How to Keep Your Healing

I love praying for people for healing and seeing them healed. I have seen some major sickness healed eg cancer, person requiring a heart-lung transplant receive some major healing and was no longer sick enough for the transplant list, broken bones healed, eyesight restored etc. I have also seen numerous ‘minor’ illnesses healed. I have also prayed for people at times when their healing was not instantaneous or seemingly they were not healed at all.

Through my journey over the last ten years on praying for people to be healed, I have noticed some common elements when people are healed but later find that their symptoms return, almost like they have ‘lost their healing’. This can be very disheartening for everyone concerned. Thus, I have composed a pamphlet to give to people when they receive prayer for healing. Feel free to download it and print it off and give it out to people you pray for.  https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A9770016c-ea67-43b7-aeb6-5043cb648b8e

Alternatively, you can email me at: [email protected] and I will send you a copy of the pamphlet.

Below I have also listed the details from the pamphlet.

 

What do we know about healing:

God desires that we are physically healed. He also desires that once we are healed, we keep our healing.

Jesus took all our sicknesses and diseases (Mark 8:17. Isaiah 53:4-5). We don’t need to bare them too. Our role is to thank God that He carried them for us.

  • God is a good God no matter what. We don’t have all the answers but God remains good. Learning to live with the mystery is part of the journey.
  • God desires that we are all healed.
  • You do not have to be a Christian to be supernaturally healed.
  • God uses medicine to heal people as well as using supernatural miracles.
  • We have found that forgiveness can help aid the process of healing but it is not 100% dependent on it.
  • There is no formula or one true method for healing with God.
  • Don’t blame God for your sickness. God is not the author of your sickness. Sickness does not come from heaven. Sickness is not a blessing.
  • Sickness and pain is not your identity. Your identity is in Christ and you are His Royal son/daughter.
  • Believe you are healed.
  • God is always ready to have an encounter with you now and heal you.

 

Bible verses on healing:
Use the Bible verses below to mediate on and build your faith. Declare them out aloud whilst you wait for your complete healing and thank God that He is healing you.

  • Exodus 15:26 “For I am the Lord who heals you.”
  • Psalm 103:2-3 “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
  • Jeremiah 30:17 “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.” declares the Lord.”
  • Isaiah 53:5 “…and by His wounds, we are healed.”
  • Matthew 8:17 “Jesus took our sicknesses and bore our diseases”.
  • Matthew 14:35-36 “…People brought all their sick to Jesus and begged Him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”
  • Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
  • Mark 16:18 “They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.”
  • John 10:10 “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
  • John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in My name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
  • James 5: 14-15 “Is any one of you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.”

 

What should I do if I was healed but my symptoms return?

It is one thing to receive healing from God. It is another thing to maintain that healing. Having symptoms return after healing is not uncommon and it can be really confusing, discouraging and scary. But it doesn’t mean that you didn’t get healed or you did something wrong.  Stay calm and don’t be intimidated.

  • Worship God and focus on God. Do not focus on your symptoms.
  • Build your faith. Chase after God’s heart yourself. Start reading the Bible verses on healing. Declare out aloud that you have been healed.
  • Usually when the symptoms return, your first thought is “I thought God healed me. I guess He didn’t after all”. When you say or think that, you are opening a door for the devil to come in and bring the symptoms back to you. Thus, you need to change your thinking. Instead, start saying out aloud, “I am healed. I am completely healed through Jesus Christ.”
  • Don’t agree with the symptoms. Tell the symptoms to leave. You have been healed and you need to live as though you are. Do not accept the symptoms back. Tell them to leave in the name of Jesus. “I resist sickness in Jesus’ name. Symptoms and sickness you must leave. In the name of Jesus Christ, I exercise authority over my body. Sickness and disease, I refuse to allow you to stay. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Satan, you have no right to trespass on God’s property. Now get out. Leave my body.“
  • Be aware of what you say in everyday life. The words you speak are powerful. If you say, “My back is killing me”, don’t be surprised if your back ‘kills you’. If you say, “I’m not healed yet”, you won’t receive your healing. Start saying the positive “God has healed me and is continuing to heal me”.
  • Look for keys, promises and prophetic words that were spoken over you during the prayer time. Declare these out aloud. Meditate on them.
  • Please feel free to receive more prayer.

 

Should I stop taking my medicine?

NO – definitely do not stop taking your medicine until you have seen your Doctor and he/she advises you to stop taking it. This is really important. We are not medical doctors.

Taking your medicine will not “unheal you” if God has healed you, so let the doctor be the one to take you off your medication. This is not doubt or unbelief and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s just wise and sensible. If God has healed you, the doctor will be able to confirm it.

 

An attitude of expectation and thankfulness:

A key to healing is expectation and thankfulness. Jesus can’t help but show up when we talk about Him. When we focus on Jesus and what He is doing with thankfulness, we always see increase. The important thing is to focus on what God is doing, not on what He is not doing. Focus on what God is doing – pain decreased, you felt peace or a warmth or you can move more freely.

Expect healing and start thanking God for it. Keep checking yourself out in regard to being able to do something physically you couldn’t do before. Thank God for what He is doing. Eg “Thank you Jesus for healing my knee. Thank you that the pain has decreased. Thank you that I can walk more freely. Thank you for always finishing what you start. I give you permission to continue working on my knee.”

If you only received a partial healing or you weren’t healed instantly, walk away with the expectation and faith that Jesus is doing something in you.

Always feel free to ask for more prayer.

 

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: Ask God to show you someone you know who needs healing. Ask God to show you how to go about this and what to do. Then do it and watch what happens.

2. Group Activation: Select an issue that affects your community eg abortion or mental illness. Wait on God as a group and ask Him to show you how to best pray for and prophesy into this issue for your community. Have a time of sharing what you are feeling, thinking, hearing. Then, as a group, begin to pray and prophesy, practicing flowing as one and praying/ prophesying/ blessing along a similar thread.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you something you need healing for. Then spend time with God asking Him His perspective on this and how to go about praying for your own healing in this area.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to bring to your mind someone who has recently had someone close to them die. Ask God to show you how to best pray for them and prophesy into their situation.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you which hospital to focus on. Then ask God to show you how to bless this hospital, the staff and the patients in it and to prophesy over their future.

How dare you pray that!!

Whilst sitting in my car waiting for my son to finish swimming squad, I glanced over and saw a young mum rushing with her two girls into the swimming centre. My gaze concentrated on the fact that this mum had scoliosis and a hip issue and was bent really forward at the waist to the point it looked really awkward to walk, along with a limp. My first thought was “I wonder if she would let me pray for her as she could be healed.”

My second thought was “Jane, don’t be so presumptuous. You have no idea of her situation and even if she wants healing. You need to spend time with her first.”

My mind then immediately went back to two events that stood out for me in regard to praying for others.

Firstly, I was helping at a weekly meal for people who were struggling. I had formed some good friendships with the folk, many who had mental illness or psychiatric issues. I had been able to speak into their lives and also pray for a number of them and had seen a number of them pray for each other. One guy in particular had become very open about his life with me as we realised I knew a number of people from his childhood. On the evening he had been released from hospital after a psychiatric episode resulting in an admission to Intensive Care, I had turned up at the boarding house with a friend and a load of food for him as he was too frail to come to the weekly meal. As I chatted with this guy this evening, he shared with me that God had healed him of at least 5 major physical health issues. I commented that the only thing left for God to heal was his psychiatric illness. This guy went quiet for awhile before speaking. He then shared that he didn’t really want God to heal that as it would mean too many changes for him and he would also lose the disability pension.

I was shocked.

I had never even considered that.

I presumed that this guy, and everyone else, desired to be totally healed and live an amazing life, in my viewpoint.

If my friend was healed of his psychiatric illness, the change to how he lived would be enormous. He would lose his disability pension. He would lose his room at the boarding house. He would need to find a job and earn money. How he viewed himself would change. His identity would change.

Sometimes, this can be too much for someone and they do not want the ‘healing’ that we would love to see them walk in.

The second event that stood out to me was when I was in a conference and the guest speaker identified a person with a very obvious physical disability. The speaker spoke to this person and shared how God wanted to heal this person completely but the choice was this person’s, as the healing would change their whole life and they would lose certain things from their life, and gain other things. This person chose not to be healed of this physical condition.

I was flabbergasted at several things, including how this was addressed in public but also that this person chose not to be healed.

Please don’t become presumptuous in how you view others and the opportunity for healing. We can fall into judging others lifestyle by what we see physically and comparing that to our physical lifestyle.

A key in praying for other people is to always ask what they would like prayer for. What they would like Jesus to do for them. What may seem obvious to you may not be their top priority for an answer to prayer.

A second key in praying for other people is to treat people with kindness and compassion, not an opportunity to ‘fix’ them with Jesus. Everyone is a person. Everyone is someone who deserves respect and kindness and to be treated with compassion.

I’m currently writing a 30 day devotional based on how Jesus ministered to folk according to the Gospel of Mark. As I read Mark’s Gospel, the one thing that stands out over and over again is how Jesus treated everyone with compassion. They were not an object. They were not a physical deformity. Each person was worth stopping for. Each person was significant and deserved to be treated with respect.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Please feel free to comment below.

 

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: Brainstorm with your family someone whom they know is sick or requires healing. Ask God to show you how to go about praying for them and what God would love you to do. Draw a picture for the person and give it to them.

2. Group Activation: Get into pairs and ask God to reveal to each other’s partner what part of their health God would like to address for their partner. Then check with your partner which area of their health they would like prayer and prophesy for and see if it is the same health issue. Ask God to show you what to pray and prophesy over this area that your partner wishes to receive prayer for. Check for any healing or response.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to highlight to you an injured or sick person today. When you notice this person, ask this person if you could pray for them and ask them what they would like prayer for. Then pray for them and prophesy over their illness or injury.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight to you someone in the news who has an illness. Spend time with God asking Him to show you more about this person and their illness and what He would want you to do about it. If there is something God highlights to you that He wants you to do something about, press in further and ask God to show you how, when and what and to open the door for this to occur. Prophesy over the person and their health.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to highlight to you a health issue that affects many people in your nation. Spend time hearing God’s heart on this issue and prophesy God’s heart in regard to the healing of this health issue.

Is your vision clear or cloudy?

Sitting in the car at the beach, looking out over the bay, the rain was pounding down outside. I was enjoying the atmosphere of the sound and the feeling of God being in control of the pounding waves. Seeing the relentless waves breaking upon the shore, I slowly noticed something.

The windscreen was hard to see through.

This began to rob me of some of my enjoyment and of my being able to experience the completeness of the stormy picture.

Because the rain was pounding so hard, if I didn’t turn on the windscreen wipers, I couldn’t see anything but the pounding rain.

 

I needed to clear the windscreen to see beyond.

 

What’s your ‘windscreen’ or vision like today? Is it cloudy or clear? Could it be better?

Sometimes our relationship with God and our prophesying can be like my windscreen – a bit foggy. Maybe not as clear as it could be. Maybe something is impairing the sight slightly. Maybe we can see some but not as much of the picture as would be ideal. Maybe we can see close by but not into the distant.

When that happens, who are we robbing?

  • Ourselves
  • God
  • The people we meet whom God is desiring to communicate to…

Prophesying can be like looking through a windscreen to see something beyond. Sometimes we can see the full picture, other times our vision can be impaired for some reason or we can’t see the full picture. Sometimes another person can help fill in the complete picture or more of the picture.

1 Corinthians 13:9 says “For we know in part and we prophesy in part”. Yes, God sees the full picture and we don’t have that ability to be all knowing and all seeing. But please do not let that be an excuse for letting your ‘windscreen’ get, or remain, foggy so that you are impaired from prophesying to your full ability with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, we all need to take action to clear our windscreen, clear our vision. Some seasons can be harder and can require more effort to keep the windscreen clear and clean.

What action do you need to take today?

  • Spend time just worshipping God.
  • Confess sin.
  • Change an action that’s not quite right.
  • Get stuck into reading the Bible and finding what He has to say to you in His Word.
  • Listen to God and wants He wants to share with you.
  • Develop your intimacy and friendship with Father God, Holy Spirit, and Jesus.
  • Apologise to someone for your part in the relationship that is no longer right.
  • Enjoying hanging out with God with no ulterior purpose than to enjoy being with God.
  • Have a good sleep.
  • Spend time praying in the Spirit.
  • Turn off certain tv programs, stop reading certain books, stop listening to junk, or stop playing certain games that are not beneficial or that don’t encourage purity.

What is your vision like today?

I would love to know what you do to ‘reset’ when your vision is a tad cloudy. Please feel free to drop me a line or comment below on my blog.

 

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: Pass out several sheets of paper and crayons / textas to everyone. Ask everyone to draw or write on a piece of paper the stuff in their life that is putting a barrier up between them and God. Then burn, or destroy, each piece of paper. Have fun praying with your kids to cleanse everyone’s mind, dreams, imagination and heart. Then ask God to show everyone present what things they need to change or do differently to keep clean imaginations. Draw a picture each to represent this. Finish up with asking the children to pray over the adults and share what God is telling them about each adult.

2. Group Activation: Ask people to pair up. Give out pieces of paper and crayons / textas. Ask people to listen, see, feel what they sense God is communicating about a big issue that their partner is facing at the moment. Then ask them to prophesy over their partner by drawing how God sees that issue in their life in 3 years time. Allow ten minutes then ask people to give the drawing to their partner and explain the picture.

3. Beginner Activation: Put on some worship music that allows you to focus on God. Spend time getting ‘lost’ in the presence and beauty of God. Cultivate your ‘awe’ of God and His goodness. Finish by asking God what He would like to share with you and wait for His response. Try and journal God’s response and your reaction.

4. Intermediate Activation: Think about the biggest issue you are facing at the moment. Ask God to share with you His perspective on this issue and His timing. Ask God to show you the picture of this issue several years down the track. Ask God to reveal to you the next couple of steps you need to take to get from now to the picture several years down the track.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to reveal to you something about your nation’s finances that God would want you to know so that you can decree and declare God’s way forward in your nation’s economy.

What if I get it wrong when I Prophesy?

I have seen a number of people almost paralysed with fear when it comes to prophecy. The fear of getting it wrong or mishearing what God is communicating can be paralysing to some people and is enough to prevent them from stepping out and having a go.

One of the most common questions I get asked is “What if I get it wrong when I prophesy?”

Personally I don’t think it is the right question to ask. This question makes it all about me. What if  “I”  get it wrong?

Prophesy is not a performance. It is not about us. We are the conduit that is acting for that brief period of time between God and the person being prophesied over. It’s like helping someone unwrap a present from God for themself.

Sure, our ‘conduit’ can be mucky with sin or not hearing, seeing, sensing God correctly or to the fullest, but we can still be a conduit to the best of our ability. This also means that we need to represent Father God correctly – in our manner, the way the prophecy is conveyed plus the words we use. When we prophesy, we also convey the heart of God.

It is a great practice to never say “God told me….”. Instead, it is far more effective, more correct and less spiritually abusive to say “I have a sense that ….” No matter who we are, we are not perfect and we are not God. Thus, we need to be careful to not communicate that we are God, that we are a perfect ‘filter’ and the word we have released is a perfect representation of what Father God wants that person to know.

If you are scared that you may get the prophetic word wrong, stop looking at yourself and start looking to God. Get your eyes on God and your thoughts on God. Shift your thinking.

1 Corinthians 14:3 says that prophecy is always encouraging, comforting and strengthening. If what you communicate to someone else is encouraging, comforting and strengthening, then if perhaps you mis-hear God slightly, you have still encouraged and comforted the person.

I find that when I ask God for His heart for the person, He always shows or tells me something for them.

 

The starting point is always God, not yourself.

 

It is a privilege to be part of the process of releasing a prophetic word. In the Bible in Numbers 22-23, God used a donkey. If we don’t step up to the occasion, God will still get the message to the person but will use someone else or another means, even a donkey!!

 

How can I be the cleanest or purist conduit I possibly can be:

  1. Decrease the amount of ‘junk’ in my life.

Be careful with what I see, what I read, what I listen to, who I am around. What goes in to our mind and heart, will come out.

  1. Keep short accounts with God

Run from sin. Deal with sin quickly. Confess sin. Repent. Make restitution. Forgive quickly and completely. Then change my behaviour, my attitudes, my thoughts, my patterns.

Ultimately, God can easily bypass us and go straight to the person and this is what we need to encourage – people hearing from God for themselves. People spending time with God, reading His Word, chatting with God, listening to Him for themselves.

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: Have a present pre-wrapped and place in the middle of the table. Hand out paper and crayons, pens etc. Let everyone choose someone whom they think God would like to give a present to. Then ask them to imagine from God what is in that present to the person they selected. Draw or write on your sheet of paper what that is. Then give the paper to the person concerned, explaining what it is.

2. Group Activation: Ask people to get into pairs. Have a large bag in the middle of the room. Ask everyone to imagine themselves putting their hand into the bag and pulling something out of the bag from God for their partner. Encourage people to ask God further questions about what they pulled out of the bag and why. Allow people a few minutes then ask them to share with their partner what they pulled out and anything else God showed them about it.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you three books in your imagination. The three books represent your past, your present and your future. Ask God to show you the title of each book. Ask God any further questions you may have about those book titles.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you someone who is angry. Ask God to then show you His heart for them and what He would have you pray or communicate to this person.

5. Advanced Activation: Identify a local area where crime is a huge issue. Begin to seek God for His heart for that area. Begin to bless that area. Ask God to give you a prophetic word for that area. Even go to that area and begin to bless it, talk to people there, prophesy over the people you meet there. Decree and declare God’s heart for that area. Release joy over the area.

Our Responsibility when Prophesying

DiggingI was tired. We had had a late night the night before. I had had an extremely busy week. I was on the team prophesying in pairs to individuals after the church service. I love prophesying and seeing people get a taste of what God thinks of them and His heart for them and how it can impact them greatly. I love helping to ‘unlock the gold’ within each person. This morning, we had prophesied well. The words had been accurate, encouraging, comforting. Many had tears as they listened and tried to take it all in. Most of the other teams had finished and left. My partner and I were still there, plus another team comprising my hubby and another team member. I glanced at my watch and realised that we had to get going as we had a luncheon appointment to be at. Plus, I was exhausted. The adrenaline was ‘running out’.

We finished with the lady we were prophesying over and then I saw someone else approach the front. My heart sank. This lady turned up every month for a prophetic word. I had given her several over the last six months and I could feel an ‘injustice’ (& a judgemental spirit) rise within me. Why was this person so ‘needy’? She should really chase after God for herself and not continually try and receive a prophetic word from others for herself. My judgemental attitude really kicked in. She approached for a prophetic word and my mouth opened and asked her about what she had done with all the other prophetic words she had received from us over the last 12 months. It was totally inappropriate of me. I was reacting out of my tiredness and frustration with people who chase after prophetic words and don’t do the hard yards putting in time with their own relationship with God. This lady responded by saying that she hadn’t received any prophetic words from us before. I was flabbergasted as I was sure that she had as I could clearly remember prophesying over her several times. My response did not communicate God’s heart as I turned and whispered to my partner that I needed to go. I called over the team leader and shared my response and my team leader kindly stepped in to give a prophetic word with my partner to this lady.

It’s fantastic that we can hear, see or feel God and what He wants to communicate to us and through us, but if we are not aware of the responsibility that comes with this, then we can hurt people. Plus, we can fall in to the trap of not representing God’s heart well. The goal of prophesying is 1 Corinthians 14:3 – to encourage, comfort and strengthen. Our role is to represent Father God well. To communicate his truth, love and heart for others in a manner that befits Him well.

On the day I was prophesying as described above, I did not represent the Father’s heart well. Sure, there was an identity issue with the lady concerned as she was always chasing after a prophetic word instead of listening to God for herself, but that doesn’t justify my response.

Below I have listed some of our responsibilities we need to incorporate when we are prophesying over other people.

  1. Be Prepared

Make sure you are on top of your game by having an early night the night before. Check your heart and confess sin. Keep short accounts with people and forgive quickly. What you take in affects your heart and mind so be careful what you watch and hear. Live a pure life. Devour the Bible. Keep your relationship with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus as number one in your life.

  1. Treat each person with dignity. Respect and honour the person.

They are a child of God. We need to see them through the Father’s eyes and have compassion on them and share the Father’s heart for them. They are a child of God. When we prophesy, it is not just about what we say but about what we communicate as a whole and how the person felt loved. We are communicating God’s heart to them.

This becomes evident with

  • how we speak ie the tone of our voice, the volume, intonations etc
  • what we say,
  • our body language and what that is communicating,
  • who is around when we share and how ‘public’ we say it ie the volume we use and how many others can hear what is personal for this individual especially if it is something they would not want others to hear.
  1. The prophetic word and how we communicate it must be encouraging, strengthening and comforting.

Thus we don’t prophesy anything negative. If we receive a ‘word of knowledge’ that is negative, we turn it around 180o and prophesy the positive.

  1. Ask permission first.

Do not just presume that because you think you have a prophetic word for someone, that they want to hear it. You need to ask their permission to share it with them. They may say no and you need to respect that. Also, please do not touch the person eg on the arm, shoulder etc without first asking permission to put your hand there.

  1. Stop when God stops.

When you stop hearing from God, stop. Do not add any extra. Do not add your spin (or hobby horse/pet topic) on it or try to expand or explain it. On the other hand, God loves questions, so ask God if there is anything more He wants you to communicate.

  1. They have a choice whether or not they accept it or do anything about it.

It is their choice. We cannot dictate what they do or not. If they choose not to do anything about what you have shared that you sense God’s communicating to them, that is totally their choice. You have not failed. You also cannot make them do something about it. We also are not fully aware of their whole situation. Instead, exude grace.

  1. Accountability

We do not have free reign to go up to everyone we have a prophetic word for and share. We need to come under the authority of our church plus any ministry group we are operating under. We also need to make sure that a ‘third person’ is present or that the person records what is said. That is the beauty of mobile phones these days as you can easily record a prophetic word. This is so important for accountability and being above reproach.

  1. We need to use clean language

We don’t say ‘God told me’. Instead, use language that gives the person a ‘way out’ eg ‘I have a sense that…’ Communicating that ‘God told you’ about another person borders on spiritual abuse. It implies that the person needs to do whatever you say otherwise they are not obeying God. That is not fair or correct.

  1. Remember that we prophesy in part.

We do not have full access to everything that God thinks, says, sees and knows. Therefore, there is always more to the story. 1 Corinthians 13:9 says “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” We never have the full and total picture. That is also why it is helpful to have someone else prophesy with you eg in pairs as that can help spur you on and you can see and hear more of the picture.

  1. Be humble.

We are not God’s gift to mankind. No matter how skilled and accurate we may think we are, humility is important. We are not God. We represent God when we prophesy but we are not God.

  1. We want to make God look great, not the prophet look great.

A great question to ponder on is “Why am I wanting to give a prophetic word to that person?” Is it because I want to ‘look’ good?

12.Timing

Is it the right timing to tell the person what you are feeling, sensing, hearing, seeing? Is this God’s timing to release it to that person now? Am I meant to share it with them or is it for me to pray about and intercede for them about this?

 

Prophesying over people is exciting and rewarding to be a part of but it also carries with it the weight of responsibility. Keeping in mind these points means that you will be able to release the Father’s heart in a way that reflects who God is more accurately.

 

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: Make or buy the cardboard cut-out shapes of a person’s body. Ask everyone to write a person’s name on each ‘person’ and then a word that God uses to describes that person. Then pray over each person and give the cut-outs to the appropriate people.

2. Group Activation: Pair up and make 2 circles one inside the other and facing towards each other ie one of each pair on the inside circle facing outwards and the other on the outside circle facing inwards. Give everyone 30 seconds to hear, see, or sense one word for the person opposite them and then share that one word with their partner. Then ask the outer circle to move 3 people to the right. Everyone has 30 seconds again to get one word for the person opposite them and to share it with them. Then ask the inner circle to move 3 people to the right. Repeat the process.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time with God and quieten your heart and mind. Ask God what He would want to give you or if there is something He would like to place in your right hand at the moment. Ask Father God more questions about this eg why that object, what is it for, what does it look like etc

4. Intermediate Activation: Prophesy over yourself. Focus on God and imagine yourself somewhere with Him. Start your recording device and begin to prophesy over yourself what Father God thinks of you and feels for you and His plans for your life.

5. Advanced Activation: Record yourself the next time you prophesy over someone. Ask them permission first. When you have finished, spend some time later re-listening to what you said. Ask God if there was anything else He would have liked you to add. Listen and pay attention to how you prophesied and how you communicated God’s heart for the person.

Prophesying as a Group

I love being part of a team when I am releasing prophetic words to people. I usually find that when I am with another person, what we hear as a combination far outweighs what I hear just on my own. The Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 13:9 “For we know in part and we prophesy in part”, is certainly accurate.

When our team give prophetic words to people who come forward for a prophetic word at the end of a church service, I love the fact that we operate in pairs. We team up with another person. The combination may well be a newer team member with a more experienced or seasoned team member. I often find that I tend to quickly receive a prophetic word for someone and release it to them. Usually I begin with just a single word or image or thought. I ask God to show me more. Usually I receive a little more of the picture but my experience is that when I open my mouth to share with the person receiving the prophetic word, that much more comes as I speak. Then my team member usually shares and then God shows me more and confirms what the other person has shared. I find that this creates a greater depth and ‘weightiness’ (almost like you can feel the power and truth) to the prophecy.

Prophesying as a team, whether as a couple or a larger group, helps to spur us on and encourages us as we build a far larger picture for the person. It can be likened to God revealing and expanding the picture further.

It also helps as far as accountability is concerned. There is someone else, apart from the person receiving the prophecy, who has heard what has been said. This is another reason why we encourage everyone to record every prophetic word on a recording device, like a phone.

I have found over the years though, that there are certain ‘protocols’ or guidelines or things to be aware of, especially if you are prophesying in a larger group of people. It can become quite messy if everyone just opens their mouth and starts speaking whenever there is a pause.

These guidelines include:

  1. Flow / timing – stick to the topic on hand. If you ‘get’ something for the person, but it doesn’t ‘fit’ the flow at that moment or it doesn’t ‘add’ to what is being said, wait. Keep your mouth closed. View it as though you are creating and colouring in a picture as a group. Before you speak, ask yourself “Does it confirm what the Holy Spirit is already saying?” Also ask yourself, “Is now the right time to speak?”
  2. It is not about you!! Keep your mouth shut unless it ‘adds’ to the picture that the group is creating. It is not about you and your agenda. Know when to be quiet.
  3. Keep it short. Do not repeat (unless that is what God is saying for a particular purpose). Realise that you are a group and need to operate as a group. The first person should not take all the time prophesying and leave nothing to say or no time for anyone else. Work as a group.
  4. Only say what God gives you to say. Don’t interpret and try to apply the revelation.
  5. Realise that the timing of when you release the word is just as important as what you say. Wait for the prompting of the Holy Spirit in when to open your mouth.
  6. Keep your eyes open. When prophesying – I encourage you, please keep your eyes open and see what God is doing for the person. Looking into the person’s eyes when you are speaking has a far greater impact than speaking with your eyes closed. I realise some people close their eyes so as not to become distracted with whatever else is occurring around them. If that is you – then practice, practice, practise not becoming distracted with your eyes open. In a group setting, it is even more important to keep your eyes open as you can then see and sense what the Holy Spirit is doing and see who He is on to speak next and when etc.
  7. Position yourselves in a circle so that everyone in the group can see everyone else.
  8. Have fun. Enjoy the process. Remember that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:3 that “prophecy is for encouragement, strengthening/edifying and comfort”.

I encourage you, if you have never prophesied before in a team with someone else, give it a go. You may well find, like I do, that your prophetic words have a lot more depth and completion.

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: Choose a public figure from another country, example Kim Jong-un – the supreme leader of North Korea. Have a photo ready that everyone can see. Outline the guidelines for prophesying – that of everything we say has to be encouraging, building up and comforting. Encourage everyone to ask God what He loves about Kim Jong-un and what God’s heart is for Kim Jong-un. Then ask everyone to take it in turns to share the words that come to mind for Kim Jong-un. Some children may wish to also draw a picture of how God sees Kim Jong-un. Finish with praying a declaration over what was said and that Kim Jong-un will become the person God sees him as.

2. Group Activation: Break into smaller groups of 5-6 people. Choose someone to receive the prophecy. Then practice hearing from God as a group and sharing along one central theme, noting the timing and what people feel is important to say. At the end, have group members share their experience and how they felt during the process. If time, choose a different team member to be the receiver and repeat the process.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to show you two other people who would love to grow in the prophetic. Practice prophesying in pairs over the third person and then swap around so every person gets an opportunity to receive a prophetic word. Record the prophetic words and listen to them back, paying particular attention to the flow. Share with each other how it felt to prophesy with another person etc.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you someone else to write a prophetic word with. Choose someone or a group or an issue to prophesy over. Come together and craft a prophetic word as a joint prophecy, spurring each other on. When you are both content with the finished prophetic word, submit it to the person or group concerned.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you someone else or several other people you can team up with to prophesy over a crucial issue currently before policy makers in your country eg abortion in Australia & New Zealand. Ask this person if they will join you and spend time together seeking the Lord on the issue and then prophesying together about it. Ask God if there is anything further He requires of you in regard to the issue you have prophesied over.

Prophesying over adverse weather

Friends were on holiday in Hawaii when news was received of a hurricane bearing down on the Islands. This was going to cause major issues with their travel plans but, more importantly, the devastation forecast to the people, land etc was predicted to be crippling. So, my friends, realising the authority they had in being a son and daughter of the Most High God, decreed and declared that the direction of the hurricane would change away from inhabited areas and move out to sea and that the force would lessen. They rested in this. They spoke to the wind, the waves, the rain just as Jesus did in Mark 4:35-41 where He “rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”. Around them the taxi driver, the hotel staff, the shopkeepers were all in a frenzy as they realised the devastating effect that the hurricane could have on the tourist industry and they received phone calls cancelling all plans and tours the following few days.

My friends continued to speak with authority to the hurricane and they slept well overnight. Awakening the following morning, news came of the hurricane miraculously changing direction and petering out to a storm level with no adverse impact.

With this in mind, and seeing the manner in which my friends confidence and authority grew as they continued to grow in this area as they sought God in regard to weather conditions and then decreed and declared and prophesied over adverse weather, I decided that I needed to grow in this area.

The Bible has a number of passages about the weather and miracles with the weather. One such passage in the Old Testament is in regard to Moses and Pharaoh and the hailstorms as recoded in Exodus 9:13-29. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Tremendous hail, lightening, thunder reigned forth. Throughout Egypt, hail struck everything in the fields, both people and animals, and it destroyed everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. Verse 26 “The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.” In verse 29, Moses says to Pharaoh “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.” How could Moses do this?

 

Because He had first heard from the Lord about what his role was and what he was to do and say.

 

I concentrated on storms around our area in regard to lessening the flooding and damage and redirecting the force. I realised that with any force, the movement has to be directed elsewhere or the force has to dissipate. I didn’t want to pray and have the force changed and then cause a horrific impact elsewhere so I needed to ask God and have an idea of where the force could be directed to with minimal damage.

I would begin by stating my authority that I had in being a daughter of the most high God. I would quote Jesus saying in John 14:12 “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and will do even greater things than these.”

My prayer/declaration would go something like this (realising that the exact wording is not a formula but just a guide): “I hereby give notice to the adverse weather conditions, the storm, wind etc. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Thus, I am a child of the Most High God, the King of Kings. As such, I am His precious daughter who has been given all authority to carry out His works here on earth. Jesus said in John 14:12 “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing and will do even greater things than these”. Jesus spoke to the storm and commanded it to be quiet so with the authority invested in me as a believer of Jesus I can do what Jesus did. Therefore, I decree and declare now that the wind will lessen, the force will dissipate, the rain will ease, the direction of the storm will change and move out to sea away from impacting negatively any person or land. I speak peace to the air, and that the barometric pressure will be stable and remain high.”

When my authority grew in this area, I then expanded. I began to see the effect when I took notice of any storms coming and listen to God for His heart on the storm. As I decreed and declared a lessening impact, I noticed that there were numerous storms which were forecast to cause horrific damage to our area but the impact seemed to be small and the storm petered out.

A short while afterwards, I was involved in a team that went on a mission trip to another country. Once on the plane, the air hostess announced that the destination weather was sunny and hot at 37° Celsius. Now I don’t cope well in hot weather at all. I had been chatting a lot about this with God before the trip as we would be spending our days outside with our hosts and ministering to many people. I really felt to decree and declare on the plane that the weather would drop to 10°C to a more manageable 27°Celsius.

Imagine my fellow missionaries shock when just before landing, the captain announced that there had been an unforeseen, unprecedented and major change in the weather conditions and the temperature had dropped 10°C.

That following week, we were able to manage our activities heaps easier with the lower temperature. The locals would all comment on how the weather had suddenly turned a lot cooler. There were no major implications on the locals, but huge implications for our team, especially me.

Please, in regard to weather, keep this in perspective. Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel and disciple those who believe, heal the sick. Jesus did not say that we are to focus on changing the weather. He did say though, that signs will follow us.

Mark 16:15-19  Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

I encourage you, my friends, to go on a journey with God in regard to prophesying over adverse weather conditions.

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: Choose a country that is in despair and devastation after a cyclone or major flooding eg currently Mozambique or a country that is experiencing drought and thus famine. Prepare a large map of that country to be placed on the floor. As a group, pray and prophesy over that country. Ask the kids to come up with ideas for a prophetic act (something you do in the physical that changes the condition in the spiritual that then impacts back on the physical) to address the issue. Have fun implementing and releasing joy and solutions over that country.

2. Group Activation: Select a country that is currently experiencing or expecting an extreme weather condition. Listen to God as a group for His heart about the situation. Pray, prophesy and sing the result over that area and the weather.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to give you a picture or sense of how He sees you. Then make a list of statements about who God sees you as. Compile them into a prophecy about who you are and who you are becoming. Start decreeing and declaring them over yourself. Even draw a picture of ‘who you are’ to remind you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Keep a watch on weather reports for cyclones/hurricanes/typhoons or extreme flooding. Ask God what He wants you to do about the situation. Consider prophesying into the situation and even doing a prophetic act, depending on how God leads you.

5. Advanced Activation: Consider your own nation’s major environmental need as a result of a weather factor eg in Australia – the drought or the bleaching of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Spend time listening to God and then implement how He wants you to respond prophetically about the situation.

Prophesying over your home

The other day I had an epiphany. I realised that I spent quite a bit of time praying for friends and their stuff especially when they contact me about urgent issues plus various other societal issues but I realised that I wasn’t spending much time praying and prophesying into my own family’s situation. I was often prophesying into other people’s lives but not stewarding well my own family’s prophetic words. Can you relate?

This realisation enables me to reassess my priorities in this regard and put in place some helpful practices.

I also spent time with God brainstorming some simple things for around our home. Various ideas came to mind during this time.

I remembered back to when my friend was redoing her flooring and she asked a number of her close friends to write prophetic words and draw prophetic pictures about what her house was going to become, and she placed these under the new flooring in the house. Whenever we visit, there is such a warm hospitable atmosphere and her home is often full of guests sharing deeply.

Have you physically placed any prophetic words around your home, under painting or flooring, dug them into the garden, placed artistic or creative expressions of them on your wall?

A number of friends have created canvas paintings depicting their children’s prophetic words and placed those canvasses on the children’s bedroom walls. They often refer to them with their kids.

I remembered back to when I first dealt with our original prophetic words and finalised them into a one to two sentence declaration. Sticking these declarations on the bathroom mirror and keeping a copy in my journal, Bible and handbag meant that they were always near where I was if I wanted to grab them out and meditate on them and declare them over myself and my family.

I realised that when I had kept worship music going continually in one part of our house, it changed the atmosphere in that area significantly and brought an amazing spiritual cleansing to that area.

I became acutely aware how we all flourish, but especially children, in an area of praise and encouragement and realised that I could adapt that to speaking positive declarations over my house and garden.

I also downloaded a copy of Arthur Burk’s (www.theslg.com) album “Deliverance for Children”. This is an absolutely revolutionary and transformational method of bringing freedom to people by playing the album quietly of a night in your bedroom (so quietly you can’t hear it but your spirit who never sleeps can) and dealing with any negative stuff in our lives. I highly recommend this album not just for children but for every person. The blessings and freedom that have come out of this for people have been huge. This can help release us from any negative stuff over our lives and aid in helping us become all whom we are created to be, thus being in a position where we can move forward in the process of fulfilling the prophetic words spoken over us.

I realised that it had been awhile since I had deliberately gone into every room in the house and released a blessing in that room and for the activity that usually occurred within each room of the house.

I realised that I needed to be asking God for new insights and prophetic declarations over our teenagers and hubby’s business.

How have you prophesied over your home? Have you discovered an amazing difference?

Start dreaming big with God and then look at ways that you can have ‘memory stones’ of that vision or prophecy by practically doing something in your home to remember often.

Friends, our prophetic gifting is for a myriad of uses. Let’s start using it to change the atmosphere in our own home.

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 canvas each, or use paper then laminate it, and have the children spend time painting, writing, or drawing something that depicts how God sees them and what He thinks of them. They may also like to add an appropriate Bible verse. Then mount the canvas or laminated sheet on their bedroom wall.

2. Group Activation: Get into groups of 3-5 people. Taking it in turn, focusing on one person at a time, spend time prophesying over each other’s homes and releasing a blessing on them.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time brainstorming with God and hearing His heart for your home. Write a 1-2 sentence statement/decree that you can then use to speak over your home. You may also like to write it out and place it somewhere within your home to remind you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Go on a prophetic walk around your street and neighbourhood prophesying over the area, especially any communal land like playgrounds, roads, footpaths etc If there are any houses for sale, prophesy over the selling of the house and new owners etc.

5. Advanced Activation: Find a barren area in your region (if need be, use google earth to see photos etc). Alternatively, you could identify a really rough area full of vandalism, drugs, prostitution etc. Spend time hearing God’s heart for this area and then prophesy and declare into the atmosphere God’s heart for that place.

 

Easter Blessing

Dear Readers and Subscribers to my blog,

As we journey towards Easter over these next few days, I want to release a blessing over you that incorporates the values of Easter and the journey Jesus made.  I encourage you to say this blessing over yourself out aloud. Feel free to read this aloud over your family and significant others in your life. There is power in not only reading a blessing but speaking it out aloud over you and calling your spirit to attention first. It helps grow your spirit on the inside.

 

“I call your spirit to attention and bless you throughout this Easter season.

I bless you with being able to communicate yourself fully and articulately. I bless you with intimacy and fun in your relationship with Jesus. I bless you with knowing your true identity and allowing people to know the real you. I bless you with being celebrated for who you really are. I bless you with allowing others to extravagantly express generosity towards you and it to flow abundantly from you. I bless you with ease and acceptance with those few close people in your life, that you can truly be yourself and disclose your true feelings. I bless you in discerning the flattery and the ability to see the lies and the truth.

I bless you in keeping focussed on what God is focussed on, your gaze focussed where God’s eyes are focussed. I bless you with peace in the uncertainty of the future. I bless you when you dread the immediate future. That you will be able to glimpse the other side of the huge mountain just in front of you and it will sustain you in the plodding onwards. I bless you in keeping alert when the things of this world press upon you. With not slumbering but having an alert spirit at all times.

I bless you with integrity. Compassion. Standing firm amidst any false accusation and that you will see your name cleared and your reputation upheld. I bless you in being able to forgive the betrayal and the lies. I bless you when it appears to be the end of your dreams and I bless you with perseverance to see the start of redemption. I bless you with being able to see things as God sees them.

I bless you with journeying close to Christ during the dark times. With knowing the love of the Father so intimately and realising that one day you will understand more fully the dark and lonely times. I bless you with holding on to hope when everything seems hopeless. I bless you with realising Jesus is with you in that crushing, seemingly senseless time of pain that overwhelms.

I bless you in the waiting season. For perseverance. For joy in the journey. I bless you with intimacy and finding shelter in the secure and intimate place. I bless you with having people support you through all times. I bless you with being prepared to last the journey that is your call, despite the circumstances.

I bless you with seeing the answers to your greatest prayers. I bless you with experiencing the risen Christ and the full impact of that in your life – joy, life, hope, freedom, reconciliation, fulfilling potential and reaching your destiny. I bless you with a new and renewed perspective of God’s love, goodness, grace and mercy. I bless you with being able to celebrate and celebrate well. I bless you with enlarging your supernatural gifts and seeing miracles in your everyday life. I bless you with seeing and taking opportunities to share God’s goodness with others and your testimony of what God has done in your own life. I bless you in living in a new way with a new attitude. I bless you with a burning desire to devour the Bible, the Word of God, and love reading it. I bless you with allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate and access every part of your life and fill you to overflowing, accessing deeper levels of empowerment and intimacy.

I bless you with finishing well. With staying the course. With being a world changer.”

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: Ask the children present to pray a blessing over each adult. If they have never done this before, pray a blessing over them first. Practice calling each other’s spirit to attention first as this commands your spirit on the inside of you to stand to attention to fully hear and absorb what is being said.

2. Group Activation: Partner up and spend a few minutes asking God to show you what He would like you to pray for your partner. Then turn the prayer into a blessing and pray aloud a blessing over your partner that incorporates what God showed you.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend time with God listening to Him about what He would like to bless you with. Then write out the blessing for yourself. Say it aloud over yourself and begin a practice of daily praying it over yourself.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you His heart for your local church and the leaders. Compile this into a blessing that you can pray aloud daily for the next little while, calling the spirit, heart and identity of your local church to attention.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God aligning His heart for your nation with your heart. In Australia at the moment, we have an election in a few weeks and this is a fantastic time to be blessing the heart and identity of the nation as it can significantly affect the future of Australia. Compile a blessing for the nation, the leaders and politicians. Pray it aloud daily over your nation for the next little while.

5 Keys to Growing in the Supernatural

“I want to pray for people and see supernatural miracles”, is an often heard cry. “So I’m going to go to Africa (or the other side of the world) to see all these miracles occur.

Sure, that’s a great intention but is that really the only way of growing in the supernatural?

We went to Mozambique, Africa for 3 months and saw some supernatural miracles. But I had seen more supernatural miracles when I had prayed for people back in Australia before we went. I had prayed for two people with broken bones and the bones were dramatically healed instantaneously. I came back different from Africa though because I had been on a journey of discovering my identity and authority in Jesus Christ.

The essential, I believe, in praying for people and seeing supernatural miracles can be summed up in these 5 Keys:

  • Identity
  • Authority
  • Defining moment
  • Intimacy with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus
  • Being obedient and praying for people at every opportunity.

Key 1: Identity

Know your identity – who you are in Christ. Know what the Bible says about you and who you really are. You need to fully know and believe what God and the Bible says and believes about you at all times. A great way to help in this is to have some inner prayer ministry that helps heal inner wounds, especially from our childhood. You have to agree with me that no parent is perfect. No matter how great your parents are, there will be some wounding of some sort. I really believe that it helps to have some prayer ministry on a regular basis (for example annually or every second year) just to make sure that no faulty thinking starts to stick and cause any issues. There are many different types of inner prayer ministry available. A great place to start is to ask around and see which type people recommend. Sozo is a great place to start also.

Key 2: Authority

John 14:12 records Jesus saying “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these”.  Once you have the revelation in your life of your true identity, you can then walk in the authority that Christ has given you. When you read the Bible and see what Jesus did and realise that Jesus said that we would do even greater things, you start to walk in that authority. The authority of seeing healings, miracles, living a pure lifestyle. This is the life we were created for and am meant to be walking in every single day.

Key 3: Defining moment

That moment when you know, without a doubt, that God can heal and will still heal today.

For me, this was in 2010 when my two children were dramatically healed from anaphylaxis. Before this, I had had my mum die of cancer and a very close friend die of a brain haemorrhage. For me, I had allowed these two tragedies to impact my thinking with the belief that God wouldn’t really heal the ‘hard’ things. After my kids were dramatically healed, I could no longer deny that God didn’t heal today with the big and the small and that God actually wanted to heal every disease.

Key 4: Intimacy

We become empty if we don’t keep close and intimate with all of the Trinity – Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus. This intimacy and hearing and knowing and sensing and seeing God and what He is up to and is doing is so important. We don’t want to be running ahead or falling behind where God is and what He is up to. We need to be intimate with God and clearly hearing His thoughts and methods on what He wants us to do and how He wants us to participate in each part of life, especially in the supernatural.

Key 5: Obedience with taking every opportunity

A major part of growing in the supernatural is trying, practicing and doing. If we are never ever going to step out and take risks in the supernatural, then we can’t expect to grow. If you see someone sick or injured, immediately ask God “What do you want me to do?” or “How do you want me to pray for healing for them?” Then do it!! Do not expect to pray and see people raised from the dead if you have never prayed for a dead person before to come back to life. Take every opportunity. That was why we took our 7 and 10 year old kids with us when we were invited to the City Morgue to pray for a dead person. We took the opportunity to pray. No we didn’t see that person come back to life here on earth. We have recently taken another opportunity to pray for two more dead people. Still no resurrection here on earth but that has only resolved in us a determination to pray for the next dead person and see them come back to life on earth.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you are growing in the supernatural. Please feel free to comment below.

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 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 a number of items of clothing that denote royal identity. Allow time and space for everyone to dress up in the clothing and use the royal items whilst decreeing and declaring statements of identity over them. Have statements on paper that the kids can read out as well eg “I am God’s royal princess”, “I have authority to pray for the sick and to see them healed.” “I am God’s royal son and have access to everything that Jesus had access to.” “God loves me and has given me power to prayer for people and see my prayers answered.”

2. Group Activation: Ask people to partner up and to share with their partner a critical are of their life that they need a miracle in. Ask everyone to spend a few minutes waiting on God for how He wants them to pray. Then change the prayer to a decree and declaration and prophesy into their partner’s life about the miracle.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time reading about Jesus in the Gospels and the miracles that He did. Ask God to show you someone who needs a miracle in their life. Ask God to show you what to pray for them and how to go about seeing them receive their miracle.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to impress upon your heart a medical condition that He would like you to have authority over first eg praying for people with cancer and seeing them healed, seeing broken bones healed, eyesight restored etc. Go after that condition. Spend time with God praying over that condition and seeking Him about it. Write out a prophetic word that you can regularly decree and declare re that physical condition.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask a friend with similar interests and desires to grow in the supernatural to deliberately go with you to a place where desperately needy people hang out. Ask God to show you what and when to say things and start conversations with people. Ask these folk if they have a physical need that you can pray for them for a supernatural answer. Then pray with them and be a blessing to them.