Until about a month ago, I was going through a depression funk. I was talking to my good friend David Rizzo about it. We had been learning in our meetings about doing justice the Isaiah 58 way. It's a way to start manifesting the kingdom.
Isaiah 58
6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
David suggested that I start writing prophetic words to people as my way of doing justice. He prophesied that if I started doing that, it would help me get out of this depression. God had told me in the past that I need to do this more often. He's given me a gift and I need to use it. It blesses other people. "Help somebody else who is struggling find the missing piece of THEIR puzzle", David said.
So, I started out asking God who He wanted to speak to and He would bring a person to mind and I would write that person a prophetic message. Then, I would ask God who He wanted to speak to next and then give that person a word. I went on to give a word to each person in our fellowship.
In just a few days of doing this, I started experiencing joy.
About a week later, David said that he had asked God why more people don't come to our meetings. God's response was ''You don't advertise.'' People simply don't know who we are and what we're about. That's why they are not coming. He told David to start making videos to engage people. David suggested that I start making some too. I said that I don't like being on video.
So, David told me to ask God for another way that I could advertise. So, I asked and God told me to post on Facebook that I was giving prophetic words out to whoever wanted one. I had no idea how that was a form of advertisement. "God says some strange things, sometimes", I thought. The number of people attending wasn't really an issue to me, anyway.
And I said to David, "If I do that, I'll get bombarded with requests!" I didn't bother posting, thinking I'd have 20 people or more at once. The next morning, I saw on David's Facebook, ''If you want a prophetic word, PM Mary Bratz" I started laughing, shaking my head, thinking, "I'm gonna kill him." I got 3 requests and gave three words. I got joy from that.
Soon afterward, David shared this revelation that it’s ok to bless people in order for you to be blessed. God actually designed it that way. Well, once I caught that revelation, I wanted to give words. I didn’t see it as a chore anymore. So, I posted on my own Facebook to give prophetic words out and I got ten requests. I saw it as a chance to get blessed and was very excited to do it.
In this excitement that I had, David told me that he heard God say that a month from now, I won’t be able to remember what depression was. Determined that my joy may be full, I was handing out words left and right.
Most of the people I gave words to commented that it was accurate and that was what they really needed to hear at that moment. A lot of people said they were crying when they read it because the word really touched their heart.
It seemed that most of the words I gave were ministering to some deep wound in the person's heart that God wanted to heal. Some of the people needed guidance in some very confusing circumstances. It is pretty amazing when someone gets the missing piece of the puzzle they really needed to hear.
For instance, there was one man who God said is a real prayer warrior. He prays for everyone around him and they get blessed by him. God said a lot of them would have a lot more troubles if he wasn’t praying for them. Through the prophetic word, he was given the encouragement to keep going when he probably didn't even know if he was really helping people at all.
From there, he messaged me asking for more about his calling and such. Other people did the same. I've been interacting with people more and ministering to them. I could begin to that see God was growing this into something bigger than it appeared to begin with to me.
As I’ve been doing it more and more, the words have become much crisper than they were before. Two people told me that the word I gave them was the same way God speaks to them in their own relationship with Him. God told me he's bringing me out of the closet. He wants me to continue in this and for people to know who I am. He wants us to have more of a social media presence. He is giving me more.
About 3 years ago, when I was taking a prophecy class on Skype through Cheryl Fritz’s Facebook Inside Out (That's how I met David.) There was one lady I gave a really accurate vision to that was so blown away that I was a beginner. She said to me that surely I was called to more than just the local church. She said God had me hidden then. He was working on me and now He's bringing me out.
A month has gone by now, and David’s prophecy has been fulfilled. I have not felt depressed. Instead, I’ve felt joy. It’s interesting how doing what some would call selfish got me to stop focusing on myself. My focus has switched to what God is saying, rather than what the devil was saying. Through this, my relationship with God has grown because I’m talking to Him all the time, now.
I'm talking to Him all the time now. If He’s not giving me a word for someone else, He’s talking to me about my own life. He gives me guidance on how to deal with my problems, helps me make decisions, and tells me about my future. He's my buddy. He knows me better than anybody He knows me far better than I know myself. He told me that I am really getting to know him now.
When I asked Him what is to become of all these prophetic words He’s been giving me, His response was:
You continue to do it and I will tell you what's what. It's what I'm telling you to do for now. You will see. If you continue to seek Me diligently, I will prophesy things to you that you never even dreamed of. But, now you must continue to seek My words. My hope for you is to establish you in My kingdom. You are prophesying to others so that you can diligently seek My voice and serve others by it. They are benefiting by hearing from Me. They need My word, My lady. They need to know what I'm saying.
#propheticwords
|