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from Howard Espie Listen to this short word from Scottish prophet, Howard Espie, for the Canadian Church. Howard has been mentored for years under Kenny Borthwick and John Paul Jackson, he now lives in Canada and the Lord has given him a deep love for the Canadian Church.
 By Fr. Stephen Barbour
October 30, 2015 True North Conference Recounting a prophetic word received a year earlier while on a private group tour of Parliament: “So as I am sitting in his seat [Prime Minister Stephen Harper] praying, the MP who had let us in had asked if we would pray for more of the presence of God in the House of Commons. I’m sitting there and Jesus starts to speak to me of His sovereignty. I think that all of us had this sense going in to Parliament of the awe and the authority we’d feel there — but there’s actually a real lack of it. And so as I’m sitting there, God starts speaking to me about His sovereignty and His authority. He tells me, ‘Stephen, this Prime Minster is not going to win the next election’ and He begins to tell me about what’s coming for Canada and that the one who will replace him will actually have scandal (and while we’re praying for positive), there are going to be things of evil entering Parliament Hill. And He assured me, ‘Stephen, this is part of my plan, because I will have dominion from sea to sea.’ And I think we’ve begun to be afraid of what this next Prime Minister is going to do and He’s saying, ‘No, no Church, I am trying to build something glorious in this country, and I am sovereign and I am the reigning King, and I will have dominion from sea to sea in Canada.’ So as He was telling me this, I actually began to be really excited, and we could feel the anointing of God in our country and His superiority and His power seemed to trump everything in that room and we were in awe being there together. So He told me, ‘as the world begins to look at Canada for all the negative things, for the scandals that are going to come, for the evil that will take place, the world is going to look on Canada with disgust.’ And He said, ‘in that time, I am going to build My Church and and they are going to build a stage for the whole world to see my glory in this country.’ So where we’ve been worried about politics and government, He said, ‘I and turning the eyes of the world to this country so the Church can stand and show the world my glory.’ So Church, He’s calling us to look at this election with heavenly perspective, that He is sovereign, He is reigning and in His perfect and holy plan He is calling the Church to rise up and proclaim His glory and to convey His love and grace to the world around us.” by Sara Maynard  Photo credit: dailywildlifephoto.nathab.com The Purpose of the Prophetic:
"The primary purpose of spiritual gifts (including prophecy) is to cause the Church to flourish -- because the Church is the hope of the world." ~Jeff Schroeder The Plumbline of the Prophetic: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit (the essence) of prophecy (Rev 19:10). This is not testimonies about Jesus but the testimony of Jesus — which is the gospel. So if in our prophesying we’ve succumbed to the pressure to be like Christian fortune-tellers bringing forth predictions, but who don’t point people to Jesus, His cross and the power of His resurrection— we’ve missed the mark. Prophecy is for strengthening, encouragement and comfort (1 Cor 14:3). This is what the gospel, (the Good News) does in our lives, but as it does, it doesn't enable our dysfunction and immaturity, rather, it calls us to freedom in holiness, surrender, and carrying the cross. If our prophesying is omitting the challenges of the gospel, and has become only affirmations with predictions of promotion, wealth and favour, we are prophesying amiss. We likely have been swayed by the fear of man, or a desire to be liked, which are fatal flaws for a prophetic person. The Renewing of the Prophetic Many years ago I had a vision of an old-school filing cabinet which was full of prophetic words people had received and saved. The wind of God came and the papers flew out of the cabinet, with the light ones flying away and the weighty ones, the ones that had the true substance of the word of God in them, remained. It was an image of separating of wheat and chaff. This sifting was to help us to believe what God had spoken, and to let go of that which had come from man’s hopes and good intentions for us. We are in a time where God is breathing in a fresh way on the promises He’s given us. Let’s not be afraid to let go of the words that were presented as “prophetic words’’, but which were actually from a human source and which stroked our egos and coddled our flesh. At the same time let’s revisit the words we have saved that have great weight on them, that are full of the gospel, that have truly come from God. These are the words that call us to love and trust and joyfully surrender to our wonderful Jesus more; they are full of a future and a hope for us personally and for the Church of Canada. Let’s revisit them, pray over them and let’s believe again.  In a recent Ears to Hear Network meeting, the contrast between Mary and Zechariah was highlighted by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1). The sharp contrast lies in their responses to the proclamations of the angel Gabriel. Zechariah was receiving the news that his prayers had finally been answered and he would become a father. It was the miracle he had longed for, cried out for, yet, when the promise of the answer came - he responds in unbelief. "How shall I know this?"
Mary on the other hand, hasn't been praying for a child, hasn't been longing to be the mother of the Messiah, so this news is a total shift in the direction she expected her life to take. Yet when she hears the promise of Gabriel, her response is a faith-filled wondering, she then receives the calling and promise with surrender. Soon after we have Mary's glorious song--sung in faith before she can physically feel the divine life moving inside of her--a prophetic song that has become an anthem of worship for the Church through the ages. It's so full of the gospel, that at times it has been outlawed. However Zechariah, even though he was a godly man, a priest and an intercessor was silenced until faith could grow in his heart. Like for Zechariah- unbelief will mute the Church; it has muted the Church where it has gained ground. However, faith, true faith, will give the Church--like Mary--a glorious, powerful, even-- irrepressible voice.  A PROPHETIC SUMMARY FROM EARS TO HEAR As the Ears to Hear Network of Canadian Prayer and Worship Ministries gathered at the beginning of September, this is what was shared as key prophetic sounds being heard across the nation: Sounds of a New Season We are in a new spiritual season, but seasons are incremental in change, so the new is emerging but doesn't fully manifest all at once. Some of the new features that will mark this season are the result of global shifts that God is orchestrating.
 The Canada Day weekend was full of all kinds of prayer and unity gatherings, Ears to Hear, as a Network of preyer and worship leaders, was very well represented at most of these, doing our part as each one was assigned. It was awesome. A highlight for most of us was the corporate moment where 3 different gatherings (Watchmen, the Cry, those gathered at NHOP) plus Giulio Gabeli from Vancouver representing the Voices Together gathering, and Kenny Blacksmith from Mistisini all took communion together over zoom!
The next day we began our Ears to Hear Summit and we were very blessed with what the Lord said to us, and how he ministered to us. The most weighty piece came from Jane Jones, who had shared, “We’ve looked at the giants so long, we’ve forgotten what Jesus looks like”. The Lord spoke to us strongly about the 3 main giants in Canada of the LGBT lobby, Islam and the secularization of our society, and how following all the details of their advances has shifted the heart of the Church into fear, just as in the moments where Israel was poised to go into the Promised Land and their hearts melted with fear because of the giants. The remedy was to refocus on Jesus and be disciplined to keep Him in the centre of our attention and ministry, allow Him to fill our hearts with revelation and awe at His glory and from that place lead us into prayer for issues He wants us to pray for. Worship played a really major role in setting our focus firmly on to Jesus and shifting our hearts through this Summit, it was so good. With this challenge in mind, Sara Maynard taught on how unbelief manifests in a Christian (who would never say, “I don’t believe God can do that”). I think we all identified with some of the areas and realized unbelief needed to be cleansed from our hearts afresh, for our personal walk and for us to lead boldly so others can follow in faith. A beautiful time. Rob Parker followed on with a short teach on dependance, and then led us into prayer for revival in Canada. There was lots of oil on prayer for the Universities to see an outpouring of revival! Very exciting! Kirk Smith facilitated the final session and shared about the importance of standing in the victory of Jesus, rather than coming under a victim mentality. It’s again a posture of faith. Different words from leaders in the Network who couldn't be at the Summit added to this flow and from this point, we stepped into a powerful prophetic release. It was such a blessing to see the clarity and authority of the prophetic that erupted. From Mike & Cindy Jacobs As shared by Mike Jacobs
(husband of Cindy Jacobs), Oct 23, 2016 Mike Jacob awakened at 5 AM with the Lord speaking and reminded him of a prophetic word that was released in the early 1980's from their prayer network: "A REVIVAL will start in WESTERN CANADA, sweeping from the west to east, and then go down the into the United States, and into Mexico, Central America, and South America. And God was speaking to me in the morning, 'Have I not said there is going to be a REVIVAL?' So He is stirring this word once again, and we are going to start seeing this revival. The Lord also said 'As a dynamic of this revival, there will be a significant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Catholics - the charismatic Catholics are going to be very involved in this.' It will come like fire for the charismatic Catholic church, and He kept saying for them 'embrace the fire!'. The Lord reminded me about a word that God gave Cindy some years ago, 'When there is this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it will cause some of the Catholics to move away from any idolatry, the statues, and there will be like a pure branch of the Roman Catholic church, this may even cause a split to some degree in the Catholic church. The traditional evangelicals, charismatics, and Pentecostals, will be amazed at the power and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in terms of signs, wonders, and miracles in the charismatic Catholic Church.'"
SUMMARY REPORT
This year’s Ears2Hear Summit (January 19-21) was completely different than any other one we have held! While not as large as last year’s, (which was our largest ever), still a very good group of prayer leaders gathered at Spencer Castle in Victoria and were overwhelmed with the warmth of the Church in Victoria’s hospitality. As we have gathered we always have tremendous times of prayer, worship and prophecy and also typically have teaching, updates and guests sharing on important topics for national prayer. However, this year, our seventh Summit, the Lord directed our entire time to one focus; get ready for revival. How are we being asked to get ready for revival? There is the obvious and practical work of getting ready for heightened evangelism and discipling that applies to the whole Church, but there is specific work of preparation for the prayer movement as well. These were some of the ways the Lord highlighted we should now be preparing:
by Patricia King On January 31 at 5:55 a.m. during a time of prayer, devotion, and preparation for our Shiloh service where I was going to share my Sunday morning message titled “There’s Revival in the Air”, I had a heavenly encounter. Here is the account:
The Golden Ladder (Genesis 28:10-17) I was on a moving golden ladder/stairway ascending into heaven. The Lord’s voice spoke: “I am taking you to new levels”. (This was interesting to me because I had just finished teaching a two-day mentoring seminar called “New Levels of Intercession”.) I arrived in the heavenly dimension and felt “weightless” – very light and without burden. The Lord’s voice spoke: “I will show you things that you know not”. Waiting in the Corridor Immediately I was in a corridor in front of a door. Although the corridor had a degree of glory in its atmosphere, the sign on the door said REVIVAL and produced an unquenchable passion in me to enter. An angel stood outside the door guarding the room. Some were approaching the door but could not enter because they did not have the right key. I saw one approach with a key called HOPE. The angel smiled and said, “This key will not give you entrance into the room but you can wait here in the corridor outside the room. Stay close to the door.” Another came with a key called DESPERATION. Again the angel said, “This will not permit you to enter.” Yet another came with a key called EXPECTATION. The angel communicated, “You are very close. Remain here at my side.” The Key that Opened the Door Many others came with various keys but none of them were able to open the door. The corridor was full of people waiting and longing to enter the room. One approached the angel showing the key called FAITH-FILLED PRAYERS. The angel’s face lit up and proclaimed, “This is the key that will open the door”…. And the door opened. The room was full of light, glory, beauty, and the essence of a holy fire. The atmosphere was pure love and holiness… joy. Everyone who had previously stood waiting in the corridor were now immersed in the glory of the room called REVIVAL. The River The glory was not contained in the room. I saw a river of revival flow from the room flooding the corridor and moving rapidly into the earth. Individuals who had no keys in their hands previously were being swept into the current of the river. Some were elated and others were shocked and in wonderment. Others were standing on the banks of the river angry and offended, attempting to stop the river. Some of the resistant ones however were swept into the river and carried by its current as their anger and offense was dissolved in the river. The river was unstoppable. The room was full of people and the power in the room was so weighty…it was the power of love, purity… it was fire and it was glory…it was rain and it was light. It was everything! SO intense was the atmosphere. Those in the room were experiencing a weight of great glory and those outside the room were being powerfully impacted by the river that flowed from the room. I then saw the river break off into tributaries …many tributaries. The river was filling the earth! The Corridor of Revivals The Lord then walked me through what was called THE CORRIDOR OF REVIVALS. On the walls were large framed photos of past revivals and each photo was like a door you could enter and explore. Some of the ones I saw were The Moravian Revival, First and Second Great Awakenings, Maria Woodworth Etter Revivals, Welsh Revival, Azusa Street, Aimee Semple McPherson Revivals, Kathryn Khulman, the Toronto outpouring and many more… I then saw Him hanging another framed photo on the wall of this corridor… a new revival… End of encounter. Prophetic Word “The Lord says, ‘I have prepared a revival for you, an outpouring of My Spirit that will be filled with My glory, My fire, My love. Birth this outpouring with the key of FAITH-FILLED PRAYERS. When you see the first signs, continue to pray and continue to birth. Do not simply remain in the corridor that has a measure of glory but press through with passionate faith-filled prayer and enter the room called REVIVAL. I will show you things that you know not. I will reveal kingdom mysteries to you in this season. I will demonstrate My power and there will be a great harvest as the river of revival goes to the nations. Partner with Me for I desire to pour out My Spirit in a new wave upon the earth in this hour. The keys of HOPE, DESPERATION, and EXCPECTATION are important keys that will position you in the corridor but it is the key of FAITH-FILLED PRAYERS that will open the door to the fullness of what I have for you...for all.” Key Scriptures that were quickened to me after the encounter: Ezekiel 47:1 – 4,9,10,12 NASB (1) Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. (2) He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. (3) When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. (4)Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. (5) Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. (9)"It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. (10)"And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. (12) "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." Revelation 22:1-2 NASB (1) Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, (2) in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 1 Kings 18:41-46 NASB (41) Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." (42) So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. (43) He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times. (44) It came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.'" (45) In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. (46) Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel. James 5:17,18 NASB (17) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. (18) Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. Revelation 4:1 NASB (1) After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things." Patricia King Ministries www.patriciaking ministries.com fb: patriciakingpage By Sara MaynardFor I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Cor: 2:2 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:17,18 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… Rom 1:16
and the depths of fellowship with one another, and intimacy with Christ that comes out of Phil 3:10 (..the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings).
2) A year where the gospel will be fully unveiled. First to the Church, with the revelation of the cross and the power of the gospel to absolutely transform (and keep on transforming) hearts, lives and society pouring in and awakening the sleeping Bride. Secondly to the nation, as the Church awakens to this revelation, evangelism will erupt and extraordinary harvest begin, in fact we are beginning to see the initial signs of this already. This revelation will be as compelling and revolutionary as the Father’s heart revelation that came to the Church in the 90s. 3) A year where the cross brings unity, but also division. Deeper unity around the cross will transcend denominations, racial strife, cultural differences. Unity that goes beyond man centered unity to unity that’s truly Jesus centered. Maturing beyond doing stuff together, and being fellow-workers to the place of hearts and spirits are joined in holy koinonia and communion. Unity that’s abounding in deep love, being willing to serve and even suffer for one another. But at the same time, the Church will struggle with division as some will pull away in offense and confusion, rebuking the work of the cross, even teaching that we are not called to carry the cross. Mt 16:22-24 4) A year where worship explodes. Songs steeped in the wonder of the cross and the greatness of the gospel of His kingdom, will lift high Jesus in new language and awe. A great awakening of sustained worship will result and the power of God will flow to heal, deliver, encounter, and save in the midst of the worship. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” Jn 12:32 I don’t believe this renewed emphasis on the cross is an event that will be contained in 2016, but will begin in greater ways this year and continue on. Glorious days are before us, the praying Church has much to contend for!! |
About these words...Ears2Hear loves and honors Canada's prophets! Listening to the prophets is of course a key part of listening to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. We walk closely with the Canadian Prophetic Council, and so generally publish words the CPC is releasing. Archives
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