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
