11.5.96 - celebration evening at Llangollen. I shared that evening that I felt God saying 'I am marching ahead of my army. I am reclaiming the land'.
30.5.96 - Rhosymedre evening meeting. Planned as a Bible Study, but God hasn't given Christopher anything to study. So, ends up as worship and prayer time. In the prayer time I get this picture of a high sided valley across which is a dam. A huge lake of water is held back by this and I can sense the force/pressure of this pent up water. Suddenly the dam cracks and the water rushes out. Really feel that God has something which He wishes to release.
Rachel Valentine share with me that she had a picture of a hollow filled with sand. Slowly the sand began to trickle out, emptying the hollow, when suddenly the whole lot rushed out and the hollow was empty. Rachel also felt that God wanted to release something.
In both these pictures a sense of restraint, then release.
5.6.96 - I record in my journal that I am really being niggled by the question of why we don't hear more from God - shared this with Rachel V last night.
6.6.96 All day I can't get this question out of my mind. Before I went to Toronto God had been focusing my mind on prophetic intercession, and again God drew me back to the prophetic, reminding me of a verse in Amos 3 v7 which he had drawn my attention to a while before "Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets" NRSV. Find myself beginning to ponder this, and as day progresses sense God saying 'pray to release the prophetic' until this becomes an all consuming burden. By time for Rhosymedre, I am walking up and down the house asking the Lord to release the prophetic amongst us.
Rhosymedre evening meeting- Simon on Prayer. Christopher shares that early this morning praying he had an amazing sense that God was releasing something. In to his mind came the hymn 'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord' particularly the 2nd verse 'He has sounded forth the trumpet which will never sound retreat'. We sing the hymn. Before Simon speaks, Diane McGowan shares that since coming to Llangollen she has felt the Lord say to her 'wait' - but ten days ago she had a dream in which the Lord said 'now go!' She felt she had now been released. After the meeting I share what I feel God is saying about the prophetic with Diane and Simon.
7.6.96 Christopher phones to check out the picture he received on 7 4 93; I consult my journal and fax him back. He senses that the numbers '9' and '6' in that picture refer to 6 6 96 - the date when he felt God 'release' something, of God beginning to move.
I am still consumed by the imperative to pray to release the prophetic, and start looking at books I've got on the subject etc. Can't get Amos 3v7 out of my mind and spend ages pondering this. Phone Mike and share the gist of what I am feeling with him.
11.30pm phone rings - Christopher. Also on the 'phone to Mike (3 way conversation) - all I can hear from Mike is groaning - Christopher says HS came on Mike and he's well and truly gone! Thence follows an amazing 20mins, with Christopher asking Mike what is going on, and me writing down what Mike is saying on the back of an envelope!
11.40pm Mike "great waterfall, biggest I've ever seen. A big pool people having fun, great gushes of water. Water is SO fresh. Oh! Lord! God is saying 'Come to the waters and drink'"...aah... Crash Mike on the floor on route for the dog basket. (Christopher getting parallel 'spasms' of the Spirit with Mike, groan for groan). Christopher" I've just thought what a privilege it is to be in at the beginning of something, like Azusa Street. etc"
Mike "It's paradise - you need to be there - it's a wonderful place". Christopher "What's going on Mike? Mike " I've just got to sit down; God wants GOOD things for us - come to the waters and drink". later - Mike "I've got a picture of a ship with a plank out over the sea - need to take a step of faith like when Peter walked on the water - that's what it is! yes Lord, thank you Lord..." hysterical laughter
Christopher decides it's time to go to Hill Farm (midnight). I drive to Ruabon Manse and follow Christopher to Pen-y-Cae. We arrive about 12.40 am- Mike is at the kitchen table with bible and DTS notes trying to make sense of what's happened. He's somewhat dazed but rather happy. Christopher makes a cup of tea and we talk, Mike sharing about the water fall and just being overcome by God. His sense of time has completely gone and he can't understand how a telephone call beginning at 10.30pm lasted so long.
Mike prays for Christopher who manifests some behaviour which he shared after wards that he'd never experienced before. He felt as though he was giving birth, with God telling him to hold onto his ankles. He was bent over in the chair, with his shoulders touching his knees, 'blowing out' the Spirit for each of his churches in turn. He crawled off his chair, collapsed by the door to the hall, rolled around a few times, then just lay there.
Mike and I talked for a bit, then we remembered the hymn 'Mine eyes have seen the glory' - found it in the hymn book and Mike sang the second verse 'He has sounded forth the trumpet which shall never call retreat' which caused a real reaction in Christopher on the floor. So, Mike sang it again!
When Christopher had come to, shared his experiences, had another cup of tea they decided to pray for me. I was down on the floor very swiftly and when Christopher prayed for me that if it was what God wanted He would use me in prophetic intercession I felt as though I was being pushed through the floor and I started to shake. this happened every time Christopher mentioned the word prophetic, and I really felt God was putting something into me (Christopher confirmed afterwards that this was his impression as he prayed). Christopher finished praying and they left me on the floor. God gave me a series of pictures. The first was of me on a child's slide into water, where I was playing happily with duck etc (this is pretty unusual as I am not a water person and can't swim!). Then I saw the ground floor of the Town Hall in Llangollen, which was a huge swimming pool, filled with those who normally go to celebration evenings, all happily sploshing around in the water having a whale of a time! Suddenly the doors on to the street opened, and a whole crowd of people came in - some in bandages, some limping, and I thought of the scripture about the halt, the lame, the sick, the outcasts - and then I saw us helping these people into the pool. The next picture was of a desert, which must have been after rain, because it was covered in flowers. 'The desert shall blossom as the rose'. The final thing I 'saw' were the words 'My fullness is for all'.
I shared these with the other two. Mike said God had brought to mind the scripture of clearing away the stones/obstacles and making the path smooth.
It was 4.22 am by the time Christopher and I left!
8.6.96 Am feeling amazingly well considering the night before! (It's got to be God!!). In my devotions this morning was a verse from Isaiah 59 - the section which Simon read on Thursday evening. Reading the passage in the NIV I came across verse 19 'From the west men will fear the name of the Lord and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.' The images which struck me were the 'pent up flood'(from my picture on 30 6 96) and the 'breath' (Christopher breathing out for his churches).
I read the Amos verse again, but also read the two verses either side which seemed relevant to:
Amos 3:6 Is a trumpet blown in a city and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city unless the Lord has done it?
7 Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his
servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken: who can but prophesy?'
I was amazed by the references to the trumpet, the prophetic revelation,the roaring (like Mike last night) and the prophesying! It's all there!
7.30 pm - evening celebration in Llangollen Town Hall. Christopher, Mike and I share a little of the events of the night before. Afterwards, Caron Scott tells me that Simon got home on Thursday and shared with her what I has said about the prophetic; Caron had had the same verse from Amos all day Thursday! Conversation drifts into my praying for Caron. As I pray asking God to release prophetic intercession into Caron, she manifests the same reaction as I did when Christopher prayed over me 3am this morning! (I have since talked to Caron in more depth, and apparently during the course of this prayer time, I prayed over her everything which had been prayed in the past, confirming the entire lot!).
Paul Harrison shared with me after the meeting that he could really empathise with the picture of the dam I had described; he felt that there was something in him related to prayer which God wanted to release in him.
Rachel Valentine shared in the car going home that she had a picture of a waterfall and pool in the worship time well before Mike said anything!!
9.6.96 I remember that during the phone conversation on Friday night, there had been a thunder storm. Christopher had asked me at one point if there was any verse in scripture about the Lord riding on the storm? Praying this afternoon God led me to Zechariah 9 v 14 (GNB): ' The Lord will appear above his people; he will shoot his arrows like lightning. the Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;he will march in the storms from the south'!! WOW!
12.6.96 - thinking about Peter and John healing the lame man at the Temple in Acts 3, and wrestling with why prophecy is rated as being the most desirable gift in 1 Corinthians 14 v 1 . Am drying my hair (very spiritual task) when feel God saying that prophecy is the key to unlocking signs and wonders; in hearing God's voice, we learn the Father's heart and what he wants us to do/who he wants us to pray for; we have the prompt to pray for healing. This is why Paul says we are to desire prophecy particularly, as when the Church is built up, edified by hearing God's word, we'll have the faith and the instructions to go out and perform miracles. So at Pentecost, the Spirit fell, Peter proclaimed mentioning first the passage form Joel about visions/dreams (the release of the prophetic) which had been fulfilled that day - ie. God had released the prophetic at Pentecost. Then 3000 are saved followed by the miracle of healing.
13.6.96 - my set devotional Bible reading today is titled 'a prophet without honour' referring to Jesus quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. '
14.6.96 - morning Bible passage on Jesus healing the sick. Am struck by the similarity with Acts ie. Jesus is baptised and receives the Spirit; He refers to /fulfils the prophetic ; he exercised the gifts eg. heals the sick. Really feel there is something profound in this pattern, that prophetic is the key to the release of power and gifts.
Find myself sitting in bed tonight praying to release the prophetic again. This time I am actually making the actions of turning on a tap (!!). A tangible feeling/impression that as I did so, something was actually 'changing' in the heavenlies, as if the very atmosphere in the room was changing, that God was doing/releasing something as I prayed. PTL!!