“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
Psalm 103: 17-18
What a joy it is to be with you again for the Prophetic DISCRNR’s Podcast. Much of what I’ve shared in my podcasts lately has flowed out of my Standing Strong in the Anointing material, but today I’m making a shift due to prophetic encounters I have had in recent days.
For two nights in a row, I was awakened by the voice of the Lord, and because of these encounters this month’s word is simply this: Awakened by His Voice.
As I share, I’ll be pointing you to a resource of mine, Hearing God’s Voice Today, a practical guide for listening to the Holy Spirit and recognizing His voice.
The First Night: A Word of Destiny
There was a thunderstorm the night of the first encounter. Even before I fell asleep, there was a sense of expectancy and a feeling that something was about to happen.
Then it came in the middle of the night. An electric presence of the Lord filled my room, and a lightning bolt crashed right outside my bedroom window. This was not a vision. I sat straight up, wide awake.
My clock read 4:18.
And the voice of the Lord came to me and said, “It’s time for Luke 4:18.” Then the room was filled with a distinct atmosphere, an atmosphere of destiny.
These are the very tools I use to receive and interpret revelation. What time is it? Is there a scripture that correlates? What is the atmosphere when you awaken? So there I sat, wide awake, watching and praying. After a while, I turned on the lamp, picked up my Bible, and read it:
Luke 4:18–19 says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
This is that account where Jesus, in the synagogue at Nazareth, opens the scroll of Isaiah, finds the place, and reads it out loud. He then declares that the word was fulfilled in hearing it. Something like that happened with me. The voice of the Lord came, I was awakened, and it was time for Luke 4:18. In the prophetic movement, that passage has played a very significant role.
We all have a choice. Do we believe these prophetic messages? Will we step into the destiny? Will we be awakened by His voice?
The Second Night: A Word of Expectancy
The next day, I was doing some professional video shoots. That night, I went back to my room, laid out my Bible and my phone again, prayed, and went to sleep. There was no thunderstorm this time, but I was still in a posture of anticipation. If the Lord wanted to speak, I wanted to hear it.
And at an earlier hour than the night before, I woke and sat up in bed again.
The clock read 2:28.
And the voice of the Lord came and said, “It’s time for Joel 2:28.” This is the very passage the apostle Peter picked up on the day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2:17.
Acts 2:17–21 reads:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams… I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath… The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Now, I’ve never really been someone caught up in the blood moons and sharing about it, but this time, the issue of the three signs in the heavens caught my attention.
The first night, the room was filled with the tangible atmosphere of destiny. The second night, it was filled with the tangible presence of anticipation and expectancy.
An Honest Word: Can I Believe Again?
I’ve had a couple of weeks to chew on these two nights. Why did I have this encounter? Is it for me? For a special group? For all of us? A confirmation word for the larger body of Christ? How about all of the above?
The atmosphere of expectancy has challenged me. Do I believe it? Yes, I believe it. Do I believe I will see it?
I used to. For sure. I’ve given my life to all of this, but do I believe it now?
When you’ve waited and waited, and you’ve walked through many different movements, and some of them have carried more disappointment than fulfillment. You once again have to confront the disappointment and ask, “Can you believe again?”
There is an overhyped revival culture, and there can also be overhyped promises that are like clouds with no rain. And then there is the real thing.
I am being challenged to believe again. It’s not that I ever stopped believing, but there is a difference between having believed and choosing to believe now.
I believed this word when I was in the category of “your young men shall see visions.” I never imagined I would find myself confronted with the invitation to believe again, while I was in the category of “your old men shall dream dreams.” I’m the dreamer now.
An Invitation to Believe Again
I believe some of us need healing. And I believe this is an invitation— an invitation to believe again, and know that the scepter of the Lord is being lowered to you.
Maybe this is one of the first times you’ve ever heard of such a prophetic encounter, and you’ll receive it with fresh faith. Or maybe you’ve heard it over and over, and you need to renew yourself and know that it truly is time for a Luke 4:18 and a Joel 2:28 moment.
And here is what is so amazingly pure about this whole encounter: it leads us straight to the written Word of God. I believe we will yet see a revival of the Word and the Spirit brought together.
It is time. We are being invited into an awakening. An awakening that is anchored in the Word of God and propelled by the Spirit of God.
Psalm 29 is a great place to go and meditate, pray, and believe. Our Father’s voice comes to us in a great variety of ways. We need such moments of enlightenment; otherwise, we get locked into set patterns.
It is so good of God to temporarily shut down one channel in order to open up another. He has not quit speaking. He is opening our hearts and minds to hear Him in new ways, so that we will keep growing in our relationship with Him.
Because God’s goal is to have a real relationship with us.
Go Deeper
If this word stirred something in you, the resource I most want to put in your hands is Hearing God’s Voice Today. This book provides practical help for listening to Him and recognizing His voice. A wonderful companion to it is Releasing Spiritual Gifts Today. You can find them both at GodEncounters.com, on Amazon, or at your local bookstore.
Remember, at God Encounters Ministries, God encounters are for everyone. And yes, God encounters are especially for you.
Amen and amen. God bless you!
James W. Goll
