examples:

There are many prophetic acts throughout the Bible. Several examples are:

  • Ezekial 4 – Lying on the left/right side, food, and drink preparation, prophesying to creation.
  • Ezekial 37:1-14 – The valley of dry bones.                   
  • 2 Kings 13:14-19 – Elisha – King Jehoash’s arrow.
  • Exodus 17:1-7 raising rod and verses 8-16 raising arms against the Amalekites.
  • Exodus 12 – Israelite families killed a lamb and put blood on their doorposts
  • Joshua 10:12-14 – declaration for the sun to stand still.
  • Jacob giving Joseph the multicoloured coat.
  • Hosea – marrying a prostitute.
  • John 2:1-12 – Jesus turning water into wine.
  • John 9:1-7 – Jesus putting clay on the blind man’s eyes.

The action can be for intercession, warfare, healing, a call to ministry etc. It can hold the spiritual power necessary for fulfilment or breakthrough.

The action can be for intercession, warfare, healing, a call to ministry etc. It can hold the spiritual power necessary for fulfilment or breakthrough.

The main principle:

Ask God what the issue is and whether He wants you to do a prophetic action to facilitate change. If so, what prophetic action comes to mind? As always, act on it whenever you feel prompted by the Holy Spirit.

I would love to hear any current prophetic acts you are doing. Please feel free to comment below.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every blog post I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 bubble blowing equipment and a world map that can get wet. (I use a shower curtain with a world map printed on it.) Ask God to highlight to everyone which countries He would love to release joy into. Pray and have fun blowing bubbles as you release joy over those countries.

2. Group Activation: Beforehand gather items in a tool box that you can use for individual prophetic acts eg key, scissors, ribbon, ball, knife, pen & paper, bubbles, balloon, stone, scarf, etc plus a world map. As a group select a country and ask God for a current issue for that country. Then corporately ask God for a prophetic act that you could do for that nation so as to usher in a change. Carry out the prophetic act. Repeat the process individually for a different country.

3. Beginner Activation: What is your biggest need at home at the moment? Ask God to show/tell/give you a sense/idea of a prophetic act that you could do to change that situation and usher in breakthrough. Then do it.

4. Intermediate Activation: Spiritually map your local neighbourhood this week and ask God to show you the spiritual condition in this area. Ask God for an idea for a prophetic act to address an issue somewhere in your neighbourhood. Then carry out that prophetic act.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you His heart for your nation, a current national challenge, and for a prophetic act you can do to release breakthrough in this area.

If my mind goes blank when prophesying

Has your mind ever gone blank when faced with having to give a prophetic word to someone immediately?

Mine has.

I am on our church’s prophetic team, and we are often involved in a prophetic presbytery. Our church sets it up with multiple pairs who prophesy over a person for a maximum of 5-6 minutes. We have a line of people waiting to receive a prophetic word. As soon as you and your partner have finished prophesying over a person, that person leaves, and the next person in line moves forward to come to an available team. We begin by introducing our names and ask if their recording device is ready to record. Usually, I immediately get a sense of something from God for the person, and more comes as I speak it out. I am also learning to wait a minute before speaking to get more detail and greater depth. There are some occasions, though, when I get nothing, and my mind is blank.

I used to be paired with different people who wouldn’t speak first but liked to wait for me to go first. My prophesying first gave them confidence; they were sometimes seers and saw pictures. They spent several minutes asking God more about those pictures before speaking. In the last few years, I am usually teamed up with a person who is relatively new to giving prophetic words and wants to hear what I have to say first or who is not 100% confident in giving prophetic words to people. Unfortunately, since we are usually limited time wise, we don’t have the luxury of having a long pause before we speak the prophetic word.

Practically, these are the things I do when my mind goes ‘blank’ in these situations:

The first thing I do is to turn my heart and affections to Jesus. I get the focus off myself and my thoughts of ‘oh no’ and turn my thoughts to God. I silently worship God. Praise shifts the atmosphere. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”. If I want to enter His presence and see what He is seeing and hear what He is saying, praise and thanks will do that. I have learnt to do this in my preparation for prophesying before I even arrive at church. But this has been useful for me when I am in the community and feel like giving an impromptu prophetic word to a stranger.

I then ask God how He sees this person and how He wants to show love to them right now.

If I’m still finding it hard to connect, I ask God a question about the person, eg

  • How He sees this person dressed
  • Their strengths
  • What this person’s identity in Heaven is, i.e. how is this person known in Heaven?

If I’m still finding it hard to get a prophetic word for this person, I picture them standing under a Holy Spirit waterfall. I imagine them standing there with the Holy Spirit flowing down over them, and I ask the Holy Spirit what He is showering upon them.

The above questions focus on identity words. Identity always precedes destiny. If our identity in God is not solid, how can we do what He requires of us? I also like to give destiny words. If I am struggling to get a destiny word, I try to imagine a blank canvas or a blank jigsaw puzzle. I then ask God what is the next piece of the puzzle this person needs to know, or what will this canvas become?

Remember, this usually occurs within 10-30 seconds. It would take longer if I were at home writing a prophetic word out for someone. Thus, in situations like the Prophetic Presbytery, I find it invaluable to have a list of questions to ask God in my mind, ready to ‘pull on’ and get God’s perspective for the person.

The questions I have ready to ask God include:

  • How does God see this person?
  • How does God want to show love to them right now?
  • How does God see this person dressed?
  • What are their strengths?
  • What fruit of the spirit does God want to grow in their life?
  • If the person was a tree, what would they be, and what fruit would they produce?
  • What is this person’s identity in Heaven, i.e. how is this person known in Heaven?
  • What are God’s plans for this person’s future?
  • If this person was standing under a Holy Spirit waterfall, what is it Holy Spirit that you are pouring over them and filling them with, and why?
  • What is the next piece of the puzzle this person needs to know?
  • What will the blank canvas of their future become?

Upon reflection, the times I find it hard, I need to take a further moment not to rush things. I also need to look at my preparation. How have I prepared for giving prophetic words, and how could I prepare more effectively? For instance, my husband often asks God for random words. He writes these words in his notebook, and for the next few people he meets, he releases a prophetic word to that person using the following random word on his list. When you have a starting word, thought, or image, it can help the flow begin.

In asking myself how I can more effectively prepare for prophesying, the question challenges me and helps me be ‘switched on’ immediately to release God’s heart out of my mouth for these folks.

I know from experience that when I feast on God’s Word in the lead-up to giving prophetic words to people, parts of Scripture will come back to me as I prophesy and apply to that person. A key in the preparation process is spending time with God and nurturing my intimacy with Him.

Three principles from Scripture:

  1. Grab the ‘quiet’ thought. In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we see Elijah waiting until the storm passed before hearing God’s still, quiet (gentle) voice. I wonder if sometimes we don’t recognise what God is already telling us because it is not in the manner we are looking for? If they are in a good relationship with God, I encourage people to grab the first thing that comes through their mind when they ask God what He would like to say to the person they are prophesying over. Often it can be so obvious, but we disregard it because it is so obvious. At those times, we need to wait for the quiet prompting of the Holy Spirit. To lean into what we are sensing, feeling, smelling, hearing, tasting, and knowing.
  2. Take captive every thought. 2 Corinthians 10:5. Deliberately choose to throw away any unhelpful thinking (e.g. on no, my mind’s gone blank) and thank God for His thoughts for this person.
  3. Don’t be anxious or go to a place of fear. Philippians 4:6-8. Quietly refocus on God, thanking Him, waiting for His prompting.

As a last resort, you can be honest and admit that your mind is blank and that you have nothing for them. If you still want to give them a prophetic word, you can tell them you will pray and seek God and get back to them, taking their contact details so you can pass on the prophetic word later.

What do you find helpful when you have a ‘blank’ mind when you give someone a prophetic word? I would love to know, so please feel free to comment below.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every blog post I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 foods that are sour, bitter, or have an unpleasant taste. Ask everyone to taste one and while tasting them to ask God who or what the taste reminds them of. Ask God to reveal to them a solution or encouraging word for the person/place.

2. Group Activation: Buy a variety of chocolate/candy bars and display them. Ask people to get into pairs and select a bar for their partner. Give that chocolate/candy bar to their partner and prophesy over them using the name of the chocolate/candy bar.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time with God asking Him what season of life you are in at the moment. Ask God more questions around this eg Is there something God would like you to be doing at the moment, what is His perspective on the season you are in, etc.

4. Intermediate Activation: Find an area in your town where there is a lot of vandalism or crime. Visit that area and ask God to show you His perspective on that area and to give you the words to prophesy into that area’s future and the people who congregate there – into their future.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God what His heart is for abortion clinics in your state or country and the women attending them and for the other options. Prophesy over the alternatives that need to become available for these women. Declare these into being. Ask God what your role is in the process.

I can’t hear God for Myself

I can’t hear God for myself. What do I do?

Have you ever had trouble hearing God for yourself? I have.

Twenty-three years ago, hubby and I asked God where we should church plant. There were so many options. We visited places. Prayed over locations. Tried to break through the fuzz. Made up spreadsheets. Fasted. Prayed. Waited. Waited. Waited.

Ten years ago, as we flew to Queensland for a family holiday, I asked God to reveal to me on the holiday what I should do with nursing. I was nursing in a Coronary Care Unit one to two days a fortnight on weekends whilst home-schooling the kids. Sensing the time for finishing was near, I asked God to confirm it. The dream that first night on holiday was a clincher – give up or it will be taken from you. I hung on, not willing to take the plunge to leave nursing as the money was great and provided for our holidays. Interesting outcome. Not bad. Just a change in the boss several years later meant twenty-five of the best nurses left within seven days.

With big decisions now, I check immediately if God has already asked me to do something, and I haven’t obeyed.

Often, I can find it hard to hear God for myself when I have a significant decision. I can start doubting my ability to hear and sense God.

Sometimes God may appear silent because the options we have given God are all good. My husband was giving prophetic words at a worship gathering on Tuesday evening. A young woman was asking for direction in her life. She couldn’t seem to hear from God. Gary sensed that three doors were opening and each of the three were a good fit. He sensed God saying, “You choose what you want.” The young woman gasped as she had just been presented with three research positions. She had been asking God to show her which one she was meant to take whereas God was saying they are all a great fit – you choose.

I have tried several things to help me when I struggle to hear from God. Usually, I will try an ‘encounter’ with God, as explained in the last two blog posts, to imagine myself positioned with God. Other times, I have attempted to ask God a different question.

I will never forget the first time I decided to ask God a different question. I was driving home from an Anzac Day Service where I had watched my son march with his Air Force Cadet Squadron. Whilst watching the march, I began crying. Not sobbing but crying enough that my response shocked me. Why was I crying? When anything unexpected occurs, I try to ask God:

  • “What did that trigger in me?” or
  • “Why did I respond like that?” or
  • “What’s underneath that emotion?”

Nothing came. My mind was spinning with a thousand thoughts – was it because our son wanted to join the Defence Force, and he may be fighting in a war one day? Was it because…. Numerous what if’s came to mind. But God seemed to be deathly silent.

I sat with it a bit longer, and it suddenly struck me – I think I was asking the wrong question. The more suitable question was, “Was it appropriate the emotion I expressed?” Immediately I heard God’s voice – “Yes. You are extremely grateful for those who served and fought to save this country and your future.”

Try changing the question.

Thus, when people comment that they find it hard to hear God for themselves, my first response is to suggest they ask God a different question.

Have you ever asked God:

  • “What are you NOT saying?”
  • “Why is that God? Please show me more of the background.”
  • “What is your perspective God of where I am right now?”
  • “Why …..?” or “How ….. ?”

We can do several things to clear the communication lines when trying to receive communication from God for ourselves.

Suggestions to implement when you feel a blockage in hearing God for yourself:

  1. The first thing I do is turn my heart and affections to Jesus. I silently worship God. Praise shifts the atmosphere. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”. If you want to enter His presence, see what He is seeing, and hear what He is saying, praise and thanks will do that.
  2. What are you asking God? Can you reframe your question? Are you asking God the wrong question? Are you wanting to hear a specific answer, i.e. treating God like Santa Claus, thus not hearing God because you’re not hearing what you’re desiring?
  3. Change things up a bit. Do something different. Perhaps put on other worship music. Change position or posture. Try spending time with God in nature or a different place. I love going to the beach on a stormy day and ‘feeling’ God in the storm.
  4. Have you been obedient in doing what God has asked of you? If you haven’t been obedient in following through on what God has already asked you to do, how can you expect Him to tell you the next step?
  5. Is there any sin in your life? Sin has a disastrous way of blocking the relationship between God and yourself.
  6. Facilitate an encounter with God. I explained this in the last two blog posts – encountering God part 1 and encountering God part 2. A helpful encounter to try is to imagine yourself under a waterfall. Look around and feel, hear, smell, and see what it is like under that waterfall. Imagine next that that waterfall is God pouring out good stuff over you. What is He pouring over you? Revel in what is flowing over you. Enjoy. Splash around in it. When you finish imagining this, try spending some time just enjoying God for who He is.
  7. Are you prepared to lean into God over a more extended period – fast, meditate, pray, enjoy being with God, spend time listening?
  8. Ask God if there is a lie you are believing. If you perceive there is a lie, ask God to show you the truth.

If there is an issue you are struggling with or are finding it hard to hear God on an ongoing basis, regular prayer ministry enables blockages to be quickly erased.

The key is a vibrant, life-giving relationship with God the Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus.

Next blog post I will explore several suggestions if your mind goes blank when prophesying.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every blog post I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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: Play prophetic ‘duck, duck, goose’. People sit in a circle with their eyes closed. Walk around the outside of the group and tap one person on the shoulder. That person is receiving the prophetic word. Ask everyone else to ask God what He would like to say to this (unknown) person with the scribe taking notes. After 5-6 people have shared, ask the receiver to raise their hand. Pass the written notes to that person for encouragement. Ask them to feed back to the group how accurate the words were, how they made them feel etc. Then repeat the process taping someone else on the head/shoulder.

2. Group Activation: Find a creative way of getting into pairs. Once in pairs, each person asks God for a book title for their partner. It may be an actual book title or a made up title that God wants to give to that person to highlight something about them. Remind people to capture the first thought that goes through their mind and go with that, as long as it is encouraging, strengthening, comforting. Keep asking God questions about the book – fact or fiction, children or adult, what the title means, what you would find in the book etc. Ask them to share with their partners. Set a time limit of three to five minutes total to help people be precise and hear/sense quickly.

3. Beginner Activation: Quieten your heart and focus on God. Then imagine a plane flying overhead with a banner trailing behind it. Look at the banner – what has God written on it just for you? Why? Spend a few moments asking God more questions about the wording and what it means for you. Then ask God to show your imagination the plane flying overhead again with a different banner. This time the banner is for someone else. Ask God who it is for and why. Is there anything else God wants to share with you about this? Ask God if you are meant to share this with the person and when.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight someone to you who politically votes completely differently to you. This activation is not about conflict and trying to change people’s opinions. It is about asking God for a love for this person and for God to show you His heart for the person. Ask God how you are to communicate to the person what He has shown you for them.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God hearing His heart for Australia and her future as the election is tomorrow. Prophecy aloud that which you sense is Australia’s future. Ask God if there is anything else He would have you do eg a prophetic act.

Encountering God part 1

The first time someone asked me to lead a class in an encounter with God, I was terrified. I was teaching at our church’s college on the prophetic (hearing God), and the Co-Ordinator began each session with a time of encountering God. I was okay with experiencing God for myself, but had never led others to encounter Him apart from when I led people to commit to Christ. The Co-Ordinator had always manifested physically, e.g. by shaking or a physical reaction etc when encountering God, and I wasn’t into physical manifestations. I felt out of my depth.

I encouraged my assistant to lead the encounter instead.

Later, as I reflected on leading others to encounter God, various truths replaced the lies in my mind. One truth was that we don’t need to have a physical manifestation to prove that we have encountered God.

God is amazing. He is so unique. So present. So everywhere. God is so concerned with the individual.

God is not a cookie-cutter, releasing the same experience to everyone.

God is never short on time, so He never takes shortcuts and gives the same stuff to everyone in a hurry.

God loves everyone. He desires intimacy and a relationship with us all. God will do virtually anything for us to experience Him.

God is a God of many and the individual.

Thus, it may differ completely from how others encounter God when we encounter God. There is no right or wrong. In saying that, you will know it is not God if it doesn’t meet the character qualities of God. E.g. Satan can masquerade as the angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), so if we see an angel of light that is unkind and unjust or deceiving, that is not God.

How do we know if we have encountered God?

How do we know if we have encountered God–we will be changed. There will always be fruit from the encounter. You may experience peace or joy, or healing. Maybe you feel calmer or have received an answer to a decision. You may feel closer to Jesus. A truth may have ‘popped’ into your head. You may be more aware of God’s presence, power, person, and delight. You may have heard, seen, sensed, or felt God.

Encountering God means you experience God’s Kingdom values–e.g. peace instead of fear. Joy instead of blandness or lack. In an encounter with God, you can often experience movement, whether there is a movement in the grass background or you and Jesus moving, e.g. running together, dancing together. I often experience Jesus leading the way and showing me things. Light and colour will predominately fill the encounter, as they belong to God’s Kingdom.

There will always be good fruit from an encounter with Jesus.

Where can we encounter God?

Anywhere. Wherever God is, there is an opportunity and availability to encounter Him. Encounters are not limited to a church service. I often encounter God walking on the beach or around our neighbourhood. Often, we can experience God unexpectedly, amid pain and suffering, despair, joy and laughter, with friends, or alone. Most times I am showering, or when ironing, I encounter God. I turn my affection to God, my thoughts to God, and imagine myself with Him. He always responds to an invitation to be close to us.

Some examples from the Bible:

The Bible is full of people who encountered God. Saul was an enemy of God with a fierce determination to kill as many Christians as possible. God met him unexpectedly on the road to Damascus in Acts 9 with a blinding light, resulting in Saul becoming blind until Ananias prayed for him and Saul was healed.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah wrote how He encountered God in the year of King Uzziah’s death. He saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on the throne. Above Him were seraphim, each with six wings.

In Numbers 22, the angel of the Lord stood in the middle of the road and stopped the donkey. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord, but Balaam didn’t. Thus, not only people encountered God.

In Acts 2, many people experienced a sound like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven. Tongues of fire rested on them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. It was a time when many people encountered God.

Many people have asked me how they can encounter God regularly as an experience, not just in the initial experience of deciding to follow Jesus. Thus, I will write a series of blog posts outlining simple ways you can encounter God wherever you are.

An encounter experience for you to try:

A simple encounter you may enjoy is meditating on God. I find it easy to do this if I am somewhere comfortable and have music playing softly in the background. I turn my thoughts and affections to God. I imagine myself in a favourite place with Jesus beside me. I then ask Jesus a question and wait for Him to reply. I chat with Jesus about any concerns or queries I have or spend time restfully in His presence.

Many people call this ‘soaking’. A great video that explains this further is a free resource from Beth Kennedy if you sign up for her blog. You can find it here: https://godisgoodstories.com/

In the next blog post, I will unpack encountering God further along with a different experience for you to try. The five prophetic activations listed below will also contain different ways of encountering God.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every blog post I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 paper and drawing supplies. Ask everyone to imagine they are at a park with God. Ask them to draw the scene ie what they are doing and where God is and what He is doing etc. Instead of drawing, you may actually want to go to a park and briefly ask these questions when you arrive. Ask everyone to look to see where God is and what He is doing. Encourage everyone to share.

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs. Each person asks God to show or tell them a weapon He wants to give to their partner and why. Spend a few minutes asking God more questions about the weapon, then share with their partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend a few minutes with God, asking Him what game He would love to play with you. Go with the first thought through your mind and ask further questions of God to understand more fully what game God wants to play with you and why.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to bring to your mind someone who is currently fearful. Ask God to show you His heart towards that person and how God would love you to respond to that person.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you His heart for the people of Ukraine and/or Russia. Spend time asking God further questions about His desires for these countries. Speak aloud a declaration or a prophetic word from your time with God.

Identity part 5

What is one thing you desire to hear? That you are worthy. Loved. Precious. Valued.

As a Christian, what would you love to hear from God?

When we prophesy, we partner with God to communicate His heart to others. We become God’s conduit. When we prophesy, it is as though we are holding up to the person a mirror angled between them and God. When we prophesy, we communicate God’s heart and desires for that person. We are helping them to see and hear what Father God sees and hears and feels about them. When we prophesy, we try to ‘get out of the way’ as much as possible. We try to minimize any of ‘us’ and maximize more of God.

God is far more concerned with our identity and what we think of ourselves than our destiny.

Thus, when we prophesy, identity comes first.

Speak identity first. Then actions, destiny, and influence.

When we believe and are born again, we become perfect in Christ. Our identity changes into spiritual perfection. We are perfectly righteous, perfectly healed, perfect in all ways. Hebrews 10:14 “… he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” or “who are being made holy”.

Our identity can take a while to catch up to how God sees us. Sanctification is the process of understanding and applying to our life and experience who we already are in God’s eyes. Our mind needs renewing to our Biblical identity, and this enables us to become transformed into Christlikeness.

Numerous people in the Bible didn’t see themselves as God viewed them. Gideon, in Judges 6, is a classic. Fearful. Hiding in a winepress. An angel comes and tells him he is a mighty warrior and will save a nation—a direct contradiction to how he saw himself.

In Exodus 3 and 4, Moses is privileged to have an angel of the Lord visit him in a burning bush and God himself dialogue with him. God explained what He required of Moses and how God would make it occur. Moses then replies in Exodus 3:11, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Moses had an identity issue and felt inadequate and unworthy. Yet again, in Exodus 4:10, Moses tries to dissuade God from using him by saying, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Not only did Moses not understand how God works, but He had forgotten who he (Moses) was and his privileged upbringing in Pharoah’s court. Moses did not understand his identity in God’s eyes, and he certainly wasn’t living it out.

Jeremiah was another example. In Jeremiah 1, we read of God calling Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah replies, “I do not know how to speak. I am too young.” Jeremiah did not understand who he was in God’s eyes. He didn’t understand his identity.

Usually, people are not manifesting and living their true identity, not living how God sees them. Prophesying is helping people see themselves through God’s eyes. Then, they can live out their calling. Once they understand who they are, then they can live out their destiny.

When you prophesy, release the person’s identity first to help them understand who they are in God’s eyes. Then, release their destiny. The same goes for prophesying over churches, groups, businesses, cities, nations.

Identity before destiny.

I can remember one of the first times I received a prophecy. It was on a chilly morning as the sun peaked over the horizon in Mozambique. I can remember hearing that my eyes were focused in the eyes of God and that the Lord and I had the same gaze. The prophecy talked about healing, restoration and reconciliation gifts, nation-building, etc, but these all came from my eyes focussed in the eyes of God and us both having the same gaze.

This challenged me to spend time with God. To become more intimate with God. To understand who I was and to focus on God and His gaze.

Identity before destiny.

The world is currently in an identity crisis. People are finding their identity in the wrong places. Fear of man is paramount. Fear is dominating over love in many areas. People need to understand who they are and who’s they are.

Clues to someone lacking understanding of their true identity include:

  • Fear of man
  • Lack of personal confidence and self-worth
  • Insecurity, fearful, jealous, full of doubt
  • Difficulty accepting our strengths and weaknesses
  • Other people set our agenda
  • Unfulfillment
  • Acting in a manner that doesn’t glorify God
  • Seek other’s approval and acceptance
  • Focused on the negative
  • Afraid of being alone or in community
  • Feeling anxious or depressed
  • Believing others are better than yourself
  • Lack of internal peace
  • Habitual or addictive sins through which we seek relief from our fears
  • Sense of inferiority
  • Never admitting we are wrong
  • Meek and compliant
  • Perfectionism
  • Controlling personality
  • Acting differently around different people
  • Fear of comparison, disapproval or rejection
  • Not able to accept compliments

Insecurity is a warning that we are vulnerable to danger. It is a signal that we need to take protective action.

Insecurity is an invitation. God is inviting us to find security in Him instead of in our false beliefs of who we are and what we’re worth, etc. Our identity is who we understand ourselves to be at our core. It needs to be in who God says we are.

Prophecy challenges how we see ourselves and, through a process, upgrades that vision to how God sees us.

When we prophesy, it is essential that:

  • We prophesy from the Father’s heart, with God’s love as our motivation.
  • The content of the prophecy lines up with the character of God.
  • We are not prophesying out of our woundedness or from a personal agenda.

When I give a prophetic word, I like to ask God first, “Father God, how do You see this person?” What are Your thoughts towards this person?” Then I ask God, “What are Your plans for this person?” This usually leads me to speak identity into a person, then destiny. Our destiny comes from our identity.

When we give people a glimpse of their reflection in a mirror that is angled towards God, we open up the potential for someone to discover their true identity.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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:  Play the game ‘headbands’ but with identity statements. Take it in turns writing one word that symbolizes how God sees that person. Don’t let the person see it but place it on their forehead or pin it to a hat that they wear etc. The person has to try to guess what the word is that God sees them as.

2. Group Activation: Give everyone a piece of paper and a pen. Ask them to write a letter to an important person, the names you have but will share with them afterwards. Males write to males, females to females. Ask them to capture God’s heart for that person and the identity, adventure and destiny that God has for that person. At the end, share how that person is themselves ie the letter is for themself from God.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to place a person’s name on your heart who may be struggling with identity. Spend time with God asking Him to show you His heart for that person. Ring them up or write a note to them, sharing what God has revealed to you about them.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you which emergency workers need encouragement. Ask God to show you how to encourage them and what He would love you to do in response.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you His heart for the country of Haiti which earlier today experienced a horrifically damaging earthquake. Ask God how you should prayer and prophesy into their future as a country and for the people.

Identity part 2

Seeing little children revel whilst they play, occasionally glancing towards their parents, warms my heart. These children are safe and secure in their identity. They freely play, unaware of any danger or insecurity. Subconsciously they realize they are part of a ‘bigger’ picture, they belong to others and their security comes from that. They are safe and secure to explore and ‘be’, play, and do because they are connected to their source of security and identity.

On a mission experience overseas, we witnessed time and time again a young, adopted boy wandering off from his parents and the safe compound we lived in. He seemed to have no fear and was often found being cuddled by strangers. Many folks incorrectly commented on how this boy was so secure in his identity. This was a concern for me as that is not security in identity. Instead, it showed a lack of attachment.

When we have children, we name them and give them an identity, both through their name and being in our family. As our children grow, they take on our family values and lifestyle. Our identity is not in isolation. It always comes from being in relationship.

In my last blog post, I challenged readers to look at the starting place of identity by looking at who God is. When we are in relationship with God, we obtain our identity from Him. Thus, we need to know who God is and revel in Him with awe and wonder to then understand who we are, how God made us, and our identity.

A great starting place is in the Bible. In Exodus 34:6-7, God explains who He is. He is compassionate, gracious, patient, loyal, faithful, love, just, forgiving. The Bible is full of who God is.

Once we realize who God is, we receive our inheritance and generational blessings of identity. It is through our identity that we become those attributes of who God is. We can then become compassionate, full of grace and patience, loyal, faithful, just, forgiving, full of love.

Our identity is in who God says we are.

An easy way to discover whom your God is, is to look at who or what determines who you are and what you are worth.

I encourage you this week to spend time with God, gazing in awe at Him and His Majesty. Search your Bible for how God describes Himself and revel in who He is.

Next week, I will further explore identity and who God says we are.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 craft supplies and cut-out cardboard human bodies. Ask everyone to receive from God a picture of who God says they are, then decorate their cardboard cut-outs accordingly.

2. Group Activation: Have blank pieces of paper with each group member’s name at the top. Fold over the name so it is not visible. Pass the sheets around so everyone has one piece of paper each. Ask group member’s to ask God for a statement/sentence of identity for the person whose name is on the paper. Once written on the paper, fold the paper again so the writing isn’t visible and pass the paper to the person on their left. Repeat several times. Then ask everyone to unfold the paper and read out the identity statements over the person at the top of the paper they are holding.

3. Beginner Activation: Gather writing and drawing supplies and sheets of paper. Spend time with God, reading His Word, documenting His character attributes, revelling in Him with awe and wonder. Then ask God to show you who He says you are. Listen, watch and sense as to who He says your identity is.

4. Intermediate Activation: Spend time revelling in God and His majesty with awe and wonder. Ask God to highlight someone to you who is struggling with their identity. Ask God to show you how He sees them. Communicate this appropriately to the person.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you a ruling family (whether constitutional or governmental) who are struggling with their identity. Spend time with God, seeking His heart for this family and its leaders and their true identity. Proclaim their true identity and ask God if He wants you to communicate this to them and how.

Identity part 1

People can become infatuated with being called a prophet.

I regularly get contacted by people who want to explore their prophetic identity or say they are a prophet. Just because you call yourself a prophet, or have that title, does not make you a prophet.

Being a prophet is not your identity. It is purely a function.

My response is to encourage them to explore their identity as a child of God first. Your identity is not in being a prophet. Prophetic identity is living out the essence of who God has called you to be. It is vital we don’t get caught up in wanting to be recognized as having a prophetic gifting, or even worse, as a prophet. This is similar for anyone who has a gifting and allows that gifting to become their identity, e.g. evangelist, Pastor, etc.

Unfortunately, our world looks at the exterior and titles and thinks it is fabulous. What you, or others, call you does not enamour God. He is enamoured with you and who He made you to be.

We don’t prophesy to become someone special or a so-called prophet. We prophesy from a place of knowing who we are and whose we are.

We prophesy out of our identity, not to build our identity.

People can easily become caught up in their gifting as their identity and see people through the lens of their gifting instead of purely loving them.

We need to get caught up in being a child of God. In living our lives for God and allowing everything to flow from that.

The Oxford Dictionary defines identity as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.”.

Who you believe you are is so foundational. Similarly, who you are becoming.

Our identity answers the question, “Who has God created me to be?”. Our identity does not answer the question, “What am I to do?”. That is a destiny question that follows from identity, but our doing is not our being (identity). When we get our sense of identity from what we do, then the very essence of who we are, our core being, becomes vulnerable and unstable. When an unexpected event occurs with what we do e.g. lose our job, fail a course, our identity and self-worth can fracture.

This past fortnight has been a significant time in our family. One of our children was on a challenging promotional course for thirteen days. On the morning of graduation, they found out they had failed one small section, which meant they had not passed the course. After the graduation ceremony, this child’s identity shone through as they declared that even though they were disappointed, it wasn’t final; they would try again next time. This child realized they were no less a person because of that failure. This child showed resilience and security in who they were as a child of God with how they handled the disappointment.

So often, when we look at our identity, we start with ourselves. We examine what the Bible says about us eg Psalm 139:13-18 and how we were created.

Imagine, though, if we began with looking at God and taking our identity from God and how He sees us. When we start with God and look at our identity through God’s eyes, we have a solid base.

Over the next few weeks, I will unpack what it looks like having a solid identity in God.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 craft supplies eg stickers, glue, textas, and cardboard crowns. Ask each person to decorate a crown for themself, writing on the crown a word that God gives them that describes how He sees them. Orchestrate a special time of placing each person’s crown on their head, declaring over them the identity God has bestowed on them.

2. Group Activation: Spend time as a group hearing from God about your identity as a group. Craft a group identity statement.

3. Beginner Activation: Go to your food supply and ask God to highlight an item of food. Select that item of food and look at it carefully, asking Him to show you how that item of food relates to your identity. Spend time with God asking Him to reveal more about your identity.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a local street/place that has a high rate of crime. Ask God to show you His heart for that street/place and what He would love your response to that street to be.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him to show you your nation’s physical and spiritual identity. Ask God to show you how He would love you to respond.

Visual Reminders for the Prophetic

This week I am teaching on the prophetic at our Church’s College. Whenever I teach, I love to vary my style as I realize that not everyone learns the same way. Home-schooling two children, now teenagers, one auditory and kinetic and the other visual, has helped me realize that my role as a teacher is to help people learn in the style which resonates with them.

Visual cues help reinforce our teaching point so much more effectively.

Thus, I have created some ‘party bags’ for each student to help solidify the purpose and aims of prophesying to others,

Each bag contains:

  • Heart-shaped sunglasses

Love is the basis for communicating God’s heart to others.

  • Key attached to a (photocopied) computer ESC key

The key to prophesy is found in 1 Corinthians 14:3, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort”. E.S.C. If it is not encouraging, comforting, or strengthening, then we shouldn’t communicate it.

  • Packet of extremely sour and sweet lollies

When we communicate God’s heart to others, we want to leave a ‘sweet’ taste in their mouth. We do not want a lingering sour taste.

  • Water pistol

When we prophesy, we are called to hit the target that God has placed on their life. We need to be specific and not vague when we communicate precisely that which God has shown us for that person.

  • Party bubbles

When we prophesy, we create an atmosphere of heaven for that person. Are we communicating with love, acceptance, joy?

  • Party poppers

God delights in every person. Communicating God’s amazing heart to each person and His delight in them is essential.

  • Gold coin

Each person is of intense value to God and how we communicate this to them helps them discover their true identity.

  • Australian tattoo

We are Australian. That is who we are. An Australian tattoo symbolises our identity. Part of prophesying is calling people into their full identity as sons and daughters of God.

  • Ring

Assisting people to realise their full authority as a child of the most High God is so vital. The ring symbolises that which the Father placed on the Prodigal Son’s finger, signifying full identity and authority as the Father’s child.

  • Wand / sceptre

Part of prophesying is identifying each person’s calling and destiny, encouraging them in their God-given authority and purpose.

  • Candle

As we prophesy, we release God’s heart for that person’s future. We desire to light a fire, or fan the flame brighter for their destiny.

  • Trophy

Each person has their race to run. The trophy symbolises enabling them to see, through our prophesying, the race they are called to run and finish.

There was one piece missing as I couldn’t find any in our local shops; that of a party favour parachute soldier. The prophetic, whether words, pictures, songs, can be like a soldier parachuting into enemy territory. It can get into places where we can’t naturally get to and change a person’s (especially a non-Christian’s) thoughts about themselves and God.

What are your thoughts?

What other items may you have included to help them remember what prophecy is about?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment or let me know.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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:  Buy a selection of party favours and ask each person present to select one. Then ask them to ask God to show or tell them why they selected that object and how it relates to them.

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs and ask God “If my partner was immortalised in a museum, what would the blurb say about them?” Then share with your partner.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time with God and ask Him what does He most love about you right at this instant? What is on His heart for you at the moment?

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God which missionary does He want you to encourage and either write, draw or give a prophetic gift to.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to put you in touch with either a member of the armed forces or a returned soldier and prophesy over their life.

What to do with your Prophetic Words part 5

Prophecy does not end as soon as you have received a prophetic word. It is only the beginning. Prophecy is powerful, and your responsibility as the recipient is to activate it in your life.

Reading through Jeremiah in the Bible recently, I was challenged about my prophetic words, particularly working towards the fulfilment of them.

In Jeremiah 1:12 it says: “The Lord said to me, ‘You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled’.” Sure, that was speaking of a particular time in Israel’s history, but I am sure that God still watches to see what we will do with the prophetic words spoken over our lives.

When we actively pursue that which God has communicated to us, how it must thrill God’s heart. Alternatively, when we are overwhelmed with the enormity and allow that to stagnate us or when we procrastinate in working towards the fulfilment of our prophetic words, I wonder how God feels.

Sometimes those prophecies can seem so vast and impossible that we almost disregard them and thus do not carry out any action towards the fulfilment of them. Other times, we can become side-tracked.

My purpose in explaining the steps in ‘What to do with your prophetic words’ is so you can take delight in becoming who God is calling you to be and impacting the world for that which He created you.

In what area of your life is God watching to see that you fulfil His word in your life?

Over the last four blog posts, I have explained the benefits of having a prophetic word, the first steps to take when you receive a prophetic word, and how to identify your identity words and destiny words from your prophecies and work with them. This blog post addressed the practicalities of implementing your prophetic words into your everyday life.

At the end of the last blog post, I encouraged you to dream with God. To imagine what your future may look like if your prophetic words came true. You were encouraged to:

  • Get your notes from that session and highlight the steps you will need to take to get from where you are to where you will be once you fulfil your prophetic words.
  • List the practical things that you would need to grow in.
  • Look at the first 2-3 steps you would need to take. Write them down. Ask God to impress on you the way forward. You need to take responsibility to action these steps. You can’t expect God to pluck you out of your current circumstances and land you right in your fulfilled prophecy. You may find it helpful to grab another sheet of paper and draw the steps and label them.

List your next 3 steps.

We need to be intentional in who we are becoming and what we are doing. It can be overwhelming when we have too many options. Thus, narrow down your responsibility at this moment by:

  • Writing the first three steps you need to take.
  • Writing a date, beside each step, when you hope to have accomplished this.
  • Highlighting that which is under God’s control in one colour and that which is under your control in another colour.
  • Look at what you need to stop doing in your life to allow you time, finance and energy to accomplish this.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What is the difference between where I am now and where I need to be to fulfil this prophetic word?
  • What obstacles are ahead of me?
  • How do I overcome these obstacles?
  • What are the things under God’s control?
  • What are the things under my control?
  • Do I have enough faith to carry out what God is asking me?
  • How can I increase my faith for this assignment?
  • What practical skills do I need to gain?
  • What areas of my character need growing/changing?
  • How am I going to do that?
  • What provisions/finances do I need to carry this assignment out?
  • What opportunities/invitation do I have to grow in?
  • What area of my relationship with God is He inviting me to grow in?
  • What is my next step?
  • Is there anything I need to stop doing so I have time, finances, and energy to do this next step?
  • Is there anyone I need to connect with for assistance, development, acquiring skills or qualifications?

Accountability:

I have found that the times in my life when I get someone else to hold me accountable for some goals I have set, I achieve those goals. Needing to meet with someone else and knowing they will ask me how I am going in certain areas helps to keep me accountable and ploughing towards where I am hoping to be. I also find that it is helpful if that person is a person of prayer and will support me by praying for me.

If you have a mentor, it is fantastic to give them a copy of your prophetic words and your next steps so they can see where God is calling you and how to assist.

Who are you going to ask to hold you accountable as you work towards fulfilling these first three steps in seeing your prophetic word come to fruition?

Craft a prophetic declaration.

Every time we speak, we are creating an atmosphere and an outcome. Our words can bring life and power. We can use our words to bring a breakthrough into our current situation. We can speak truth into the atmosphere and engage our future with who God says we are becoming and what we will be doing.

The Bible says a lot about our use of words:

  • Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
  • Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
  • Romans 4:17 “…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

What we decree and declare brings life and power. Decreeing and declaring speak of commanding, ordering, bringing into being, agreeing in the spiritual to change the physical. Write a prophetic declaration about who you are becoming and what you will be doing.

I encourage you to keep your declaration short and to the point. When I restrict my declaration to a few sentences, I can easily memorize it and speak it over myself numerous times each day. I also write it out and stick it on the bathroom mirror so that when I look in the mirror, I see my declaration and speak it over myself.

I also encourage you to write your declarations in the first person eg “I am a prayer warrior. I will bring healing to ….”

Look at your sheet of paper and choose the words that speak of your identity and calling. Put those words into a declaration.

I begin like this. “I decree and declare that God sees me as….

My calling and purpose in life is…..

I decree and declare that God wants to be …… for me during this season.”

Once you have written your declaration, I encourage you to find a place where you can say your declaration aloud. Practice saying it aloud several times. Then shout it out. I suggest you also find a place where you can be elevated while you shout out your declaration. This changes the atmosphere and engages your spirit differently. When we do this, we are partnering with God’s intentions for our future and helping Him create it. When we declare our future in the same way, the same tone, the same intentionality, and certainty as God declares it, our spirit engages and comes alive.

Finally, write your summary:

  • My decree and declaration
  • The next three steps I need to take.
  • What I need to stop doing to make time to pursue this.
  • Who I need to hold myself accountable to in this journey.
  • Suggested dates for review.
  • Set aside time in your diary to sit with God and review how it is going, read over your prophetic words again, pray through it all.

Saturate all this with prayer and worship, spending time with God, asking Him to reveal more through this process. Enjoy the journey!!

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 batch of biscuits and make icing in several different colours. Gather piping tools for writing with icing. Encourage everyone to sit around the table and decorate a biscuit for various people eg each family member. Ask God to show what word, design, colour to decorate each individual biscuit with that communicates how God sees that person. Then distribute the biscuits to those people. Enjoy eating the biscuits and chatting about how God sees them.

2. Group Activation: Ask everyone to bring a gift beginning with the letter ‘B’. Encourage people to get into pairs. Every person has 1 minute to give their partner the gift plus prophesy over them about how that gift relates to them and how God sees them and their future.

3. Beginner Activation: Open your phone/computer and type ‘song heart’ into search. Ask God to highlight one of the song titles that appear on your screen. Spend time with God unpacking that song title and how applicable it is to your life. As God to reveal His perspective on that to you and His heart for you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Spend time with God seeking Him for His view on your partner or close friend. Ask God to reveal something significant to you about this person and their future. Lean into God and ask Him to flesh it out more for you, together with implications and when you are to share it with this person.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him for His heart on COVID-19, especially in regard to a vaccine etc. Ask God to download to you more about this and the future of your area in regard to COVID-19. Ask God to show you whether you are meant to share this with anyone and, if so, with whom.

What to do with your Prophetic Words part 4

In the previous few blog posts, I have looked at what to do with your prophetic word concerning using it to contend with your current situation, the initial steps when you receive a prophecy, and how to get the most out of it regarding your identity. This blog post looks at what your prophetic word is saying about your calling and purpose and how to extrapolate that out of your prophetic word.

When we returned from Mozambique six years ago, we looked at the fact that our 8-year-old daughter had prophetic words over her life about healing people in the natural and supernatural. We realized that we couldn’t just wait until she was 21 and expect her to start praying for people and seeing healings. We had a responsibility to place her in situations to steward her growth and development in this. Thus, our family joined our church’s Healing Rooms Team, where we would all get experience and training praying for people for healing. For the first five years we were involved in this, there were minimal children on the team i.e. mostly one other girl.

Were my kids happy about being involved? Not always, mainly because there weren’t many other kids, although my daughter loved catching up with the other girl and looked forward to the times being with her. Were we tempted many times to stop doing this as a family because it was hard? Yes, but we hung in there. Now there are at least 15 children/teenagers on the team, and our kids look forward to going. My daughter has seen God heal so many times that she now expects God to heal and that He wants to heal. God and healing are synonymous.

In relation to your prophetic words, let’s now look at how to find what they are saying about your calling and purpose.

Steps to identifying your calling and purpose:

  • Grab a copy of your prophetic words, some highlighters, a blank sheet of paper and pens.
  • Read through your prophetic word, this time highlighting all the words that talk about:
    • your future
    • your purpose
    • action or ‘doing’ words (as against ‘being’ words)
    • where you are likely to be in the future or what you are likely to be doing
  • As you did with your identity words, read through your prophetic word again and look for words or themes that are repeated, or emphasized.
  • Grab the blank piece of paper and a pen and then write down all the highlighted words.
  • If you have several prophetic words, do this for them all. Highlight:
    • any exact wording
    • common themes
    • stuff that leaps out at you
    • resonates with your soul
    • any words that confirm what God has already been chatting with you about
  • Do not forget to highlight anything that conflicts with what God has already shown you.
    • Look at why it appears to be in conflict with what you already know.
    • Is it a conflict or an enlarging of what you already know?
    • Is it something you need to ‘shelve’ for a period of time?
    • Does it carry the ‘heart’ of God, or is it against God’s character?
    • Is it a conflict or a different way of looking at something God is revealing to you?

Spend time with God seeking His heart on anything that appears to be conflicting.

  • Look for any specific words that talk about where, what, who with, etc. Circle them so they stand out. Use your sheet of paper to mark and highlight important aspects.
  • Take particular note of any character words. Our calling is not in isolation. It is very dependent on our character. Clues to this can be found in who God wants to be for us in this next stage/season of our life. Look for any words along this line. God is a relational God, so He wants to come with us on the journey we are embarking on. He wants to play an essential role in this journey, so look for clues as to who He wants to be for us. Another way of looking at it is ‘what is God wanting to provide for me on this journey?’

Personal prophecy is conditional. It is dependent on us co-operating with God and becoming who He wants us to become. Usually this requires a step up in our character or skills or identity. Does anything come to mind immediately regarding this? Take a moment to ask God to highlight anything to you where you need to go on a character journey.

Spend time dreaming with God.

  • Spend time just being with God, dreaming or imagining what the future may look like for you if these prophetic words come true.
  • What steps will you need to take to get from where you currently are to where you will be?
  • Write down practical things that you would need to grow in.
  • Continue spending time with God over the next few days dreaming and brainstorming with God about these steps.
  • Look at the first 2-3 steps you would need to take. Write them down. Ask God to impress on you the way forward. You need to take some responsibility to action these steps. You can’t expect God to pluck you out of your current circumstances and land you right in your fulfilled prophecy. You may find it helpful to grab another sheet of paper and draw the steps and label them.

In the next blog post, we will look at crafting a prophetic declaration and how to action your next steps.

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God 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 the names of everyone present on separate pieces of paper and place in a hat. Ask each person to pick a piece of paper out. The person’s name on the paper is who they will ask God to share with them which cake mix that person reminds God of and why. Ask everyone to share with the group.

2. Group Activation: Ask everyone to bring a small but significant / meaningful object from home. Place all the objects together. Ask each person to choose an object and prophesy over the person it belongs to.

3. Beginner Activation: Look for a key in your home that you don’t normally use that often. Spend time with God asking Him what is on His heart for that key and what it opens. Ask God to then enlarge your vision and see what He has to say about your next step and an opening that may occur.

4. Intermediate Activation: Find someone wearing a mask (during this time of COVID-19). Ask God to show you His heart for the person and how that relates to the mask they are wearing. Ask God if the colour / pattern / design are influential in what He reveals to you. Ask God if you are to release what God has shown you to the person. If so, find an appropriate way to let the person know God’s thoughts towards them, being aware of the language you use.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him to show you a bully in your life – whether personal, family, neighbourhood, church, Government etc. Ask God to show you His heart and purpose for this person and your part to play in the ‘bully’s’ life or future. Declare out aloud God’s intentions for this person, finishing with a blessing as you call them higher.