Learning to be prophetic

I've always wanted to be prophetic.  I mean who doesn't want to hear God speak!  Can there be anything more wonderful than hearing what God has to say?

What do I mean by being prophetic and hearing God?  I believe that God is speaking all the time, not just through the Bible (though that obviously is the best way to hear Him) but in real time, right now, and that as His child, I can hear what He is saying.  And as I tell the kids in my Sunday school, He speaks in lots of ways.  Sometimes we can see pictures in our mind's eye.  Sometimes he reminds of us a Bible verse.  Sometimes He will cause us to feel something physical in our bodies or emotional in our guts.  And sometimes we just know things in our know-er ... But in this blog I'm not aiming to explain what prophecy is, there are many more better equipped people to do that.  I'm just sharing how I came to discover prophecy in my own life.

So here's my story:  Twenty years ago I was on placement with a church in Cape Town, and whilst there, amongst a myriad of great experiences, one moment sticks out.  A lady prophesied over me that in time I would become prophetic.  My immediate thought was 'Wow, that's great! I can't wait' and although I longed for her words to come true, I never did anything much about it.  So wait is exactly what I did.  My assumption was that if God wanted to give me the gift of prophesy then at some point he would drop it in my lap.  After all, I'd been brought up nicely not to expect presents or ask for them, but if given one to be suitably appreciative.  Occasionally, I'd have a go at prophesying; listening to God to see if He wanted to give me a word or a picture for someone, but on the whole I was waiting for the time when He would give me a prophetic gift.

Then about two years ago, I persuaded a friend to be my mentor.  The first thing she asked me was: 'What spiritual skill would you like to 'up-skill' in?'  And although the thought of spiritual skills (as opposed to gifts) was a bit alien to me, my immediate heart's cry was 'I want to be prophetic'.  I long to know how to hear God and feel confident that I can and do hear Him. 

My mentor suggested I get some training and pointed me in the direction of Accessible Prophecy, part of 3DM's ministries http://accessibleprophecy.com/  I was initially very reluctant, thinking this wasn't really for me, but was kind of committed since my mentor would be expecting me to follow through on my stated desire to up-skill.  Nothing like being held accountable to get you moving!  So I joined an online prophetic coaching huddle and I'm so grateful I did.  And cutting a 2 year journey short, here is something of what I have discovered about prophecy:

God has shown me that each prophetic word is like an apple.  Yes, an apple.  Bear with me. 

My view of the prophetic used to be that IF I were to listen for a friend for a word from God, and IF God had something to say, and IF He wanted to use me to say it, then He would drop that apple in my lap for me to give to my friend.  Somehow regardless on what my head-knowledge might have told me, in my heart I believed that apples were rare.  I believed apples were hard to receive.  Somewhere deep in my heart sat a poverty mindset that apples were rationed.  Not enough for everyone.  Not enough for every day.  My role was to sit and wait to see if He wanted to drop an apple, but I didn't really expect Him to.  Afterall, I wasn't 'a prophet', I was merely me.

So why would God use an apple to explain prophecy to me?  Well in our house with 3 small kids apples are never rationed.  Sweets yes.  Exotic fruit, yes.  Apples never.  If you are hungry, even if just before a meal, its OK to help yourself to an apple,  Now you might need to ask permission to have some things in life, like 'may I have a biscuit' but you don't need to ask for apples.  And it might be considered greedy or rude to ask certain other people for things, like asking friends for birthday presents, but you can always ask anything of your parents.

So what does that mean for prophecy?  Now, when I think of the prophetic, I imagine God's vast throne room and all down one side of the room there runs a banquet table laden with apples.  All juicy, all crisp, all delicious and good.  There is such an abundance of apples that in a million years you could not run out.  And because I am a child of the King and heir to His Kingdom, I have the freedom to enter the throne room any time I like and help myself to an apple (just as my kids are free to eat as many apples as they like, even without asking, they are there for the taking).  So if I would like an apple to give a friend, I know there are plenty and I can just take one and give it away.  If I'd like an apple for myself, I can go into the thrown room and pick one up.  I don't have to wait; I don't have to worry there might not be enough apples; I'm not concerned that I might not be permitted or might not the right person to give out apples. 

Now I know that our God is a God who speaks all the time.  He is not distant or remote, but he is a loving Father who loves and longs to talk with His kids.  He is the God of abundance and there is no lack of anything good in His Kingdom.  I believe that I am a child of the King and through Christ have access directly into the throne room of heaven.  I knew all this beforehand in my head, but know I know it in my heart!  (contented sigh)  I set out thinking I needed help with a skill ... instead I discovered I needed help with a relationship.  My relationship with Abba Father.

So this is what I have learnt about God and about prophecy.  How great is the love that God has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! (1Jn3:1)  Apple anyone?

...the greatest of these is love!

Can't believe its 2 months since my last post - I had intended to do this every month - but maybe its apt that I am writing this just before Valentines Day ;)

But as its been 2 months, for my own sake at least, let me recap ...

... I want to learn what the bible has to say about how we are to be with each other in church - our code of conduct if you like. (Blog Post 1)
... Before I can get to grips with God's instructions to us its important to remember who I am to be, before I think about how I am to be - a forgiven and accepted precious child of God (Blog Post 2)

...and now I thought I would start getting to grips with God's advice, maybe a list of instructions as the basis for a vision statement or something clever like that.  For four months now I have been chewing on Matthew chapter 5 so I honestly thought that is what I would write about next (the sermon on the mount does read a bit like an instruction manual and it appeals to my liking for order and logic).  But apparently there is still more for me to learn before that.

In the last week God has smacked me with His big idea, His most obvious big idea, so obvious in fact that I missed it - d'oh!

'Love!'

If I was looking for a one word answer for 'how are we to be with each other' then it must be 'love'.  Love must surely be the starting point, the end point and the undergirding of every point in between, because God Himself is Love (1 John 4:8)

Last week I was preparing for a difficult meeting.  I was writing down objectives and strategies for said meeting, preparing various papers and praying madly that God would sort it.  The morning of the meeting I sat down with a  cup of tea (rare occurrence) and picked up my daily devotions book (ought to be a less rare occurrence) and this is what I read:

'Practise Love
Want of Love will block the way.  You must love all.  Those who fret you and those who do not.
Practise Love. It is a great lesson, and you will have a great Teacher.  You must love, how otherwise can you dwell in Me, where nothing unloving can come?  Practise this and I will bless you exceedingly, above all you can not only ask but imagine.' God Calling; A Devotional Diary

I immediately looked up 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 And God said this:
Kate, even if you are the very best possible kids worker, missionary to your local school, church leader, discipler of others, but you do not love all people (those who fret you as well as those who don't) then you are nothing and will gain nothing.  Love is patient, kind, not boastful, not self-seeking, keeps no record of wrongs, and always perseveres.  Love is the greatest and only commandment!

Hard core and true.  Love!  Must love!  Everyone!  Always!  Or you are nothing!  Woah!

But bless the Lord for that lovely word 'practise'.  I have recently seen Anna & Hugh through learning to ride their bikes.  There were times when I honestly thought Anna would never get it.  More off than on, more stopping than starting,  more crashing than riding.  But she persevered and now it is almost second nature, almost automatic, almost unconscious. 

God knows I won't get it right much at first, but if I keep at it then I will get good and it will become automatic, because He is a perfectly patient and loving Father and Teacher.  Love will become who I am.  And I do want that to be who I am!

Now before any of you kind people wade in and try to reassure me that I am not hopeless - because I know how kind you all are - let me just be clear:  I am not saying that I, or any of us, are especially unloving.  I am just saying that we have not yet reached the goal of being as perfect at loving as our heavenly Father is.  All of us have people we find difficult to love.  And in later posts we will no doubt come onto what our responsibilities are towards those who fret us and where the boundaries lie - I am not an advocate of Christian doormats ;)  But that said, God does not let us off the hook: love your neighbour and your enemy alike (Matt 22:39 & 5:44)  Tough stuff!

Jesus said: 'If you love each other then everyone will know you are my disciples' (John 13:35).  Makes sense right; if God is love then it will be obvious to everyone that we are His followers if we practise love.

And not just loving our friends but those people in church that fret us!  Not easy by any stretch but it would be worth it right?  How awesome would it be if Emmanuel church was known by everyone as the church where people really do love each other?  Surely people would flock to join our ranks!  Rush to meet this God who can make people so different.

And my meeting?  Well, God really did bless me exceedingly, above all I could ask and imagine.  Turns out this stuff works  ;)

Who I Am In Christ

I've been reflecting on that verse 'Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect' (Matt 5:48)...

...and it strikes me that I am reading it through a lense which gives me a certain perspective on that verse.  If I deliberately take my lense off and re-read that verse then my reaction to it is quite different.  What I read now makes me feel ... condemned because I am not perfect ... stressed because I cannot achieve what is being asked of me ... defeated before I even start ... a whole bunch of 'oughts' & 'shoulds' whirling in my brain ... in short I feel horrible and upset.  Not good!

And yet with my lense in place I don't feel any of those negative things.  So what is my lense?  I am aware that I am reading it through my freedom in Christ.

Over the last few years I have been wrestling to live more and more in the freedom that Christ brings us (Jn 8:36).  I think probably this journey has been going on my whole life, and I suspect that until the day I pop my clogs I will not have fully plumbed its depths.  That said I think maybe I have grasped something of that freedom more intensely in recent years and that maybe God needed me to learn that first so that He could now to talk to me about this stuff - the how are we to be stuff.  Love it when God's plan comes together :)

My freedom in Christ ...
... I am accepted: God loves me AND even likes me for who I am
... I am forgiven: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
... I am a saint: when God looks at me He sees the holiness that is already mine in Christ
... I am significant: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
... the list goes on in more and more marvellous truths - what a gift from God that he should see me that way!

The bible tells us to renew our minds (Rom 12:2) and getting to grips with who I am in Christ is definitely a case of needing to renew my mind with these truths every day.  Not to believe the little voice in my head that tells me I am foolish, unlikeable, that I must be good to please, that I 'ought' & 'should' or else...  And as it turns out renewing my mind with Christ's freedom is totally fundamental to everything in the Christian life.  Including my reading of the New Testament's instructions on how we are to be with each other as a church.  Huh!  Fancy! ;)

So before I wade any further into the New Testament re how we are to be, I am just reminded to focus first and foremost who I am to be.  And from that position then, d'you know what?  I am going to give being perfect a shot!

with love, kx

PS resources below

• Henri Nouwen 8 part series on youtube 'Becoming the Beloved'  Link to part 1 below (Thank you Helen E for introducing me to this stuff!!!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFWfYpd0F18

• Neil Andersen's list of Who I Am In Christ:

Why am I blogging?

Some time ago my counsellor (yes, you all know already that I am a therapist junkie) set me a challenge: to read through the New Testament looking for what God's Word has to say about how we are to be with each other.  How are we to treat each other, communicate with each other, behave around each other, etc and specifically in the context of a church community.  My immediate thought was: 'Well, I know what the Bible says.  I've been a Christian long enough'.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that while I have a general sense of what the Bible says in this area, I couldn't list specific verses, nor would I find it easy to sit down and off the top of my head write a code for church conduct listing vision and values for how we are to treat each other.  I would find it easier to say how are Christians to be in contrast to how the world is - what makes us salt and light when we are out there (Matt 5:13-16). But how are we to be in church?  Hmm...

To be honest I am a bit gob-smacked by this realisation.  Is it maybe easier to be counter cultural in respect to the world than it is in church?  I mean, I don't have to be very salty maybe to be more salty than the world.  But maybe in contrast to other Christians I am not shining very brightly at all.  Not that I am trying to compete you understand, its just that maybe I have realised I have a long way still to go.  Jesus says: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48) not be a bit more perfect than those in the world.

I feel deeply challenged but I am up for learning & growing!  My prayer is that God would search me and purify me (Ps 51), that He would show me where He still has work to do in me, that I might co-operate with Him and walk in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:16-18).  And maybe you feel the same way too.  I which case lets learn and grow together, learn to love each other in such a way that the world may see that we are His disciples (Jn 13:35)