 Good morning everyone. Welcome to today's session of the prophetic ministry. Let's pray and we will continue to learn more about how the prophetic ministry really works. So, would somebody like to lead and pray please? Let's pray. Gavi, thank you that you're a God who speaks with us. You're a God who always have this desire to get into a deeper relationship with us as we are learning about this prophetic ministry. Help us to listen to you more and more in these days. Help us to spend a little more time with you in your presence so that we can know what you want us to hear and how you want to use us as a blessing to other whatever we learn help us to put it into practice so that we can live our life for your glory. Gavi, we give you all the glory and honor. I pray for all my classmates who are about to come that I pray that you will give us good wife recognition throughout the session and let nothing be a distraction in the name of Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Jeffina. So we've been talking about the prophetic power of God being released in various ways. And so we said that we see the prophetic work through the word, the prophetic word or the prophetic message. Then we said the prophetic can also work through the ministry of intercession. So that's another way. Then of course there's prophetic power which directly has to do with the release of the supernatural. And this is accompanied with the prophetic. So the release of the supernatural power of God accompanied with the prophetic would be the prophetic power. Then we said that whatever God wants to speak. He can also release it through the songs that one may receive during praise and worship or it's not just restricted to the songs but they can also be prophetic music. Music in itself can be prophetic and it can carry that grace upon it. Then of course prophetic action. So in the last class, we looked keenly on the prophetic word. We said that the simple word of prophecy has its basic role of edification, exhortation, comfort and then the prophetic word is able to reveal one's true character and destiny. The prophetic word can bring revelation to God's purposes, to God's plans in someone's life. It can stir up faith. When it stirs up faith, what happens is a person is able to receive from the promises of God. So a prophetic word can just stir up one's faith. Then we also saw how a prophetic word can motivate us especially during times when we are carrying out God's plans but there are phases where things are difficult or slow delayed in some manner. But when the prophetic word comes, it encourages us once again to be able to complete the journey that God has called us to fulfill. Then the prophetic word releases God's power. Now release of God's power. When we say that, we mean that there is a working or there is some sort of an impact that the prophetic word has and obviously every time the prophetic word releases its own power. But later on we will talk about the release of the supernatural power of God in such a way that it is connected to the prophetic. So when the prophetic is in function, we would see a manifestation of the supernatural power of God. So that is another level of seeing the power of God at work. So we will come to that later on. But when we say the supernatural, the prophetic word releases God's power, what we are saying is when the message comes, it brings with it an ability to fulfill what God has spoken. For example, we saw that scripture in Jeremiah 1 verse 12 that God is waiting to perform his word, meaning there is something that God would do to see the fulfillment of his own promise or his own word and that ability, it is in a sense connected to the power released by the prophetic word. So we look at the powerful manifestation of this kind of dynamics of power later on. So there are many examples that we are going to look at. Now the prophetic word also brings correction and restoration in this area. How we bring it across is so crucial because we all understand that in relationships particularly, even the most well-intended way of communication can get misunderstood. So when we are talking about correction, when we are talking about restoration, it has to be done with a lot of wisdom. But praise God, God can speak and as he speaks, we would know how exactly to approach these matters. And the prophetic word causes conviction, repentance, turning to God. Finally, we said that it transforms nations. Now moving ahead, we are looking at prophetic intercession. This particular subject is also not very new to those of us who have journeyed through the courses here in the APC Bible College. We have looked at prophetic intercession under the topic of prayer. And there we said that prophetic intercession is basically praying through as the Lord reveals different things to us. So here in our notes, the example which is given is the time when Abimelek Abraham was in a situation where he had to protect his family, he had to protect his assets and all the things that belonged to him, all his possessions. So Abimelek wanted to take away not only his possessions, but also his wife. So during a time such as this, what we notice is that he has a communication from God. So he has a communication from God to tell him that he needs to ask Abraham to pray for him. Now in the past, we've said this. We've said that you can have prayer without prophecy or you can have prayer without the prophetic, but to have the flow of the prophetic without prayer is like you can't do that. Prayer is very, very connected to the flow of the prophetic. And in this situation when Abimelek is instructed to ask Abraham to pray for him, one of the things that is said about Abraham is that he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you shall live. So this is in Genesis chapter 20 and verse 7. So we must recognize that Abraham being a prophet had something to do with his prayer life, something to do with the way he related with God. Because in the classic sense of what a prophet generally does, we would think that Abraham must be delivering prophecies after prophecies, but that's not at all how Abraham comes across. You only see him speaking to God, standing on the promises of God, trying to obey the word of God and different other things, but not really saying something like that says a lot. But what is that key component in Abraham's walk with God that helps us recognize that he carried the prophetic anointing prayer? So even in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 18, he takes it upon himself to actually try and you could say negotiate, obviously we can't negotiate with God. But since he understands the character of God that it's a character that forgives and restores, he basically works with that revelation that I'm not going outside of the boundaries of what God has already offered. And so that understanding he had, that revelation he had and so he tries to speak, he tries to check whether God can change his view if at all there are righteous people in the land. So prayer, that is what gives him this title of a prophet. So how is the flow of the prophetic important in prayer and how is it that it leads us to effectively engage with God in prayer? We'll just go over this. We've done it before, but we'll look at it once again. So we are saying that when God speaks, how does he speak? So it could be a word, a prophetic word that has come to us and that shows us something that we must act on. Or in the case of prophetic intercession, we could also say that there is something like a burden or a moving or an inner sense which we have, which some people may even call as stirring. Something that they can sense from the spirit of God. And when the stirring comes, they know that God is giving them revelation about a certain situation. For example, we might just have a sense of peace regarding a matter. So we are praying that, okay, God, let it move in that direction. Or we might have a sense of sort of, it's not an external disturbance as such. But in our being, we feel disturbed or, you know, like a lack of peace about a matter. So then we recognize that, okay, this is not the way in which God is actually leading us. So when we say prophetic intercession, praying through what God is revealing to us that revelation can come in many ways. So this is not the limited list, maybe even a dream or a picture or a word that drops in our spirit. That's an indication that we must actually pick it up and pray. So what happens when we receive such a message? Okay, and we pray through. We see that in some instances, judgment can be delayed or averted. So there is this example from the book of Amos, Amos a prophet. God gave him this communication that because of the people of the land who had strayed away from God, who were engaged in pleasure and, you know, all kinds of indulgences, idolatry, social injustice. So basically, they were not living the way God wanted them to live God showed Amos that there are going to be judgments. So first he gets a picture or he gets this, you could say something like a motion picture where the Lord God showed me behold. He found locus swarms at the beginning of the late crop. Indeed, it was the late crop after the king's moving. So what is he seeing? He's seeing that there is an attack through these locus swarms. Okay, so the message is coming in like, you know, a certain motion picture. So he's viewing all this. And what is the end result of what he's seeing? He sees that they finished eating the grass of the land. So basically, there was destruction, locus related with, you know, their pests they come and they eat up whatever is useful. So then once he sees this picture, he has to interpret it. Okay, what is God trying to say? So in his case, he saw this particular, you know, motion picture and he recognized that this is talking about judgment. And so what was his response? His response was prayer. Okay, his response was intercession. Now, when people see things like this, anything related to anyone or a land or something, we might wonder, what is God intending for me to do? Now, maybe God wants us to do something about it like how Joseph, you know, Joseph, he was able to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, but then he also had a solution for what needed to be done. Seven years of abundance. Okay, let's store up the grain. Seven years of famine. Let's distribute the grain. So the prophetic can be used in that way also where we are putting our action into it. But the primary thing to do when a revelation comes to us is always to pray and that's exactly what Amos did. So when he sees this, you know, this imagery or whatever is going on, he understands it. So see it, then interpret it and then do something about it. So what does he do? He prays and he asks God, God, forgive I pray. So he recognizes that this is a call to repentance. So why is God even showing this judgment? People might ask, you know, it's God's way of giving opportunities and saying that this is around the corner. So rise up and pray, pray for restoration, you know, repent. There is still time. So many a time when we have these pictures of the communication, God might actually be telling us that somebody needs to rise up, stand in the gap and intercede for things to change. If we don't, then this is the way things are, you know, moving ahead. It's moving ahead towards destruction. So in the passage, we also see that there is another picture that God actually shows Amos. So he sees a second picture of a devouring fire and both are saying the same thing. So the message is the same one, which is saying that there's going to be destruction unless the people repent. So he now goes into what is known as prophetic prayer or prophetic intercession. So this is how God leads us into prophetic prayers and one must pick it up and be able to run with it. Now, when we look at other examples, you know, we see somebody like Moses. Moses also interceded and he stood in the gap, you know, for the people of Israel. Now, time to time, you know, God will remind and we know how God works. God works through people. God works through people. So he wants people to rise up when he gives these messages for them to stand up and pray for the people who have been given under their care. Now, when we talked about intercession in the prayer course, we also said that, you know, especially leadership. Now, somebody like Moses, God would have had many communications with Moses regarding the people who are under his care. So for us today, we might have a certain role, let's say as a parent or as a, you know, as a life group leader or as a church pastor. So one of the expectations we can have is that God will communicate with us regarding the people whom he has entrusted. Now, we may get many other random, if you want to call it revelations or, you know, dreams and all. But usually the kind of messages we receive for intercession will have to do with the things that concern us. Okay. So if you're leading a group of people that like Moses, you will carry the burden for your people. And it is through intercession that we, you know, actually speak protection, speak blessing, speak prosperity over our people. So we need to be able to pick it up and be praying for our people. Okay. So what else does this intercession help? So we said that the way in the, in the case of Amos, there was an opportunity for him to pray and say, God, please relent such that the calamity, which was going to come upon the people may be delayed, you know, we can do something similar for the delay or even aversion of the calamity. Now, sometimes we can foresee what Satan may have planned and a prophetic intercession will help us to destroy what Satan has planned against God's people. So one classic example is when Jesus in Luke 22 tells Peter, you know, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. Now, Jesus had the foreknowledge of what is going to happen to Peter. And we know that he went through that very difficult phase where he was even tempted to deny, you know, his master or his leader. But Jesus knew about it. And what did he do? He says that I have prayed for you. So when we recognize something from afar off, we can actually pray through, you know, into it. Now, Jesus had a specific prayer for Peter where he said that, okay, your faith should not fail, that you should return. These are the prayers that I'm praying for you, Peter. So we too can pray for the people whom God has put in our lives. So God may show, like, let's say we are, you know, if we are parents, we may have some idea, oh, okay, this might happen. And God is showing me constantly that some situation like this could occur. So what do we do? Like, you know, as parents or as overseers, we begin to pray and we say, God, you know, you protect the child. You bring in Godly people into my child's life. Lord, let them be able to speak wisdom in case you're not there. You pray prayers like this and just continue to speak protection. So when we do that, you know, we see that we are speaking something known as Shamar or the preservation of God. Shamar is, this word is taken from the Hebrew and it means a hedge, a hedge or guard, protection or, you know, to keep from harm or damage. So Hosea 1213 says, by a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a prophet, he was preserved. So who is this prophet Moses? And the ministry of Moses over the people, as I already said, he was leading them. But one important thing that he was doing for them is, you know, to speak to God on their behalf or prayer. He was constantly praying for the people. And we see in what is written here in Hosea 1213 that God actually is preserving the people through a prophet or the prophetic anointing which in this case, we are discussing about that anointing leading into prophetic intercession or prayer. So when we do pray for the people in our care, what are we doing? We are acting like watchmen. So that's the picture like a watchman. We are protecting, you know, day in, day out, we are speaking. Okay, God, thank you, you know, families in my church, they are protected. God can show us. See, we can pray these general prayers, but God will also show us that that's what prophetic intercession is. God will show us, hey, pray for this, this matter. And then as a leader, we pray through and the protection or the Shamar, the hedge happens around the people. So that is how we can foil Satan's attacks. So what happens when we pray through, those Satan has a plan, what have we done? No, we are one up over Satan and our prayers can actually destroy the plans of Satan. And that's what Jesus did for Peter and we should be ready to do this for others. Prophetic intercession can also help in releasing one's destiny in God. So obviously, when we recognize, you know, what people are called for or what people are meant to do, what happens? We are now able to pray all of it through. You remember, we said earlier that the prophetic word reveals one's destiny. That's fine. Now, prophetic intercession will also help one to move into that destiny that God has for them. So if we take, for example, Zacharias, he prayed over his son and he released all these prophetic words, you son, you shall be. And then, you know, he says many things regarding his son, how he will lead the way and bring people to repent. So many things he says. Now, that is to declare the prophetic word. But once the prophetic word is revealed, what happens? We now have to start praying it through. So that will look something like saying those prophetic words of destiny over your child's life all along. You know, you're praying it through and saying, Lord, you said that this child is going to be a worshiper or you said that is healing in her hands. Lord, you said that her words are going to be, you know, words of wisdom spoken over people. So you take those words and begin to intercede till when, till you see it manifest. Till you see it manifest. So that again becomes a responsibility of, you know, I'm not saying that people who are not in leadership don't have to intercede. But I'm emphasizing on the fact that we all have to be part of prophetic intercession. If God is revealing something, pray it through. But the responsibility is very great when we are in positions of leadership. And that does not mean only in ministry, even the family front. You know, if there are children, if there are people who are dependent on us, then God will usually speak to us regarding them, regarding their future and all that. And it's our responsibility to keep praying for them. So that's a little bit about prophetic intercession. So anything that anyone may want to add to what I said just now? Yes, Sivya. Thank you, ma'am. It's just a question. As you said that prophecies can also be revealed through dreams, right? Some of them. So I have a question regarding the interpretation of a dream. So if I had a friend with whom I used to pray regularly. So if at all we have some, you know, dreams or anything of that sort, we would share. And mostly if I have a dream, she would be able to interpret. And if she has one, and she even has dreams regarding me because she prays for me. So she would interpret for me. So I do not know whether it is the right way of interpreting. But usually how I would, whenever she tells me a dream, I try to ask her many questions. What did you feel? How was your, what were you going through as you were seeing the dream and such things. So basically the emotion that she was going through. So then I try to understand whether it is from God or is it from the able one. So I try to make the distinction. So sometimes it becomes really hard because it can be a warning as well. Right. So we don't know. Yeah. So I just want to know whether it is the right way to do it because I have, I don't have any experience as such like a training or a teaching about it. This is what, you know, that those times it was a difficult time in her life. This is how God used both of us in, in each of each other's lives. So yeah, I just wanted to know it's a right way. Okay. So thanks Sivya for sharing that we will later on go to a chapter where we will study in depth about interpretation and the right way to interpret. But for now, what you said from that, what I gain is that you listen to a person's, you know, that prophetic word and then you go by how you feel about it. Okay. So the inner sense of what that word produces in you, whether it's peace or whether it's a sense of urgency or something like that. And then you go ahead and interpret. So that's okay. That's totally fine. Sivya also tried to understand what that person was feeling, right? Like not only me, right? When she tells me sometimes I can understand the moment she's telling me, but I also want to know what she was feeling like. Sometimes it's like a chasing something is chasing her or a dream, a negative dream like that. So, but still, I may perceive it as, I might be perceiving it as something positive. Like it may be like, for example, this is just an example, a dog chasing, but it's just barking. So what I'm telling, what I see it is, as we say in the saying, the barking dogs won't bite, right? Like it's kind of what I could understand is it's just barking. It's trying to intimidate you. It is not going to harm you or hurt you. You have to just turn around and face it or just do that. So this is something that I tried to, from her perspective, she might be feeling fear out of it. But when I hear it, it could be a positive sense that I'm getting when I'm trying to understand the dream. So yeah, both ways actually, like from her perspective as well as what I'm feeling, I try to, and mostly I try to get a scripture rather than just a dream. I try to understand if there is a scripture that got highlighted or if something is coming to me as well when I'm hearing the dream. Yeah, and we pray basically pray on basis of that. So yeah, that sounds fine to me, Divya. So there are many, many ways in which or the order in which you actually interpret, you can go by the order that God is prompting in your spirit in that moment. But generally what we say is if somebody had a dream, usually the best person to interpret the dream would be them. Because they know all the details and the nuances of the dream and how they felt when they saw it. So ideally the interpretation that a person who saw the dream can have would be the best. But if that person is unable to, then they approach another person or they share and say, hey, come on, I saw this. What do you think it is? So few things there. As you said, we will pray, first we'll pray, we'll ask the Holy Spirit, okay, God, what are you saying? So as we are asking God, we might get a sense like how you said, you feel that, okay, this is God is saying, don't be afraid, you need to face the situation, you will come out of it. So we get the interpretation from that place of, again, we are also hearing from God. We are also using the wisdom of God. Now, when we use the wisdom of God, I'm just giving you a few keys. We'll touch on this later. When you use the wisdom of God, what I mean is, we have to keep it within the boundaries of God's word also, okay, because sometimes what happens, we see pictures, we see images and there are many interpretations for certain pictures, but it's best, it is right to go by the biblical understanding. Okay, for example, like if I see a tree, if I see a tree and that tree is very green and lush with lots of fruit and I wake up with a sense of, wow, that was beautiful. That tree is doing well, it's thriving. Then I'm trying to interpret that and generally, tree as if you look at Psalm 1 verse 3 over there, you see that he shall be like the man who does not walk in the council of the ungodly, does not sit in the seat of walkers. So when you read all that, it says that he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water who bears fruit in its season. So God is talking about a person who is doing well, who is now prospering because he's walking with the Lord. So that would be my interpretation. But if I go by all kinds of symbols, because lots of things are there in the world outside, which may tell us that a tree is supposed to be this or that, then we'll get very confused. So we generally try to go by biblical symbolism. So that is another key that helps. So pray, get a sense of what God is trying to say. Second is go by the Bible. So whether it is symbols or maybe you also said that sometimes God gives us a scripture, so we can use that scripture. Or we can ask for the operation of gifts of the spirit. So how does that work? Sometimes the operation of the gifts of the spirit works like we start praying or we get into interpreting it and it bypasses our mind. We don't even have time to think but we are saying all these things by the Holy Spirit. So that is the gift of word of wisdom or discerning of spirits. Suddenly that comes into operation and when it comes into operation, we are able to interpret. Like if you look at the interpretation of Daniel. So he prayed a lot. He prayed and then what happened? It was by the spirit that he got. He saw so many things and he didn't know what it was. But by the spirit of God, so the Holy Spirit is able to give us the wisdom or the Holy Spirit can cause us to flow in the manifestation of the gifts. So then again you can get the interpretation. So these are a few keys on how one can actually interpret. So very briefly Divya, we will talk more. That's really good. Thank you so much. So that's how we would come to what God is actually saying. But talking about prophetic intercession, I think there is a great need especially for believers today because we want to walk with the knowledge of what God is up to, what is God saying, what is God saying about my personal life or my ministry or my state, my city, my nation. The more we become prophetic intercessors, it's going to be a blessing. It's going to be a blessing to everyone. And when God reveals something, don't give up on it. Continue to pray, continue to pray. I remember the story of this preacher by the name of Steve Hill, some of you probably know about him. He passed away a few years ago and he was one of the preachers through whom the Brownsville revival thrived. So God used him powerfully in that particular meeting. But his story is something like he was far away from God and into drugs and so terrible that it seems the room in which he used to live with his friends, they used to take injecting drugs, so that bad and the roof was wooden so they would just throw the syringes up. So if you go into the room, you'll see syringes stuck to the roof and all. So his mother was a believer and she had all these words that were given for her son and she also went to the room and she saw the condition in which her son was and it just broke her heart to see that, oh, where is the prophetic word? What is he living right now? But she didn't give up. She continued to pray, pray, pray, pray. Based on what God was showing her that, no, my son is meant to serve the Lord and I'm not going to take this. So you see that so powerful when God is revealing something, our situation will be very contrary to what God has spoken. But it's going to take like this year, we have that word, no, at APC, pray through till breakthrough. So how do we know what is that breakthrough supposed to look like? The prophetic. God reveals it beforehand. He says, no, that is not the destiny of the city or this person or this family. So when he speaks to us and shows us, this is what the church is meant to be, a glorious, radiant church we start praying through. No, we don't stop. We start praying through and we see the fulfillment. So there's an incredible need for prophetic intercession. It cannot be emphasized enough and I can only pray that God gives all of us that spirit where we persevere with Him and say, okay, God, put it in my heart. Show me, put it. God is looking for people who will rise up and pray. So it's very important, this whole subject of prophetic intercession and it's going to stir up more of the prophetic. So what we can do is we can go on for a break because it's just about five minutes left. So I'll start the next chapter, the next session, but if there's anything else anyone wants to talk about, we can do that. Any dangers that you see prophetic intercession is good, but when God reveals something, do you see any dangers there? The way people take it and practice it. I think so much has happened. We've observed many things. I think mostly the way they convey it makes a lot of difference. Maybe what they feel is right. Maybe what they have got for us is right. The word is right. Even though when they come and say to us, we know that it's right, but the way they convey it makes us not to accept, in a very harsh way sometimes. Even if it's making a correction in us or if it's making us to give up on something on this life, I think there should be a way to convey it because if they are going to come and just scream at you about the prophecy like with all the authority and because I don't think, because sometimes even we know like we have to change this, we have to give up on this and someone can come and confirm this. But I think the way they convey it must be made out of love because I think that's what the Bible mainly talks about. We should do everything in love. I've had something like that. I know whatever he says is right, but my heart is not accepting because of the way he said it to me. But then I call myself and then I just focused on what he said and I just remember, okay, let's forget how he said it, but let's focus on what he said. But I think we just have to know that. Sure, thanks, Jeffina. Thank you for sharing. Yes, Sivya. Thank you, ma'am. Actually, I don't know if it is a danger, but last year I was just hearing about Dr. Yonichu. He was just telling about his experience of prophesying about the same revival that you were talking about, the Brownsville revival. In 1991, it didn't happen. In 1992, it didn't happen, and it just went on. In 1995, it happened. Then the previous years, he was asking God, you didn't give me a time, God. You just told me, okay, this is going to happen, but you didn't give me a time, God. So now I've become a false prophet because everyone was, it seems everyone was asking why this is not happening to him, even though he made a prophecy some years back. So yeah, there is a danger of, you know, sometimes a person may not know all the specifics, you know, but one other thing that not related to this, particular person, but in general also, I was thinking like even if God gives a prophetic word to us, there are people who wait on it, right, before releasing, who just try to again ask God and reveal and all these things. So yeah, it is, I feel like it's a good practice, but it's not in relation to this particular person I mentioned, but yeah, it's just saying as a general, yeah, it can be a danger also if we are very subtle, like a person is very immediately releasing whatever God is putting in their heart rather than waiting on it a bit to really pray about it and understand. Sure. Sure, Divya, thank you for pointing that out and, you know, we've experienced the world over when it comes to prophecy, what God is showing, God is revealing, that might be genuine, okay, in the hearts of the people, okay, that this is going to happen and all, but we've also seen a lot of confusion, isn't it? Like especially in the political scene where people are saying, oh, so and so and so and so will make it. Unfortunately, the very message which God has given people to silently pray through, they share it, it creates division, it creates confusion, strife among the people and that's not what it's meant for. So we must be clear about it and even, you know, sometimes prophetic intercession can be used for control, for example, let's say there are people who are in the prophetic ministry and they truly, God speaks to them, no doubt about it. But for example, if I just say that, okay, they feel that the church has to move into the heart of the city and from there, they have to do the services. So maybe the pastor has it in his heart, but he's just looking for the right time, the right amount of money to move into that particular place. But an intercessor could be pushing the pastor and say, see, God is telling me you're in the wrong place, you have to go to the right place, you have to go to the, you know what's happening, it's like more of a control from that place of hearing from God instead of praying things through that okay, God, you make the way for us to actually minister out of that place that you're showing to us. What's happening? The intercessors can be putting pressure on people, you know, based on what they are seeing, not giving them an opportunity to take time, make decisions and mature, you know. So these are all the dangers. There are many dangers if this is not used in the right manner. So that's a risk and we have to be aware of those things. All right. So let's go in for a break now. Let's come back at 10 or two and then we will continue with the next section on prophetic power. Thank you, everybody.