Big Prayers for France

It has been strange, epic, and haunting to watch the video footage of Notre Dame in flames and then to follow the endless commentary and see the photos of the wreckage. Tonight, I have been reminded that you and I have been appointed to be prophets to the nations as we are his people in Christ living on the earth today.

We are here to pray prophetically for God’s kingdom to come in every nation. Our intercession in Jesus’ name matters. There is something rising in me challenging me to “live a life worthy of the calling I have received” in this moment. In my conversations about what has happened in France and with the Notre Dame Cathedral, I want to let my conversation be seasoned with the salt of God’s grace and presence. I want to prophesy and pray things that are soaked with the expectation of an unprecedented move of God in France.

Most of all I am asking God not to let my mouth be filled with my words or opinions. It is time for us to expand our faith to pray big, generous prayers of grace and decree in Jesus’ name, the greatest move of God in France and every nation that the world has ever seen. He has appointed that we would be here at this time to pray his prayers and release his living word.

You are a blessing!

Same World, Multiple Dimensions

While the strong but deceptive pull of the religious spirit is a real thing, in Christ we are welcomed to live today from the dimension of heaven. The disconnect happens for me when I carelessly, recklessly enter the day as if I have no choice. I foolishly let someone else choose. Same world, multiple dimensions. With Jesus, we can engage today from heaven. We can walk in the same situations from a different place. The dull current of religion feels strong and it will mesmerize us if we let it. But, the chains break and fall to the ground when we enter each earthly moment from the dimension of heaven. After all, that IS what Jesus taught us to pray.

You are a blessing!

Heaven’s message… “Humble Yourself”!

I am captivated by the way Jesus always sided with the one who longed to communicate with God… to connect with heaven on earth. Have you noticed that throughout the story recorded in the Bible, the highest value is placed on our being quick to respond when God reaches out to us?

I love the prophetic because it is all about receiving and sharing the living word of God. God’s messages have power because they originate with him. When he sends a message, things change.

The deeper I trust and believe that God is always sending heaven’s message into earth, the better I will receive it. The whole point of the word becoming flesh in Jesus Christ was to make communion between God and humanity accessible. God’s plan is for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven in partnership with us.

There is a clear call to humble ourselves before God so that he can then lift us up in his time and his way. To all of us who long to see Jesus honored and worshipped in all nations and generations, heaven’s message is, “humble yourself”! If we will, I believe we will stand in awe of how loudly God is speaking into our world.

Prophetic voices are beginning to declare across the church that there is a coming together of the prophetic with people returning to Jesus as Lord around the world. We can be part of that movement! It begins with asking God to open us up once again to his voice and his living word.

It is incredible to imagine what could happen if we believe that God is pouring out his Spirit on all humanity in order for us to know him deeply. How would your day change if you knew God is sending a message of love to every person you meet? I believe he is doing just that.

The dream that God has put in my heart is that the Church will live overwhelmed by the living word of the Lord. There was a day that Jesus literally shouted out for everyone to hear, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-39) He is still making it loud and clear. How amazing that we get to partner with him through the prophetic!

May God help us to humble ourselves and rediscover his heart for every person to know his voice and experience his life. He is still writing the same story. He is still siding with the ones who long to communicate with him… to connect with heaven on earth in Jesus’ name.

You are a blessing!

Grateful for Dreams

The Spirit of Truth is with us constantly. All of my life, I have known about this. I was raised in a home and a church family where the Spirit’s active involvement in our lives was a given. Words can’t describe how grateful I am to God for the generous gift of surrounding me with spiritual people.

Far from perfect by earthly standards, my community has always nurtured in me an expectation that God will reach out to me regularly in unseen, intuitive, inner, and spiritual ways. I don’t often pause to be thankful for this. But, lately, I have been thinking a lot about how I have been blessed spiritually by others.

One of the gifts that I have loved from my earliest memories is the ability to dream. Though I have always had vivid dreams, it has only been in recent years that I have become open about sharing them. Over the past few weeks, I have been realizing that I really do love experiencing, sharing, hearing about, and interpreting dreams.

I am not completely sure why I need to tell you about it. But, I do. I need to say it. I am a dreamer… always have been… and I have been helped so much through dreams.

About a week ago, I realized that I need to write and share more of my dreams. So, I am working on that and plan to share them here. It all feels like a mile marker or a place of remembrance to me on my journey.

Thanks for letting me share this with you. It feels important to me and I would love for you to be encouraged to take your own dreams more seriously. On that note, if you have been wrestling with a dream and what it means, I have been learning for many years and would love to hear. I am convinced of this… Your dreams are meant to help you discover more of God’s goodness.

You are a blessing!

Stand Up! The world is waiting for you.

I heard a word from the Lord in a dream last night. It was, “Stand up! The world is waiting for you.” There were many of us gathered in a retreat type of event. The speaker was challenging us with those words. There was a profound sense that it was a moment of commissioning and sending.

Many of us need to open our spiritual perception to hear the Lord stirring us, awakening us to realize that while we “wait” for a special invitation or affirmation from an earthly source to step forward, the world is actually waiting for us to stand up and release our voice.

The Lord is putting His word in our mouths. It is time for us to hear his word from Jeremiah 1:17, “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” Often you will find that the terrifying ones will be the spirits who try to control and manipulate you with their approval or disapproval. You will encounter these spirits both outside and within the faith community. Walk in heaven’s wisdom! The Lord has promised us boldness, courage, power, and authority when we stand. The world is waiting for us.

You are a blessing!

The Prophetic is Anchored in Love

A few days ago, I posted this prayer online, “Father, keep changing my heart with the love you have for Jesus so that your voice fills my voice and your words fill my mouth.” It was inspired by the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-26. For the past decade, the Holy Spirit has taken me into deep connection with God through my surrender in agreement with his prayer.

Jesus is praying for the love that our Father has for him to be in us. Over the years, this prayer has become an anchor for my life. Recently, a “prayer warrior” friend of mine gave me an anchor pendant that now hangs on my desk lamp. She explained to me that she asked the Lord to show her someone she could bless with this gift as a sign that they are an anchor for others. I was so honored that she was led to give it to me.

The credit for any anchoring dynamic to my life goes to Jesus’ intercession for me and the fact that I have been invited into his relationship with the Father. My ability to bring glory to God in any way comes from being rooted by his grace into their unity. Any fruit that is prophetic in any way comes from being driven deep into the love shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The prophetic, for me, is perceiving, receiving, and sharing the living word of the Lord. It comes from revelation… God reveals his truth to those whose spiritual perception has been opened to see and hear. As powerful and life-altering as the prophetic is, it is contained and fueled by love.

But, it has not been human love that has unlocked and empowered the prophetic for me. It hasn’t been a type of love that I could figure out or strategize or attain. It is a gift that I had to ask for and wait for according to God’s response.

In his faithful way, the Father has changed my heart by giving me his love for Jesus, the Son. It has become a deep desire of my heart to move in the type of prophetic that shakes the world around me through a relationship with God… one person at a time… starting with me and with you.

Will you join me in ongoing prayer for the Lord to keep changing our hearts with his love?

You are a blessing!

Surrendering The Engine of Desire

We understand what love is because Jesus laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16) Experiencing eternal life comes only by knowing God. The overwhelming gospel is that God has invited us into the closest of all intimate relationships with him through faith in Jesus.

Being prophetic or growing in the prophetic is all about going deeper with Jesus and allowing him to go deeper with you. There is a beautiful moment where we see Jesus and the disciples during what is known as the Last Supper. It is the moment when Jesus reminds them of the nearness of the Spirit.

In John 14:16-17, Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in us. Receiving and declaring the living word of the Lord is where I come alive. The Lord has taught me over many decades that I will find him only when I seek him with my whole heart.

At the central part of me is my core engine of desire. Something bigger than life is activated when by the grace of God, that engine of desire is surrendered to intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

I do love receiving and sharing messages from God. I do love the prophetic. But, my true passion as God’s child is being close enough with Jesus that we are able to hear each other’s voice.

Hearing our Shepherd’s voice and following Him is more precious to us than what he says and where he is going. The point of being prophetic is experiencing the One who will never leave us and will empowers us to stay with him.

You are a blessing!

The Veil is Lifted

What happens in your inner territory when all you have left to go on is your agreement with God? The Spirit loves to lead you to that place because God’s joy over that territory is all that truly matters. You in Christ and Christ in you… life-union with Jesus… receive his joy over you.

I believe we are in a season right now when unprecedented demonstrations of God’s kingdom are breaking out into the open on earth. If we will continue to humble ourselves, He will lift us up in his way and his time.

The following message rose up in me today and I want to encourage you with it… The Veil is Removed: The compassionate works of the Holy Spirit are overflowing with glory. There is nothing as amazing as God’s glory. The veil is removed because of Jesus. He removes whatever hinders our seeing and hearing as well as our speaking and revealing his glory in us, around us, and through us. (A word from the Lord this morning as I was meditating on 2 Cor 3:12-18)

You are a blessing!

Not easily threatened

How much are we limited and held back because of fear? When we feel threatened we tend to react in some way. The “fight or flight” instinct activates and what follows is not usually pretty or helpful. I have found that giving in to threatened feelings shuts down my spiritual perception.

I jumped in on a twenty-one day fast hosted by my church. We are giving God the first part of 2019 as a reminder that we will see his goodness break in on us throughout the whole year. The idea is to give up something good that you enjoy in order to receive the best thing, a deeper relationship with God.

The breakthrough I have been asking God for in my life, home, and church is in the realm of the miraculous. I want to partner with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus in doing miracles, signs, and wonders. I also want those around me to do the same.

During my fast, the Lord has been making me more aware of the freedom I possess because I am in Christ. There is a reason that Jesus shared his freedom with me. Because I am free, I can live unafraid. I don’t need to act or react to anything locked up in fear. (Galatians 5:1)

Jesus lived in total freedom because he was fully aware that he was free 100% of the time. Whatever he did, he was in charge. Wherever he went, he was intentional and fully present. He lived on earth by the power and authority of heaven.

He could see and hear in the realm of the spirit because it was no threat to him. Because he was not threatened, he was willing to perceive all things in the seen and unseen realm. Now, because I am in life-union with him, I can begin to perceive what he sees and hears in complete freedom.

You and I will grow in our ability to receive and declare the living word of the Lord as we trust his presence in us. We are going to see more of his power displayed in 2019! Take courage in these words of Jesus, “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!

You are a blessing!

Trying Harder is Toxic to the Prophetic

The Holy Spirit is training me to live in full acceptance as a son in the family of God. I did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading me back into the fear of never being good enough. (Romans 8:10-17 TPT)

God longs for us to give ourselves to an intimate relationship with him. In Christ he transforms us into his friends and lovers. In order to move forward in receiving and declaring the living word of the Lord, we need to anticipate more amazement over who Jesus is in us.

Religious duty is not amazing! Nurturing an attitude of religious duty, of trying harder in my life is toxic to my growth in the prophetic. It is time for the Church (remember that the church is people) to come clean about our friendship with religious duty.

To be prophetic requires an ever-increasing fire of friendship with Jesus. Friendship with religion (trying hard to please God) is NOT friendship with Jesus. The first gift God gives us on our journey in the prophetic is friendship with him from the inside-out.

How would your life be different if you surrendered to his promise to never leave you or forsake you? What if never leaving you includes those times when you have sinned and/or deeply disappointed yourself as part of his family? Are you ready for a deeper surrender to his never-failing friendship with you? Talk to him about it.

You are a blessing!