“Prophecy is an intercept from the mind of an all-knowing and all-seeing and all-powerful God.”
Joel C. Rosenberg
Fear, shame and unbelief have been like iron chains clamped around my wrists and ankles, causing me to shuffle along in life. God has often used prophecy to unlock my chains. Life-giving words straight from the heart of God have jump-started my heart to embrace emotional freedom.
The summer of 2001 found me going to Syria, back to my familial roots of origin, on a World Vision prayer initiative. It was a privilege to visit the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, where my maternal grandparents were born. One “yes” to God can open unexpected doors leading to freedom and furthering your destiny with Christ. Every now and then God will use those who don’t know Him personally to speak a prophetic word to His children. And that’s exactly what God did.
Toward the end of the mission trip we toured an ancient citadel. In the middle of one of the rooms the Muslim tour guide stopped, looked right at me and said, “You are a queen.” Dumfounded, I asked him, “Is that what Norma means in Arabic?”
He replied, “No. That’s who you are, a queen.”
I didn’t see that one coming! But God did. As we began to walk into another room, God whispered in my heart, “That’s who I see you as.”
For years I had struggled with the removal of a heavy cloak of shame that covered my heart and one prophetic word from an unbeliever began to set me free. Instead of feeling ashamed and timid, confidence grew in my heart as I started to see myself as God saw me. A knowing in my heart from a glimpse of God’s heart got my freedom going. Faith is released when God’s word is spoken over you.
Gideon, in Judges chapter seven, had a similar experience. His fear immobilized him to obey God’s assignment to go against thousands of Midianites with only three hundred of his Israelite men. That is until he heard an encouraging word. God directed him to take his servant Purah with him down to the outposts of the enemy’s camp. Read Judges 7:13-15a.
“Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. ‘I had a dream,’ he was saying. ‘A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.'”
“His friend responded, ‘This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.'”
“When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God.”
A knowing got Gideon going. He not only begins by worshiping God but concludes by leading his men into battle taking out all the Midianites in the camp. Fear left when a prophetic word entered. Knowing God’s heart for him and his men caused Gideon to take action. He stopped procrastinating and immediately obeyed God. Matthew Henry says, “Nothing but a word from God will be a footing for faith.” Gideon trusted in God’s word coming from the mouth of his enemy, so much so his faith produced obedience.
A quickening word from God gets you going and makes you come alive in a spiritual sense. A word, straight from God’s mouth, resonates deep within your heart causing it “to have an effect or impact beyond that which is immediately apparent.” It doesn’t matter the source of the prophetic word. God uses both believers and unbelievers to speak a knowing to get you going.
“The prophetic gift represents the Father’s will and lays out the pattern.”
Sherry K. White
Relevant Reflections:
1. In what area is your fear immobilizing and preventing you from obeying God?
2. What do you need God to overturn in your life? Ask Him for a prophetic word to birth life and to fuel your faith.
3. Describe a time when a prophetic word released a knowing that got you going.