|
|
By Robert Holmes
 "Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” (2 Chr 20:20 NLT)
We're standing on a battle ground with our enemies across the field. We are only here because God told us to stand and fight, but frankly, it looks like we don't have enough resources to pull this off. Then a prophet comes and gives us a strategy - something to do and obey, but it sounds like madness. That was basically the position Jehoshaphat found himself in that day (the prophet told him to send out singers instead of archers). He tells his people that when they believe God they will be unshakeable. If they listen to his prophets they will succeed (prosper - go well).
As I track through life certain things snag me. It might be a throw away comment a person makes during conversation like "when I get married"; or the state of the kitchen in the rental property of a friend; the lack of committment in a husbands 'plan' which is unsatisfactory to his wife; uncertainly in a mother's parenting strategy; or a vision/impression I get about a woman's husband each time I meet her. When such a snag occurs I pause and investigate - like your eye being caught by something in your peripheral vision. It's like I switch a scanner on, a piece of equipment inside that starts to track - or keep watch.
Then a pattern emerges, a cluster of evidence is displayed so I start to pray. More than half the time the Spirit quickens revelation to me right there and then, including a strategy or something to say. The other half the time I need further evidence, or something to give me confidence to move forward. But invariably once I share it, things get set in motion. That person is put "in the picture", they frame the issue more clearly and are offered a path of redemption or action by the Spirit. Some take it, some don't.
But I have noticed that time and again if people choose to repond to that leading or advice they are blessed - deeply and profoundly blessed. This morning I got an SMS from that friend with the kitchen problem. After raising it with him, he raised it again with the landlord (having done so a month ago already). The result? A new double overn, gas cooktop and extractor. Safe, new and happy. He wrote, "This certainly falls into the folating axe head category (of miracles)..." Stand firm and prosper.
So that friend whose kitchen was upgraded by his landlord got it because he followed a prompting to chase it up. Standing in that kitchen making a cup of tea, I just felt defiled in a sort of "this is unrighteous" sort of way. Don't get me wrong, they'd done the washing up and everything, but the owner of the house hadn't done any work there for years. So at God's prompting I chased it up with the leasee and he chased it up with the landlord and - boom he gets a new kitchen!
But I don't think that one story paints a fair picture of what "prosper" really means. You're not always going to get upgraded to business class just because you obey a prophet. No not at all. Success and prosperity go much further than that. Forstly it goes beyond material things into emotional and spiritual things too. John's third letter makes this clear, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." (3 John 1:2 NKJV)
Prosper also covers more than the upgrade - it can also mean a downgrade - especially when you have something in your life causing you harm (like an idol). I mentioned an situation where I kept getting a vision or impression about a woman's husband each time I met her. I kept seeing him doing certain unhelpful things and so spoke to her about it. She asked that I send the prophetic word directly to him. With some trepidation I did so. It was quite a confronting word about his need to mature, a word calling for change. To my surprise and delight he responded positively. He asked for help immediately. This is what I think Jesus meant when he said, "if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet and you will get a prophet's reward." (Matthew 10:41 NIV)
Sometimes a prophet's reward is a rebuke - a strong challenge to get stuff done - a motivating word to confront an issue you have been avoiding. The reward is in the changing. That is "success" too in heaven's vocabulary.
 |
|
Bookmark Us
 
Site Last Updated
Monday, 14 May, 2012
at 8:48am AEST
|
Library 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Iconoclasts.mp3
Iconoclasts.ppt