Hello everyone, hope you are well and able to join us in fasting and praying. I look forward to seeking God and worshipping Him with you over the next 3 days.
As we begin the fast, there is an overarching prophetic sense we have of God strengthening, healing, and preparing our people for the road ahead—from Clive Baker’s picture from August 2020 of rusty iron girders being replaced by a stainless-steel support in the form of JESUS and Renee’s recent word about presenting ourselves to God our blacksmith.
This fast feels a bit different than fasts in the past: a bit heavier, more significant, and a bit more urgent as well.
For the past few days and weeks, the leadership team has been trying to seek God in terms of what He wants to do and how He wants us to fast this time around, and I had a series of 3 dreams last night that I believe is from God and intended to give us some direction for the fast.
Dream 1
In the first dream, we had made landfall in a new territory. It was a seaside town with a shore and city lights at night. It had a suburban area with many beautiful tract homes. We had arrived on the shore on an old-fashioned wooden ship, like a pirate ship out of Pirates of the Caribbean.
What was apparent in the dream was that we had various missions and tasks to accomplish (as in an open-world video game) at various locations in the city and in the suburban homes. It was important for us get a good understanding of the map of the city, the roads and trails that needed to be traveled, and which homes/people we were supposed to visit.
After setting foot on land, I returned to the ship to use the telescope to figure out the landscape, the paths, and our targets. To my pleasant surprise, while I had been away from the ship, my sons Isaiah and Micah had been doing their own exploring and investigating and had a better idea than I did about the lay of the land. They were helping me with where to look through my telescope and even led the way as we left the ship.
Dream 2
In the second dream, a bunch of us were in a public square. It was a city center with a restaurant, a medical facility and government- or business-type buildings. Some of us were sitting and eating in the outdoor seating area of the restaurant, and there were many people just walking around the square, when a large poisonous (orange-colored) cobra entered the square and was jumping up and in circles to scare people.
Everyone ran away from the snake in a panic, but Joe came into the square unafraid. He knew exactly what to do with the cobra, which was now green and brown in color. The cobra went after Joe, and we were afraid for him because he was also holding Hope in his arms. As the snake lunged toward Joe’s head, Joe was able to grab it, but instead of grabbing it by the head, Joe grabbed it in the middle, allowing the snake to continue to try to bite him and Hope.
What Joe was doing was actually to allow Hope to learn how to catch the snake by himself. As the snake lunged again, Hope grabbed the snake with his hand right behind its head. However, being a kid and not being aware of danger, Hope let the snake go, and on its way down, the snake bit Hope on the arm. Joe then grabbed the snake again and bit the snake, killing it. Joe ripped the snake’s belly open and got a small toy belonging to Hope out of the snake’s stomach.
We were all worried for Hope and said we needed to take him to the hospital quickly, but Joe was not worried. He said that it was just a bite and that the snake had not injected any venom into Hope’s arm. Marcia went to the medical facility in the square to ask the doctor (who was Filipino) to help with Hope, but the doctor didn’t show much interest. In the end, both Joe and Hope were fine, and the cobra was dead.
Dream 3
In the third dream, I was on a mountain. It was a tall mountain, and I was somewhere near the middle, or towards the bottom. I was coming from somewhere and returning home, which happened to be at the top of the mountain. I decided that I was going to jog the whole way up along the mountain road, and there were cars going up the mountain along my right-hand side. It was a beautiful mountain scene. I knew it was going to be a hard, uphill run, but I was looking forward to enjoying the natural beauty of the scenery as I ran.
As I was jogging, Matt was coming up behind me. I was excited, thinking that we might be able to jog our way up the mountain together. However, Matt was in very good condition and sprinted right past me. He seemed to be in a hurry and was eager to show his fitness and speed. I felt a bit hurt and disappointed about having to jog alone and felt like Matt had missed an opportunity to spend some time together. It felt like getting to destination quickly was not the actual goal.
What God was wanting was for us to “exercise in community” and that growing/getting better and stronger and fellowship and mutual encouragement was more important than arriving at the goal quickly. But, this wasn’t the end of the dream.
As Matt was getting farther and farther ahead of me, I could see that Opal was waiting for him far up ahead to join him in the run. I had thought that Opal was behind us in the area we were coming from, but understanding that Opal couldn’t go as fast or as far as him, Matt had arranged for Opal to be driven up the mountain to be waiting for him so that he could eventually catch up and join with her in the running. This seemed to please God that Matt gave consideration to Opal’s limitations.
Families on Mission
As I’ve been praying into these dreams, I believe God wants to communicate to us about the season ahead. As some of you know, One Light Church’s motto is “Gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered, Family on Mission.” I believe God is wanting us to experience and learn about what is means for us to be “a spiritual church family of families that are on mission together” in this next season.
Some characteristics of what that might look like:
· Taking our kids with us on mission, even letting them lead the way as God gives them spiritual insight
· Allowing our kids to exercise their spiritual gifts and seek direction from God with us in prayer
· Not running from spiritual dangers or warfare in fear, but confronting and defeating the enemy, knowing that God, our Father is in control and will not allow us to experience more harm than we can handle
· Teaching our kids how to engage and defeat Satan, knowing that they will make some mistakes, but trusting that God will keep them safe
· Enjoying the journey of mission, as it’s more about our growth and sanctification and our enjoyment of God and community, than it is about arriving at our destination quickly
· Not leaving anyone behind, taking significant consideration of the limitations of everyone in our community, having the leaders be in the rear and allowing those who require a slower pace to set the pace
I am eager to hear what some of you may have to add to this as you interpret these dreams and hear from God yourselves.
Based on the above and while holding it loosely, this is how I’d like for us to engage in prayer as we fast:
Day 1 – Repentance and Revelation
Let’s return to God in humility and repentance and seek God’s will and direction. In doing so, I’d like to give our children and young people space to exercise their prophetic gifts in hearing from God
Judges 20:26 Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 27 And the Israelites inquired of the Lord. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?” The Lord responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.”
Day 2 – Healing & Deliverance
Let’s pray for healing: spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental. Let’s also ask God to rid demonic activity from our lives.
2 Samuel 12:16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”
Day 3 – Prayer for Safe Passage
We want to do amazing things in us and through us. When we engage in the mission of God fully, we will face many challenges and difficulties. It is through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Let’s pray for safe passage through whatever God has ahead for us.
Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.