Last week I posted my 100th blog article since starting the Enliven Blog in July 2009!
As I reflect back on the journey, one blog post stands out above all others in terms of the impact it had on me personally at the time of release.
That post was, ‘How Your Prophetic Song Can Release The Power Of God.’
In it I wrote,
‘It has been said that ‘desperate times call for desperate measures.’ In God’s Kingdom, however, desperate times call for extraordinary measures.’
The Crisis
What I did not share was that The Hunk and I were facing our own desperate times—a financial crisis.
I had been without paid work for nearly a year, after transferring from a paid role to a volunteer one at our church. Repeated attempts to find a part time job had been unsuccessful. In the meantime, my husband had been valiantly working to support our household on his sole income.
Every week we continued to go backwards, until we could go no further—we did not have enough money for our next house payment. Unless a miracle occurred, we faced losing our home and a great deal more.
In spite of this crisis, our faith remained surprisingly buoyant. We recalled previous times that we had come to the end of our own resources and watched as our Heavenly Father had brought miraculous intervention.
A Prophetic Song of Praise
At this time, I was asked to run a workshop for our worship team on ‘Prophetic Song.’ During the training session, I shared Biblical examples of how prophetic song can be pivotal to breakthrough.
Something happened in my heart as I joined with our team in prophetic worship that Thursday night. I knew that God was calling me to spend specific time praising Him for breakthrough.
My husband was away over the next few days training for a new job. Being a commission-only role, with no set salary, we had no idea how his new job would work out for us financially.
The Hunk’s absence that weekend gave me the time I needed to focus on God. I put together a collection of praise songs on CD. I sat at our keyboard. I spent hours praising my Father, singing songs that expressed faith and gratitude for His love, provision, help and power.
I also wrote what I was learning about the power of prophetic song in the blog post, ‘How Your Prophetic Song Can Release The Power Of God.’ The following Tuesday evening I published it online.
Breakthrough Begins
Wednesday morning following the release of the blog post, I had a vivid dream before waking.
I received a phone call from a minister overseas. He expressed thanks to me for publishing the post about prophetic song and shared that it was of great significance.
As our conversation closed, I asked him, ‘Where are you from?’ He replied clearly, ‘Einstein.’
I woke up aware that I had just received a dream from God. The word ‘Einstein’ seemed to have particular importance, but what did it mean? I wondered if I should look it up on the Internet to find out.
I went to our computer and noticed that a close friend who was one of my prayer leaders had just sent an email.
In the email, she mentioned some signs that spiritual warfare was taking place in her world and closed by saying,
‘You don’t have to be Einstein (to figure out what is going on).’
When I read the word ‘Einstein’ I was electrified. That morning, inspired by an urgency of the Spirit, I hurried to our church to be early for the weekly staff meeting.
As I rushed into our church carpark, our pastor was outside having a conversation when he saw me and called me aside. He shared that an opening for a part time paid administrative role had come up and invited me to take the job.
I now had paid work.
In the meantime, the Hunk was starting his new job and that very day won the first of two prizes of petrol vouchers—a welcome supply to help meet our immediate needs.
Several days later we received a large gift to help towards some family expenses.
And a day after that someone pressed an envelope into my hands at church, saying God had instructed her to give it to us. It was filled with cash.
It was also proving obvious that income from my husband’s new line of work would far exceed what he had earned in his previous role.
Within a week our situation had turned completely around and we were in awe at the love and power of God.
The Power of A Prophetic Song of Praise
A song of praise is a powerful prophetic tool that
- Celebrates victory in the face of apparent defeat.
- Declares God’s ability in the circumstance of your inability
- Thanks God for answers that have not yet been sighted
It is prophetic because it gives voice to the word that God has spoken to you, concerning His outcome for your circumstances and life.
Intimacy and Obedience
I hesitate to share a testimony like I the one I have above, because there is always a danger that people will imitate a method in order to gain a result.
You see it is not about a method. It is not even about a principle (although the principle of prophetic praise is powerful).
It is about relationship with God and obedience to His word.
In 2 Chron 20, King Jehoshaphat responded in faith to a prophetic word that God would route the powerful armies that were coming against the nation of Judah.
Jehoshaphat sent out musicians and singers at the head of his army to praise God. As they began to sing and praise, the enemy armies turned on each other. The prophecy—that God would defeat the enemy without Judah having to fight—was fulfilled.
However, this was the only time in the Bible a battle was won in this precise way.
The key to breakthrough is not about a method, it is intimacy with God. And out of that intimacy, let the faith rise, let the praises start to flow.
If my story inspires you, I encourage you to spend time with God. Ask your Heavenly Father how you should respond in your particular situation.
And then, do whatever He tells you. (John 2:5)
Notes:
For teaching on the topic of prophetic song, I encourage you to view the following blog post:
How Your Prophetic Song Can Release The Power Of God
To leave a note or share your own story, leave a comment at the bottom of this post. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.
© Helen Calder 2011 Enliven Blog http://propheticpeople.com/
Now on team with David McCracken Ministries
