Tag Archives: prophetic activations

Living a Prophetic life (amid Coronavirus)

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Put yourself at the moment in this photo. Where is your focus? Looking at life or death or focussed on the fine line in the middle?

Whilst we are in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, there is no greater time to be the true representatives of Christ here on earth. Throughout these past few weeks, my mind has often gone to the place of “if Jesus was living as a human at this time here on earth, what would He be doing and saying and thinking?”

Would Jesus go to the place of fear or joy? Binge-watch tv or use my time wisely? Wallow in thinking about how lonely I am or stretching myself by phoning a friend living on her own?

 

What does it mean to live a prophetic life?

I believe that it means that we are both bringing heaven to earth but also out the front of society guiding and developing the way ahead. Setting the atmosphere. Setting the pace. Demonstrating kingdom values.

 

How can I live a prophetic life?

  1. Operate from a place of rest.

Inner rest and reliance on God. Not striving or pushing for changes but operating from inner peace. When I lose my inner peace, to stop and ask myself, “What’s happened to cause this loss?” “How do I get it back?” (To delve into this deeper, check out my blog post on rest.)

  1. Be full of joy.

Joy is an assurance and confidence that God is in complete control of all the details of my life, and my choice to respond by praising God in all circumstances. The world cannot give you joy. Temporary things can bring happiness but only God and focussing on Him can help me to live full of joy. (More details on being full of joy can be found here.)

  • It is choosing to turn your focus on what God is doing and not of the things of this world or of Satan. To focus on the good, not the bad.
  • It is living a lifestyle of gratitude.
  • To count our blessings, rather than our burdens.
  • To let our faith, not our feelings, dictate our joy.
  • To focus on Christ, not on circumstances.
  1. Full of faith.

Hebrews 11 is a great chapter of faith and people of faith. Verse 1 says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” There is such a huge opportunity right now to be people of faith. To not partner with the fear that is so prevalent in our world that is magnified right now with the coronavirus. Ester 4:14b says “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Folks, perhaps right now, at this time in history in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, we are alive for such a time as this!!

Meditating on Isaiah 43 during the week, I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment about fear. Isaiah 43, verses 1-5 sum it up so well. God created me, and you, and commands us to not fear. Since He created me, He knows me and my inner workings. He knows what pushes my buttons and what stretches me, what brings joy to me and what I struggle with. Here He says, “I created you and am commanding you to not fear. I have called you by name. You are mine. Whatever adverse circumstances you are going through, I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” We know that where God is Satan cannot be. Wherever God is, fear cannot be. Fear is from the devil. John 10:10 says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” Fear steals, kills and destroys. Fear does not bring life. Wherever fear is, God cannot be there so when I go to that place of fear, I need to stop and recentre and reconnect with God.

  1. Being prophetic

Spending time with God seeking what is on His heart for this time and then asking Him what He wants you to do about it. What practical action does He want you to take eg showing love to your neighbours by going to the shops for them so they can continue to self-isolate, writing encouragements on the footpath, ringing folk to check how they are going, checking in on people living alone or elderly, amusing young children over the internet to give a young mum a break, cooking meals for health care workers, praying for the government and wise decision making etc. Asking God what He would have you say, write, or create to give to someone to encourage and comfort them during this time.

Our family wrote a note for the 60 neighbours in our street to let them know we are willing to shop for them etc. At least 20 households responded. Our neighbours were totally amazed that we would be so ‘selfless’ and help others in this way. The mental health in our street shifted significantly as this hugely impacted everyone in a positive manner. The hour of our time it took to do this communicated God’s love in more ways than we could imagine. Now is the time, folks, to be asking God how we can encourage, strengthen and comfort people (1 Corinthians 14:3) ie prophesying to others.

  1. Changing the atmosphere.

We are each responsible for our attitude and the atmosphere we carry. We need to also recognise that we can very simply change the atmosphere around us. (Check out my blog post about how I discovered this here.) When I encounter someone negative, I quietly say, “Spirit of negativity I see you and I choose not to partner with you. Instead, I release a spirit of joy.”  Almost immediately I sense a shift in atmosphere and negativity flee. We are spiritual beings and the spirit within us has the power to change the atmosphere where we are. Whenever you notice an atmosphere that isn’t of God, use this method to change it. It may even be your own children being grumpy, dishonest, defiant etc. You have spiritual authority over the situation, so just quietly say, “I see you spirit of…. and I choose not to partner with you and instead I release the spirit of…..(the opposite)”. See what happens.

  1. Renewing my mind

Whatever you focus on, grows. Whatever we feed our thoughts and watch and listen to will also reap fruit. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This is not the time to have the media broadcasting into your life 24/7. Yes, we need to keep up with the latest government requirements, but we do not need to be watching and listening to news broadcasts all the time, especially not our children. Have you thought about a media fast during this time and focussing on God’s Word instead? Perhaps meditating on Scripture and filling your home with Christian music. Focussing on what the answers are for now and for the future. Looking for the good. Looking for where God is working. (Here is a great blog on renewing your mind.)

  1. The power of our words.

Life or death can be in the tongue. The words we say are powerful. Whenever we speak, we are releasing the potential for positive or negative effect into the atmosphere. Our words have the power to create, to form and fashion something out of nothing and to change outcomes. In Genesis 1, God spoke and the world was created. He has given us the same creative power that by the words we speak, we create outcomes, good or bad. Do you speak life or death? God’s Word does not return empty and our words don’t either.

  • 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.”

Now is the time to be speaking the outcomes we desire for our life, our family, our country, the world. This is an amazing weapon. I find that a massively effective way of praying is to decree & declare that what is in heaven is done. Eg “I decree and declare that your back will be completely healed”. I find that this carries a lot more authority than praying, “God, can you please heal this person?” (Check out my blog on the power of your words here.)

Perhaps there are some things that you still desire for your family to come to fruition. I encourage you to write it down in the form of a declaration and begin to declare it. Start to use this time to change anything in your family/household that perhaps has fallen short of what you desired. Use this time to begin that change.

I would love to hear how you are finding this time and how you are managing to live a prophetic lifestyle at the moment. 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: Get some chalk or water-paints and write encouraging words on your footpath. Write and draw pictures of encouragement and tape to your front fence where people walking past can see them and be encouraged. Ask God if there is anything else He would like you as a family to do for your neighbours at this time.

2. Group Activation: Have a group member write group member’s names on slips of paper and put into a hat. Pull out one name at a time. The first name pulled out is to send a prophetic word to the second name pulled out. The second person, in turn, sends a prophetic word to the next name (third-person) pulled out etc. Before doing this, please ask everyone’s permission to participate in this plus for their email address to be shared with the person sending them a prophetic word.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to bring to mind all the people you know who live alone or are lonely or fearful at this time. Ask God to show you specific things that you can share with these people to encourage them. Spend time writing emails or ringing these people and sharing that which God shows and tells you for them.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show or tell you how you can prophesy into and encourage a health care worker at the moment. Then do it.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God, asking Him to show you what you can pray and prophecy for the leaders and decision-makers of your state and country. Then spend time doing that. Ask God if you are to share it with them and, if so, then find a way to let them know.

When the same person keeps asking for a Prophetic Word

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Like clockwork, every few months, the same person would approach me for a prophetic word. They would start by explaining how they were wanting a prophetic word from me so that they had something to hang on to in their time of struggle.

Immediately this raises a red flag with me.

Firstly, they need God to hang on to in this time. God needs to be their source of comfort, inspiration, and wisdom during their time of struggle (in fact all the time) rather than me hearing from God for them.

Secondly, they have had numerous prophetic words in the past. Prophetic words are especially for such a time as this. Just because they are going through a new season of struggle, doesn’t mean that their ‘old’ prophetic word is no longer viable. Prophetic words can be for the ‘here and now’ but they usually seem to be for a few steps time. Prophetic words are meant to be ‘encouraging, comforting and strengthening’ (1 Corinthians 14:3). Thus, they are great to get out in times of hardship and work through and see what God wants to be for you during this time.

Prophetic words usually address identity and destiny. Who you are and who God wants to be for you during this time are what identity words are all about.

Hubby also has had similar situations where a certain single lady would, on a regular monthly occasion, ask him for a prophetic word. He addresses this issue by saying that he won’t give a person another prophetic word, when they keep asking, until they have worked through their last prophetic word.

Usually when people are asking for a new prophetic word and they have been given numerous prophetic words in the last year or so, it becomes a discipleship issue. The person need to be taught that they need to go to God Himself. To put in the time and relationship with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus.

Please never become a substitute for a person seeking God for themselves. Jesus was, and is, the only ‘go-between’ in our relationship with God.

If a person is having trouble hearing from God for themselves, you will have a far greater impact if you help them to hear or receive from God for themselves.

Start with helping them look at how much time they are setting aside to spend with God. Do they prioritise Him each day? Are they reading the Bible? Are they looking to God for their answers?

Then, you may help them to have an encounter with God or give them tools to spice up their relationship with God.

Some of these tools may be to:

  1. Try spending time with God in a different setting eg in nature, at the beach, outside, in a different chair, etc.
  2. Try setting aside a different time of the day to specifically focus on God.
  3. Try reading the Bible a different way eg using an audio version or a new app or a different version or a DVD version. The IF:Gathering app has numerous amazing four week Bible study series on it which I have found extremely helpful.
  4. Try writing out verses from the Bible each day.
  5. Ask God to show you pictures or images of yourself or your day.
  6. Put worship music on and rest with worship filling your head.
  7. Find new ways of being in awe of God and thanking Him.We are not in the business of making people reliant on us. We are not their Saviour. We need to be pointing them to God Himself.

We are not in the business of making people reliant on us. We are not their Saviour. We need to be pointing them to God Himself.

 

Leading people through an encounter with God is effective for the here and now but it also gives them a tool for when they are stuck again.

Leading people into an encounter with God can be very simple.

  1. Ask the person to get into a comfortable position and close their eyes to help minimise any distractions.
  2. Ask the person to imagine that they are in a favourite place for them. Ask them to share with you what it looks like, smells like, feels like.
  3. Ask them to then imagine Jesus coming into that scene. Imagine that they see Jesus walking up to them and sitting, standing, just being next to them or in front of them. What is He doing? What does He say?
  4. Imagine that He has a present He wants to give to them. What does that present look like? What shape is it? How is it wrapped and what colour is the wrapping?
  5. Unwrap the present. What is it? What does that mean to them?
  6. How do they want to respond to Jesus?

Variety is the spice of life. Just how you sometimes need to vary stuff in your relationship with your partner or children or friends, it is also helpful to vary things in your relationship with God.

I would love to hear of different methods you have used when someone keeps coming to you for a prophetic word and how you have helped them refocus back on to their relationship with 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: Lead children into an encounter like the one above, imagining that Jesus has a present for them. Ask them questions to find out what the special present Jesus has for each one of them.

2. Group Activation: Buy an assortment of small chocolate bars that have different names eg Cadbury favourites. Place them in a bag deep enough so that you can’t see what you are selecting. Have each person put their hand in the bag and bring out a chocolate. The person then asks God for a prophetic word about the name of the chocolate bar for a person in the group. Hand the chocolate bar to the person as you share the prophetic word with them. If it is a large group, perhaps split into several smaller group, each group having their own chocolate assortment in a bag.

3. Beginner Activation: Open your calendar/diary before God. Ask Him to show or tell you something significant that you need to realise and what you need to do in response.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight a family to you. Spend time with God hearing or seeing what is on His heart for this family as a group and for the members individually. Draw or write the encouraging response and then ask God how you are meant to communicate it to this family.

5. Advanced Activation: Dream with God for one thing to change in the world this year and what the change could look like. Ask God to highlight to you your part in bringing about that change. Then ask God to show, tell or give you a strategy for your part.

Visual Reminders for Prophesying

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Over the last fortnight I have taught the teenagers (ages 13-15) in our church’s Teen Leadership Academy. Some of these teenagers have grown up in our church and have had numerous teaching on the prophetic before and have also been involved in giving numerous prophetic words to people. Others were brand new to hearing God’s voice.

Our aim was to help these teens not only hear God for themselves but also for others. A secondary aim was to invite these teens to release prophetic words to individuals after our church service along with the adult prophetic team.

After we had looked at hearing God’s voice for ourselves, I concentrated on hearing God’s voice for others. To help introduce the purpose and aims of prophesying to others, I gave each teen a ‘goodies’ bag. These bags had eight items in them. They were a huge hit!! Visual cues help reinforce our teaching point so much more effectively.

These items were:

  1. Heart shaped sunglasses

So important to have love as the basis for communicating God’s heart to others.

  1. Packet of very sour & very sweet lollies

When we are prophesying to others, we want to leave a ‘sweet’ taste in their mouth. We do not want to leave a sour taste.

  1. Candle

When we prophesy, we want to light a fire within them that burns for what we have communicated.

  1. Gold medal

Each person has their own race to run and must run their race. The medal symbolised us enabling them to see, through our prophesying, what their race is that they are called to run and finish.

  1. Water pistol

When we prophesy, we are called to hit the target that God has placed on their life.

  1. 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.

  1. Ring

Another part of prophesying is helping people to realise their full authority. The ring symbolises the ring the Father placed on the prodigal son. This means having full identity and authority as the Father’s child.

  1. Key attached to a (photocopied) computer ESC key

(This was a stretch but all I could think of that communicated the acronym ‘ESC’). 1 Corinthians 14:3 says that all prophecy should be encouraging, strengthening and comforting.

The teens loved it and the following week could remember all the objects they had received in their bag.

What are your thoughts?

What are some other items you may have included to help them remember what prophesying over others is about?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to 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: Have gold/yellow cardboard precut to look like a medal. Punch a hole in it and thread cord through it so that it looks like a winners medal. Have pens/pencils handy. Ask each person to make a medal for themself about what God says that they are the winner for in Heaven and here on earth. If time, ask them to make one for someone else, asking God what that person’s purpose is here on earth or the race they will win at running.

2. Group Activation: Have sheets of A4 paper and pens/textas handy. Distribute a sheet of paper to everyone. Ask them to place their name in the middle of the page followed by the word ‘is’. eg ‘Jane is’. Then ask everyone to give their paper to the person on their left. This person will write one sentence that they sense, hear or see from God about who that person is. Then ask everyone to keep passing the paper around to the people on their left until at least everyone’s sheet of paper has at least ten sentences on it about who they are, their identity. Return the sheets to their owners. Maybe even have someone speak the sentences over each person as the papers are returned to their rightful owner.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time with God asking Him to show or tell you how He sees you dressed. As you begin to hear or see or sense what it is, then ask God further questions. Eg Why am I dressed that way? Is this how I am seen in Heaven? What is on my head? What would you like to put in my right hand God? etc

4. Intermediate Activation: Find a community group that is struggling in its identity. Ask God for a prophetic word about this group’s identity. Ask God how to most effectively release that word to the group.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God for a prophetic word for your nation’s first people and their future. Ask God what He would like you to then do with that prophetic word. Then do it.

Growing our Faith

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faithIn living a natural supernatural life, it is important to grow your faith to believe that God can, and will, do anything. I have prayed for God to heal someone of cancer and they received complete healing. I have also seen my mother die of cancer but I haven’t let that deter me. I have seen a man’s eyesight restored. I have seen a lady healed of needing a heart lung transplant. Perhaps the greatest miracle I have seen is for people to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.

I recently found up a journal entry I wrote last year about the day before and what had occurred. I am including it here so that you can see an example of believing that God can do the impossible. Lastly, I have listed numerous ways that I grow my faith.

What do you do to grow your faith and the belief that God can, and will, do the impossible?

 

***(Beginning of Journal Entry)***

Believing anything is possible

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

Core Value:

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

Miracle – an illiterate person able to read the Bible

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

Testimony:

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

Creative Miracle:

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

Prophetic Act:

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

God is at work:

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

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

God is in the business of the impossible.

*** (end of Journal entry)*** (Addit – today, yes, this very day, I received a text from my friend saying that the huge supernatural creative miracle had occurred in her body!!)

 

Align your mind:

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

Bible verses:

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

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

 

Ways I grow my faith:

  • Blessing my spirit. I call my spirit to attention and bless it with increased faith. I bless it with knowing beyond a doubt that Father God can, and will, do the impossible. That Father God specialises in making the impossible the possible.
  • Personally experiencing miracles and healing. Thus, I need to position myself in places where I will see miracles. I see them in our Healing Rooms where our family are team members. I saw them when I took my family with two young kids to Mozambique for three months. It can be costly to position ourselves but do it if you want to grow your faith.
  • Studying the Bible and what it says about faith, healing, God.
  • Surrounding myself with people of great faith, who know the Bible and live by the promises in the Bible.
  • Listening to great teaching about the promises in the Bible.
  • Worshipping God – giving Him glory and worth.
  • Spending time with God asking Him the hard questions and growing in intimacy with Him.
  • Prayer ministry has been another way that has helped me to see some faulty beliefs that I had about God. When I now react in a manner that is inappropriate to a situation eg get angry, I try to take a few minutes to ask God, “Father God, can you please show me why I acted that way. What lie am I believing? After I have my answer, and confess that lie/belief to God, I then ask God, “What truth do you want me to know instead?”
  • Our identity is so important. We defeat our internal giants first before we take on external ones. Going on a journey of discovering my true identity.
  • We need to become the person God sees us as – claiming & possessing our internal territory.
  • What we say with our words. I try to be very careful about the things I say as the words we speak have power to create. Isaiah 55:11 says “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.”

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

 

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 paper with pictures on them (eg an old calendar, scrapbooking supplies etc). Distribute the paper around the room, making sure you have enough for each person to choose a sheet. Ask people to get into pairs and then walk around looking at the pictures. When they see a picture that stands out to them or they like, pick up the picture and find their partner. Ask God to show or tell them what the picture represents for their partner or what God wants to say to their partner through the picture. Give their partner the picture to take home.

2. Group Activation: Contact a ministry like ‘Voice of the Martyrs’ for the details of how to support a person imprisoned for their christian faith. Gather blank postcards and pens. Distribute to group members to ask God what to write or draw on the postcard as a prophetic word to encourage and comfort the prisoner. (Leave room for a postage stamp in the top right corner). Gather the completed postcards and send to the ministry to enable them to be posted to the prisoner.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God which food He sees you like or that represents you and what it is about that particular food that relates to you. Spend time asking God more questions about that particular food item and how it applies to yourself.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to bring a homeless person across your path and what you can say, give and do. Ponder this so that you are ready with a physical item to assist them. If no homeless person comes across your path, go out of your way to find someone homeless.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask Father God to highlight a group that you are a part of and that group’s future. Prophecy into the future of the group and the people it interacts with.

Our Authority in Healing

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AuthorityImagine your dad owned a huge company that employed many people. Over many years, your dad has been trying to implement a new method of operating. He has completed just about all the background work and it is nearly ready for the big day when it is going to be officially implemented.

You have spent a lot of your time just hanging around your dad whilst he had been working on it.

You weren’t an employee, you were the boss’s kid and so you had free reign where you went and what you did.

You loved the smell of your dad’s office and being with Him whilst He worked. He often talked aloud of what He was doing and you were passionate about what He was doing since you just loved being with Him. Your dad included you in the brainstorming of the solutions to problems. Your dad often allowed you to implement the changes.

The big day arrives and unexpectedly your dad can’t make the official opening. He asks you instead, as His representative, to be there as His delegated authority.

You know the workings of it nearly as much as He does because of all the time you have spent with Him and the intimacy of the working conditions.

Your dad has complete faith and trust in you. He knows that you understand what is required to be done and how to solve many of the issues. Thus, he delegates his authority to you.

 

Now take a moment to imagine this is God and He is asking you to heal the sick,

cast out demons, raise the dead, change nature. What is your response?

 

Knowing our authority and the manner in which we walk in it can change our life. It impacts the way we pray, how we pray, what we say, our actions, our lifestyle. In fact, it can completely change how we live our life.

 

Authority is delegated power.

 

Jesus has complete authority and He gave us authority to do whatever He did plus more. (John 14:12)

From the Bible, we see that:

  1. Man’s original commission – Genesis 1:28. God commanded Adam & Eve to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth. It was a command, not optional. God gave them dominion over the earth. God’s Kingdom on earth was an extension of God’s Kingdom in Heaven. God’s Kingdom went wherever Adam & Eve went.
  1. Satan rebelled. Satan & fallen angels were cast out of heaven and they took authority over the earth by deceiving Adam & Eve. God could have destroyed them but He had already given Adam & Eve dominion over the earth.
  1. Jesus came in the form of a man & retrieved what had been given away. He defeated Satan by rising from the dead – victory over sin and death.
  1. When we accept Jesus’ grace & forgiveness, we become an heir of God, a brother / sister to Jesus, a child of God. We share Jesus victory over Satan and have total access to Jesus’ delegated authority which Jesus took back from Satan when Jesus rose from the dead.
  1. Jesus, towards the end of His time here on earth, tells His disciples that “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater than these” (John 14:12). Matthew 28:17 has Jesus saying, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go…” He gives us the authority to do what He has been doing.

For today:

Matthew 16:18-19 says, “… I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be what is bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”

Friends – we have permission from God. We have been given authority to go after that on earth that is not from God. Basically anything on earth that isn’t like that in heaven needs transformation and we have the authority to go after it and change it.

Jesus prayed, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

For us to see the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, it will require us to go after it wholeheartedly. This is not for the faint hearted. Matthew 11:11 says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the Kingdom of Heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force.” I am not advocating violence. Here it is talking about violence as chasing after it with zeal and intense exertion. To press into it with fervour resembling violence and desperation. It expresses the earnestness that we need to have to be rid of all sin and unbelief in our life and to rid this earth of all power belonging to Satan.

Do you want to see God’s Kingdom established here on earth, here in your life? Do you want to see healing restored back to its rightful place as part of the normal Christian life?

Are you chasing after bringing Heaven (& all that is in Heaven eg health, freedom, love, peace, joy, extravagance etc) to earth?

How could you change your life or your belief system so what Christ commanded us to do and be, actually occurs within your lifestyle?

When Jesus Christ was on earth, He gave His disciples authority over demons, nature/weather, death, sickness, sin, poverty and everything that wasn’t in Heaven. We are given the same authority but it seems to be unusual to see us exhibiting that same authority that the disciples had and used.

For us to operate from a position of authority requires us to have some experience in that area. Heidi Baker prays with authority for anyone who is blind as she knows that they will obtain their sight. When Heidi Baker first began praying for blind people, she did not see any difference though for the first 100 blind people she prayed for.

But she persevered.

She then saw breakthrough and she now operates in amazing authority whenever eye problems are an issue.

What prevents us as Christians from operating in that realm and with that same authority?

I believe when we spend time with God and are intimate with God and truly know the Father’s heart for us, then we can’t help but know that He wants people healed and has given us that responsibility and authority.

Out of our identity and our intimacy with Father God comes our authority.

When we have a faulty belief system, it definitely shows up here. How we view and believe what God can and will do, certainly impacts the authority we operate in. When we believe that God is always good and wants to heal and can heal anything, it changes the way we pray for people and what we pray.

Next week I will look at some of the beliefs we have around healing.

 

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 paper and pens/pencils handy. Each person choose a neighbour. Ask God to show you what to write or draw (if a drawing, perhaps an adult can write what the drawing is about at the top) that will bless them and encourage them on a sheet of paper for that neighbour. Then post it in their letterbox or hand deliver it to them.

2. Group Activation: Have a device to play music on for a game of “Bob’s and Statues”. Explain the activation and then start playing the music. People are to walk or dance around the room. When you stop the music, have everyone either bob down or stand still as a statue. Have the caller with their back to the people so they can’t see what people are doing and they call out either “bob” or “statue” after the music stops and people have moved into their desired action. Those people that did the action that was called out are ‘safe’ and continue to the next round. Those people who did the opposite action to what was called out have to pair up and give each other a prophetic word based on a famous statue.

3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to tell you what He thinks of you at the moment. Listen and wait for His reply.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you a teenager who is sitting exams at the moment. Deliver a prophetic word to them about their future that will encourage and comfort them during this time.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to show you someone with special needs. Spend time with God asking Him for a prophetic word for this person. Ask God how to deliver this prophecy to them and when.

How to Keep Your Healing

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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!!

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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?

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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 my mind goes blank when I go to prophesy?

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

Mine has.

Often.

I am on our church’s prophetic team and we are often involved in a prophetic presbytery. Our church sets it up with a number of teams comprising of 2 people 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 & 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 they have a recording device if they don’t already have it in front of them ready to go. I usually get a sense of something from God immediately for the person and, as I speak it out, more comes. I am also learning to wait for a minute before I speak so as to try to get more of the detail and a greater depth to it. There are some occasions, though, when I don’t get anything and my mind is blank.

I used to be often teemed up with different people who wouldn’t speak first but liked to wait for me to go first. This gave them confidence plus they were sometimes seers and saw pictures and they tended to like several minutes to ask God more about those pictures before they spoke. The last few years I have usually been teemed 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 start speaking the prophetic word.

What do I do in those circumstances if my mind is blank and I don’t have ‘anything’ for them?

The first thing I do is to 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 I want to enter into His presence and see what He is seeing and hear what He is saying, praise and thanks will do that.

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 how He sees this person dressed, what their strengths are, if the person was a tree what sort of tree they would be and what sort of fruit they would be producing etc. I also ask God what this person’s identity in Heaven is ie how is this person known in Heaven?

If I’m still finding it hard to get a prophetic word for this person, I then 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 it is that the Holy Spirit is showering upon them.

Bear in mind, this usually occurs within 10-30 seconds. If I was at home writing a prophetic word out for someone, I take a lot longer. Thus, in situations like the Prophetic Presbytery’s, 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.

To summarise and put it in a list format, 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?
  • If the person was a tree what sort of tree they would be and what sort of fruit they would be producing?
  • What this person’s identity is in Heaven ie how is this person known in Heaven?
  • 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?

Upon reflection, the times I find hard, I need to take a further moment to not rush things. I also need to look at my preparation. How have I prepared and what have I done in the preparation for giving prophetic words? These questions challenge me and help me be ‘switched on’ immediately to release God’s word out of my mouth for these folk.

I know from past experience that when I have feasted 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 will be relevant to that person. There is definitely a key in the preparation process to be spending time with God and nurturing my intimacy with Him.

What do you find helps you when you have a ‘blank’ mind when you go to give someone a prophetic word?

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 pre-prepared sheets of paper with an outline of a person drawn on them and some crayons etc. Ask everyone to select someone they are sitting opposite to and to then ask God how God sees this person dressed in God’s Kingdom. Then encourage everyone to draw what they see, hear or sense on the outline of the person. Encourage everyone to give the sheet to their partner and explain what it is about.

2. Group Activation: Break into groups of 6-8 people. Ask everyone to place something from their pocket or handbag in the centre of their group.  Ask everyone to try not to look at what people are placing in the centre. Then ask everyone to pick up an item from the centre and then take it in turns to prophesy over the object and the person whom the object belongs to.

3. Beginner Activation: Spend some time with God on your own and ask God to highlight to you your life as a fruit tree. Then ask God some questions in relation to this – what does the tree look like? Which sort of fruit? How much fruit? How deep are the roots? What does the tree need at the moment? What season is the fruit tree in at the moment? Spend time asking God further questions and seeking clarification.

4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to highlight to you someone who lives on their own. Spend time with God asking Him to show you that person’s future. Try and formulate with God a song title that would emulate that person’s future as God has shown you.

5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to highlight to you a certain person or people who are currently in a war zone. Ask God to give you a prophetic declaration and decree that you can pray out aloud for these people.

What if I get it wrong when I Prophesy?

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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.