Speak Life

Throughout life you will have people that with their words speak life into you and your situation, and you have others that speak quite the opposite. It seems that in situations in life, especially life altering situations, there is someone saying one thing with another person saying quite the opposite. Voices, people’s opinions, the ones that say you will never make it, that is what we are going to talk about today. This blog post will be generally geared towards a calling to ministry, but I feel that you will be able to apply this to many areas of life, no matter what your age may be.

This blog post is inspired by someone who told me that someone my age could never handle the spiritual warfare that a missionary goes through. This person said that if you are not in your 50s/60s that you would not have gone through enough spiritual warfare to be able to handle it overseas. This shook my spirit. I could not think of anything for the next twenty-four hours. I began to pray and rebuke that word spoken over myself and my entire generation. Now, I am not pretending to know what a missionary goes through. I do know that if you are missionary, or really in any ministry and you take your children into an environment, there will be some battles, as hard as you may try, you cannot shield them from. I do not feel called to go overseas, but if tomorrow God said go, I would.

No one knows the spiritual battles that I fought and faced, and no one knows the spiritual battles you have faced. I could write of spiritual battles that I have faced all day and not get to the end of it. I am not trying to say I know it all or have faced it all, because I don’t and I haven’t. I would go to dinner with an elder over someone my age any day of the week. There is a beauty in someone who has been through something you are going through. There is beauty and something to gain from our elders.

However, if God has called you, He will equip you, no matter your age. There will be voices along the way telling you that you cannot make it. I encourage you today to learn the voice of God. There are teenagers trying to figure out the will of God for their lives, but there are also middle aged adults and elders trying to follow and figure it out as well.

I may only be in my twenties, but I have fought spiritual battles. I don’t know why God would have me share this, but maybe it is just encourage someone else. I’m going to be honest, I do not feel that I have anything to prove to anyone. I do not need to prove that I am qualified, or called. I know without a doubt, God has called me to be exactly where I am.

The next couple stories are some things that I went through as a young teenager.

I started being attacked by a suicidal spirit at the age of 11. This would come upon me suddenly and felt very dark. It was not all of the time, but just a sudden attack that happened at different times over around ten years. I am going to stop right here and say I am not talking about a medical diagnosis, nor am I going to touch on that. I am talking about spiritual experiences. If you have suicidal thoughts, reach out to someone, there is help and you can make it through this! It is not something to mess around with. Most importantly, there is a God that loves you, and you are here for a reason.

I remember times when I was younger that God started calling me into intercessory prayer (11-15 years old). I wasn’t sure what exactly that was, and if you do not know, that is ok, keep reading. I would experience the power of God all over me, and begin to pray in the Spirit, but what it was about, I wasn’t sure. However, when I was 16 years old I felt the same thing I had felt many times before, but this time, I knew who it was for. I was praying for my great grandfather. I remember that night so clearly, as I stayed up most of the night praying in the spirit for him. Around eight in the morning I got a phone call from my father telling me that he had just passed away. To me, that was not expected. He was gone. How could God have me awake praying for him all night for him to be dead the next morning? What I didn’t realize at the time is that I was fighting in a spiritual battle that night. I ended up starting to fight another battle from the moment I got that phone call, bitterness and anger towards God (read more on this in next week's blog post).

There are young people that are fighting battles that no one else knows anything about. We live in an EVIL world, and I believe our children will face even greater spiritual battles than recent generations. People say this often, but do we really realize what we are saying?

I have seen and experienced things that if I typed it here, some would not believe me. No one really knows my full story except for God.

I am going to switch gears a little bit here to talk about when God calls you. In my experience whenever God calls you to a certain place (ministry, deeper relationship with Him, etc) there are two “voices”. One that confirms or encourages, and one that discourages.

When God calls you, don't weigh whether you have accomplished enough to do what He is calling you for.

Whenever we first felt God tugging on hearts (calling) us to evangelize we knew we didn’t have the experience needed to do it. We knew that we weren’t “qualified”. We had people telling us all of the above too. We had people say that my husband wasn’t a good preacher, we couldn't handle the spiritual things that go on in churches and different cities, we wouldn’t have any revivals (services several nights in a row) in our first year, we wouldn’t get rescheduled at churches we had already ministered at, we would be struggling for money, and I could go on. However, we knew what God had laid on our hearts. Despite what others said, the things that were true and that were not, it did not matter, because we knew without a doubt what God was saying to us. With everything that was said, in our first full year of evangelizing there were only three Sunday’s where my husband did not minister at a church, we had revivals, we were extended at churches, God blessed us financially and we were able to pay over 10,000 dollars on our truck, completely paying it off. I am so thankful that we didn’t listen to man's voice, and we listened to God’s. He took every one of the awful things that man said to us, and proved them wrong. We knew God was saying something different than what man was saying, and decided to listen to His voice instead of the people around us. You listen and follow after Him, and He will do what He said.

When God calls, you have to know what His voice is saying. You need to have your fleshly man set aside through prayer and fasting. It is very important that you submit and follow the guidance of Godly leadership. You have to listen to God’s timing, and not push yourself to be where He has shown you for the future. When the time is right, and the door is open to do whatever God is leading you to, GO!

God calling you may not be selling everything and leaving where you are.. Maybe your church needs a door greeter, and you need to step up. Maybe God is calling you to a deeper walk with Him. There are different seasons and different places that God calls and leads.

It doesn’t have to make sense to others. It doesn’t have to take the “normal” course; although, there will be a process.

There was a word prophesied over us before we went into full time ministry, that confirmed to us it was going to happen. This person that prophesied said it was going to happen “quickly”. I remember time passing by, and it sure didn’t feel quick. I remember one day God laying this on my heart during prayer.

The birthing process. You’re pregnant for a time then comes the labor. In the natural some people labor for hours, while others do not. With my son I gave birth less than an hour after my first contraction. I wasn’t able to have medication that I had planned, it was QUICK and painful. Whenever we went into full time ministry, it was not a slow transition, my husband got a call, put in a two week notice, and that was it. (We were in full time ministry for six months before being full time on the road)

I believe this is something God is doing spiritually in this hour. Yes, God is still going to take you through a process - no matter your age, young or old - but it may be quicker than the “normal”, it may not be how you planned, and it may be more painful. The end result is still something beautiful. Every birth in the natural is different, there are no two the same. I believe that every birth spiritually is different, there are no two the same.

I have written all of this, but I feel God truly laid this on my heart.

While most people have been focused on how bad the younger generation is, He has been raising a mighty army.

The voice we need to listen to is God’s. I declare, there will be young pastors, missionaries, prophets, apostles, ministers, evangelists, and workers in the Kingdom of God, despite what others may say. God has called, and we will answer. In Jesus Name!

If you are 35 and God called you to be a missionary, He told you to go, and opened the door. GO! God has equipped you.

If you are 22 and God called you to pastor a church, He told you it is time, and He opened the door. GO! God has equipped you.

Teenagers, 20s, 30s, 40s… You are not too young. You are called, follow after the voice of the Lord. I believe there are teenagers fighting battles no one knows about or could imagine. They are fighting battles that those before them haven’t fought. These young people have great callings on their lives. I don’t want to speak against what God is doing in this hour. I want to speak life into those younger and older than me.

You do have to follow after the timing of the Lord, but it doesn’t automatically mean you have to be 50-60 to do what God is calling you to do now. As well as if you are older does not mean God is done with you. We need older saints singing on the platform, giving Bible studies, and teaching the younger generations! From what I can see in God’s word is that age isn't really a concern of His. Rebeca birthed past bearing years and Josiah was a king at 8 years old. Let God write your story, not a negative voice.

I hope through all that I have written today, that you are encouraged to pursue what God is calling you to do, whether you are a teenager or in your eighties. Use your words and your voice to speak life into those around you. No one knows the battles you have fought, and that is ok, man didn’t call you, God did! Don’t compare your ministry to those around you, your story is different.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21