All of Creation is God’s place. There is nowhere that God doesn’t belong. Anywhere that there is life, there is God. Discovering prayer is discovering God. Discovering God is discovering prayer. Our prayer must expand to make room for us to live. Our lives must expand to make room for our prayer. Together we are a dwelling place for God. God is a dwelling place for all of us together. Prayer is you hearing God’s voice. Prayer is God hearing your voice. Prayer is where we are shaped. Prayer is us shaping things. There is no life outside of prayer. There is no prayer outside of life. Your life is meant to be a prayer. So God make our lives a prayer and make prayer our life. Through Christ Jesus Our Lord. – AMEN
Category: the living word of the Lord
Craving Wisely
My cravings are set on fire by my hunger and thirst. The pressures of life push and pull me to an empty place. Once I get there, my soul demands to be filled. I cannot deny or escape it.
To be alive is to crave more life. I am always hungry and thirsty because I have been created for renewal. As long as I am breathing I will be craving.
For some reason, I find myself journaling this… “Coming to terms with the primal source of life…the kingdom of God… the Spirit of God. It is the presence of God that provides power, stability, breath, life, and more.”
I began to think about prayer. It is bringing my hunger and thirst to the bread of life and the living water… King Jesus. Wisdom tells me that my cravings drive what I do. The reason I pray is to not be a fool when it comes to my heart intentions… what I am REALLY trying to get.
Jesus said, “Blessings on people who hunger and thirst for God’s justice! You’re going to be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6 – The Bible for Everyone) or “How enriched you are when you crave righteousness! For you will be surrounded with fruitfulness.” (The Passion Translation)
We are right now under pressure from adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of us are careening toward a confrontation with our heart motives… what we REALLY crave.
I hear the anchoring voice of the Spirit urging me to come to him every day to eat the bread of life and drink the living water that only comes from King Jesus. Only a fool would ignore Him.
God, lead me in heaven’s wisdom. – Amen
Speak, Lord, for Your Servant (church) is Listening (1 Samuel 3:10)
Inspired by 1 Samuel 3
This has been a historic era when we have been trying to have all of the benefits of the kingdom of heaven on earth without the King. The nations of the world have bought into the lie that says even if there is a God, He is distant from us and uninvolved on earth.
Most, even in the church can relate to 1 Samuel 3:1, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.” Eli’s house was corrupt and he himself was allowing unethical and immoral things to happen. God was about to judge his household.
In the middle of the mess, the Spirit of God broke through and caused the boy Samuel, to hear from heaven. That encounter under the coaching of Eli (even though he was coming under God’s judgment) launched Samuel into an unprecedented prophetic ministry.
We have come to such a moment right now. I submit to you that the Coronavirus Pandemic has become a moment when what we hear has awesome potential to launch the restored prophetic voice of the Church for the glory of King Jesus.
This is a moment when I am choosing by the grace of God to be intentional about how I respond to what I hear. I am joining with young Samuel and praying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”. The Church in all nations is going to shine powerfully in 2020 and beyond in an unprecedented way. Our service to God, today, is to listen only to Him.
In Christ, You are a blessing!
Jesus’ Word to You When Dread Approaches
I love the living, active, grace (ability) that comes from the Holy Spirit to prophesy to each other. 1 Corinthians 14:3 reads, “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” For me, it’s all about building up, stirring up, and cheering up.
There is a dread creeping in on the world due to COVID-19. But, there was and is a MASSIVE network of people and communities united and connected in Jesus across that same space. We are one in the Spirit and we are united in Christ’s glory and love (John 17:20-26).
Today, I declare Jesus’ prophetic word to stir us up again. He still shows up when the thick clouds of dread creep in on our communities. He says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5:14-15)
We have a powerful advantage of hope with which we can bless people who come into our place and space today. We don’t need to hoard it. It actually increases the more we share it. That advantage is the living word of the Lord. The light that will drive away dread is actually the living presence of God released in us and through us as we choose a grateful, thankful attitude.
No matter what threats arise (real or just hype), Jesus’ word over us is, “You are the light of the world.” Be bold in love, genuinely encourage people, and trust Jesus to shine more and more through you.
In Christ, you are a blessing!
The Fear of the Lord Releases the Unprecedented
Over the past few years, I have been creating a prophetic word. It is in response to the journey I have taken with God. First I need to say that I am convinced we are living in an unprecedented move of God around the world. If you have eyes to see it and ears to hear it, you would be wise to make the most of it in your life.
The Lord is moving in unprecedented ways and bringing people into His family at an unprecedented rate. And he is doing it in and through the church, his family. It seems that the “new wine” of God’s renewal is being carried by his “new wineskins”… his children in Christ. The word that I have been crafting has to do with the ability or grace that God is pouring out to the church. It is the grace to release the Unprecedented move of God in all nations and generations.
I believe that mothers and fathers have been rising up that will not only carry this grace but will also effectively train their sons and daughters on how to carry it as well. The Lord of the harvest has been intentionally calling these leaders and preparing them for this moment.
So, by God’s grace, I see in the spirit, thousands if not millions of us around the world who right now are carrying the grace to release the Unprecedented move of God. It is time for us to own that gift in Jesus’ name and lay down our lives in releasing it. God will be with us and will help us take every step on the mission.
The past few days one more piece has been added to this prophetic word. It comes from Isaiah 33:6, “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” It is the fear of the Lord.
The Amplified Bible defines the fear of the Lord as “worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome”. My working definition is “placing God’s stance and word on everything higher than anyone else’s opinion including my own and surrendering to it”.
Today I can see and know in my heart that the missing piece is being added to my crafted word. The Lord has been showing me that the fear of the Lord is actually THE grace that the church is carrying at this moment… and it is increasing rapidly.
I feel like it has finally come together in me. God is giving it as a prayer call, mantle, and burden of love to carry. This is what I have been hearing in my spirit: The fear of the Lord is the grace we carry to release the Unprecedented move of God in all nations and generations.
If you hear that same call in your heart, don’t lose heart or give up in weariness. Let’s agree together and thank God for building us together in Christ as new wineskins who carry the new wine of the reverent fear of the Lord.
In Christ, you are a blessing!
Unrefined ponderings on a tired midweek morning…
Holy Spirit, reside in me, in us.
In Jesus, I am in heaven. Because Jesus is in me, heaven is on earth.
It is a “right here, right now” thing. The living, breathing, moving union of heaven and earth is overflowing with the glory of God.
Somehow to live every moment in the faith that in Christ, heaven and earth have been joined.
Transformation happens at the pace of a plant growing. And it grows up out of the mess and chaos of our lives.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you, Jesus, for your faithful, undying, life infusing presence in us and with us especially when we think we are at our worst.
Teach us to see in every moment at least a hint of your kingdom flowing on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
SEEING IN 2020
I’ve been crafting and honing a prophetic word for 2020 over my own life. The phrase that has been coming to me is, “This year you will SEE in 20/20”. I’m working on a prayer that will express what I want God to do in me over the coming year. It involves restoring the eyes of my heart and renewing my ability to see clearly in the Spirit
According to the American Optometric Association, “20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. If you have 20/100 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet… Having 20/20 vision does not necessarily mean you have perfect vision. 20/20 vision only indicates the sharpness or clarity of vision at a distance.”
I want an inner vision that has been refined to “normal visual acuity” for a child of God living to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. I want to see at 20 (spiritual) feet what I am supposed to see. And, I love the prophetic idea of having clear “vision at a distance”.
I feel like God is blowing on the fire in our hearts with a desire to see in 20/20 in the New Year. I am definitely intrigued. Has the Spirit been stirring up anything similar to this in your life? I am wondering if others have been getting revelation for the year to come.
I would love to hear your reply!
Healing my Spiritual Vision in 2020
Every November I ask God to give me a word, a focus for the coming year. It stirred in me this morning that I would love for the Spirit of God to bring healing to the eyes of my heart in 2020. I know that seeing everything more clearly as he aligns my vision will call for greater courage and surrender.
Over the next week, I will be crafting my word from the Lord for my life as it relates to 2020. My tradition is to have it ready for my birthday on November 13. I then submit it to King Jesus and surrender it to him as I start on another trip around the sun.
Maybe you would like to ask the Lord about 2020? If you feel like it is a year for him to heal the eyes of your heart, your inner vision, you are welcome to join me in that focus.
As children of God in Christ, we are prophetic people. The Church is called to be a prophet to all nations. May we surrender our vision to King Jesus over and over again so that He will be happy in his Church and his heart will overflow with blessing!
Prophetic Give and Take
I am gaining a much greater appreciation for our need to gain skill in the “give and take” of the prophetic in our relationships. I have focused most of my attention on learning how to hear from God and deliver prophetic words to others.
But, Jesus opened the way so that I can also receive powerful blessings through others as they deliver prophetic messages from God to me.
This two-way communication with other believers in Christ requires me to learn how to both receive from and give to others through the gift of prophecy.
Because of all that Jesus accomplished as our Saviour and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh (see Acts 2), we have the incredible blessing of relating prophetically. The same power of Christ that frees us to deliver a prophetic word also empowers us to receive a word responsibly from another believer.
I have a sense that the Church is going to greatly increase our ability to receive words from others with the Holy Spirit’s help. Powerful days lie ahead of us as we learn to lovingly judge the words others deliver to us in a healthy way.
The Lord Jesus is still building his church. The best is yet to come. Don’t squander the opportunities available to you to practice the prophetic in your relationships.
In Christ, you are a blessing!
Unlimited Provision… Unlimited Systems
In the middle of a conversation yesterday with an apostolic friend of mine, a word rose up in me… Unlimited provision is waiting for unlimited systems. Prophesying involves taking action, sending a text, making a phone call, saying hello to a stranger, telling someone that you are learning to listen to God for the sake of blessing others, etc.
A system is “a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.” (Oxford Dictionary) For too long, the objective of our system for the prophetic has been to protect the exclusivity of who gets to prophesy. In other words, we approach prophesying as something reserved for those special ones among us. This has been so limiting to the kingdom of heaven being experienced on earth.
There is kinetic power in the prophetic. Kinetic energy is what a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.
This is what I have learned about being prophetic… the more outlets I create for prophesying, the more it flows from me. Prophecy is receiving AND declaring the living word of the Lord. The more you step forward and risk creating another outlet, the more results you will see.
We all have systems (ways that we operate on a daily basis). Do a gut check to see if you intend to release the kinetic power of the prophetic today. It could be as ordinary as choosing a name from your phone contacts, asking God to release an encouraging word through you to that person, and sending a short text to reflect what you received from the Father concerning his love for them.
Unlimited provision is waiting for unlimited systems. I am speaking that word into my own space today. Maybe that is a good word for you as well.
I truly believe that as your actions create more outlets for the prophetic, you will experience the kinetic energy of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
In Christ, you are a blessing!