Signposts to Revival in South Africa - Why I’m still so passionate about Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church

The Word of the Lord came.

On 19 December 1996 I went down on my knees in prayer and immediately I was in the spirit. I know this realm because I have entered it often, in prayer, or in worship, or in study and meditation, or walking down paths or malls with my Lord.

Immediately the voice of My Lord said,

“The Lord will sovereignly move to make His people know His majesty and his holiness. There will be a sign in the heavens, by unseasonable weather and by a bright light in the dark sky, a sign that God has chosen to do a great work in this place.

“When you see these things, it will cause you to bow down and surrender to the sovereign acts of the Lord.”

The very next day the Cape Times Newspaper had a photograph of lightning striking the control tower at the Cape Town International airport, and the caption read, “Unseasonable thunder storm puts airport out of commission for two hours.”

That got my attention. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather.

I wrote this down and gave it to the pastor of the church we were part of, and we waited to see the move. Yes, there was a small move of God in the church, but not what I expected from the prophetic word. I started praying into it.

A few weeks later there were runaway forest fires in the Helderberg valley behind Somerset West, the town where we were living. The smoke was so thick in the town that you could smell it in everything. One of those days the Cape Times had a front page colour photo of the sun trying to shine like an orange orb through the brown smoke which darkened the whole sky.

That day the caption said, “2000 firemen fail to control fires due to unseasonable winds.” A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather

I took that as encouragement to continue praying.

Our move to the Cape for Revival

It was the beginning of our second year in Cape Town. We had arrived in January ’96. Obedient to the word of Our Lord, I had handed over my leadership of the Zoé Christian Fellowship church in Florida, near Johannesburg, in November 1995. I had founded and pastored that prophetic church for thirteen years. I appointed two of my young friends, Andrew as pastor, and Nick as assistant pastor. They had walked with me for nearly seven years from their early youth and had grown from youth leadership to eldership within our more senior elders’ team, and then into five-fold ministry.

For three years Our Lord had been speaking to me about a transition for revival. I knew we would be moving on from Zoé but, being cautious to test these things, I left it “on the shelf” for the Lord to guide our steps. On our return from our holiday in the South Cape in January 1995, we drove from Plettenburg Bay over the hills through the Tsitsikama forest and saw the sunrise over the eastern horizon; then I heard the Lord say, “You will not return this way again.” And I knew that ’95 would be different.

It was during middle of that year that I received the clear impression that we should move to Cape Town to be part of the coming revival prophesied to start there. Many visions and prophecies have foretold that the fires of revival would start in the Cape and spread through the country. It was time to give up the leadership of the church and we moved to the Cape to be part of the coming revival.

A move to be in His will

And so, after a year in Somerset West we moved across to Fish Hoek to be nearer the church we attended. With these signs in the heavens I was encouraged to believe the Word of the Lord, and living on the west mountainside in the Fish Hoek valley became a haven for us in the difficult transition we would go through. In moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town we had paid a price of losing our home and financial resources. In March 1998 I would lose the job that I had taken to support us, and be thrust back into starting a business from scratch. And, eventually, in a few years, I would leave the international ministry team and network of churches that I had walked with for ten years.

In the Fish Hoek valley I began to see a phenomenon in the sky that I had not seen before. Every evening I would walk my dog before going to bed. One night in the sky I saw a halo around the moon. Somehow, there was a phenomenon in the air over the valley and the light was caught on the moisture in the air. The halo touched the mountains over Clovelly on the one side of the valley, and on the other side it touched Elsie’s Peak Mountain. I asked people if they had seen this before, and no-one had seen such a thing. This was the first of many times that I saw this phenomenon – a halo around the moon that seemed to nearly touch the earth. Even after we moved to Capri, to the north-west, overlooking the Noordhoek valley, I was encouraged several times by that sign in the sky, of a halo around the moon. I had come to see that this was a frequent encouragement as I finished my day with a prayer walk in the night, and many times saw this bright light in a dark sky.

Just living for Jesus makes war on the enemy

By now I realized that I was in a position of warfare by prayer and, with the lessons I had learned, I focused my prayer on the sixteen towns around the deep South Peninsula of Cape Town, asking for Our Lord to raise up houses of His presence in each town- where He would manifest His presence – in our homes and in His churches. I was impressed by Isaiah 4 v 5, that the Lord wants to cover our homes and our gatherings with His glory. He wanted no other covering on His people. I realized that just being in Fish Hoek, just by living here, I was an offence to Satan’s kingdom, and I prayed for His covering to manifest upon His people, to make their homes to be houses of His presence. All I had to do was to live here, pray for revival and serve God’s purposes in the things He gave me to do.

By 2000 I had withdrawn from the international ministry team and my involvement in the churches in that network. I felt that the Lord restrained me not to start a church publically so that I could avoid causing any strife or competition with my old friends in the ministry. Nevertheless we found that the Lord gave us a new group of friends that met together in a covenant hearted community that went on for about nine years.

Over the years I kept praying that Our Lord would raise up houses of His presence in the 16 towns from Muizenberg to Fish Hoek, to Simons Town, around to Scarborough, and to Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Hout Bay. And from year to year, I kept seeing the signs in the heavens which encouraged me to believe for revival in the deep South Cape Peninsula.

Angelic warfare

Early in 2008 our friend Jeremy had a vision of rain falling throughout the Fish Hoek and Noordhoek Valley into the hearts of the saints, followed by a vision of fire falling to stir up the saints & to spread like wildfire. We agreed to lay our hearts on the altar.

As a group we became concerned about the lack of victory as we began to intercede for a friend who was facing death due to a threatening pregnancy condition. Several of us went into travailing intercession – with groanings and praying in the spirit, as Holy Spirit helped us in praying through until we had a release of peace in our hearts.

The next morning there was a thunder storm around the Fish Hoek and Noordhoek area with lightning striking the sea on the Atlantic side and on the False Bay side, but there was no rain. This storm started at about 3 a.m. and our friend Joni was woken up by it, saw that there was no rain and she sms’d me, “What does it mean?” It was not the time for storms or rain –it was unseasonable.

The lightning carried on until after lunch that day, over the sea on both side of the peninsula, without rain in Fish Hoek, but I saw that there was rain over the Tygerberg Mountains. And there I saw that a fire had started on the Tygerberg mountain – probably lit by the lightning. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather.

I asked the Lord about it and He showed me Psalm 18 where I understood He had released angelic warfare in response to prayer:

 Ps 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.

 8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it.

 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under His feet.

 10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

 11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

 12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

 13 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

 14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

 16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

I believe that the Lord had dispatched angels to war on our behalf and we would see the results later. That day the Lord showed Vaughan that there were two spirits of death attacking our friend, and her husband had only to rebuke them in Jesus Name and they would leave. When he followed this advice she recovered dramatically and soon came home!

And, once again, the fire on the Tygerberg Mountain, was a “Bright light, in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather!” And I continued to pray for revival in the South Peninsula.

Houses of His presence

During this time we began to have manifestation of Our Lord’s presence in several of our homes. Nicole was put down on the floor by Holy Spirit’s power. As she lay there she felt her limbs being manipulated and she began to be filled with the Spirit’s presence. At first she felt it was so painful, but she said, “More Lord. More Lord!” as she yielded to whatever He may want.

Then she had a vision of Our Lord Jesus standing over her, and He reached down and started to feed her, putting living bread into her mouth, she felt strengthened and after a long time under His ministry to her, she was a changed woman. I can honestly say that she came to our group the next weekend and shared from the truth that we are sons of God by faith with clear revelation that matched any apostolic ministry that I have heard on the subject.

On another occasion Marian was overcome by Holy Spirit’s presence and she was put down on the floor in her kitchen while baking. Her new baby was a few months old while she was on the floor for over half an hour. In that experience her spiritual sensitivity was so refreshed that she received visions that came to pass within days.

But the most remarkable was what happened at Brent & Joni’s house. That was the home our house church was meeting in on Sundays. One day Dawn was in the bank queue when Joni phoned her and said,

“The glory of the Lord is in in my kitchen like a mist!”

Dawn said, “I’m coming to see!”

On the way she phoned Shirley and told her about it. Shirley said she was coming too!

When they got there, they came into the room and felt the powerful presence and peace of the Lord immediately and basked in His glory! The Lord had shown that he wants to manifest in our homes and make them houses of His presence!

My baptism of fire.

In 2009 my wife Dawn was invited by her friend Christa from Johannesburg to go to a healing conference in Durban. It was for three days and I knew little about it, but I decided to take leave and go along to enjoy some fellowship there.

What a wonderful surprise it was. Randy Clark and the Global Awakening team were there, with Surprise Sithole from the Iris Ministry team, which is led by Heidi and Rolland Baker. From the very beginning I felt the presence of the Lord, and at the end of the first day I went forward for prayer and, without anyone touching me, I fell down under Holy Spirit’s power and shook for over 45 minutes.

I have experienced anointings of power before, and I have rarely fallen under the power of God, because I have learned to yield my spirit to be strengthened as well as to be obedient to Holy Spirit’s anointing and flow with His leading for healing. The Lord has done mighty miracles through me over the years, including raising two paralyzed people, healing near-blind eyes, cancer, back and limb joint problems, asthma and respiratory problems, miscarriages, barrenness, deafness, heart problems, doing many demonic deliverances and raising a child from death.

So I was familiar with Holy Spirit’s anointing of power for healing and miracles. But this was different.

It felt like an angel had taken hold of my right bicep and was squeezing it so that my arm, which was half under my head, was shaking my whole body. I couldn’t get up but I was wholly conscious and saying “Yes Lord,” over and over.

Without going into all of the detail of that experience and what I heard from My Lord, that experience was the beginning of revival for me. From that day, I experience the tongues of fire on the crown of my head every time I think or talk about the Lord, or about His Word, or what He is doing. That anointing grew on my head when I meditated in the morning, or when I worshipped alone or in the corporate gatherings and the anointing of fire came with an overflow that affected many people. It feels like a little gas fire, which bubbles and tickles my scalp! I went to the hairdresser and asked her to check if there was anything wrong with my scalp and she said there was nothing.

Torch bearers to light the fires

We started another meeting at our own home on Sunday evenings and people came from around the district to receive that anointing of fire. That idea began when Jacques and Karin came to visit. As we talked about my baptism of fire, Jacques said that he felt like a hot towel had been put across his shoulders. He felt it was a new mantle for anointing for service. As he said that Karin felt the fire on her and her spirit went into intercession as she was overcome by the Lord’s presence. We met with some friends the following weekend and that began a season of experiences in the new anointing. People came and received the fire and it changed their work places, they impacted the people that they met, and each week the testimonies were amazing!

One thing that happened to me was that I began to feel angels with me, sitting on my right and my left. When I was having my time of fellowship with the Lord early in the morning they were there. When I was driving to work and worshipping with the music in the car they were there. When I walked up Saint Georges Mall for my prayer walks at lunch time, they were there.

On one occasion the angel on my left took my hand to lead me around the corner where I hadn’t planned to go. So I went with it. I said, “Holy Spirit, this is weird! Please teach me how to do this.” And since then I have been learning new things in this new release in the spirit.

Wherever we went, this manifestation of fire would come, when we prayed for people for healing or just for blessing, the fire would come on them. Some amazing miracles happened at that time:

·         A lady with a degenerative spine was healed – after the x-rays showed that two vertebrae had degenerated.

·         A champion sky diver had twelve vertebrae injured when he collided with the tail-plane of the aircraft as his emergency parachute opened on exit. His sternum was broken and his kidneys collapsed. After prayer that there would be no paralysis, no complications and no after effects, he was sent home without an operation after only 5 days on pain killing medication which he came off after one week!

·         A farmer’s tomato crop was severely affected by cold weather in January. The tomato vines were full of fruit but it was not ripening for harvest. We went to walk through the tunnels to pray and then went to have coffee. After coffee we walked through the tunnels to see the tomatoes changing colour and in on hour we helped reap over 100 kg of tomatoes!

Extending the territory

And then in January 2010 we had another sign in the heavens. My friend Mark had had a vision in November 2009, of a tsunami wave coming around Cape Point into False Bay that was sweeping across Mitchells Plain until it brings revival in Cape Town. We prayed into this and the Lord gave me that scripture in Zech 9:10, “and His dominion shall be from coast to coast, And from the river to the ends of the earth.” In January there was a heavy cloud covering the whole Table Mountain range from Signal Hill to Muizenberg. It was very unusual for that time of the year.

When Mark saw it he was in Rondebosch and was fascinated by the cloud because it came across the whole view of the mountain from North to South, and there were two levels of cloud. He felt compelled to take photographs from north to south and as he did, he saw that there was a purple trumpet pointing down from the higher cloud down to the earth, and in the photographs it was in the same physical place as he moved the camera from right to left. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather.

When he sent the photograph to me I received another photo which was published, I believe, in the local newspaper in Mossel Bay. Someone had captured a similar happening over the Mossel Bay area and that photo is attached below. In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established…. a scriptural principle of prophetic confirmation.

And so I started to pray for Cape Town, from the False Bay Coast to the Atlantic coast and from the Salt River to Cape Point. The territory He put on my heart was for more than just the deep South Peninsula! But then the Lord had something totally new for us to experience.

The Angelic hosts of the Lord

Jacques and Karin asked us to come to their house to pray for an “open heaven” so that they could have their visitors experience the power of the Spirit. Whatever we think about this concept of an open heaven, this was our experience:

We went with Brent and Joni to Jacques and Karin’s house to pray. We started with some worship and we went into the presence of the Lord quite quickly. After a time of high worship, Holy Spirit led us to be quiet, and Jacques was on his face on the floor. When we were quiet, he looked up and said,

“I have just seen a vision. I saw a ladder like Jacob’s ladder coming into this room out of heaven, and angels were coming down, hundreds and hundreds of angels. But they were not going back up.”

I said, “The angels come down when the Lord sends them with an assignment. They only return when they have completed their assignment.”

“Jacques, the Lord has given your request even before we prayed for it. He has given you an open heaven.”

Then I began to play on the guitar with a military rhythm, and I got a spirit song which was about the Lord commissioning His angels and deploying them to different locations, duties and tasks. We carried on in worship for a short time until our hearts were released and we were sure that the Lord had said all that He wanted to tell us. Then we went home.

The next morning, (Saturday), I switched on my mobile phone at about 8:30 and saw that I had an early text message from Jacques – he said he’d seen hundreds of angels on the mountain tops around the Fish Hoek Valley.

They were lining the mountains from Chapman’s Peak to Clovelly, and from Fish Hoek to Ocean View and to Kommetjie. We didn’t understand what they had come for, but we know that they came to enforce the Word of the Lord on behalf of his people who are praying for His Kingdom to come. Since then I have had more angelic encounters in these last four years than in thirty years of ministry!

A Word of direction from the Lord

The following week I went to meet Jeff Kidwell, the Pastor of the Bay Community Church in Muizenberg. I told him the report about the angels of the Lord, and he said that two intercessors had told him that they had seen angels on Muizenberg Mountain that week! He also told me that on old friend, Janet Bran, would be ministering at the Bay the following Sunday. We decided to go to the meeting. 

When I got there we kept seats for Jacques and Karin. When they arrived, Jacques told me that he had seen about twenty angels on the roof of the building as he came in. That night the worship was amazing. It was our first time at the Bay, and it was great to experience such high worship. In the middle of it, I heard a musical sound which didn't come from the band. (Dawn and I have been musicians since our teens and have played in many worship and gospel bands.} I opened my eyes to see where the sound was coming from, and it was a sound that came from heaven. Someone had a vision of two angels going around the room pouring oil out down the walls of the room. There was a release of prophetic words in the worship and it was so uplifting to be in a place where the move of the Holy Spirit was so welcome.

That night Janet didn't recognize Dawn and me, because we hadn't seen her for twenty years, but we had often had her come to Zoe Christian Fellowship to minister. Nevertheless, she gave us a prophetic word that encouraged us and confirmed what Our Lord was about to do in our lives. 

The gist of it was that the Lord would bring us into new alliances and release; new recognition and connections. There would be lots of flying from place to place and the Lord would give me a new authority. The way that this word has unfolded in our lives is the story for another article, but how amazing it is to be walking in the favour of the Lord who has begun to restore all things that were lost!

The next step was that within a few months we joined the Bay Community Church and have served there for several years now. And we continue to pray for revival in Cape Town.

Preparing for Revival

The last two great signs in the heavens were quite a new thing.

On 14 December 2011, I was driving over the Constantiaberg Mountain pass called Ou Kaapse Weg, on my way to work. I usually travel around Chapman’s Peak to work, (the route of the Argus Cycle Tour), but somehow by mistake took the wrong road, and when I was turning onto the top of the pass I was caught in a rain storm. Then I saw it, the widest rainbow I have seen, reaching from the telecoms mast on Constantiaberg, and reaching over into the Valley over Muizenberg. As I came over the top the hard rain passed behind me, and as I looked in the mirror I saw two rainbows behind me and there was one in front of me! The Cape area is supposed to be a winter rainfall zone. Rain like this shouldn’t come in summer. But there I was, looking at three rainbows in a cloudy sky. A bright light in a dark sky, with unseasonable weather.

And since we have moved into fellowship at the Bay we can see signs of revival fire have started with exciting prospects of a wave of revival about to break out in many ways!

Our Lord has convinced me that the revival will come on two levels:

• ·         The revival of the saints at grass roots level will bring a new baptism of the fire of His Love. This is what I experienced in Durban, a new love for My Lord, and a love for His people and for the lost, and the ongoing anointing of fire for service.
• ·         The revival of the five-fold ministry who will be anointed with the Love of Our Father to bring His Word so that people will say – “This is the Father speaking!” And they will bear the authority of His Love.

There is evidence over these four years that more and more Christians in Cape Town are hungry for more of Jesus! The worship is reaching greater heights of intimacy and there is revelation of Jesus and the Father’s love being given to the psalmists and the ministers. Our Lord is preparing His people with sensitivity to the Spirit. The spiritual senses of God’s people are being activated and their hearts are developing a hunger for the revealed mysteries of the Word of the Lord.

This is like a bubble that is reaching its maximum size before it bursts to release the spray of new anointing over many people. It is like a tsunami wave that is being released and is on its way to cover the area. It is like a fire that will start as Holy Spirit breathes life into every hungry soul and they catch the fire of God’s love and power for this move of the Lord.

The most recent sign in the heavens

Over the last few years, My Lord has been prompting me not only to ask for the City of Cape Town to have revival, but to ask for the Nation of South Africa. It started when he said,

“Why limit this to the Cape? Pray for His dominion to be from the Indian Ocean coast to the Atlantic Ocean Cost and from the Limpopo to the ends of the continent!”

As I began to ask this I waited for Him to confirm some of these things.

I had been praying for the vision of God’s heart which Habakkuk 2:14 shows us: “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”

Then I felt led to pray from Colossians 4: 3, 4 “that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ….. and make HIM manifest, as I ought.”

Already that has started to come to pass.

But then I was led to add this prayer for the saints to my requests, from 2 Thess 1:11, 12 “we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,

that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you (might be glorified*) in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (* my interpretation of it!)

And I started to pray for the increased territory.

I now travel on air flights to Port Elizabeth, or Johannesburg, or to the Northern Cape from Cape Town as much as two or three times a month. This is a part-fulfillment of the word of the Lord to me through Janet.

On one of my trips on 7 November 2013, I picked up a copy of the Times Newspaper in Johannesburg and, on Page 7 I saw a photograph of the sun with a halo around it. The caption said:

“The halo around the sun phenomenon is scientifically known as a parhelion, from the Greek word meaning ‘beside the sun’.”

I have never seen this phenomenon before. But when I saw this it encouraged me to believe that the Lord wants me to continue praying for revival to flood not only the Cape Town area, but the whole of our nation. At that time I began to discover that many new churches are springing up around Johannesburg, and I particularly became aware of those in the West Rand area of Johannesburg - my old home city of Roodepoort. Several of these churches are experiencing exciting experiences of God's power and Holy Spirit's presence working with them. I believe that my prayers were simply synchronising with the prayers of many Christians praying for God to move in that city, and Our Lord is answering the call of our hearts!

This is the time – The word of the Lord came to me again and He said:

They will be taught by the Lord to bring victory and honour to people.

They will lead people from destitution to destiny.

They will raise up mighty men and women of God.

This is the time for the generation of David – whose people the Lord has been seeking for –

Who will worship him in spirit and in truth,    

Whose hearts are running after their Lord,

Men and women who have hearts wholly devoted to God,

These shall do all His will in their generation.

They shall receive abundant, overflowing grace and they shall show fresh holiness again.

They shall reign as kings under the authority of the King of Kings,

With humility, peace, justice and righteousness,        And obedience to the Most High God.

The glory of the lord Jesus Christ will be upon them,

And the dominion of His Kingdom will be made known again.

The David generation’s worship of the Lord will cause His presence to come upon the Christians’ houses.

The people of God will be so alive in their spirits that all restrictions to their spiritual senses will fade.

The ears and eyes of His people will be opened

And the mysteries of the Kingdom will be made clear to them.

The obedience of the saints will cause Christ’s dominion and power to increase in their lives.

The mighty acts of the Lord will become the mighty acts of His people

as they come to know Him better and learn to know His ways.

The churches will be the embassies of the Kingdom where the mercy and grace of the King are present,

Where the mission and ministry of His people will change the culture around them.

The Generation of David will have such a lifestyle of worship with all that they do.

Everything they do will be an act of worship, doing it as unto the Lord.

They shall worship the Lord with such devoted obedience.

They will re-establish the Tabernacle of David.

The nations will come to worship the Lord.

They will carry the presence of the King into their towns and cities.

They will manifest the dominion of the Lord as King in the earth.

They will bring in the season of peace and divine wisdom for this generation.

And the unbelievers will see the salvation of Our God and hear the Song of the King from His people again, wherever they go in the nation.

The Generation of David is arising now, in these days.

I am passionate about this because the Church of Jesus Christ is the top item on God’s agenda in heaven!

I want to be part of this, don’t you too?

Let’s join our hearts to keep praying in faith as the tsunami wave grows

and the fire of His Love flows!

Joining the Present Day Ministry of Christ on the Throne

If we think how important prayer is in our lives, there is no more significant truth than this: Prayer is the present day ministry of Our King, Lord Jesus Christ.

In this He still lives to serve the purposes of Our Father, Almighty God, as His Servant. Even though Jesus has been raised from death, transformed with a glorified body, has ascended into heaven from this physical realm on earth, and has been promoted to the throne of heaven, ruling over all things in heaven, the universe and on earth; He still carries out the ministry of intercession for the saints and for all those that turn to God, and in this He still lives out His role as "My Servant", as Isaiah calls Him prophetically, (that means the Servant of Jehovah.) Another way of seeing it is that Jesus is still the Servant King, the Servant of Our Father, to do His will, even though all the authority of the Kingdom of God has been given to Him.

So when we turn to pray, we are entering into partnership with Our Lord Jesus, to pray for others, to Our Father, and we are entering into the Ministry of the Servant King. Putting it another way, as the apostle writing to the Hebrews says, we are entering in to the throne room of grace to obtain mercy, and to find help in the time of need; we are coming alongside Jesus in His ministry of intercession. As we do this we are learning what it can be to reign with Christ Jesus by prayer!

It is common for people to be soft on themselves but to judge others harshly. It is also common for people to easily agree with accusations against others. As Christians we recognise the tricks of the devil, who is called the "Accuser of the brethren", to persuade us to condemn others and to turn our hearts against them. But we have a choice - to agree with the Accuser, or to agree with the Great Intercessor, Jesus, to pray for those who would offend us. No matter what people have done, we can come alongside Our Lord, King Jesus, and join Him in intercession for the mercy of God to be poured out on them, and for His grace to change them. This is one of the great privileges of a Christian's prayer.

We have yet to discover the amazing limits of this privilege of collaborating with Our Lord. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the imagination of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him." wrote Paul the Apostle. And the very next verse in 1 Corinthians 2 says, " But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit." And later, " We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may know the things that are given to us by God."

In this New Covenant era God has given to Christians the privilege of knowing things prophetically. Even when we do not know how to pray for things as we should, we find Holy Spirit comes alongside us to help us with intercession, sometimes with words, sometimes with scriptures or visions, and sometimes with groanings that we cannot escape. The best way to handle this is to pray in our heavenly language, the gift of praying in tongues, and if we do, we will often find an inspiration that helps us to pray. Often this inspiration takes us from one language to another as we pray in tongues. Paul writes that He prays for us according to the will of God, even when we don't know exactly how to pray! This partnership with Holy Spirit in our praying connects us directly with the mind of Christ in heaven, and with the will of the Father!

I have seen so many results of prayer like this that I have no doubt about it. And this exciting realm of prophetic prayer is open to any one of us Christ-lovers who want to learn more about prophetic prayer.

The Vision of God's Heart

The Prophetic Ministry has to do with the Vision that is in God's heart. It is communicated by the Now Word of God. It falls within what the Apostle Peter calls the "present truth" and the "more sure prophetic word" which he says he and the apostles had received.

It has to do with change by the Word of the Lord. It has to do with obedience to the Word, and the fulfilment of it, including the fulfilment of scripture.

New moves of God are always preceded by some prophetic move, either intercession, preaching, prophecies, visions or prophetic actions. I think it is because Prophetic people have a desire to live in the next realm God is opening up. Prophetic people have a desire to fulfil the scriptures God has sown as seeds in the eternal Church in the earth. All God has foretold about His Church in the earth will come true.

Prophetic people almost subconsciously order their lives by the Word of God; (man does not live by bread alone); they have fallen in love with the Word of the Lord; they have found that love of the truth that sets them apart for God.

Prophetic people will hear and obey Holy Spirit's call and, in this sense, God has always had His prophetic people in the different generations - even if it has been a small group of people, or one man (like Abraham, or Noah), who have been stretching forward into the new frontiers of faith.

This is the reason Prophetic people will always make an impact in the heavenlies; by prayer, by worship, by faith in God's word, by holy living, (e.g."Have you seen my servant Job?")

By the way, holiness is not to impress people in the world, nor the church. It is to identify us as "The Lord's People." Angels also take note of that; - even of a wife that honours her husband; (and a husband that loves his wife.)

Prophetic people will make an impact in the heavenlies by obedience; by living out of the anointing that dwells within them; by their prophetic timing in what they do; by speaking out God's word; ("Who has stood in the counsel of the Lord?" asks the prophet Jeremiah;) and by holding on to fulfil His word by faith.


Prophetic people go and pray until they get God's word on the matter. Once they have it, they rest in faith and persevere in faith until the circumstances change. 


The essence of the prophetic has always been to proclaim God's word to prepare the way for the Lord.
Once Prophetic people are caught up in the flow of God's Word or Holy Spirit's moving presence, a divine chemistry is released.  In such a flow, encounters with God are inevitable, even for people who are on the fringes of it. But Prophetic people who are caught up in it are not there for themselves or for self-gratification; they have a purpose - to be catalysts for the Body and Bride of Christ to be brought into perfection through intimacy with Our Lord.

In such a flow, what contributes to the transfer or impartation of the anointing to others? It will be by the right word spoken at the right time. There are two extremes in this: Firstly, it can sound like "I have a Word -  Now!"  Or "I'm so timid, I've got to wait on the Lord - forever; and for confirmation after confirmation, before I'll share it!" There are times Our Lord wants us to wait on Him. No doubt about that. But there is a significant release in the spirit when a well-timed prophetic word comes with a prophetic anointing at a prophetic moment. It releases more anointing.

The Lord has stated two powerful principles that make Prophetic people so essential and necessary for the coming revival; firstly, "Surely the Lord will do nothing, unless He first reveals His secrets to His servants the Prophets." (Amos 3:7), and secondly, "The secret things belong to God, but those things which have been revealed belong to us and to our children, forever..." (Deut 29:29).


That makes it very important that we spend time seeking the counsel of the Lord,  "For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it?" (Jer 23:18) He will take us into the strategy rooms of heaven to hear from the throne what are Our Lord's decrees for this time.

The Vision of the Lord's heart is that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. That glory was made known first through our Lord Jesus Christ; and now it is time for the Church to make it known. It is time for the Image of Christ to be restored on the earth. That which Adam's race lost for all humanity has been restored to humanity by the Living Word taking on the form of humanity. The Glory of the image of Christ will be restored through the redeemed saints as His Word and His Spirit are manifested again - in us.

It is time for the Prophetic people to be developed in their hearing and seeing, so that the seven spirits of God from around the throne, that were manifested in Our Lord Jesus on the earth, should be manifested in His Church to show His Kingdom government is increasing, on the earth, facilitated by His Prophetic people.

OUTPOURING OF HOLY SPIRIT RAIN AND NEW ANOINTINGS

During the worship on Sunday morning 5th February 2012, at the Bay Community Church in Muizenberg, I had two visions that merged as one.

I felt the impact of Our Lord's presence like rain before the band started singing about rain. Then I saw the rain was coming from a waterfall. I have seen this waterfall in the spirit many times, but this time it was so full that the water spray was coming from the top  lip of the fall AND it was a spray rising up from the impact in the pool at the bottom because it was such a volume of water pouring over the waterfall.

I remember that Judy had spoken about a rain rising up over the mountains to raise the water table in our area so the estuary would be full.

I felt the sight of the waterfall showed that we were coming close to the source of outpouring of the rain of the Holy Spirit - "He shall come down like rain" says the prophet in scripture. Then I remembered the words of Jesus, "He who comes to me, out of His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." And as soon as I heard that I was lifted up higher and higher, to see over the top lip of the waterfall where the river was flowing to it and I recognised it as the river of life which flows from the throne of God.

As I was looking at the river pouring down over the waterfall, I saw the people around me had their heads lifted up and their mouths open to delight in the rain of the Spirit. And I knew that we simply had to learn to drink Him in to receive this flow of the river of life, coming down on us like rain. But the closer we came to the source in worship, we could stand under the outpouring waterfall to be drenched on the outside and filled on the inside, so that the rivers of life would flow from us into the estuary around us.

Then as I watched I saw a second vision of a tall angel, standing next to the waterfall, looking down at us as we were worshipping. He had a large ladle that he was dipping into a large bowl full of hot oil. He was looking from the bowl of oil to the crowd of people and he was reaching down with the ladle to pour fresh new anointing oil onto the heads of the people. He seemed to be choosing those who were drinking in deeply from the outpouring rain, more than others around them.

Then I heard the words "New Ambassadors. New anointings for New Ambassadors for the Kingdom!"

Then the vision ended.

I feel that I missed the timing in the meeting to tell the vision. But I pray that we will have the opportunity still to receive the message of the vision and the power of new anointings to be New Ambassadors for the Kingdom.

With Love and Faith for you, Tony

Cape town Prophetic Forum January 2012

What an Awesome time yesterday with the Cape Town Prophetic Forum!


There was a theme of repentance for our past behaviour and attitudes followed by a release into new things for the prophetic people in Cape Town. It was a special time for all who were there, I'm sure.


I received the following impressions from the forum session:

HEARTS FROM THE GREAT SHEPHERD

Vision of the Throne.

In the Cape Town Prophetic Forum meeting on 28^th January I saw the Throne of God clearly with steps all around. I heard the words, “I have given you Cape Town.” And I realised that Our Lord had opened the spiritual territory for us to occupy and take the city of Cape Town.

Then I saw the Lord offering us eye ointment – anointed by Holy Spirit – to open our eyes to see what He has done, to see what He has made us – to live and move in this realm of the spiritual territory of Cape Town. As we came to the Lord to take the ointment, the veil was removed from our faces and we could see the glory of Christ in one another.

Our eyes were opened by the ointment and we could see Our Lord for who He really is, and what He has achieved – the crucified Lamb Who is now reigning on the Throne of God! As our eyes were opened we could see ourselves for who we are in Him – redeemed ones who have been able to come into the throne-room of Almighty God!

He has made us Holy Priests to come and minister to the Father and the Son, by Holy Spirit’s help. And so we can come up the steps right onto the throne to be so close to Him that we feel His heart and know His mind.

Then as we turn to come down from the throne, we have the authority of a royal priesthood, to speak into the earth the words from the throne. As we speak them into the situations on earth where Holy Spirit is working with His presence, the Word and the Spirit ignite with creative power to change the atmosphere, to change the circumstance. We are sent to change the atmosphere and to change the circumstances.

The Lord has promised to confirm the words of His servants, He said He would create the fruit of our lips; we shall declare the decree and it shall come to pass; we shall call those things which are not as though they were. And this will happen as we receive the words of the Lord from the throne.

Vision of the New Shepherds.

The next morning on 29^th January, I awoke in the early hours with another vision of the throne with thousands of people coming from all directions, walking out of a dark mist. They wore clothes from every nation, ordinary but different for every group. They walked towards the light shining from the throne and as they approached they walked closer into the light. Then nearer to the throne their clothes began to change. The earthly clothes faded and they were replaced with shining white clothes that everyone was wearing. It seemed they had been wearing these underneath their earthly clothes but now the white clothes were shining so brightly that I realised these were their spiritual clothes. So the closer they came to the throne, their spiritual clothes shone through and became brighter and brighter.

As they came around the throne, thousands of them, row by row they ascended the steps around the throne. It seemed that the steps grew larger to make room for them all – and they still kept coming – and then they seemed to penetrate into the heart of Our Almighty Father, and they disappeared for a while into Him, and so they came close to Our Lord Jesus, Who was seated on the throne right next to Our Father.

Then I saw as others came onto the top of the steps around the throne, those who had been in the heart of Our father appeared to step out of His heart and began to walk away from the throne and go down the steps again. But now they were wearing golden crowns on their heads and, as they walked down the steps, each one of them was given a golden sceptre. It seemed to me they were given authority in their minds and authority in their hands.

And as they walked away from the throne, row upon row, the bright white clothes seemed to fade and their earthly clothes appeared, but now they had a light that seemed like an aura around their whole bodies.

The crowns of gold faded but now they had a light of God’s glory around their heads and on their faces. The sceptres of gold changed to become the crooks that shepherds used to guide the sheep. Then I knew these people had been made shepherds by entering into the heart of Our Father. And their new authority was a wisdom given to them to have a shepherd’s heart to guide and guard the sheep with a new heart and a new authority. It was a new authority of wisdom from the mind of Christ and of love from the heart of Father, which they received as they came to the throne.

They had received new hearts from the Great shepherd. They had been drawn by Holy Spirit’s power to come to the throne, and He had used this to make them shepherds to the people of God after His own heart and His own mind.

A New Weight of Glory.

Then I was reminded of a clear impression I had as we had been closing the meeting in prayer at the Prophetic Forum on 28^th January. My hands had been held open, palms upwards, and I felt the anointing on my hands and felt the weight of glory.

Then Holy Spirit reminded me of that night in the upper room which John writes about in John 13:3 “And Jesus, knowing that the Father had put all things into His hands, and that He had come from God, and that He was going to God, after supper He stood and took off His garment, took a towel and tied it around himself,” and He began to wash the disciples’ feet.

We can seriously take hold of this responsibility of the new anointing, follow Our Lord’s example and begin to serve one another and serve the body of Christ with Love and Wisdom, because we have been touched with Our Father’s heart for His people.

2012 A Year for New Authority

When Timothy was first sent to Ephesus the Church was about 40,000 in number and under his ministry it soon grew to 70,000. (Church history researched by Dr Rick Renner.) Paul had commissioned him to “do the work of an evangelist.” Timothy had been sent into ministry with the laying on of hands, with prophecy that imparted spiritual gifting. Later, Paul wrote to him to “stir up the gift that is in you.” And so Timothy fulfilled his calling with authority on a different level.


When Peter first stood up on the day of Pentecost to explain Holy Spirit’s outpouring with tongues and fire, he brought relevance to Joel’s prophecy by revelation of its meaning and application. He stood and spoke with the authority of his appointment by Our Lord Jesus. On the Galilee beach Jesus’ words commissioned him to lead the flock of new Christians with fatherly and apostolic authority, which first was shown on that day of Pentecost. Peter’s primary gift was to be an evangelist to reach new souls for Christ, but he stood in an apostolic pastor’s role, unlikely as he was for that role before his baptism in the Spirit.


When Barnabus and Saul worked as part of the leadership at Antioch as recorded in Acts 11, they were working in their roles as prophets and/or teachers. As the season in the church changed and the leadership team became mature, Holy Spirit sent these two out by prophecy and they became apostles. Saul’s name changes to Paul and he emerges as the new leader with a new authority. Paul’s writings reveal that he was both a prophet and teacher in his primary gift cluster, but he operated in apostolic authority because he was sent out by the Holy Spirit and by the leadership team who stood in governmental authority in the Church at Antioch.


There is a difference between the spiritual authority brought by one’s gifting and the governmental authority by one’s commission, sphere and mandate. There is a need to receive both the spiritual authority of the gift ministries and the governmental authority of Our Lord through his appointed leaders set in the churches, and through those gift ministries they recognize with governmental authority.


What is about to emerge is the authority of apostles and prophets which will bring a new manifestation of spiritual and governmental authority in the churches at large, if they are willing to receive it. But He will surely raise up churches and groups of people as examples of His Kingdom authority and government. And since it is Our Almighty Father’s plan to “gather all things together in Christ” we can expect a new authority that will be demonstrated in many churches and groups which will be drawn into this move of Our Lord’s hand of authority.


Remember that the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 110 says that Our Lord was told by the LORD (Jehovah) to sit on the throne in heaven at His right hand until His enemies are made His footstool and, during this season, the LORD promised to send out the scepter of Messiah’s strength (authority) from Zion. (And Hebrews 12:22, 23 says we have come to Mount Zion.) In these days, Our Lord and King will send out authority from His throne through the church.


We have had messages about the need for apostolic and prophetic ministry brought to some churches and conferences over the last thirty years. Preaching about it may make us aware of the biblical truths about these ministries. What we need is revelation of truth that catches our hearts in the free-flow of ordinary life, and that lifts our expectation of the presence of Christ to manifest His authority in us so that we live on a different level – to be seated with Him in heavenly places. Remember, it is by the gift of righteousness and by abundance of grace that we can reign in life, (the Greek word is zoé, the life of the eternal God.) He wants to bring us into an experience of his authority which is dispensed from His throne.


On New Year’s Eve, 2011/2012, I received three phrases from Our Lord:


“It’s about Authority”, “It’s about Fire”, and “It’s about My Love.” I sense this is a New Authority.


After the news of the ANC's intention to invoke the spirits of the dead at their Centenary Celebrations, I now realize that 2012 is a year in which we shall see amazing changes in authority, Politically and Spiritually. 12 is the biblical number for government. 2012 is the year in which Our Lord wants His Sons and Daughters to rise up with a New Authority. 


There is a new authority which can only be released by intimacy with Our Lord. It is the authority of the Bride of Christ, who draws near and knows His heart; she hears His whispers and and so knows His mind; she feels His touch so close and feels His heartbeat for the nations. The New Authority will be powered by the Love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


There will be a new experience of what it is to be raised up with Christ to be seated with Him in heavenly places; to know and experience the authority of the King, the blessings of the King, the honour and favour of the King, and the resources of the King, all flowing from our intimate relationship with Him.


There will be an outpouring of Holy Spirit's fire to fill us with the fervent love of Our father and of the Lamb; He must receive the reward for His sufferings. His love is stronger than death; His jealousy for our souls is stronger than the grave.


I'm glad that the issues have been raised so early in 2012.


I'm glad that our collective response is to dedicate South Africa to the Lord.


I have been praying from Fish Hoek that the South Peninsula should be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. I have also prayed the Psalmist's and Zechariah's prophecy that "His dominion shall be from coast to coast, and from the Silvermine River, to the ends of the earth." In later years I have prayed, "Lord, let His dominion be from False Bay Coast to Table Bay coast and from the Salt River to the end of the Peninsula."


I believe that now is the time to pray, "Lord, let your dominion be from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Limpopo River to the ends of the earth!" This is a true promise, and we can expect it to come to pass over South Africa as He has spoken it through the prophets of old.
Let His Holy Spirit fire and love be upon us as we pour out His fervent love for the lost; in prayer, in mercy for the deluded who have missed the significance of these issues, and in good works throughout the nation.


May the beauty of the Lord Our God be upon us, and may He establish the work of our hands. (Ps 90:17)


Let Our Lord's words be spoken of us again as He said through Ezekiel: 


"Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendour (comeliness, attractiveness)  which I had bestowed upon you," says the Lord God. (Ezek 16:14)


May we succeed in our endeavours for revival in our nation.


Check out: Wayde Taylor: End-time Baptism of holy Spirit Fire

Developing Our Prophetic Lifestyle - A Letter to Friends

I recently wrote to some dear friends with whom we have started to walk through transition into new experiences in prophetic dimensions. Here is a (slightly edited) copy of the letter:

Hi beloved Friends,

I could not sleep this morning but awoke early with Holy Spirit bringing you to my mind for prayer.

I have heard something of your hearts during these meetings. The times together have been more exploratory and informative than formative. We are gathering with a motivation to press in together and it is working – building an understanding of one another and what is each one’s heart. My view is that the way is being cleared for our relationships to become strong and open and encouraging, to build one another up, and to find new ways of expression of the Christ-life within us.

I have some ideas that may be helpful in taking us further in our quest.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit is the one who will unlock the gift within each of us to add to the common life-expression of Christ amongst us. We each have a personal impression of who Christ is to us and who we are in Him. As we interact there is a growing appreciation of the diversity and richness of His life amongst us. This is paramount to our growth and fruitfulness –His life in us is the source and the object of Holy Spirit’s work and of our personal destiny.

The source of Holy Spirit’s work in each of us opens up progressively more with a growing revelation of Jesus Christ – He is the prototype of our life in the Spirit. Abba Father reveals His Son to us more and more as we seek Him and we are changed from one level of glory to another as we have a growing understanding of the Christ-life that is in Jesus –the Son of Man. Peter calls it the “divine nature”. Paul calls it the “Hope of Glory”. John calls it the “Light of Life”. Abba Father calls it “My Spirit” through Joel and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah. I think that is why Paul writes that he will lay everything aside for the knowledge of Christ – “that I may know HIM, and the power of His resurrection life, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to His death.” 

So for me, the first object of discipleship is that we should help disciples  to have a growing impression of Christ being revealed personally TO them, then IN them, and then THROUGH them. Eventually, we want them to be personally discipled TO Jesus as their personal Shepherd, Lord and King. Our role is then ended as their discipler, and our relationship becomes one of friend-for-life  and co-worker in Christ.

Secondly, I feel that there is a need to emphasise the release of the Holy Spirit through each person – not uniformly nor as a stereotype, but as diverse expressions of the variegated colourful emphasis of the unique gifting and style that each personality brings when Holy Spirit is working.

I do not wish to change the pattern of our meetings with open discussion and heart-sharing that we are beginning to see. But I think it is important to spend time finding what Holy Spirit is wanting to do with us. He is to be Lord in the times we spend together. That will bring the release into new things and into the different stages of development. For this I believe that, if we could move into a season of praying (i) for one another while we are apart, and (ii) for the mind of the Spirit to be expressed when we meet, we may experience times that are orchestrated by Holy Spirit and He will surprise us by unlocking and releasing secrets that will be life-changing in our growth path into more of the fullness of Christ.

I do not suggest that we simply fall back into a habit of prophesying over one another every week. But that we learn to let Holy Spirit lead dominantly in some of our sessions, and that we learn to co-work with Him. It would be helpful after we have heard an encouraging talk from anyone, if we could take time to ask Holy Spirit in prayer what He wants to emphasise for us to do with the word.

Please do not think I devalue what we have been doing. We are in a progressive relationship that is taking us higher and deeper and further in the Spirit.

Thirdly, if we are to find the object of being a “Prophetic people” I believe that there are more things to be discovered that will both nurture and adjust our pre-conceived ideas of what it is to be prophetic. One aspect I am concerned about nowadays is how to develop an effective prayer life – individually and corporately – for there are realms of undiscovered blessing waiting simply for our people to learn that the currency of the Kingdom of God is – “ask, and you shall receive.”

There are experiences in intercession that can only be had in a corporate group – praying in the Spirit –travailing and entering the wrestling in the spirit until things are broken and released; and the travail of the spirit, until things are birthed and God’s promises are fulfilled; and prevailing in prayer until mountains are moved.

My view is Prophetic people are to be equipped to be pathfinders in the spirit for others, to be providers by releasing the Words of Promise, to be protectors as intercessors standing in the gap for others, to be prophesy-ers of destiny and vision and hope, to be watchmen on the walls in the spirit, to be releasers of praise that lifts the heaviness, to be forth-tellers of God’s present-truth Word and foretellers of His Promises and purposes for His Church, for communities, cities and nations. We need to find ways (protocols in the spirit) to enter God’s throne room in praise and worship, in prayer and intercession, until we receive the decrees from the throne and return with the commands of the King. This will change things on earth. And you all have potential to experience and release these things for others.

I hope you will see these words as an encouragement for possibilities in God that lie ahead for us, and I pray that we should be able to discover much more than I have seen and tried to write in part here.

With Love and Faith for you in Christ,

Tony