Growing in the Prophetic - Patricia Bootsma (Friday, 24 Jun 2016)

we're gonna talk about the prophetic tonight and by God's grace we're all gonna go higher how many of you know that this is a very precious gift that God wants to give us amen so father I thank you for the word of the Lord to run swiftly tonight god I just thank you for opening our hearts to receive our eyes to see our ears to hear Father enlarging our ability to just retain the more and live the more so keep coming Holy Spirit lasting fruit we pray lasting fruit from this time together in Jesus name for us and everybody over the internet watching did you know that 40% of your Bible is prophecy 40% that's that's a lot and this gift is very precious as a matter of fact it says in 1st Corinthians 14:1 that we are to pursue love but we are to desire spiritual gifts especially prophecy and that word desire in the greek is z lo which is a very intense word it means to ardently pursue go after with great intensity and great zeal that is what you and I are called to do for this prophetic gift more spiritual gifts especially prophecy now why would God say that I believe that there's many reasons for you and I to live a prophetic lifestyle many reasons from the heart of the Father for us to live this gift and guess what there's a spiritual warfare over you as well to not live this gift so realize that that there are you know we are in a war we are in in this battle in the spirit realm that that a very real enemy doesn't want us to live this life and by the way why is the world going to psychics and palm readers and horoscopes and oh it really bugs me when I see in my neighborhood somebody putting up a little flier that says psychic reading and you know and and people flock to that I was at the beach when we were in California last month or whenever there zouzhen now and there was a psychic on the beach with his lineup and I was like it actually made me angry I was like I want to get my own booth there I want to start doing prophetic readings and you know the world is hungry for the spiritual they're hungry for these encounters with God and guess what you and I as God's people we've got the real deal if you are a believer in Jesus you have the Holy Spirit with them and guess who the one who is speaks to you and gives you this prophetic gift yes you know the father all good and father is the the giver of good gifts but what does he do through his son it says in john 16:2 maybe for those of you taking notes I'm gonna you know just fly through some bird verses that if you want to check it out later do that but John 16 starting at verse 12 it talks about the function or one of the functions of the Holy Spirit and it says this Jesus is saying I have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now but when he the Spirit of Truth has come he will give to you all truth he will not speak of his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come you'll glorify me you'll take what is mine and declare it to you all things that the father has are mine therefore I said that he the Holy Spirit will take of mine and declare it to you so technically who is the one who speaks to you the Holy Spirit where is the Holy Spirit yeah within right like technically the father's in heaven and technically Jesus is seated that's right and the father but he's with us but through the spirit so when we operate in the prophetic we learn to discern his voice it's not like give me a word up in the cosmos way up there in the heavenlies no it's actually within it's the spirit within and the Hebrew word for profit is naba which means to bubble up so it bubbles up within we learn to tune with I remember it was st. Francis of Assisi who said I've spent so much time of my life trying to find God without when all along he was within and so we want to demystify this and say that this is for you and this is for me the spirit within Lew learning to tune into the voice of the Spirit the Paraclete the one who walks alongside of us who guides us into all truth and declares to us the things that the father and the son are saying the Lord prophesied in acts 2 repeated in Joel 2 that in the last day says God I will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall dream dreams and your old men shall see visions on my men's servants my maid servants I'll pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy then it goes on to say I will show wonders in the heavens signs in the earth blood fire vapor smoke the moon into blood the coming of the great and awesome day the Lord in other words that Joel 2 prophecy was only partially fulfilled when it was said at Pentecost a much greater level fulfillment is coming now in the days right before this coming of the Son of man the second coming of the Son of Man I remember years ago and how many remember this when you'd hear about some prophet it's gonna speak somewhere and you all pile into a van to drive long distances to hear that prophet speak it everybody remember those days now it's like oh my goodness this gift is just really being poured out even in my lifetime I see the difference because it's it's become known again that prophets are still in the air today the prophetic gift is a-- is alive and well and the lord is wanting to pour it out in greater measure and also in that verse he wants to give you more whatever level you and i are operating at he wants to give us more that we go higher in our lifestyle of hearing god and living this so so let's look at this if you know if whoever's thirsty was song tonight if whoever's thirsty I will give to him to drink so I was like are we thirst see are we hungry are we longing for more and you know what I think some of the things that hold us back is that we are afraid of making mistakes and I could write a book on the mistakes I've made in prophetic but I realized that nobody would buy that book so I don't bother writing it but you know along the way of pitfalls and mistakes is the training ground and how the Lord teaches you and you get back up again remember clearly he told me one time he said Patricia learning to hear me is a little bit like your kids when they learn to walk and you know they fell down and they got back up and they clung the furniture and they took a few steps and they fell down and then they got back up again but guess what they're all walking and so it's like get back up again and sometimes we need to forgive ourselves or forgive leaders or forgive where we've been shut down and just say god I'm determined to z lo SE z lo the prophetic gift you know I was a eight year old back in the family farm which is was near Stratford Ontario and I milked cows growing up and that's what I did I wrote ponies I was a tomboy I always had cowboy hats and chaps and you know that sort of thing and I remember being on the family farm when these two people came to visit and they just began to prophesy and tell me all about my life and that I was gonna travel the nation's I was gonna teach people about Jesus I was gonna lead people to Jesus and and I just remember like huh like I'm eight I wasn't even born again until I was twelve I do remember my heart burning inside of me as they spoke these words over me and you know I just remember thinking first of all I was thinking man I I go to a church that you know the women don't do anything but make the tea and put out the cake and so I'm like you I'm a woman right I'm a girl and I'm gonna preach but I I do remember this that something it's like a switch something turned on in my heart and I was like I want to fulfill the call of God in my life I want to know this God who's inviting me into such a destiny and you know I say this because I cannot prove this I do not know this for a fact all I know is that when I asked my where did those people come from or who are those people she said I don't know what you're talking about I saw you knows people that were right here talking to me and she wasn't that far away and she says I never saw anybody talking to you so I don't know I saw it clearly but you know I later read about angels that can come in human form and I don't know if that was the case or not but I do know that what I saw what I heard and I'm actually living those prophecies right now and I just remember being ignited like I can hear God and I want to hear God and I was riding my pony into the back of the field and and I would say I want to hear you God and I would just kind of throw myself in the grass and and wait and listen and and just begin to feel the presence of God even as a little girl and I remember my bedroom window was with an ear shot of a pond where the frogs used to have a symphony at night I always loved the sound and those Frogner and then I heard them they were I love you I love you I love you my kin is that you God it's another thing I can't prove but you know I also saw the dark side and I remember seeing with my natural eyes a lot of demons as a child now I used to explore a family farm and long story but I used to find a lot of artifacts that that very likely came from First Nations like like seances and there was a particular area and her farm work there was a lot of that stuff and even later when my parents sold the family farm somebody moved in and and fled within two weeks because they said the house was haunted that was my growing up house you know and and then later it burned to the ground but all I do I I remember that very well warfare and it was like God I I need to see the light side and so there were those glimpses and I was afraid sometimes and sometimes I turned off consciously try to turn off the ability to see because I would see the dark side and it was actually when I was 19 years old I know that seems like a long time but it wasn't happening but I remember when I was 19 and I had received prayer when I was 17 Thor the Baptist Holy Spirit nothing happened and I thought I bought alive for two years that that wasn't for me or it wasn't a gift for me but I was 19 and every night at 2 a.m. I was awakened I was back at my family home for the summer I was in University and I remember being awakened at 2 o'clock and I saw hooded figure that would come right beside my bed and I was petrified with fear I was absolutely paralyzed petrified with fear I could hear voices I could things would fly across my room this Bruce Springsteen that's a lot that's dating me but I had this poster I had on the wall fell off the wall in my head a candle with it was the weirdest thing you know every night 2 o'clock in the morning I was hardly getting any sleep and I was like this is ridiculous and I knew I did not have power and authority over what was happening and then I said to God God I'm asking again for the gift of the filling of the Holy Spirit thank you and I remember at that time going to a local pastor and that was connected actually with Kenneth Copeland's ministry and then I asked him I said can you pray for me and that night I felt fired down my head and I went home I was driving home and all of a sudden this language came and speaking in tongues for the first time but I remember going back to my bedroom I said in the name of Jesus you get out of here that was the first time I slept in three weeks and anyways that was the kind of story that that was my story but then I just began to say God I want to I want to see the light side I want to see what you're up to I don't even know why I'm telling you all that I think I'm saying that because some of you know what I'm talking about you've seen the dark side of you you've been part of what has felt like you just as soon turn it off and it's like God saying it's time to open it up but it's time to open it up under my will in my way because I am releasing an hour me of Sears and prophetically gifted people in this day in this hour before the coming of the son of men and this is now time to jump in come on I'm talking to somebody this is time to jump in and this is for you and for me and that guy that was just here in case you don't know him was my husband and if I can share his story for a moment he believed a lie that he couldn't hear God and and he's you know very biblically he's a smart Bible teacher and he knows the Bible inside out walking concordance I call him and he believed this lie that he couldn't hear God and that's what he got can't hear if you believe you can't hear God then you won't hear God and I'll never forget this prophet came those many years ago but they called him out of a crowd they said sir stand up yo you're you can hear God and you need to stop leaning on your wife's ability to hear God because God says you can hear me and I'm like you think I'd paid the guy to give that word and you know some broke on him because he repented he repented for believing the lie that he couldn't hear God and something came off and all of a sudden the tap opened up and he certainly does hear God sometimes that's the very thing is the enemy has wanted us to believe this isn't for you this isn't for you no it's not your personality type or whatever you know that's not your gifting hey everybody if you're believer can hear the voice of God my sheep hear my voice they know me they follow me if you've been to Israel the Sheep of different Shepherds were put in a common pen at night a huge stone wall pen and so all these flocks would come to the same pen at night to protect them and then the Shepherd's would come in the morning he'd shape shape shape and all the sheep from that particular shepherd would follow their Shepherd out and then the next shepherd would come here and all the sheep knew that Shepherds voice and they would follow him out what a beautiful illustration Jesus gave my sheep hear my boys and they follow me does anybody need direction tonight do you need direction as to what you're gonna do with your life or where you're supposed to go well guess what you got a really good Shepherd that wants to lead you so that the job is on the kink in the hose is not on his and it's an Arendt all right it's an RN to hear to listen to pay attention to tune in I like to say it this way right now in this room there are cell phone waves right you just need a cell phone to pick it up on it there's radio waves there's probably TV waves there's Internet waves you need the receptor to pick up which you cannot see and so it is in the spirit realm that the voice of God is speaking to us and it's for us to learn to how to put up that receptor to listen to stop to wait to say like Samuel learned fathers speak to me your servant listen what does the Bible say as to how many thoughts God has towards us somebody talked to me nice and loud as many as the sound of sand the grains of sand on the seashore that's a lot of sand come on do you know that one handful of sand is approximately 10,000 grains 10,000 grains of sand and he said Psalm 139 my thoughts toward you as numerous as the sand and the seashore and Psalm 40 says the same thing cannot be counted and what thoughts are they Jeremiah 29:11 says they're thoughts of a hope and a future to bless you and prosper you come on God is thinking about you all the time there is a place in his heart that's only reserved for you your name is on that door that part of his heart he's God he has the capacity to think about you and you and you and me and all of us at the same time he is you know so omnipotent so if God is thinking about me as much as the grains of sand of the seashore and you what we learn to do in hearing God's voice is we just learn to tap into those thoughts we just learn to to tune ourselves to hero and then when we prophesy when we prophesy our people or prophesy you know over a nation we learned to tap into God's thoughts for those people or that nation because God is communicating I like what it's Mike Bickle who said this he said he meaning God has many things to say but he allows us to set the pace of the conversation with him if we start the conversation he will continue it as long as we do when he we stop he stops and he waits until we begin again abiding in Christ involves an ongoing conversation that consists of many 10 to 20 second exchanges strengthened by longer prayer times I have never found God too busy to talk to me I've never found him asleep or you know now I don't want to talk to you today he is always available oh my goodness this is just so life-changing if we learn to tap into the fact that the god of the universe who knows every physics every calculus every complicated equation he is you know in tests I loved this when I learned to get prophetic and tests God what's the answer to this question no he he this God of the universe who wants to guide us this our Father our Abba our daddy he wants to lead and guide our lives close not far away close and near oh my goodness this is just absolutely stunning so then that's why he's saying zlil go after the prophetic and go after it first of all for you and me for relationship you and I communicating to know that I heard it said prophets are known on earth or what they say but they're known in heaven for they don't say because most of what you receive is not meant to be shared most of what we receive is it's a communication it's a relationship it's a it's this incredible dialogue that goes on with this god of the universe in relationship I love my friend Stacy Campbell she put it so succinctly one time she was talking about the five offices and they're bent you know she was just saying that the pastor's are always like oh the people we need to take care of the people and and the apostles were like oh it's the big picture you know what's God doing in the nation's and and the eventual should like forget the people in the church it's the lost we have to get out there we got to get the lost we got to win the lost and the prophets are like oh it's just let's just love Jesus let's all we have to do is love Jesus and then the teachers are like no it's the Word of God we need the Word of God come on that's a very succinct way of putting it but the bottom line is that we're all called to be prophetic there will be those call to the offices but let me just say this what are the offices for its fusions for the equipping of the Saints for the work of the ministry so it's just that's what the offices just get is everybody doing it and so the gift of prophecy outlined a lot in first Corinthians 14 talks about edification exhortation consolation that this is also this is for the building up of the church this is for the building up of the body of Christ you think maybe the body of Christ could use building up who thinks so I think so that the body of Christ could use edifying and as well as it's alluded to in 1st Corinthians 2:14 2425 about the unsaved that the secrets of their heart are revealed and they fall upon their face and say surely God is among them and that's putting prophecy with evangelism and that's another reason so I'm skipping through some reasons of why do we want to live a prophetic lifestyle why should you want to do this why why why why are you showing up here tonight hopefully for morph godlet for relationship for communion for walking out direction anybody in D direction again God wants to direct us God wants to lead us I tell you John and I lean very heavily on hearing the voice of God for parenting our six children we definitely lean heavily on father your great dad you know everything and what do you think about this and and I tell you I remember when I was praying and saying God I really need a piano teacher and Lord will you help me guide me to a piano teacher guess who's our piano teacher yeah that singer that was right there where's Rachel thank you Rachel you were an answer to prayer but the Lord really really led us to Rachel and to talk to her and so it's that sort of thing I'm talking about is like the voice of God guiding us through life his leadership if we'll pay attention and so it really is quite simple I I am I like to say this that is even for hearing God for a parking spot anybody need Toronto you need parking spots in Toronto and so I'm like looking at this lot I'm thinking man it looks completely full father where is there a parking spot until he goes he'll do it every time as they go down here turn left and there'll be one right there and sure enough there's a parking spot that I didn't see oh I love you God your selasa it's the big things it's the little things that sometimes it's the training ground it's the training and the little things it's the training and you know you build your track record or you build your personal track record with God it's where it's not nobody knows whether I found a parking spot or not between but I do and God knows and so anyways so building up our faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God the Rhema of God that is actually if you look up at the Greek the spoken word of God Jesus even said this he said to the devil man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God the Rhema then now the spoken word of this is to grow us up we want to grow up I hope you want to grow up in the spirit you want to grow up it says in Hebrews 5 it talks about that you still become like you become like babies you're still needing milk you should be going on to the word by now but what does it say there it says because you've been dull of hearing dullness of hearing led to immaturity you become dull of hearing by this time you ought to be teachers but you still lead the first things and and it goes on to say but those solid food belongs to those who are a full age that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised say exercised I have many people said to me how do I grow in the prophetic how do I go in the prophetic you know what I say go home and Journal listen to God's voice day after day after day after day you exercise it you use what you have and it grows and grows and grows that's spiritual maturity when we begin to hear the voice of God we begin to grow and say I don't want just the elementary things God I want the depth I want depth than you so I want to and by the way one of my pet peeves anybody want know one of my pet peeves are you guys alive tonight anybody alive all right all right come on is is preventing people that don't know the Bible because this is the standard this is the Word of God we're gonna talk about the different ways that we hear God but the most important way here the way that we hear God is through the Bible and so let's have a good working knowledge of the Word of God all right so let's look at three aspects of prophecy revelation what we get from God interpretation what does it mean and application what do I do with it so revelation interpretation application revelation what you and I get from God now how are what are some of the different ways of receiving revelation well by the way to receive revelation one of the things that you do is you ask for revelation okay he who asks receives he who knocks the door will be open he who seeks finds so we want to ask Lord I want to hear you that's what I did when I was eight and when I was nine and I was 10 and I was 11 I was 12 I want to hear you I want to hear you I want to hear you and it was just absolutely hungry to hear God's voice I would say that's one thing I got going for me hunger determination I'm gonna hear God's voice I'm gonna grow in this he's asked me what would be the attribute I have is a determination it's not necessarily that you know somebody an angel paired to my mother and said you're gonna have this great prophetic daughter no it was a hunger and a going after it in church we can all have that we can all ask and we can all receive and so ask and you will receive and receive revelation now in this asking so what are some of the ways that we position ourselves so number one way that we hear God has said it before the bibl II so I get into the Word of God daily get into the Word of God and I taught the school in the school ministry last week and I was teaching just some practical things but let me just say this read through the Bible I recommend reading a portion for the New Testament and a portion from the Old Testament every day so you can start in Genesis and you start in Matthew and you work your way through both of them at the same time and then read a proverb a day it keeps the doctor away and you will you'll grow you will grow in that and pray the word as well and take some books of the Bible to study it but the Bible the Bible is the most important we hear God another way that we hear God is through that still small voice that often sounds like our thoughts and God bless mark burglar many of you know him he is a Baptist pastor took a year of his life how to learn how to hear God's voice I think I got his mentor when I was around 19 again 19 years old and then literally I've been journaling every day since then I might have missed a day here there but been journaling ever since and that for practical tips really it's this it's dial down your own thoughts it's like in other words tune in like as in you know if you got the TV blaring if you've got you're thinking about that email that you have to send or you are busy in your mind it's a little bit less likely that you're gonna tune in to the whisper of the Holy Spirit cuz he doesn't normally talk like a megaphone it's more like the still small voice or the whisper so we dial down our own thoughts we get quiet we watch to see what he will say to us you pay attention and in the early days of really consistently learning to hear God's voice I would picture Jesus in my mind I would I would just picture him like I'd seen some of the you know some of the drawings or I'm thinking of I'm walking the Sea of Galilee with Jesus I would just do that and then it said Jesus what do you want to say to me and and then I had these words would come and that's the third key is tuned into spontaneous flow or the spontaneous flow of the spirit words of God and then the fourth one is write it down and that's the essence of journaling now I took mark burglars stuff and downsized it to kid version because I homeschooled my kids and taught every one of our kids how to hear the voice of God and then as soon as they were able to write we would always give them a journal and say okay now you have your own time with the Lord and journaling and hearing God's voice and and they do that and so our kids range in age from 13 to 25 and they journal and they listen to the voice of God our 13 year old told me a while ago she says you don't have to remind me to have my time with God anymore I do it my on my own and she hears God consistently every day but I would say this again it's a discipline it's an exercise you do it and you will grow and I used to get the same words all the time in the beginning would be like I love you my child I love you I'm like you told me that yesterday yeah but I really want you to get it and I learned that when he told me that he loved me it really was important for me to get it because I was deflecting that love and so if you think you're getting the same thing well keep pressing in and ask even specific questions Lord what do you think about this what do you say about that and I just want to jump ahead right now and say that I do not pretend to say that I hear a hundred percent accurately I need to have the stuff that I receive for example if it's directional submitted to my husband for example who is a great sounding board and say what do you think about this I think God is saying this but you know what do you think and that's jumping into interpretation where we need to judge the words that we get and I want to talk about that but one of the ways that we judge the words we get is through what do other people who hear God think about that because the guy who comes to us and says well I'm gonna quit my job I'm gonna sell my house and I'm moving down to Timbuktu to do a ministry down there we're like well did you get any confirmation about no no no God told me well that's ended up in a disaster time and time again if you have not submitted yourself to the body Christ into the safety of also hearing other people I remember thinking I heard God say in my journaling that I was gonna marry this guy who why cuz I wanted to marry this guy the only problem is I never had any confirmations from people who heard God and so when I was finally able to say Lord what do you want I'm willing to give up this relationship and then he gave me a dream that night that that was not the right relationship for me and again this is getting into interpretation but you know one of the things that can taint our ability to hear God idols in our hearts when we want something so badly and we think we hear God say we can have it so anyways so God knew better praise God and I did break up with that relationship so we need to here God in the context of each other so we have the Word of God we have this still small voice kind of sounds like your own thoughts sometimes that's where it can be like this just me but I'm asking God to speak to me and I'm getting these thoughts and they're actually really good and they make sense and this is this is God he's speaking even though it sounds like a whisper it sounds like a thought that just spontaneously came into my head all right how else does God speak to us maybe somebody shut it up pictures yes so God can speak to you through a picture like as in you know a picture that's worth a thousand words and there's many biblical references for things like that but let's say is Jeremiah 1 when God says to Jeremiah what do you see and he says in that case you sing I see a boiling pot I see uh you know just ordinary objects and the Lord gives this word this prophetic word from the pitcher so yes as well as visions and I don't know if I have time to cover all the details probably not but the seeing realm like that maybe for another night too just the different realms of seeing but let me just say this you can see things like objects or visions you can see in the angelic realm see the Angels went through an exercise right now about where's the angels in the room you would be able to see the angels in the room sometimes with your normal eye but most commonly with your inner eye or the third heaven realm seeing in the third heavens less-common does happen 2nd Corinthians 12 talks about that about seeing up in the third heaven so K so that's that's another way of receiving revelation somebody over here you said through other people yes you can get a prophetic word from somebody you can hear God through a message or maybe somebody's having lunch with you and their story or what they're saying it's just like ooh that's God speaking you it's like an ordinary story but the Lord is speaking to you through that so God speaks through other people God speaks through dreams we mentioned that dreams can I just say this quickly flipping over into interpretation if you interpret your dreams based on symbolism alone I believe that's actually dangerous and the reason why I say that is because Daniel and Joseph said this interpretation belongs to God in other words God gives interpretations and if we are just you know a dog means this and it cat means this and this means this it's like that's actually with the psychics - they will interpret dreams based on symbolism alone now I also at the same point say don't throw that completely out the window like as in if our kids are having dreams of snakes or if I'm having dream of snakes hmm clues us in wait maybe something demonic going on or our spiders or something like that or if you have somebody in your dream that means something to you you would you know what way does that person mean to you is he a teacher doesn't mean God's teaching you something or what does that person mean to you and so the Lord will give you the interpretation to your dream as you press in for and so it's a point of growth I'll just say this quickly that the the more you grow in God the more literal your dreams will become as well as if you are an active participant in your dream many times it's for you it's about you if you are observing events in your dream many times it can be bigger than you and it's of a wider interpretation okay how else does God speak to us revelation music yes and no I would say that's an expression of the of the of the it's an expression of the prophetic like prophetic music although we can hear God easier in the in the music or in the worship but then I would you know can hear them through the still small voice or hear him to the vision how about hearing him through the audible voice of God not as common and does happen like to tell the story my grandmother nice little Christian Reformed lady who had never you know experience the baptism holy spirit of prophecy or any of that stuff and she was always praying for everybody else and she was bent over with arthritis and heard the audible voice of God speak to her and said pray for your well well well what three times audible voice of God pray for yourself finally my grandmother prayed for herself and she was instantly healed of arthritis have another incident I was in the barn with my sisters often was as a child and I remember very distinctly we all heard two words of a booming clear audible voice and it said be good and I remember my sister in particular she just went running through that bar and she said who said that who said that who said that and I said well it wasn't a cow I know that you know I heard it but it didn't it didn't affect me like it affected her but she had been leaving a very wayward life she had been drinking and driving with her friends she had just been really off those two words changed her life and she was not in the car with her drinking and driving friends after that when they got in a car accident and I remember one of her friends died and I don't know like you know she could have she could've died pot potential if she was in that car but I do know that I remember that incident so anyways this a few other times heard the audible voice it got less common but it does happen we can also hear God through things in the natural that's speaking the supernatural the very first indication that God wanted John and I to step up our prayer life was that he sent a little praying mantis the little insect with its hands raised in prayer everyday to the front doorstep of our suburban Toronto home for three weeks every morning the little praying mantis was there and that's very you know in the fields yeah in a city mmm and I remember thinking God are you trying to say something to me you know like what's going on and I remember well one of my kids stepped on him hopefully that wasn't prophetic but and I remember being in Brampton right around this time and I stretched out my hands it's true story I stretched out my hand to a grocery cart in the grocery store and there was a praying mantis on the grocery cart I'm like okay okay I'm listening and that's when the whole journey of stepping up prayer and a few months later is when he revealed the House of Prayer anointing and yada yada and so anyways many different ways that God can do things like that the Sun the Moon star sure a movie a billboard a newspaper article something that just we've had it license plates pop out at us God speaking through things in the natural that speak of the supernatural God can also speak to you and me through word of wisdom first Corinthians 12 8 talks about that that's blueprints that's strategy it's insights he could speak through a word of knowledge that is where you get knowledge of something that you wouldn't know by natural means this is very helpful in prophetic evangelism when the Lord reveals the secrets of somebody's life for heart they don't you don't know them but God just gives you information and seen this time and time and time again how that helps to open up their understanding that there is a God I remember when this guy I just I like to tell this story because it was so dramatic but we were out in the streets and evangelizing and this one guy says to us don't bother with me I'm an atheist and I just remember this boldness came upon me at that moment I said you are not gonna be an atheist by the time we get through with you I was like did I actually say that oh my goodness sound so arrogant but anyways so we had these words I remember somebody had the word of you know something happened when you're 18 months old that was very damaging and he said that's when my parents separated and then I said you know you watched the movie Exorcist and you haven't been able to sleep how did you know that I watched The Exorcist too and I haven't been able to sleep well I didn't know that God knew that and on and on and on until this guy says okay okay you know and then you go for the heart and this guy gave his life to Jesus that day I remember that and he he I remember him going through the fire tunnel one time and he's flipping and flopping in the power of the Holy Spirit and I thought there goes the atheist I love this and he married a Baptist girl anyways so the ass effective words of knowledge helpful you know information that you get now God can speak through impressions discernment I like to use discernment the discerning discerning of spirits also helpful as a parent like this music or this movie or you know can we go see this movie mmm I discernment will kick in Satan and the red light red light so nah you're not gonna see that movie impressions like a gut sense God can speak through circumstances doors that open doors that close knock on some doors sometimes you just need to fill out some applications and see what God does God can speak through peace or lack of peace there's a big one do you have peace and husbands and wives do you both have peace with decisions that you make together because God will speak through peace or lockup peace sometimes I will see somebody superimposed over somebody or they remind me of somebody when I'm prophesying over somebody meaning the gifting on that other person may often be the gifting on this person so if you're asking God for a word for somebody and they remind you of somebody else or somebody else's face just comes to you what was the person's gifting God can also speak through the angelic realm or angels there's no biblical precedence that I see that we we don't talk pray to angels we don't tell the angels what to do and you know I don't recommend dialoguing with angels like as in God sometimes can give you information through them if that is the case then he initiates that and that's awesome all righty so God can also speak through you know the conviction of the heart let's look a little bit again at judgment or interpretation okay is this God or not or whatever let's let's look at some judgment number one how do you know if what you're hearing is from God well is it consistent with the bibl ii because that's how we get a lot of the false cults and and what not is because some angel came to some guy and gave some revelation but it was completely inconsistent with the Bible and that's where we get cults and false religions and whatnot so consistency with the Bible is your number one judgment test does it align with the Word of God does it align number 2 with a love nature of God because God is love does it align number 3 with the fruit of the Spirit member we said who speaks to us the holy spirit what's the fruit of the Spirit shout it out love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control so if you are hearing something that makes you feel anxious and uptight and like ah I got to do this or I'm out of the will of God and you know that doesn't sound like God because God is full of peace and he speaks according to peace so the fruit of the Spirit will be present when he speaks generally speaking of course we want to stick to edification exhortation and comfort because that's clearly what 1st Corinthians 14 talks about an F i exhort comfort sometimes I have people say well what about the judgments in the Bible what about what about what about keep in mind there is the office of a prophet and those guys definitely did go and give the warnings and the judgment don't throw that out but it is where we're operating in this prophetic gift let's say we are edifying we're encouraging we're exhorting and even if there's correction I always say this - the prophetic people flip it to the positive you see anger and somebody well you start saying things like Oh God is just bringing patience to your life God is really doing a work of you know exhorting you in patience or something like that you always flip it you flip it to the positive you you have this tact I remember just from Betsy kill stir tell me one time they said you know we got this prophetic word from Bishop bill Hammond from Christian international it's like a 25 minute prophecy and it we just felt so good afterwards we thought wow that really is the word of the Lord and then we listened to the tape afterwards and it was correction correction correction correction but he had couched it in such a way that it was so tangible and so palatable that they they just said you wouldn't if we didn't feel corrected we felt edified now that's a skill that's an anointing that God gives to be able to put it in there but in such a way that you are loving that person you're calling them higher but you're loving that person now in the prophetic training we always say no dates no mates no babies okay so don't say to somebody you know you're gonna get married by next year October and then you're gonna have a baby ten months later and so we just say you know I will get you in all kinds of trouble so so stay away from that especially when you're starting up but if you ask me that does happen okay I remember for example Lindley Ellen who's coming here in the summer and I'll never forget when Mahesh shabda spoke to her in the front row and said you I see you holding a baby and he walks away she'd been married for 14 years she was just upset upset she start crying you know she's like why do people tell me those words you know I've been you know 14 years married well guess what she was holding a baby by the next year so again you don't you don't start that way and you don't you don't start you know just doing that sort of stuff because it'll get you in all kinds of trouble but there's those who operate in that higher realm that III can't tell you it doesn't happen all right it does happen and so so anyways so that's that so staying in the realm of you know your grace level whatever you have faith for so another judgement test is the testament of Jesus the spirit of prophecy so is the witness of Jesus is that the the story of Jesus and number six does it come to pass well that's interesting because you don't know until afterwards do you but does it come to pass like that's why you get a proven track-record you know John and I don't let anybody just come to the stage and prophesy we will allow the ones that we know who have a proven track record to prophesy from the stage confirmation there it is again and get the confirmed word of the Lord through other people who hear God revelation interpretation application location really all have time for does it say this it says in Jeremiah 27 18 it says if there therefore is a prophet among them let him now make intercession so in other words a lot of your application in the prophetic is through prayer mark DuPont used to say it this way prophecy is a springboard into the pool of Prayer and so many times you receive things you pray it you pray it into existence God shows you what he wants to do in your life pray it into existence God shows you what he wants to do in the earth pray into it as well as you know you've you got a word for the church or whatever you know it's submitted to those in leadership I've been on both sides of the coin the prophetic person and the pastor and I'll just say this that you have to submit your prophetic words to the leadership to give or not give or to do something about or not do something about the thing is this it's not your job to make the word come to pass it's your job to deliver it if you've delivered it in humility and they love and in submission but and then you pray you pray you don't just make it happen or get upset if they don't do something about it and the Lord will honor that so application there's an honoring submissiveness and you know there's been some times in my life where I've had to go back and say you know I'm sorry I blew it I didn't hear right will you forgive me and and teachability is important and and you know I still now I just I need to others in my life to help me hear correctly even as it comes to chief decisions and things that that are important but that teachable humble heart will go a long way come on up again please thank you so much Jonathan and the worship team but let's let's stand for a moment I'd like to have a few exercises if you're up for it unless y'all turn into a pumpkin at 10 o'clock is in that case you only have three minutes before you all turn into a pumpkin but if you need to go that's totally fine but let's stand for a moment I want to just invite the Holy Spirit to come and Lord we just love you thank you so much for pouring out gift of prophecy thank you so much Lord that your word is full of references to the prophetic and God we are asking for more we're asking for this higher realms and lord I ask that you would open up the seer realm and God I ask that you would give us greater depths of maturity Oh hope in hearing your voice Lord we love you or we just wait on you right now come Holy Spirit breathe your life on your people she caught us come Holy Spirit is break-in first of all I just want to extend an invitation those of you need to say yes to Jesus maybe for the first time in your life maybe as a rededication the whole thing about hearing God is he wants you to to know him in a personal way maybe you came here because somebody asked you to come or or you just came because you heard about this place but I believe that God brought you here this is an appointment with God there's an appointment with heaven you need to say yes to Jesus and the wages of sin is death the Bible says so the price of the things we do wrong separate us from this perfect holy God yeah so he longs to bridge that gap with us that's why Jesus came sent his son sent His only Son fully God fully man stepped out of heaven born of a virgin lived among us became one of us for a sole purpose really sole main purpose to die he revealed the father but he came to die to pay a price that we owed a price of death thank you Jesus thank you Jesus so I remember being I don't know early 20s when I rededicated my life to Jesus when I just felt I had to come back after stumbling so just want to invite those of you here today tonight you need to say yes to Jesus for the first time or you need to rededicate your life to Jesus because there's been a you running your life and you on the throne or you and the driver's seat and Jesus is saying I want to lead you I want to guide you I want to show you my will my way so on earth as it is in heaven and in my life as it is in heaven your kingdom come your will be done so that's you if you need to say yes to him if you need to rededicate your life to Jesus want you to come forward now I just like to pray with you love to invite you to absolutely give him everything so where are you in this room just come be bold be brave you need to say yes to Jesus you need to give your life to Him thank you Lord thank you Jesus thank you lord thank you this is the greatest decision this is the biggest miracle the miracle of the soul being transformed yeah turning to the one who created us for relationship okay Jesus say yes if anybody else is to come just run down here and happy to pray with you let's see this with these ones here everybody in this place you guys see this - Jesus say yes to you I give you my life I give you my heart I give you my future I say yes to your leadership and your kingdom come and your will be done in me show me your way Jesus name Jesus name

Channel: Catch The Fire Toronto

Views: 15,933

Rating: 4.7611942 out of 5

Keywords: Catch The Fire, Toronto

Id: w0xn8gfgieg

Length: 55min 45sec (3345 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 25 2016