Trouble averted
I don’t have unusual leadings from the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. In fact, I don’t seek for spectacular leadings; but I do endeavor to be available if He wants to drop something into my spirit as I go about my day. I know that He truly does lead us; His leading is meant to be part of a normal Christian life; and I do my best to be consistent in the Word and prayer so that I’ll be ready and available to receive an assignment from the Lord when He decides to share something.
A few years ago I was taking my customary daily walk around the neighborhood. I have a habit of quietly praying in the Spirit as I go, praying for my neighborhood or whatever else the Lord may drop in my heart.
On this one particular morning, as I passed by a house just three doors down from mine, it felt as if I was punched in the stomach. It didn’t hurt, but it was a deep punch, nonetheless. A quiet groan came up from within me, Trouble! There’s trouble in this home. And so I prayed, listening for any further leads from the Holy Spirit. I didn’t stop my walk to knock on their door; I kept going. I didn’t know the aging biker couple who lived there; all I knew was that trouble had come to their home and that God wanted me to cover it in prayer.
When God gives an assignment such as this, your job is to first of all, pray. Let Him use you by His Spirit to cover what He’s shown you. In this case, I didn’t feel led to go talk to them that day; so when I completed my walk, I left my prayer for them in the Lord’s capable hands.
Not more than five days later as I was returning home from an errand, I saw a news crew parked on my quiet street. I took my time turning into my driveway, rubber necking at the interview occurring between a Fox 2 News reporter and my neighbor in the front yard of his house—the house of trouble for which I had prayed just four or five days earlier.
That evening on TV there he was—my neighbor with his long gray hair, leather vest, and biker tats—standing in the yard three doors down from me. And he talked of trouble—averted.
His son lives with his grandson in rural Missouri. The then five year-old boy’s mother had been barred from seeing him due to her history with substance abuse. The two “men” were batching it together in their lakeside home when one morning, while the father was preoccupied in another part of the house, the boy’s mother walked in and grabbed the little boy.
Waiting outside in the car was her druggie boyfriend, and as soon as the little boy was deposited into the vehicle, they tore out of there.
When my neighbor’s son realized his five year-old was missing, he frantically called neighbors and friends in the area. No one had seen his child.
After that, he reported the missing boy to the local sheriff and conveyed his suspicions about the child’s mother. An Amber alert was issued along with a description of the vehicle that might have been used in the abduction.
And what do you know? About three days after I was directed to pray about the trouble that had come to my neighbor’s house, an officer saw a vehicle weaving erratically down a two-lane rural highway in Oklahoma. He flashed his lights, and to his surprise, the car screeched to a stop and two people leaped out, disappearing into the woods. He was about to pursue them when he noticed a little passenger in the back seat—my neighbor’s five year-old grandson!
He recognized the boy from the Amber alert, and the process to return him—unharmed—to his father, my neighbor’s son, proceeded quickly and with great joy.
A little less than a year ago I ran into my biker neighbor while he was doing landscaping in the front yard where he’d been interviewed by Fox 2 a year or so before. It was time to tell him about the Holy Ghost head’s up that led me to pray about the trouble that had come to his family. I could tell he wasn’t sure what to make of it all, but his gruff exterior softened as he told me of the fear he, his wife, and their son had lived through before his grandson was rescued. I let him know that God obviously loved all of them quite a bit to have a stranger—me—pray for them in the middle of their trouble. And God answered those prayers—his little grandson was safely reunited with them.
May all of us grow in sensitivity, willingness, and availability to be alert for the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He leads us to pray for those who may not know how to pray for themselves.
It’s a huge part of our calling.
Dorothy
Read MoreFeel, see, hear…and respond
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14
I thank God that He has a variety of ways by which He can get our attention. For the person who prioritizes Bible time, the ability to pick up on cues from the Holy Spirit will become somewhat easier over time. That’s because God’s Word is a Discerner (see Hebrews 4:12), and He uses it to enlighten us (see John 1:9). The Holy Spirit does not move outside of the parameters of the Word of God, and at the same time, Word of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit—the two flow together. It makes sense, therefore, that one of the names for the Bible is the Sword of the Spirit.
In 1997 I “felt” the sensation of sharp impact to my left temple as I drove home from church, prompting me to pray. On the other side of town, my friends John and Janet were about to have a head-on collision in which Janet would strike the windshield with her left temple. She and John survived, and Janet suffered nothing in her body but a broken wrist and a bald spot on her left temple the size of a quarter. No scratches, bruises, or welts could be found on that side of her head—she definitely got the better end of the deal between herself and the windshield she shattered! The Holy Spirit had given me a sensation of impact to the left temple; I prayed until the feeling lifted; and Janet and John are alive and well to this day (see “Is it just me or the Holy Ghost?”).
I have learned over the years that when I get some type of unexplainable “sensation” to take some time to pray about it. I’m well aware that some of the time I may have prayed about things that simply popped up in my imagination, but I know that in John and Janet’s case, my prayer hit the very real target.
Years before the situation with John and Janet, I had a similar “feeling”—along with a quick “picture”—that flashed in my mind. I was taking my customary daily walk in my peaceful neighborhood. I passed by a beautiful home on the right hand side of the street and saw a young teen standing on the porch drinking a Mountain Dew. Instantly, I saw an image in my mind of the soda can flying out of the boy’s hand and I “felt” its impact on the back of my head. I said under my breath, “I bind that, in the name of Jesus!”
No sooner had I bound the scenario I had just “seen” and “felt” when in the street behind me I heard a crash. I turned to look—and the boy had indeed hurled the nearly full can of soda my way, missing me by a foot or so.
All too often, we think that the random oddball thoughts, pictures, or feelings that arise are “just me”, but my goal is to encourage you to take the time to pray about those things before your mind jumps on to a new thought and you miss an opportunity to be led by God’s Spirit.
I moved to a new town as a young Christian, and I was just learning how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. I was looking for an apartment move into. As I drove to one I had seen advertised, I felt a nudge to take an earlier exit off the highway. I obeyed and traveled on that road for a couple of miles, and seeing nothing, decided to turn around.
I pulled off and was about to go back to my original destination when I heard a quiet voice within me say, “Pursue those houses.” I did, and soon saw a large sign advertising an apartment complex. Following other signs along the way, I found the complex, fell in love with it, and signed the lease for quite a bit less per month than I would have paid at the place I was originally considering. As it turned out, the complex to which I was led was also much closer to the place of employment where I would eventually be hired.
I also needed a bed frame. I had a twin mattress and box springs, but no frame, so one Saturday morning as I drove around the community where I was temporarily staying, I saw a garage sale. I heard that same quiet voice direct me to enquire about the bed frame. I parked, walked up the driveway, scanned all the objects on display, but saw no bed frame. I believed, however, that the Holy Spirit had told me I would find a bed frame there, so I approached the lady of the house.
“I’m looking for a twin-sized bed frame,” I stated.
Her eyes widened as she wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. “Well, I’ll be! We debated about lugging that thing up from the basement and thought better of it—we didn’t think anyone would want it! Sure you can have it!”
She called her husband over and he and their son went in to retrieve a dusty, spider-webby twin bed frame—in perfect condition! I paid five dollars for it, took it home, and cleaned it up to look like new.
I’ve bought all kinds of things over the years—cars, furniture, clothes and accessories, appliances, technology, a house—but that old bed frame remains unique to me among my earthly treasures, both past and present. When the Holy Spirit gets in on the action, He can make a dusty old, spider-webby, five-dollar purchase glitter like fine gold in your memory.
Abide in the Word, and the Discerner will be a reliable Guide for you.
Dorothy
“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.” Proverbs 8:10-11
Is it just me or the Holy Ghost?
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. Colossians 3:15, Amplified Bible
Typically, the main way the Holy Spirit leads His people is via the inward witness—that sense of peace or lack thereof concerning a decision they are making. Some people describe it as a “green light/red light” that they pay attention to inside of themselves. Others call it a “hunch”; some call it a “red flag” or a “check” when the guidance leads them away from an event or decision. You probably have followed these subtle signals, yourself, likely giving it little thought. For folks who spend time in the Word of God, this form of direction is generally very reliable.
Prioritize the Word of God in your life, and the Discerner will direct you by His Spirit.
However, people who insist on receiving more dramatic guidance from God place themselves in a vulnerable and potentially deceivable position, in my opinion. That’s because the Bible is “a more sure word of prophecy” (see 2 Peter 1:19, KJV), “to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (ibid, NASB). Prioritize the Word of God in your life, and the Discerner will direct you by His Spirit.
That said, at times the Holy Spirit may use more “tangible” methods to direct you. He may show you something; He may speak words to your heart; He may even direct you by giving you a “feeling” of something. If you receive His direction via any of these methods, it doesn’t mean you’re a more “spiritual” or “sanctified” person; it simply means that the Holy Spirit has information He wants you to pray about or act upon. The more willing you are to follow through with His leading—whether subtle promptings or more spectacular guidance—the more sensitive you become to His guidance.
I haven’t heard about a lot of people who have been directed by “feelings” or “sensations”, possibly because it can get confused with normal human imagination or emotions and written off as “just me”. Let me share an experience that happened to me to illustrate what I mean.
In 1997 as I was driving home one night after a meeting at church, I experienced an unnerving sense of impact to my left temple as if I was about to be struck by gunfire. I found the nearest semi-truck and drove right next to it for cover from flying bullets! Thankfully, as I precariously hugged that truck, I realized that it was the Lord giving me an intercessory assignment for someone. I entered into prayer as I pulled back from the semi, entreating God for safety for myself, my relatives, my friends, my colleagues, and anyone else in danger of impact. The sense lingered, so I continued praying both in the Holy Spirit and with my understanding until it lifted.
When I arrived home I called my friends from a neighboring church, John and Janet, who had joined us for the service earlier that evening. No one answered, so I left a message.
The next day John called and told me that he and Janet were involved in a head-on collision on their way home from the meeting. He was fine and Janet would be released from the hospital that day. John explained that upon impact, Janet, who was not wearing a seatbelt, flew over him and shattered the windshield with the left side of her head! She fractured her wrist upon impact in an attempt to protect herself, but her head was unharmed. In fact, for the next few days as she combed her hair, she pulled out clumps of it, along with fragments of windshield, leaving an unscratched, quarter-sized bald spot on her left temple! Eighteen years later, she and John are alive and well and ministering in the Arctic Circle.
The interesting thing about this leading of the Holy Spirit was that I almost blew it off as “just me”! But I took the risk of praying about nothing on the chance that it really was something vitally important—life and death important.
Have I ever prayed about nothing when I’ve experienced odd feelings? Probably. But ask Janet and John if it was worth it for me to risk praying about “nothing” that night!
I want to encourage you—if you have those odd, random feelings, just pray. Maybe it will be nothing; but maybe your prayer will be the fuel God uses to bring help and deliverance to someone else.
Dorothy
Read MoreAttitudes that accompany revival
My friend stopped by for a chat last night. We were talking about what’s going on in current events and the huge need in our nation for massive revival.
She then whipped out a section of Scripture (James 3:13-16) from the Message Bible that blew me away. We had been discussing the fact that prayer alone won’t bring an awakening, but that it must be accompanied by humbling ourselves and true repentance. What she shared was an illustration of how that might look. Here are the verses—buckle your seatbelts!
“Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.”
Verses 17-18 go on to say, “Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results ONLY IF YOU DO THE HARD WORK OF GETTING ALONG WITH EACH OTHER, TREATING EACH OTHER WITH DIGNITY AND HONOR.”
Mercy, humility, integrity, and compassion must be built into our lifestyle and accompany our praying and bold stance in the Word in this strange age. As we relinquish arrogant pride and the need to be the smartest, the wisest, or the most important, God can back our words, our prayers, and our lives, flooding the earth with what may be the last great outpouring from Heaven.
Dorothy
Read MoreRevival
In our time, more and more believers are recognizing the urgent need for God to move in our nation to right wrongs, bring forth justice, and raise up leaders of deep, heart-felt convictions. Built into the very foundation of our republic has been the establishment of government for the express purpose of protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to follow their own consciences freely and to lead their lives as they see fit—including, if they so desire, the unapologetic and unhindered pursuit of God’s will for their lives. Therefore, as we pray for kings and all who are in authority, we need to recognize that multitudes of lives are connected to their decisions, keeping in mind that it is God’s will for all of them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4).
But in a culture like ours, caught up in gross sin of all kinds, more than political change will be needed. Unfortunately, at this point in our history, reformation and “dialing things back” simply won’t cut it. What we need is sweeping revival. We need a nation-wide awakening to God to hit—hard. We need a genuine move of God—the real thing, not just stirring music, thrilling messages, awesome programs, or prominent name-recognition.
I read a book years ago with a message that was both ancient yet strikingly current. The book was Revival, by Winkie Pratney, published in 1983. The back cover asked:
- Are you disturbed by the apathy and despondency of people today?
- Do you wonder what the future holds for this immoral world?
It went on to say, “In an age where values are questioned, families are falling apart, and where quality is being replaced by quantity, there is an ever-growing need for a revival of the morals and beliefs of a more stable time.”
I agreed with it then; I agree even more now. These thoughts are more pertinent today than they were in 1983; without God’s intervention, our culture will continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Without divine interference, neither the best programs nor projects good men have to offer will be adequate to stave off the eventual collapse of our culture or return us to kinder, gentler days, saner days. We must have revival.
Pratney wrote about revivals, reformers, and revivalists spanning history from before the Great Reformation in the 1400’s up to the time of his writing. He wrote that “true revival is marked by powerful and often widespread outpourings of the Spirit.” He also pointed out that in past revivals “many times preaching had to cease because the hearers were prostrate or because the voice of the preacher was drowned by cries for mercy” (page 16).
Quoting In the Day of Thy Power by Arthur Wallis, Pratney shares concerning revival, “It is God revealing Himself to man in awesome holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed and human programs abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field” (page 17).
“Revival is periodic; evangelism is continuous,” Pratney quotes from an April 9, 1965 article in Christianity Today. “Revival will always vitalize God’s people…but revival is not always welcome. For many the price is too high. There is no cheap grace in revival. It entails repudiation of self-satisfied complacency. Revival turns careless living into vital concern…exchanges self-indulgence for self-denial. Yet, revival is not a miraculous visitation falling on an unprepared people like a bolt out of the blue. It comes when God’s people earnestly want revival and are willing to pay the price” (page 19).
It is interesting to note that the article in Christianity Today was written two years before a double-barreled blast of God’s intervention hit this nation. Both the Charismatic Renewal, starting among Catholic seekers and spreading into Protestant denominations, and the Jesus Movement, capturing disenchanted and disenfranchised young people for Christ by the tens of thousands and more, are said to have started in 1967, two years after the Christianity Today article was printed. Hunger for more than what they were currently experiencing in their churches and relationships with God was driving believers to seek God’s intervention in the mid 1960’s.
Pratney also warned, “Evil as well as righteousness can have a ‘revival’; there can be an unholy uprising as well as a holy outpouring” (page 21). Proverbs 28:28a declares, “When the wicked rise, men hide themselves” and Proverbs 29:2b says, “when the wicked rule, the people groan.” One strategy of the devil is to use intense widespread ridicule, derision, and scorn of godly values and faith in Christ to discourage believers from confidently persisting in prayer for a sweeping, mighty outpouring of His power and holiness. Satan accomplishes this through stirring wicked men, rulers, and ungodly popular thought to coerce believers to retreat in fear from voicing their convictions or confident profession of faith. Perhaps, they think, if we don’t ruffle any feathers and we just play nice, those who hate our values will simply forget we are here and leave us alone. However, such fear works to the enemy’s advantage; when good men are silent, evil increases and gains leverage. Like it or not, this describes our time.
That is why we need God’s intervention. As a friend of mine used to say, “The devil’s not playing whiffle ball.” We find ourselves facing the big leagues, now—ready or not. But we have a God who is ready to intervene in a big way for the asking. It’s time now to let go of distractions and any fear we may have for our own safety and reputations. It’s time seek the Lord on behalf of our nation. It’s time for a move of God.
May God help us to take our stand before Him without shrinking back.
Dorothy
[The quotes from Revival are used by permission. Winkie Pratney’s ministry can be accessed at www.winkiepratney.com]
Read MoreWhy are the nations in an uproar?
Many believers take time off during the summer months to travel to other lands for the purpose of sharing their faith in a variety of ways: through word, song, drama, medicine, hammer and nail, or fresh water and food. For the next three days, I would like to share some of my own tales of God’s grace, leading, and deliverance during three different summer mission trips—one to the former Soviet Union and two to the tiny island of Grenada.
In the summer of 1991, I found myself “between” churches, but not without fellowship. While I was waiting on God for direction, I landed for a season in a church that was planning a two-week mission trip to the Soviet Union.
I was delighted. That nation had been on my heart for over a decade, and now I had the chance to go. Along with the associate pastor and five other believers, I headed for three cities in the Soviet Union—Moscow, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and Riga, Latvia.
The walls had come down between the east and west in Europe, and the Soviet Union was in the process of succumbing to the greater freedom of Glasnost. The newer buildings in Moscow, stark and institutional-looking, however, betrayed the constraint on individual liberty that had prevailed not too long ago. The people, as well, had the appearance of sadness, isolation, and exhaustion as they looked at the floors or the sidewalk while they traveled on public transit or walked down the streets. Communism had taken its toll on them, even though its grip was in the process of weakening.
The seven of us from America were on an adventure to share Jesus in Russia, and we found that the door was wide open. A church with whom we spent a large part of our time met in an apartment in Leningrad. The only Christian literature they possessed was a single, very treasured Bible. We were privileged to provide them with enough Russian Bibles so that no one would be without—including those yet to be saved. Most shocking to us, though, was that their only access to contemporary worship music—which they treasured as a gift from God—was the album Jesus Christ Superstar. But they were hungry for truth and were glad to receive the Word and learn new worship songs which our interpreter translated into Russian. One of our primary goals was to help this sweet fellowship to increase as we daily ministered on the streets of Leningrad. Many were added to their number, and they were all baptized on Sunday afternoon in a large metal tub in the basement of a local hotel.
We sang everywhere we went (and on the train from Leningrad to Latvia, we sang Motown), and the sad faces all around peeked up at us shyly, breaking into smiles rarely revealed in public. Opportunities for evangelism abounded, and lives were changed because of that trip.
But to me the most memorable event of the trip happened soon after we arrived the first day in the USSR. Our transportation took us straight to Red Square before we checked into the hotel. As we stood there in the middle of the square, gazing at the thousands and thousands of people milling beneath the domed-spirals of St. Basil’s Cathedral on one side and the stern ramparts of the Kremlin on the other, I sensed the Spirit of God whisper a Scripture to my heart. He persisted, and it grew stronger and louder within me. I told Pastor Mike that I needed to get my Bible off of the bus. He agreed, and one of my traveling companions and I rushed to retrieve the sacred Book.
When we returned, I opened to Psalm 2 and read the passage aloud as a proclamation to both Red Square and the entire Soviet Union, just as the Holy Spirit had prompted:
Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”
He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2.)
After I was finished, Pastor Mike led us in prayer for the people of the Soviet Union. The holiness of God was tangible; we knew our small band would experience the supernatural hand of God on this trip.
We arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday evening, August 17. On Monday morning, the 19th, still jet-lagged and sleeping in, I was awakened by an urgent phone call. One of my friends from the church was on the other end and demanded, “Get up! Turn on your TV! Something’s going on in Red Square!”
Still in a daze, I stumbled into the living room and saw the very square where I had proclaimed Psalm 2 just two weeks before and where I had stood and prayed just two days before, now filled with Soviet tanks in an attempted coup d’état. Hard-line members of the Communist party, opposed to Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms (which involved divvying up much of the central government’s power to the republics), were attempting to regain control.
Why, indeed, as Psalm 2 asked, was the nation in an uproar? Why were the peoples devising a vain thing? Those hard-line rulers were taking counsel together against the plan of God—freedom in the USSR for the spread of the gospel.
Wikipedia states of this coup d’état, “Although the coup collapsed in only two days and Gorbachev returned to government, the event destabilized the Soviet Union and is widely considered to have contributed to both the demise of the CPSU [Communist Party Soviet Union] and the dissolution of the Soviet Union” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Soviet_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt).
As I viewed the chaos on TV, I remembered the urgency of the Holy Spirit within me two weeks earlier to proclaim Psalm 2 as I stood in Red Square. And I bowed my head in reverence to God.
Tomorrow: Grenada, 1987.
Read More