Day 13 -- Launch Flow By Seeing Jesus

Often the best way to get into the flow of words from God is to center our hearts on Jesus. This has proven to be a key in the prophetic ministry God has given me.

Many years ago, just at New Year's Day, God challenged me to step into new things in Him and to do it boldly. Soon after that, the phone rang and I was invited to minister prophetically to the graduates at a Bible school. It would happen a few months away and I remembered what God had told me to do, so I said, "I'm honored that you invited me! I'll be there!"

As soon as I hung up the phone, the green hand of fear reached into my stomach, squeezed, and twisted. What have you done? You don't have a prophetic ministry! What if you really mess up someone's life?

It was terrifying, and I had no answers to the questions. But God did. "All you have to do," He told me, "is pray something true about Jesus over each person. Keep it scriptural, and you can't hurt anybody. Meanwhile, I'll make it as prophetic as I want it to be."

As soon as God spoke, I thought of scripture that explains what He had said. Revelation 19:10 says, "The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus." This is why God had told me to pray the truth about Jesus over people. He knew it would launch a flow of the spirit of prophecy.

It doesn't turn prophetic every time I pray over people. God controls the flow; I don't. But I control whether I'll take the first steps and make myself available to Him so He can flow through me.

Nobody is more surprised than I am when a simple Christ-centered prayer touches needs I knew nothing about, or speaks to issues I wouldn't have known how to address. But I've learned that if I start speaking or singing the testimony of Jesus - in prayer, in worship, in preaching, in personal ministry - a flow of words from heaven often follows.

This worked so consistently in my own life that I began to teach it to the church I pastored. I encouraged them to pray the truth about Jesus as they ministered to one another. "It will probably feel like a generality to you," I told them, "but when God makes it prophetic it will be very specific to the person you minister to."

Get in the habit of filling your mouth with the testimony of Jesus whenever you pray or worship. Sometimes you'll hear God speaking to you through your own voice as He gives you new insights in His word or wisdom for your own perplexing circumstances. But expect a flow to begin as you focus your words on Jesus.