CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR: WHEN GOD COMMANDS A WATCHMAN NOT TO PRAY

In the book of Jeremiah, a watchman would find it hard to obey certain instructions. For example, in the following verses, a watchman is commanded not to pray.

Jeremiah 7:16: “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.

Jeremiah 11:14: “So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.

Jeremiah 14:11: Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good.

He is commanded very specifically not to pray for the people there or make intercession for them, for their good. It makes no sense. The purpose of existence of a watchman is to watch and pray (intercede) for the nations (kings, priests, people). What is the point of being a watchman if he cannot pray?

So Jack was troubled at these verses. He re-read the relevant context chapters in Jeremiah to find his answer. He found that the words of warning, that Jeremiah was asked to speak, addressed specific audience as follows:

1. Jeremiah was to “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say” them. (7:1)

2. The words were directed to “the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem”. (11:2)

3. The words were meant for those who “come and stand before God in this house which is called by God’s name” (7:9)

4. The words were from God to those who have broken the covenant with God: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ (11:3-4) “the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” (11:9)

5. The warnings addressed those families who made offerings to the queen of heaven and other gods (7:17).

6. The warnings addressed those who practiced religious practices which God did not instruct them to do, such as making burnt offerings. (7:24)

7. God commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.’

8. God admonished them: “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD.” (7:11)

8. God had sent messengers (“all My servants the prophets”), “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.”

In the modern context, the message is meant for those who are called by God’s name, the Christians. The Christians are Abraham’s descendents by faith. The Christians are under a covenant (the New Covenant set by Jesus) with God. They go to church to worship God.

God called them backsliding children. (3:14, 22)

They have committed two evils: “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns –broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (2:13)

God described them as, “This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God nor receive correction.” (7:28)

God described their iniquities as “refused to hear My words, and they have after other gods to serve them”; they have “broken My covenant”. (11:10)

It is frightening to note that the backsliding Israelite who went after other gods (queen of heaven, idols) went to the temple of God to worship too and even offered burnt offerings. They had no real respect for God or for His words.

Today are there such people in church? Are there churches which have broken the covenant made with Jesus’ blood? Are there churches that do not pray and thus become a den of thieves instead? God said, don’t pray for them or intercede for them!

Frightening but a reality as Solomon said, nothing is new under heaven. History repeats itself.

Reading Jeremiah is indeed a sad experience. “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night…” (9:1) A sad day for a watchman.

2009-11-30

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE: A LIGHTNING BOLT AND JEREMIAH 7

One evening Jack was exercising on the stationery cycle, and watching Jeremiah the movie. He watched how young Jeremiah (the son of a priest) was called to be God’s prophet. When Jeremiah reached the age of a young priest, he was called by God to be a prophet instead. His first prophetic action was to admonish the king, priests and people who entered the temple gate to worship the Lord. Jeremiah cried out to them as the Holy Spirit put words in his mouth:

‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD! Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?”’

No-one paid attention to him. The people did not listen. The next scene was Jeremiah being woken at night and beaten by thugs who warned him not to prophesize again.

At this point there was a huge thunder bolt and the electricity shut down. The house was in total darkness. Jack was shocked. There was no lightning or thunder or rain before or after this one thunder. The weather was fine and there was no rain cloud.

Soon after that he went to the Prayer House to worship and pray. He was hoping to hear a confirmation or clarification on this matter. But there was none from the message that night. Then he read Jeremiah Chapter seven and found the verses that Jeremiah spoke above were from Chapter seven 1-10.

He continued to read verse eleven and found this verse:

“Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. “

When he reached home he was tired and sleepy but he managed to continue to read chapters six and eight just to see the context. Then he slept.

The next morning he woke early and re-read chapter seven. He thought of the thunder. It had to be something important and he asked the Holy Spirit to let him know what he needed to know. He wanted to know whether the message was meant for him. Is he being admonished? Is he being ignorant or disobedient of God’s instructions? He had to know.

Then he had thoughts of the children. He remembered seeing a baby boy who just had his first year’s birthday learning to walk in the Prayer House. He thought of his own family members, the younger generations. A thought appeared. What if a day comes when all grown-ups on earth vanish and the very young have to survive on their own? When he thought of today’s children who are hooked on digital games and live entirely in the virtual fantasy world, he shuddered.

The children are saturated in the values of the world, the abominations (deceptions, violence, greed, disobedience, immorality and idolatry) in God’s eyes. Even Christian children have succumbed to such strongholds. They would be no match to evil.

So he repented for not interceding for the children of the nations. As he read the verses, he repented and asked God for mercy: to wake up more watchmen, more Christians who will cry out day and night like the prophet of old, who will intercede for the nations (including Christian churches who uphold worldly values).

Meanwhile, he is still pondering on the meaning of the thunder. One thing is sure, he must remind himself that his body is a house of prayer (a temple of the Holy Spirit) too. If he does not pray, he would become a den of thieves. He shuddered at this thought.

He prays that whoever reads this blog will ponder hard and take action to pray and intercede for the nations before it is too late.

2009-11-27

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: AN OPPRESSED AND DEPRESSED CHRISTIAN

The more Jack asks the Holy Spirit for guidance so that he could know God more and understand the reason why Christians live like the yo-yo (up and down, wandering and wondering in the wilderness of life,) are often weak, sick and powerless, the more the Holy Spirit responds and reveals to him from the Word of God, the Bible, which is life and Spirit.

For quite sometime he was led to read psalms and detected how the psalmist suffered from oppression and depression too! King David was one example. As he read, he saw a pattern emerging from the confessions of King David. Today he read Psalm 13 and summarized below what he has learned:

Psalm 13

1 How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?



3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;

Enlighten my eyes,

Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4 Lest my enemy say,

“I have prevailed against him”;

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.



5 But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

The psalmist was deeply depressed. He was oppressed by the spirits of death, rejection, and darkness. These are revealed in the following verses:

Verse 2: The adverse situation affected his emotion and mental state. He was sorrowful daily. “Having sorrow in my heart daily”. His mind was affected. He suffered mental agony. He could not help thinking about his problems over and over again. “Take counsel in my soul”.

Verse 3: The situation affected his sleep. He slept like a dead man. “Lest I sleep the sleep of death.”

Verse 4: The situation affected him spiritually. “I am moved (fallen)”.

In fact he had suffered this sickness for quite sometime. He used the word “long” to describe his inability to tolerate anymore. Verse 1-2, he asked God “how long” three times and strong word like “forever”!

The cause of his sickness can be summarized as follows:

1. The psalmist looked at God in a negative way (he suffered from unbelief). In verse 1-3 he was blaming God for his condition. He accused God for forgetting him, ignoring his plead (not answering his prayer), not seeing him and talking to him. The truth was, the psalmist could not feel God’s presence, see God, or hear God. Instead of acknowledging his own distance from God, he projected his problems to God, “You forget me”, “You hide Your face from me”, “consider and hear me”, “enlighten my eyes”. (Verse 1, 3)

2. The psalmist was obsessed with his enemy. He felt oppressed. In verse 2 and 4 he complained that his enemy might win over him. “Exalted over me” and “prevailed against me”. He was worried and indignant that his enemy would “rejoice” at his fall. He was oppressed by the thought of his enemy winning, laughing at him and saying things that hurt him!

However, as he persevered and prayed with honesty, the Holy Spirit revealed the solutions to his depression, in verse 5-6. He remembered the goodness of God, which God had given him in the past: mercy, salvation and abundant life! “Your mercy”, “Your salvation”, “has dealt bountifully with me”.

Then the faith that God has given to him rises. He “trusted” God afresh, his “heart rejoices”, and he “sings to the Lord”. Indeed, he worshipped and praised God despite his depression illness. His focus was on Jesus, the salvation of Jesus on the cross.

Thus, the depressed psalmist was healed!

2009-11-22

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: MORE HOLY SPIRIT STORIES

The way that the Holy Spirit works is amazing. Jack can never figure out what will happen next. As he wanted to know more about God the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ), one evening he was given a breakthrough experience.

That evening he was in the worship service and found that neither the pastor nor the senior worship leader was around. An alternate preacher preached a short sermon ending by urging those who have been in the church for quite sometime to come out and serve God instead of sitting there.

Jack repented and told the Holy Spirit quietly that he was willing to be obedient. The Holy Spirit responded immediately.

After the service the alternate preacher called three persons to go out and minister to those who needed healing or deliverance or just wanted to be blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jack was one of the three called!

So he went to the front by faith. He told the Holy Spirit he had never done this before and he did not know how to pray for those people in front of him and the Holy Spirit would just have to take over. He then encountered four different scenarios:

1. When he prayed, the person in front of him fell down without him touching.

2. When he prayed, the person in front of him fell down by his gentle placing a thumb on that person’s forehead.

3. In one incident, he asked the person what language the person understood, and the person merely fell down without answering or waiting for him to pray!

4. In one incident, the person fell down without him finishing his prayer.

So Jack came home knowing that the Holy Spirit had given him another wonderful lesson by showing that there was no way anyone could predict or limit the Holy Spirit to any pattern. The Holy Spirit is the key to touching the lives and/or healing all those believers who came to the front of the church by faith and what happened had nothing to do with Jack.

Jack concludes that the works of the Holy Spirit are indeed real and all He needs is a willing and obedient heart to demonstrate His power. He is thankful for being a witness to the power of the Holy Spirit.

He now understands more when he reads about the wonderful and powerful events concerning the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

11/21/09

CHAPTER FIFTY: CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH PATIENCE AND DETERMINATION

Learning to listen to the Holy Spirit is not that simple. Jack continued to persevere. As he tried to intercede for the previous day’s issue he found that he had nothing in his mind or spirit. He read that we can ask the Holy Spirit for verses. So he asked for a verse to guide him on the right path when interceding for this specific case.

He prayed in tongue and waited for quite sometime and interceded for other matters as well. Finally he received (as he thought) a verse. But it was in the form of numbers for chapter or verse. He received the number 11 (5?) and nothing else. He decided to search the Bible for the relevant chapter and/or verse. He went through the New Testament and could not find his answer. Then he decided to go to the first book of the Bible. Again he received no prompting.

Suddenly he realized that the case involved asking God to set the captives free, so it had to be in Exodus! He read chapter eleven and the answer was there! Exodus 11 described how the Lord told Moses He would bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt, the plague wherein all first born of Egypt would die. The children of Israel who applied the blood of the lamb on their door posts would live and be set free.

By then Jack knew he had to pray for the blood of Jesus to cover the captives and waited for the Lord to strike and rescue them. So he obeyed and prayed.

Indeed, only the blood of Jesus could set the captives free (bearing in mind the war is spiritual, Ephesians 6:12). He should have thought of that earlier. But the Holy Spirit had been a patient teacher, even though Jack needed to go one full circle to get to the answer and finally intercede for the particular case.

Amazing grace!

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: UNDER THE TUTORSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

When Jack told the Holy Spirit he was sorry for not listening and also for not obeying the Holy Spirit’s instructions, he did not expect the Holy Spirit to be so quick in responding. Jack has been listening to teachings and reading books on the subject of prophetic functions that one may be called to carry out, either for specific occasions or as an ongoing role.

He was very interested as he occasionally felt he could be doing something of this nature (not the ongoing type). He has read some very relevant books lately on this topic. Prophets, Healers and the Emerging Church by John and Paula Sandford, and Authority In Prayer by Dutch Sheets are two examples.

He summarizes below the 12 major functions of the prophet as taught by John Sandford and places his own remarks in brackets:
1. Blessing: pronounce blessing and enable God’s blessing. (He was suddenly called to pronounce blessing for someone).
2. Healing. (He was suddenly asked to do this on one occasion within the same week as above).
3. Pronounce judgment.
4. Warn of impending judgment or tragedy.
5. Protect or rescue. (In his intercessions he carried out this function).
6. Give direction, guidance or confirmation. (He was called to do this when being asked to pray for two different persons within the last month).
7. Rebuke, reprove or correct.
8. Edify, teach and interpret dreams and visions. (He thought he was called to do this in his writings).
9. Equip the saints for ministry. (Same as above)
10. Work for unity.
11. Call for intercession and repentance. (He has been praying for others on this line).
12. Express and model God’s love in Christ.

However, except for one case where there was an immediate result, there was no way he could know of the other outcome if any. He merely obeyed and did not jump to any conclusion. Today’s teaching from Oswald Chambers reminds that we have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not ours. God has taken us up into His purpose by the Holy Spirit.

Sandford wrote that no one in his right mind should want to be a prophet. No prophet becomes a prophet by his or her own choice. Jack was fully aware that what he experienced did not mean that he was called to be a prophet or that he was necessarily carrying out prophetic functions. On the other hand, why was he given the opportunity to experience them? Today something happened to reveal more about God.

This morning Jack reviewed his previous days’ activities and thanked the Holy Spirit for being a good teacher and a personal spiritual tutor for him. He had nothing specific to pray for so he prayed in tongue generally for the bulk of the morning. What happened after that and through out the remains of the day was unbelievable.

Towards noon time, Jack received an urgent intercession call. As the matter involved the lives of people (strangers in a very far off land) in danger, he took Holy Communion for them. When he started to intercede he couldn’t as he did not know how. He asked the Holy Spirit to help him. He waited and nothing came to his mind or heart. So he decided to finish his own chores and take a bath instead. After that he quieted down and continued to pray in tongue and began to see a clear picture and a sentence (of three words) describing the scene, in his mind. He saw what he had to intercede. So he obeyed. It was indeed a spiritual breakthrough as he would never have thought of that aspect with his mind.

Later he was led to sing a hymn, “It is well with my soul”, for those people in captive. Then he was told to take a break. He continued with other chores while praying in the Spirit all the time. He then read the Dutch Sheets’ book and was led to use Psalm 24 to pronounce the arrival of the King of glory and that all gates are to open. So he stood up and obeyed. After that he discovered a song bursting forth in his heart and it was “Majesty” (written by Jack Hayford)!

The whole day was thus spent learning from the Holy Spirit. He was led by his Spiritual Tutor to worship and intercede like never before. He was led to practice the priestly intercessory function as well as using the authority of the King (Jesus) to proclaim and pronounce (as taught by Sheets). He was also able to practice some of the prophetic functions described by Sandford.

At the end of the day, he concluded that the whole episode was part of an answer to his prayer of wanting to know more about God. The whole intercession event was another demonstration by God of the readiness of the Holy Spirit and how He could communicate with us the minute we are willing to listen and obey. It was like sitting in a classroom learning an intensive course with a lot of practical!

Another wonderful and meaningful day of living in the Spirit!
2009-11-11

chapter forty-eight: “I have set watchmen on your walls”

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7)

Jack has been reading these verses over and over. He was woken one morning to re-read them. About nine months ago he was called to pray for his city and the churches therein. He thought he was merely doing his duty as a Christian.

As time went by he was more and more aware that there was a spiritual reality of which he was not aware previously. Prayers and intercessions were spiritual. When one prays, one in fact acknowledges the reality of the spiritual God. When one prays, one invokes spiritual forces. Things happen in the spiritual realm. The reality in the spiritual realm becomes reality in the physical realm.

His awareness of the spiritual became more sharpened. He developed spiritual discernment.

When reading the Bible, which is Spirit and Life, the word indeed became alive and real.

When praying he became more and more led by the Holy Spirit to intercede for things/people of whom he had hardly or never thought before.

But he was still far from a committed watchman on the walls whom God has set to cry out day and night for the establishment of Jerusalem (the ideal city of God which God has designed to materialize for the benefit of all nations on earth). He could not figure out how this call would impact all nations as one city on earth was such a tiny dot on the map.

Today he awoke and read the passage again. It suddenly dawned on him that there were many like him all over the world in every city of the world, awoken daily just to call out to God and give God no rest until the ideal plan of God has been established.

It also dawned on him that the ideal plan will be established all over the world as God is not limited to one tiny dot on the map of mankind!

So when he and the other watchmen cry out and intercede for their respective cities, the plan of God would equally be realized in those cities too (all being the New Jerusalem of God)!

This discovery made Jack’s heart leap up. Yes. This makes sense to his little mortal human mind.

Wherever you are, watchmen on the walls of your cities do not lose heart. Your city will be made praise in earth too as promised.

2009-11-08

You are Delivered! Be Free!

Many Christians do not know they are free from bondages. They live in fear and uncertainty because they believe the lies of the devil (who rules the world). They do not know that as children of God, they have power and authority to live a victorious life. The follwing verses assure that you are set free. Believe in the faithfulness of a loving God who loves you so much that He has sent His only Son to die for you in order to set you free!

Believe and do not doubt and you shall receive the joy and peace He promised. Be free!

Romans 8:15-16 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.


2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

John 8:36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

1 Corinthians 15:55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Hebrews 7:25Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Romans 8:31-34

God’s Everlasting Love

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,

And come to Zion with singing,

With everlasting joy on their heads.

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Romans 8:15-16; Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 3:17; John 8:36; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:55; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:31-34; Isaiah 35:10; 2 Timothy 4:7-8

__________________________________

May your faith rise as you read these words of God.

"A Watchman on Walls"

This is a strange journal of me being called to be a watchman who cannot rest and must sit on walls and cry out day and night!

Normally I am a happy man. I enjoy a good life as a management consultant, a health care and wellness coach and  trainer in personal development and character building. I have been a Christian all my life, and a born again Christian since 1983. This journal is not about me.


I have been called to be a watchman on walls (as in Isaiah 62:6-7). I have been through God’s miraculous signs and wonders when I obeyed the call. As I obeyed, I read the Bible with fresh revelations. It has been a wonderful journey with the Lord all the way.

This is a record of God (the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit) and His Word (as written in the Bible) as revealed to me in my personal quest to seek to know God. I shall share my personal experiences and the life that the Spirit has led me to live as I proceed on this journey.

I have seen visions and words and composed songs in unknown languages in new tunes as led by the Holy Spirit.

I have written four stories in this blog, based on the visions, experiences and the Word of God, as led by the Holy Spirit:

1. Ari and Great Grandma’s Jerusalem Gates Gold Adventure Story

2. One man’s Journey in the Holy Spirit

3. Ari’s Quests (Stress Mountain Rescue Story)

4. Living Biblically by One Man – A Novice Manual

I pray that all who read these pages will be deeply touched by God (the Holy Spirit) and be fired up to seek God yourself.

Jesus promised, “Seek and you shall find.” Jesus indeed is the Saviour and Lord of all who seek Him!

Believe and you will not be disappointed.

http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/category/aris-adventure-great-grandmas-gold-story/

http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/category/aris-adventure-stress-mountain-rescue-story/

http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/category/book-biblical-living-a-novice-manual/

http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/category/book-one-mans-journey-in-the-holy-spirit/

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: SPANISH GALLEONS, GOLD; GOD SPEAKS

It was indeed a joyous day for Jack. He has been praying to God to reveal to him whether the visions he saw were of the Holy Spirit or otherwise. Sunday morning he decided to go to a former church after a lapse of six months. He prayed that he would hear a fresh instruction from the Holy Spirit. The sermon was on Joseph. The pastor shared the usual teaching on how we need to be God-focused even during unfair treatment, adversities and great sufferings, thereby looking through God’s perspectives and not blaming self or others.

Jack read the Bible passages which the pastor did not preach on during the sermon and the following verse attracted him and he duly highlighted it:
“And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God and God will shortly bring it to pass.” (Genesis 41:32)

Jack had been looking for this verse for sometime as he had earlier heard the teaching that God would let us have two (repeated) reports so as to confirm that the report is from Him. When he read this verse he knew this was the answer and fresh revelation the Holy Spirit has given to him in response to his quest.

In the evening he went to attend a worship service at the Prayer House. He went early thinking that there would be Bible study. However, when he reached there he found out that they had a prayer meeting before the worship service instead. He was asked to join in the prayers in Spirit (in tongues) which he did. They prayed for about an hour plus.
Toward the end of the prayers, Jack saw visions, in answer to his earlier prayers (at home) that he be told of his future (ministry, relationship, finances) and things to come concerning other children of God and the work of God’s hands (Isaiah 45:11).

He saw Jesus giving different things to different people who serve in key positions in the Prayer House (small keys, a big key and a trumpet-the type used by a Levite), thus dispelling his speculations earlier on. Then he saw Jesus coming to him with a lamp (the type used by traveler). He thought of the verse in Psalm 119:105 (“Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”). But it did not answer his prayer.
However, immediately after that he was with Jesus standing on shore and watching a ship sailing in. The ship was large with many sails, like the type used by the Spanish to travel round the world seeking for gold and treasures. After that he saw a laborer close up carrying a huge cargo on his shoulder, coming on shore (followed by others). The laborer was oriental, like a Chinese. Jack thought he was carrying a big fish but could not see clearly the cargo. But then he saw a lot of open boxes at the feet of Jesus with heaps of gold, precious stones and other treasures inside them. The verse that came to Jack’s mind was a verse about the treasures of the sea being given to Christians, but he wasn’t sure where it located in the Bible.

At the end of the prayer session the leader closed in her closing prayer proclaiming that God is our light. So it did confirm the vision of Jesus carrying a lamp seen by Jack earlier.

On Monday morning, Jack decided to record down his precious day’s (Sunday’s) visions and asked the Holy Spirit to reveal more about their meanings and also confirm to him that they are from God. After recording, he read the November 1st (which was Sunday’s passage) passage in “My utmost for His highest” (a little booklet he used for quiet time meditation). To his surprise, the writer ended his passage with this exhortation (from God): “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine!”

When he read the Bible verse on “Arise and shine” in Isaiah 60, he had a bigger shock. The followings are verses 1 and 5 respectively:

V1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” (Confirming the vision he saw of Jesus carrying a lamp).

V5 “Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.” (Confirming the vision he saw of the ship coming in from the sea with treasures being laid down at the feet of Jesus).

The vision of the lamp and the ship and treasure was one. The confirmation came from the Bible Isaiah 60:1-5. God also used the prayer leader and the writer of “My utmost for His highest” to confirm His revelation. As a bonus, God used this vision to explain and prove how things work regarding vision from Him.

The above event was significant as the Holy Spirit has illustrated to Jack the meaning of the verse he pondered upon during the Sunday morning sermon time, that God would repeat twice for things established by God and which He would shortly bring to pass.

Jack was elated as he was assured of hearing from God and more discerning in the Spirit. This is God’s wonderful way of answering his prayers! Whilst he rejoiced, his prayer partner told him that her prayer was answered too, as this morning she was praying that he be more joyous in the Lord and her prayer was answered instantly!!!

WOW! What a discovery! That God is real and in our midst and answers our prayers!

2009-11-02