6 Keys To Seeing In The Spirit

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Seeing in the spirit is not as hard as people think. The fact is that most people *already* see in the spirit, and simply don’t realize it. Certainly there are those who have visions more than others, but it is a skill like any other, and anyone can learn how. The following are ways I have found helpful to learn and grow in this area: 6 keys to seeing in the spirit.

1. Believe What You See

One of the most common things people do when they have a vision is doubt it—and doubt it immediately. I do believe the demonic help with this by casting doubt into the situation, but when we think we see something, we have to give it a chance. Everyone has those double-take moments where they look at something and look again because of what they *think they saw*. Usually it ends up being something benign, like a person standing there on second glance is a coat hanging on a hook, or a strange looking animal is actually a gnarled tree stump. Here’s a little secret: whatever you thought you saw the first time, you *did* see—it was just a spiritual reality, so when you looked the second time, with your natural eyes, you didn’t see it anymore. Whether a double-take or a vision in your mind’s eye, trust that you saw what you think you saw, and run with the revelation long enough to test it out and give it a chance. If you do this, you will miss far less of what you are being shown.
– double-take for a reason, yes you actually saw it. Confidence.

2. Look

In the book of Ezekiel, at the beginning of the book it often says “I looked and I saw. . . ” Later on it has more “I saw”. The key here is that he began by looking for things, and eventually he grew to a point where he would see whether he was looking or not. It is possible to train yourself to see in the spirit, and trying to do so will generally yield better results more frequently. Oftentimes people are waiting for visions to happen to them. Go and happen to the vision.

3. Practice

Like any skill, practice makes one improve significantly. When I first began to learn how to see in the spirit, I would take opportunities to practice this prophetic gift. I would use almost any excuse to prophesy over people to practice getting visions, and I would spend time in worship and sitting in God’s presence simply to have more encounters. Partly it was to enjoy Him, but another part of it was to hone my ability to see. Find opportunities to practice seeing in the spirit, then go forward with expectation.

4. Engage The Power Of Testimonies

Talk to (and read about) encounters other people have had. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). When we hear the stories of others and their encounters, often they can help activate the gifts inside us and stir our faith to expect to have our own encounters.

5. Have Expectation

Expect visions. Expect supernatural encounters. Nothing about anyone else is *more* special than you, so if it can happen to someone else, it *will* happen to you. You simply need to expect that it will, and by doing so engage the power of faith.

6. Receive

Understand this is an innate ability inherent within your makeup. Simply receive that truth. Don’t get yourself all worked up, striving to try to earn or hunt for this gift. I wish I had known this back when I first learned to see in the spirit. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to hunt down this spiritual gift because I didn’t understand that *I already had it.* I realized years later that I have seen in the spirit almost my entire life, and just didn’t know it! It can be helpful at times to have others help activate that gift, but the fact is that the Holy Spirit, the Giver of the gifts, already lives in you. You already have whatever you need, and don’t need someone else to make it “work” for you. Just receive this truth by faith, and walk it out with expectation!

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Staying The Course To Raise The Dead

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Some of you may be aware that a dear friend’s husband, Steve, died earlier this week. She, being a woman of faith, didn’t wait and wonder what to do—she began mustering up an army of prayer warriors to stand with her in faith to raise her husband back to life through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. I have been part of that process, and have attempted to keep the Raise The Dead Initiative and DRT groups on Facebook, as well as my own social media thread, updated with where we stand. At the time of writing this, he is not alive YET, so please continue to join us in prayer.

Last afternoon I found myself struggling with the situation, given that it’s been a day and a half and we have no clear results yet. It doesn’t help that I am on the far opposite side of the United States from where my friend and her husband are, so as much as I would like to be more involved, that is made more difficult. I found myself questioning whether it was “over” or not.

Truth be told, I was really struggling with this. When I set my faith toward something, I am pretty forceful about pushing it forward in both prayer and action. Finding myself at a point where I wasn’t sure if I should continue to pray or not was difficult, so I talked to my wife and a good friend both, to help me process what was going on inside me. When all was said and done, I decided that not only is it not over, but I know a woman whose husband is supposed to return to life and remain by her side!! I have a battle to fight!

We all go through periods of doubt when trying to raise the dead. This is entirely normal, and I attribute it largely to the subtle whisperings of the enemy trying to derail our faith, encourage doubt, and get us wallowing in grief, self-pity, regret, and other negative emotions. The key, I believe, is to recognize when these feelings arise, and then either entirely ignore them, shoving them aside until after the fact, or even acknowledge them, and prayerfully send them to the feet of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I believe that taking captive every though also includes taking captive our emotions. If I let myself continue thinking that “it’s over”, then my emotions will eventually line up with my thoughts, and once I do that, I have no room for faith.

I spent an hour and a half on the phone with my friend the night her husband died, as we and some other men and women of faith prayed over the body. I heard her crying at times, quite understandably, because the love of her life had just died. Yet I also knew that if she wanted to stay in a place of faith, she couldn’t let herself be overcome by grief either, so as we continued to pray, I encouraged her in her faith as well, decreeing again and again the will of God for his life, which is that he will live and not die. As I did this, it encouraged her to keep pressing forward as well. Don’t get me wrong—she isn’t weak of will by any means, but I cannot say I would fare any better if anything happened to my beautiful wife either. I would both want and need friends of faith to stand with me as well.

Managing one’s emotional state in this kind of situation is of utmost importance. Many people do not realize that emotions are actually tied into our ability to effectively release faith, as much if not more than our thoughts are. When I want to engage faith for something, I literally stir up my emotions to engage what I am believing for in my thoughts, so that my heart and mind are unified in prayer.

In this situation, I have been trying to listen to the Lord on an ongoing basis to hear what He is saying to me, to receive guidance and wisdom on how to effectively walk this out. All I keep hearing him say are things like “You’re doing great, Michael. You’re doing an awesome job.” When I woke up yesterday afternoon to get some chores done then head to work for the night, I wasn’t in that place, and it took a few hours to get my head settled on right. Why? I was having difficulty discerning what I was feeling.

When things get stressful, it can be hard to know whose voice we are listening to. We have to separate the voices of God, the enemy, and ourselves, and that takes discernment—which in and of itself requires a bit of wisdom. Fortunately, we have been given the Bible which is chock-full of verses that tell us how God works, what He thinks, and His will for us in such trying situations as this, and the more we understand how He thinks, the easier it is to use godly wisdom to discern who is speaking to us.

One of the things I keep reminding myself, and others, as we continue to pray for Steve to return to life, is this:

There is no plan B.

There are two possible outcomes in this situation:

Either my friend will bury her husband, or she will receive him back to life, raised by the power of God.

Obviously, we are aiming for the latter outcome, and the hard part is that only time will tell. There is no special way to know what is going to happen, and it can be maddening to watch, wait, and pray. Yet, that is our task—to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

If this subject has touched you in some way, and you want to learn how you can engage God’s resurrection power for those in your life, check out the resources below. I highly recommend six things:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates, and connect further.

2. Get some books. I have written two books on the subject: Practical Keys to Raise the Dead and Faith to Raise the Dead. Practical Keys is a series of excerpts from Faith To Raise The Dead, all of which give practical advice for when you are actively praying to raise someone at that time. Faith To Raise The Dead goes more into theology, but has a chapter devoted to resurrection testimonies, an appendix in the back of faith-building scriptures to help you pray for the deceased to return to life, and I answer a lot of common and even difficult questions surrounding the subject.

Tyler Johnson, founder of the Dead Raising Team has written multiple books on the subject as well: How to Raise the Dead and The Dead Are Raised. Be sure to check out Father Hebert’s encouraging book Saints Who Raised The Dead for pages upon pages of uplifting testimonies about saints in history who have raised the dead in Jesus’ name.

3. Join the Raise the Dead Initiative on Facebook. The Raise the Dead Initiative is a group I started to help the Body of Christ grow in this area, and I will eventually develop an RDI teaching curriculum to train believers to pray for and raise the dead. You may also be interested in The Dead Raising Team (DRT) and Dead Raising Campaign Facebook groups.

4. Look at how you can host or attend a School of Resurrection in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event. Tyler is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Schools of Resurrection to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ. You can also head over to Gumroad to buy and download a complete Resurrection School audio series.

5. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

6. Look for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area by reaching out to friends when you hear that someone has died.

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Prophetic Bulletin: God is Releasing the Wine of Immortality in 2018

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Over the past few days I have been thinking about an annual conference I plan to host in the future dealing with resurrection, abundant life, and immortality in Jesus Christ. I began to ponder the idea of finding a brand of wine with the name “Immortal” in the title to take communion with. Having discussed it with some friends on Sunday, I decided yesterday (Tuesday) to actually search online to see what I could find. Keep in mind as you read that I am not a wine enthusiast and do not have any idea what is going on in the wine world—the only way I could come across this under such circumstances is by the Spirit of God. What I discovered surprised me greatly, and I realized through this encounter that the Lord was releasing a word to the Body of Christ. The word is this: God is releasing the Wine of Immortality in 2018.

The Wine Industry Advisor published an article yesterday (October 31, 2017), less than two hours before I did my online search for immortal wine. The title is “Immortal Estate to Launch First Wines in 2018,” and as you can imagine, it caught my eye. The article states, “The vineyard is an organic evolution of Hidden Ridge Vineyard, a winery that has produced wines that have earned a rare 100-point rating from internationally influential wine critic Robert Parker.”

The first thing that caught my attention was the name, Immortal estate, but what drew me in further is when I read that the vineyard is transitioning from Hidden Ridge to Immortal Estate. Here’s what that says to me: What was once hidden in the high places, found in the heavens, God is releasing to us as our inheritance—our estate—the revelation of immortality in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the article says this is an evolution, a natural progression from one thing to another. For those who believe in healing, the natural progression is to begin to believe God for raising the dead for those who were sick and were not healed. Then, as we get a revelation of God’s desire for resurrection, we get opened to the understanding that God gives us power to raise the dead because it is not His will for us to die, and God brings us into the revelation of immortality. There is a natural evolutionary process that God takes us through as we increase in revelation in Him.

If you recall back to the story of the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus turned water into wine, but there is a prophetic picture found in that story that relates to what God is saying today. John 2:1-10 says:

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

The Immortal Estate vineyard is a prophetic picture not just of the transition from the current state in the Body of Christ toward the revelation of immortality becoming better known in the coming year, but also speaks of the quality of this revelation God is releasing. This revelation has a 100-point rating. This rating is rarely seen in the wine world because 100 is as high as the scale goes!! God has saved the best until now!

The bridegroom of the wedding provided wine, but the bridegroom Jesus provided even better wine as time went on. The Bible speaks of God releasing new wine in a number of places in scripture, which speak prophetically to God releasing new realms of His virtue to His people in the days to come. Even as God has given us the Azusa Awakening and the renewal of the Body’s use of spiritual gifts, the Latter Rain movement and others wherein God restored a revelation about the function of prophets and apostles, and other movements both prior and post where God has restored various revelation to His body, now God is evolving His church, releasing new wine. This wine of His spirit is the revelation of abundant, immortal life, that we who live and believe in Jesus will never die.

While pondering this word, the Lord dropped another piece of the puzzle into my spirit. October 31st 2017, the day this article was published, is the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of a church in Wittenburg. 5 is the number of grace. 100 speaks to the 100-point rating of the Immortal Estate wine, but there is more! According to this article on Innertech.com, 5 and 100 are defined as:

[box type=”shadow”]5 – HE (ARMS): {h,e,ah} The principle or concept of universal life. The female principle behind creation. The arms hold or bind, as in a covenant or as in love.

100 – QOPH (HORIZON): {q} The exalted state of Aleph. The end of death and the negative. Ancient Hebrew letter pictures a sun splitting the horizon line. The sun sets on death and rises on Life.[/box]

The timing of this word in conjunction with the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation is significant, and it isn’t coincidence. It speaks to the release of grace to end death, and to bind, and hold to us in covenant to this revelation of life and immortality in Jesus Christ, ushering in a new era.

In 2018 we will see a greater release of the revelation of life and immortality that 2 Timothy 2:10-11 speaks about. We will begin to see even more teachers and speakers releasing this revelation of immortal life. New books are getting ready to be published that will spread this message like wildfire. New organizations and ministries will be birthed in 2018 and some will be revealed in 2018 that have been hidden—all of which have the mandate to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ to the nations. God is releasing a mystery that has been hidden for ages, and is bringing His sons and daughters into a greater level of our inheritance. Immortality in Christ Jesus is our birthright, our estate, and God is sparing no expense on His part to release the best things to us in this time.

To read more of this prophetic word and what God has planned for our future, grab a copy of my book “The Gospel of Life and Immortality,” available on both Kindle and in Print on Amazon.

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The New Has Come

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Having not shared about immortality recently, I was trying to figure out what to write for this blog post, but wasn’t sure what to say. I asked Holy Spirit what his favorite verse was on the subject, and He told me it was 2 Corinthians 5:17. Not knowing offhand what the verse said, I looked it up. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I’ll be honest, while the Bible has a vast number of verses that reference this promise from Heaven that we can be set free from the curse of death, this is not one of the ones that has ever come to mind, so I asked Holy Spirit, “What is it about this verse that you like so much?”

“I like how it reveals the Son.” He said. And while that verse doesn’t seem at first glance to do that, verses 17-21 do. They speak about how Jesus was reconciling the world to the Father, not counting our sins against us and making us the righteousness of God in Jesus. So what does revealing Jesus as the Reconciler that have to do with immortality? Everything.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” Romans 1:17 quoting Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” The payment for sin is death, so what is the payment for righteousness? If one goes throughout scripture, righteousness and life are integrally connected. Eternal life comes through faith in Jesus, and the righteous shall live by that same faith. This ultimately means that as 2 Corinthians 5 tells us, because Jesus has made us righteous in Him, that we shall live and not die. All of Romans actually addresses this issue–that we have already died with Christ and the law of sin no longer applies to us. If sin no longer applies, then we no longer are to reap the payment for sin, which is death.

The biggest struggle I find people have with this idea, in spite of the fact that the scriptures clearly say otherwise, is that we have grown accustomed to this idea that we are all fated to die. Jesus died to do away with sin, and as a result do away with the penalty, which is death. John 3:16 states this plainly, saying that God did not want us to die but instead, live forever. We have for centuries interpreted this to mean “everlasting life in heaven after we die” but the verse doesn’t actually say that–it very clearly states that God didn’t want us to die and to accomplish this He sent His Son.

If we go back to Genesis we have to remember the warning God gave Adam: “. . . you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17). The very FIRST warning God ever gave to His children was to prevent them from dying. We have been incredibly sin-focused as the Church, but God is focused on life and death. The reason Jesus set us free from sin was BECAUSE it kills us and God loves us so much He doesn’t want us to die.

The Church is entering a new period of theological revolution. Much like Martin Luther redefined our understanding of salvation, God is yet again re-revealing who He is and what His purposes are in the earth, not so much doing a new thing, but bringing deeper revelation on what He has always been doing. As this occurs, we will discover experientially what Holy Spirit’s favorite verse on immortality says: that we who are in Jesus Christ have been made into new creations because the old, sinful, mortal version has passed away and the new version has been clothed with immortality. Even as Paul said in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” The apostle Paul pressed forward to attain to this gift of immortality which is in Christ Jesus, having been appointed an apostle and teacher and preacher of the gospel that speaks of that very gift (2 Timothy 1:10-11). The practical revelation of how to walk in this reality is even now being released from Heaven and pulled down into the earth through men and women who have become convinced of what the scriptures say–that we will live and not die. I pray that even as God brings clarity to this plan for immortality, the only plan He has ever had, that you will grasp hold of this revelation and make it your own.

To help better understand this subject and read more on God’s plan for our future, grab a copy of my book “The Gospel of Life and Immortality,” available on both Kindle and in Print on Amazon.

Prophecy Games: Misusing the Word of Knowledge

About two months ago I was standing on a church platform with another minister delivering words of knowledge related to healing during a conference. After the session a number of different people approached me to let me know the words that I and the minister in charge of the event had given were accurate, and some of them received healing when we spoke without ever calling them up or laying hands on them. One gentleman came to me after the session as well, but with a different request—he wanted more words of knowledge.

I had already given him one during the session, and that word instructed him to stop seeking physical healing because his physical maladies were from unhealed emotions. (For more on the emotional roots of physical disease, read 5 Steps to Emotional Healing and The Weight of Sorrows) In and of itself it was fine that he wanted more, but the problem wasn’t just that he wanted a prophetic word—he specifically wanted more words of knowledge.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, the word of knowledge is one of the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12, and this particular gift involves receiving divine revelation of factual information about a person, place, or thing. The more spectacular examples are calling out people’s phone or social security numbers, license plates, or other factual data that connected to a specific individual whom you didn’t know to begin with. Certainly there are some fakers who gather information in advance and/or use a planted audience member, but if the gift is used it involves receiving knowledge by divine revelation. It is commonly used in healing ministry because getting words of knowledge about physical conditions the audience members have raises their faith and allows you to join in with what God is doing at the time. There are other applications for this gift. For example, we use this gift a lot in our house when we lose things.

The problem is when the word of knowledge becomes something used for show or external validation when in reality it serves no real purpose whatsoever. This individual who approached me after the meeting wanted more words of knowledge, and at first I let him know he had a problem with his right shoulder (which he did), but he then asked for me to tell him the other 13 places in his body where he was having problems. That’s where I stopped him and challenged him on something. He knew where his problems were, and God knew as well. The only difference is that I didn’t know, but he could have listed them for me then and there instead of playing some strange prophecy-game with me, trying to see if I could ferret them out. At the end of the day this would have been utterly pointless because again, I was using the word of knowledge to tell him things he already knew.

We had a lengthy discussion afterward, but what struck me was how silly this aspect of this encounter was, and it made me realize that we still need to learn and grow in maturity in this area. I love spiritual gifts, and greatly enjoy using them, but there is a time and place for everything, and sometimes it’s just not necessary. We all like to know that God is thinking of us, and sometimes giving someone a word of knowledge gives a divine reminder that God is watching over them, but we can also take it to an unhealthy extreme, such as in the above situation.

The word of knowledge is a wonderful gift, but it needs to be used wisely and appropriately. Finding lost belongings, getting revelation on a forgotten password, or even receiving downloads about prayer needs, injuries to be healed, and more are all helpful ways we can make use of this gift. It can help us to see into the hearts of others, and if we use it wisely then we can take those opportunities to minister God’s love to one another. I encourage you to look at ways you can make use of this gift in your own life, then work on practicing with it until it becomes comfortable and useful on a regular basis. This gift is a valuable tool in the spiritual arsenal of life, which is why God provided it for us. Blessings!

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Stone The False Prophet Among You

Okay, so the title isn’t part of an actual Bible verse, but it very well could be. In Deuteronomy 13 it says that if a prophet or dreamer among the people attempts to lead people away from the God of Israel, that he or she must be purged from the people. A bit later, Deuteronomy 18:17-22 says it in a bit more detail, saying:

The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.”

God calls some people to be prophets, and if someone says something is from God and doesn’t happen, then clearly it isn’t from God. If they tell people things God didn’t command them to say, or if they are a prophet for a different god, then they need to be killed. And how do we know if a prophet says something God didn’t command? Obviously, if it didn’t happen, God didn’t command it.

Here’s the problem: What about all those times that God tells a prophet to say something and then people repent and/or pray against it because the prophet sent a warning from heaven, and then it doesn’t happen? Does that make him a false prophet? I mean, what we are saying here is that Jonah, who is clearly understood by the Scriptures to be a prophet sent from God, is actually a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 18 because the destruction he prophesied over Nineveh never came to pass. While we don’t know exactly what God told him to say, we do know that all of Nineveh repented in fasting and prayer when they heard the message Jonah gave them, and God was pleased with their change of heart. So how can Jonah be both a prophet and a false prophet all at once?

He can’t.

Which means that the Bible broke the Bible’s false-prophet detector test.

Now what??

First, I suggest we need to differentiate between a few similar-appearing people: the false prophet, the young prophet, and the effective prophet.

The false prophet’s motive is deception. The goal is to lead astray. If one prophesies with an intent to lead astray and/or with wrong motives, this is a good sign one is a false prophet. These prophecies are likely to be false, but it is equally possible some of the prophecies could come true—just enough to lead people successfully astray.

The young prophet’s motive is typically at least mostly-pure, and he or she wants to encourage people in the Lord. Mind you, we call this individual a “young prophet” irrespective of linear age because this isn’t based on age, but experience—this prophet simply isn’t very good at it. Well, at the very least his or her accuracy has something to be desired. I suggest he isn’t a false prophet because his motives are pure and he has not intent to lead people astray, but he does have some growing to do. Thus, his prophecies might come to pass and might not—it’s entirely hit or miss depending on how accurate that particular word was when he received it, which makes things tough because how on earth is someone else to know if he received it accurately? That’s the tricky part, and why we each have to discern prophetic words.

The effective prophet is a different breed entirely. His words might come to pass and they might not—but when they don’t come to pass, it is for an entirely different reason than because he is false or young. No, if the effective prophet’s word doesn’t come to pass, it’s because he was, well, effective. Think about it. Many prophecies are encouraging, directive for the future, comforting, and more. Some words are warning words though, giving us insight on a need to turn away from a current course of action. If people turn away from a current course of action and the negative consequence in the warning does not occur, the prophet wasn’t false—he or she effectively incited the people to pray and act, and a crisis was averted!

I recall years ago I was at a church and each member of our intercessory group received a similar prophetic warning about a building project. We shared these words with one of the board members who was the head of the intercessory group at the time, and she told the senior pastor about it. The multiple prophetic warnings were disregarded, and years later the words did indeed come to pass. An effective prophet’s goal, at least when it comes to warning words, is to appear wrong each and every time! After all, while his reputation might be put into question by some, those with wisdom and insight will realize that instead of the prophecy being false, a calamity was averted.

This sort of thing often happens when prophetic warnings have dates attached. If a date comes and goes it can be one of a few different things: It can be that the word was false to begin with, or the date was wrong. Or it could be that prayer was effectively mobilized through the release of the word and the outcome changed. The difficult part is that we in the Church are often so quick to judge one another based on appearances that we have to take a step back and discern from the Lord what actually took place. After all, it would be silly to tell someone he was wrong if in fact he was not only spot-on, but the reason he appears to be wrong is because of how incredibly accurate he was AND how effective he was at it!

Some people believe we need to start holding false prophets accountable in the church, and while it sounds really good on paper, it really makes no sense. Look, a false prophet isn’t interested in accountability. He doesn’t really care if you tell him he is wrong or deceived or whatever other potentially accurate label you might give him. His motives are impure and his heart is in the wrong place to begin with. Do you really think telling him as much is going to positively influence the situation? Not likely. On the other hand, if mature prophets decide to take a more active and discipling role with young prophets, it is quite probable they can pass some of their wisdom and maturity on.

After all, how do false prophets become false prophets anyway? I suggest part of it is through rejection by the church. After a while, the inner wounding leaves just the right opening for the enemy, and through pride, envy, and other negative emotions the demonic are able to begin a long process of twisting and perverting the prophetic gift, turning a young prophet into a false one.

Maybe the problem isn’t so much that we don’t hold false prophets accountable, but that we don’t encourage young prophets to be disciple-able. Or worse yet, maybe we don’t expect or encourage effective prophets to do any discipling. After all, one can want discipleship all day long, but you can only follow when someone else is leading. Maybe the problem isn’t even false prophets, but a system that values the prophetic gift more than it values the person who carries that gift. Most likely it is a combination of all of these, together with the schemes of the enemy and the wounded hearts of men. However, I believe if we aim to do things a little better on our end we won’t have to worry so much about stoning the false prophets among us—I imagine that deep down they don’t really want to be that way either, but need help finding their way back home.

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Word of the Week – 4-10-17 – Pray Things Through

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This past week I shared a blog post about the Conditional Nature of Prophecy http://www.thekingsofeden.com/2017/04/conditional-nature-prophecy/ , and even as I am asking the Lord what He wants to share this week, I came across a friend’s post on Facebook asking why prophecies sometimes don’t come to pass–and the main reason I believe is that we have to pray them into existence. I also got a call from another friend today who is very grounded in the scripture and versed in things of the Spirit. He and his family have been going through a ton of enemy attacks of late, but it isn’t because he doesn’t know God’s will–it’s because they just need more prayer. While I am sure my friend would appreciate if you said a prayer, I sense there is more behind these seemingly unconnected but related subjects–and what I hear the Lord saying in this is that we need to Pray Things Through!

We all have “stuff” going on in life. And sometimes that stuff can be a LOT. Too much even. But regardless of what is going on, prayer is THE solution to the problem. Prayer is the connection point between our faith and desires and needs and God’s power. When things need to get done in the earth, God’s children get on our knees and pray. I feel very strongly that God is encouraging all of us, in every situation this week, to pray it through. When things get overwhelming, we need to ask God for His peace that bypasses our conscious minds and releases hope and life into our circumstances. We can either let life’s troubles weigh us down or we can trade our burdens and hand them over to Jesus–and take upon ourselves His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light.

I want to encourage you this week to hone in on your prayer life. Take it to another level this week. Seek the Lord over the prophetic words you have received, or if you haven’t ever received one, ask the Lord to share things with you about your life and what He thinks about you. Lift up your family and friends, praying protection, peace, and prosperity over them. Hold up those who have lost loved ones recently, and those who are hurting or broken. Release the peace of God into conflicts, both local and worldwide. I believe that as we seek the Lord in greater measure this week–as we pray things through–that we will see an outpouring of His grace in our lives, families, and the world around us. May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of the Father, and the Intimate Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

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The Conditional Nature of Prophecy

I enjoy prophecy. Whenever I prophesy over someone it gives me the opportunity to get a glimpse of how God sees him or her, and it has the ability to shift my perspective toward him or her as well. While it has other uses, including foretelling of things to come, most prophecy is geared toward encouraging people to continue moving forward in life, strengthening them for tasks ahead, and comforting them, as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:3. Many times we might will receive a prophetic word that tells us of the great plans God has for our future, but five, ten, or even twenty years later we find ourselves wondering what happened–why did that prophecy never come to pass? Certainly it is possible someone was incorrect when they spoke, but that is not the only option. I suggest something that is less understood is the conditional nature of prophesy.

I remember a message I heard a speaker share once. I forget who the speaker was, but I do recall he had a reputation as a prophet. He told a story of when he met with a couple who were trying to have a baby and were having difficulty. I don’t even think that was the reason for his meeting, but the Lord spoke to him and instructed the prophet to tell them they were going to have a baby. He began an internal dialogue with the Lord, basically arguing that he didn’t want to say it knowing the trouble they were already having, and not wanting to give them any false hope or encouragement. What the Lord responded back was, “If you don’t say it, it will not happen.”

The term self-fulfilling prophesy is in some ways redundant because the whole reason it even works is because the prophetic utterance carries power with it to accomplish the thing prophesied. When God told that prophet the word was conditional based on whether he said it or not, that is because prophecies carry power and are conditional. If we never release the word to begin with, no power is sent out to make it happen. However, even if we do give the word, there is still no guarantee it will come to pass. Why is this?

We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle with forces of darkness who oppose us. If prophecy was a guaranteed once-and-done thing, we would simply prophesy everything into existence, once, instead of having to pray over things time and again. The devil and his minions are in the business of destruction, and whenever they can stop God’s will from coming to pass in our lives, they will. This is one of the main reasons we have to pray–and not just pray, but persevere in prayer until the things God has said to us come to pass. So much goes on in the unseen realm that we have to push forward in prayer until we see the answer manifest.

When I hear God tell or show me something, it is not a guarantee that it will come to pass. It is actually an invitation to experience an optional reality, and I have a part to play in whether that reality occurs or not. I like to think of it from a perspective where I imagine my decisions on a timeline as being like a road or path. Imagine that as we walk, every time we come to a fork in the road there are a billion choices of which path to take. On the majority of these paths, things will be largely the same—gravity will still be in effect, the sun will still rise and fall, and we will still have to pay taxes. Some of the things that change, however, are ones that can be decided by prayer and prophesy. If all we do is hear a prophetic word once, the power from that prophetic word will cause some of those roads to blink out of existence—negative outcomes that were prevented through the utterance. However, there are still the greater part of a billion paths left to take, so how do we know which ones will get us to the desired result?

If we stopped at that single prophecy, there really is no guarantee. If we pray into that reality, however, more and more of those paths that won’t bring us the desired result blink out, until all the road that are left are guaranteed to give us that which we seek. Eventually, it doesn’t matter which road we take because all of them are the right one.

Did you ever think about why there are so many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah? I think it was due to the conditional nature of prophecy–if God simply said it once, there is no guarantee it would happen, but as the timeline continued forward He spoke again and again throughout the ages to constantly shift the events that needed to be changed until it brought forth the reality God desired on our behalf.

Seeing a prophecy fulfilled is actually not just about prayer either—it involves action. If I receive a word about becoming a business owner, (and we assume for the sake of this example that it was an accurate prophecy), what happens if all I do is sit there and wait for a business to drop in my lap? I suppose I could inherit it somehow, but if none of my family are business owners then that isn’t a likely outcome. Rather, God is inviting me to come walk with Him on the matter; to join Him in the pursuit. I need to take practical steps to set up the business–coming up with a plan and carrying it out, but all within the context of praying it into existence and continuing to seek God’s wisdom, favor, and blessing as I set out to do what He has given me to do.

The conditional nature of prophesy is only a hindrance to those who don’t understand it—but once we grasp that God is actually wanting to partner with us it becomes more meaningful, and more real. What prophetic words have you received in the past that you are still waiting to come to pass? How can you pray, joining your faith with God’s will for you? What physical actions can you take to work toward that which you seek? Continue to ask, seek, and knock, because as Matthew 7:8 says, “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Grace and peace to you as you engage the will of the Lord!

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How I Received Mentoring in Prophetic Intercession

I have known Jesus most of my life, but around age 20 the Holy Spirit did a major work in my life and gripped my heart in a significant way. I was water baptized at that time and baptized in the Spirit as well, but did not start speaking in tongues until about a year after that. The Lord directed me at that time to move from where I lived near Philadelphia to State College Pennsylvania to get involved in a church there and their campus ministry. I had already started going to college at Penn State University Park (the college in that town) prior to that and had taken a leave of absence, and was excited at the direction God was taking me. During that period what I needed most, which I didn’t know at the time, was mentoring in prophetic intercession.

After I moved to State College and began to volunteer with the ministry, I went out on Friday nights with a group of guys from the church to do street witnessing. We saw some cool miracles, one of which you can read here, but the Lord began to speak to me about moving into a time of prayer. I began to spend time at home in prayer, but it was a bit of a struggle for me because I wasn’t used to it. I joined a few others at the church who were starting up a Watch of The Lord intercession group based off of Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda’s program.

The Watch of the Lord became one of the most significant means of spiritual growth for me in that season of my life, and it was there that I learned and received mentoring in prophetic intercession. Prophetic intercession is a big term but it’s a pretty simple concept–you listen for what the Lord is saying, then pray that back to Him. While that might sound silly, it’s actually quite powerful. When we hear God and declare it, we cause His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Prophetic intercession is praying in partnership with God, and it gets results.

I remember back when the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill happened, we spent time praying for the wildlife, the crews cleaning it up, and the whole situation. God gave us some clear instructions through nudges and intuitive leading, as well as through specific visions, of a particular species of bird that needed help, and we prayed accordingly. While I don’t remember what bird it was, one of my friends looked it up later and we were spot on. I remember God leading us in prayer over the 2004 Presidential Elections, and the morning of the election, at around 4:30 AM we got breakthrough. We knew in the spirit that our prayers worked and the President had been decided through prayer before the voting booths had even opened!

Sometimes we would hear visions, at other times we simply had strong emotions about a subject that we felt pulled to pray about. Still others we would hear verbal direction from God, and oftentimes that instruction was in agreement with what the Lord was speaking to other members present. One thing I learned is that one doesn’t have to be an intercessor to be able to intercede, and I discovered through experience just how important prayer is as a foundation to any endeavor.

I strongly believe in the work of intercession, and wish that mentoring in prophetic intercession was more common. Usually we would have four or five of us faithfully at each prayer meeting, and on occasion others would join us, but the core group grew in our faith in leaps and bounds during that two year period. There is no substitute for spending time with God, learning to hear Him, and engaging the spirit realm in prayer. While I cannot do that regularly in this season, I eagerly look forward to a time in the future when I can put my intercessor hat on again and get back on my knees.

If you are interested in learning more, or want mentoring in prophetic intercession yourself, I encourage you to check out the following resources, all of which were instrumental in helping me learn and grow in this area:

Watch Of The Lord: The Secret Weapon of the Last-Day Church by Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda

The Prophetic Intercessor and The Seer by James Goll

Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets

Rees Howells: Intercessor by Norman Grubb

On Spiritual DNA and Inheritance

I was at work one night recently and for some reason was reminded of the spiritual legacy that I have received from my parents. Unlike most inheritance, which one receives upon the parents’ death, my parents are quite alive–and this is the benefit of spiritual inheritance, which we receive not on death, but at conception.

Our spiritual and soul traits are just as much a part of our DNA as physical traits such as height and eye color. While science is able to visualize two strands of DNA, it is posited by various spiritual groups that we might have up to 22 strands, and a few fringe groups suggest we might have 144 or even upwards of 2 million. While I think the 2-million is probably a bit over the top (I am talking about strands of DNA on a single chromosome, not DNA segments, snippets, codons, etc.) it is becoming increasingly accepted even in some Christian groups that we have more than the two visible strands of physical DNA.

The Bible supports this somewhat, talking about how we have been “born from above” in John 3, and how we have God’s spiritual seed within us. At the very least, if there is an invisible spiritual DNA that closely matches physical DNA then at minimum we have 4 strands total between the physical and spiritual, but I suggest the number is much higher, reaching at least 12 if not more.

At any rate, this spiritual DNA explains some of the “coding” and similarities we may observe between ourselves and our parents. It definitely does in my case. As with physical DNA, while some traits are passed down, others may remain dormant in the family line while others express themselves noticeably. I have seen this in my own family and life, and believe that 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 explains this concept to a certain extent. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” While the same Holy Spirit lives in both my parents and myself, and while even that same spiritual DNA exists in both myself and my parents each respectively, Holy Spirit draws different attributes of that DNA to the surface.

My mother is and has always been hungry for things of the Spirit, and would occasionally have visions. She was in the Episcopal denomination where fairly little is understood about spiritual gifts as a whole, and it is even less often talked about, providing little opportunity to learn and grow in that area. She is also a teacher, loves evangelizing children, and is creative, fun, and very excitable.

My father is an Episcopal priest, and he has much compassion for the sick and hurting. While he was originally planning to be a doctor, he instead works with the spiritually ill, having heard an audible voice telling him to go to seminary instead. My father also used to do deliverance ministry when I was younger. He has a lot of wisdom, is good working with his hands, and loves gardening.

As I look at my parents and the rich heritage of desires and things of the spirit that they bring me, I find it little surprise that I can see my own passions as a reflection of their own. I am exceptionally hungry for things of the Spirit–signs, wonders, and miracles. I am a seer as well, but have learned to both see and hear in the spirit, and am able to exercise a more full range of spiritual sense than either of my parents. I have a desire to preach and help teach the body to grow in all things spiritual, which can be seen as a sort of evangelism to the Church to help the Body move in the gifts of the spirit and Holy Spirit’s power. I am a nurse by profession and may one day be a doctor as well, but I greatly enjoy healing the sick by the power of God, and firmly believe God’s healing power extends even to resurrection and immortality. I enjoy gardening, although nowhere to the extent that my wife does, and I like doing hands-on crafty things although not the same kind as my father.

My point in sharing this is that I believe we all have a spiritual inheritance that helps shape who we are and who we are called to be. While sometimes it can diverge sharply from the traits we see expressed in our parents, I believe that if we dig deep enough we will find that in some cases it isn’t that our traits are so different from theirs, but that our parents’ dreams and passions were swallowed up by the cares of this world, and as we find and give those things expression we can in some way help fulfill the destiny they were designed to experience as well. It brings a whole new perspective to the idea of “honoring your father and mother” because as we discover and engage our spiritual inheritance we are igniting not only our destiny, but theirs and those of our ancestors before them. It is no surprise then that as Hebrews 12:1-2a says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Our spiritual DNA is part of the race-markers for this race, and it is a relay, not a single-person run. The cloud of witnesses include our ancestors who are looking to see what we do with the distillation of destiny that runs through our veins.

God has positioned you uniquely where you are, and to have the gifts and abilities passed down from your parents. Regardless of whether your parents were good to you or not, what unique gifts have you received from them? If you don’t know your birth parents, ask the Lord to show you the legacy He has given you–both from them and from your current family. Spiritual inheritance is spiritual by nature, and adoption is a form of spiritual in-grafting whereby you can partake of the DNA from both your birth parents and your life-parents. I encourage you to continue to seek and pursue the Lord as He reveals new aspects of your calling, gifts, and destiny to you–for as with all relay races, when one finishes, we all finish. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you as you unlock and decode your spiritual DNA.

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A friend was kind enough to point out that there are some books on the subject that may help you walk through this process. One, recently published by some friends, is called Accessing Your Spiritual Inheritance. The back cover text says:

“Alice didn’t fall down a rabbit hole but she did walk through a mystical doorway in a vision to recover blessings her ancestors failed to claim. When Alice came back and shared her experience, Seneca wasted no time going through her own door. Del’s approach differed — she wound up floating along in her bloodstream!   Through telling our stories, others went through their own doors, leading to better relationships with God, increase in finances, favor, and giftings. Although this book touches on generational curses and how to remove them, we focus on claiming the blessings your family line has lost. However, you’ll need to be open to having a vision, and we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process so that you, too, can restore your lost generational blessings. Your hidden inheritance awaits!”

Other Books include:

Repentance: Cleansing Your Generational Bloodline