Prophetic Practice

This week, our church hosted Global Awakening for a "Keys to the Prophetic" conference.  Suffice it to say, in a really tiny nutshell, I was blown away!!  To experience the Spirit of God in such a heavy, palpable way was absolutely phenomenal!  Indescribable, really.  I've experienced the presence of God, but never quite like this!  As my brother so brilliantly put it, "Man, this is like cocaine, isn't it??"

Yes, indeed!  Like cocaine, (I assume)!  A high surely better than drugs, and I just wanted to go back for more and more!

One of the major things I took away from the practical teaching part of the conference was this concept that you have to take a risk, if you are ever going to know for sure that you have genuinely received a word of knowledge from the Lord, and not just of your flesh.  For some reason, this was something that really spoke to me, and challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, and into faith to speak what is on my heart.

In the past, I have only spoken out words of knowledge to people that I know, or to people on whom I am "practicing" within the safe confines of the walls of a conference.  In general, every time I have done this, I have been met with confirmation that the word was, in fact, inspired of God.  I got several "spot on" words of knowledge for people throughout this conference and one a couple of weeks ago at a Graham Cooke conference.

So, then, as I walked away from this conference, I wondered what would happen if I took this practical information and actually stepped out in faith to speak encouragement into the life of a complete stranger??  Let me just say that, even when speaking over someone whom I know well, my heart pounds and my voice shakes, so this was a nerve-racking prospective circumstance to wrap my brain around.  However, I know that I want more, and the Lord will entrust me with more when I am faithful in the small things.  I'm never going to get more until I step out of the comfort zone of the walls of church or life group, and seek to encourage those in my community, maybe even those I don't know, but the Lord does know.

So, yesterday, the day after the conference ended, I took my kids to the park.  It was a beautiful day, so there were a lot of people there.  As I looked around, I prayed, "Okay, God, I'm ready.  Will you show me someone here whom I can bless with a word of knowledge?"

I immediately honed in on someone, and as quickly as I did, I felt a common Will Ferrell line pop into my head: "I immediately regret this decision!"  Haha!  I got so nervous, my heart was pounding, and I thought, "What am I doing??"  

I decided to use a technique we learned at the conference:  Take an object/article on the person, and ask God to tell you something about the person, based on that object.

The woman I spotted was carrying an awesome zebra print hand bag -- one of those that I admire on other people, but would never actually carry, myself, as I am not quite chic enough for that :)  The woman carried herself with confidence, she wore large hoop earrings, and had an air of peace about her.  I asked God to tell me something about her handbag, and He immediately downloaded, what seemed to be a pretty awesome word for her.  But, as I always do, I began questioning, "Is this God, or me?"  I then wondered, "Now, how on earth am I going to approach this woman??"  She was chasing after 3 small children (confidently, lovingly, and well-composed, mind you), and she had a friend with her, which made me even more nervous.  I thought, "Oh, this woman is going to think I am a straight-up nut-job!"

As if to rescue me, Lexi insisted she needed to use the bathroom.  So, I told myself, "If the woman is still here when we get back from the bathroom, I will approach her."

Of course, she was still there :)  While I was a nervous wreck, heart pounding out of my chest, I also knew that I would be kicking myself if I didn't get the nerve up to talk to her, especially right on the heels of the spiritual high from the conference I had attended the past few days!

So, I finally just walked up to her, and here's what went down:

Me:  "Hi, I'm Hannah.  What's your name?"

Her: "Sarah."

Me: "Well, Sarah, this may seem kind-of funny, but sometimes I just get these words of encouragement that I think someone might need to hear, and I was wondering if I could share with you something on my heart for you?"

Her: [slightly skeptical] "Umm, okay, sure?"

Me: "Well, I was just looking at your handbag, which I love by the way.  But, I was thinking...and, by the way, this may be totally off the mark, and if it is, I apologize... But, I was just thinking that the black in that zebra print represents some self-criticism you may be dealing with lately..."

[Now, mind you, absolutely nothing in this woman's presence indicated to me that she is dealing with self-criticism.  Remember, she carried a fashionable hand-bag, wore nice big hoop earrings, and carried herself very confidently, but not overly so]...

Me: "...like, maybe you see something in your life that you're just not happy with, or maybe you feel like you're not measuring up?  But, the white represents your purity and sincerity, and when God looks at you, he does not see the black, but only the white.  He sees the purity and sincerity of your life, and He absolutely delights in you, in every part of you."

Her: "Okay, thanks."

Me: "Sure.  You're welcome."  Now, in my mind I'm thinking, "Okay, I did it.  It's over.  Who knows whether she was encouraged, but I did my part. *sigh of relief* The end."

Or, so I thought.

[Beat of silence]

Her: "Because, I mean, that is something I deal with every single day.  I mean, I'm a Christian.  We go to the church right over there.  But, I was just telling my husband yesterday, even, that I just feel like I'm not doing enough for God.  Like, I'm just not holy enough, and I can never do enough for Him."

Oh my HOLY GOODNESS!!! This was wayyyyyy better than I could have even imagined or anticipated!  It opened the door to an amazing opportunity for me to just speak encouragement to this perfect stranger of her TRUE IDENTITY in Christ.  To tell her the way God sees her, and that it is not because of what she does for Him, but because of what He has done for her through Christ Jesus!!!  God just gave me these incredible words of encouragement to her heart, and I even got to pray for her, right there in the middle of the playground!!

What a crazy phenomenal experience!!  I have to say, it increased my confidence and faith, and I feel positive that woman walked away completely encouraged that the Lord sees her and knows her heart, and cares so very intimately for her!!

So blessed to be stepping out in faith!!!