Tag: IHOP

Testimony Saturday: Art Museum and the Edge of Hell

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life1 Comment

Sorry this is a bit late to be a proper Testimony Thursday, but I decided I wanted to wait and put the testimonies from Thursday and Friday up together.

On Thursday I went on outreach for the first time in three weeks. (Two weeks ago we all had to be at a conference, and one week ago we were all on midterm break.) We decided to visit the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to evangelise. It wasn’t exactly the ideal spot, but we did have a few awesome divine appointments. I wandered around with two other interns. We ended up spending forty minutes talking to an 80-year-old Catholic security guard. We gave him a few prophetic words and he was very encouraged and amazed that we could actually hear God speak to us! In his theology only the saints could do that. We talked to him for about 45 minutes and he was so blessed and encouraged. He is a gem, so faithful to God in his workplace and in his family.

Last night we were at the EGS service at FCF before our outreach to the Edge of Hell haunted house district in Kansas City. I have to start with what happened at FCF because it was freaking incredible. During worship, one of the leaders got a prophetic word that God wanted to break the spirit of oppression off of people. People started speaking out to get free from stuff, because the power of life and death is in the tongue, and spiritual warfare isn’t done quietly in “receiving” mode. I prayed for the girl next to me and prophesied over her (which is something I don’t often do during services, but I was getting all fired up for outreach later and I decided I might as well jump into partnership with Holy Spirit a little early!). Then we all started singing in tongues for a good 30 minutes or so. Praying in the Spirit is powerful, guys. Heaven was coming into that auditorium.

I believe God ambushed that service just for the 60 or so of us who were going to Edge of Hell. He empowered us and prepared us in a very unique way, and the other thousand or so in the room got to reap the side benefits of God having his eye on us. We all got SO stirred up and filled and ready to rock when we had to leave towards the end of worship to jump on our bus. And then we proceeded to loudly pray and sing all the way there.

IHOP has been going for several years to this area to do outreach, and for several weeks this year alone. Last night was a bit more complicated than usual because there was a mix-up with where our bus was supposed to take us, so instead of assembling at the missions base to brief and then going to Edge of Hell inconspicuously, we showed up in the parking lot downtown in our big school bus. The police of course noticed us immediately and told us we had to stay outside the blocked off areas where the actual haunted houses were. This cramped our style a bit, but God wasn’t the least bit shocked or intimidated, so we spread out and started talking to people.

I was with one of the IHOP evangelism staff, Josh MacDonald and a couple of other interns. We considered breaking the rules and going beyond the barrier anyway, but eventually decided that wasn’t our direction, so we started walking along the street and ran into a free hot chocolate station a local church had set up! We talked to them for maybe ten minutes, prayed for them, and healed a guy’s ankle. His foot had been cut OFF in an accident some time ago and reattached at the hospital, then divinely healed so there was no pain, but the pain had been creeping back in. Josh prayed and commanded that thing to be healed, and ten seconds later, the guy was jumping up and down with a big smile on his face. Hallelujah. That same guy actually prophesied over me before we left. He had the name “Caitlyn” in his head before I even introduced myself, and the words he gave me were totally dead on and really encouraging.

A while later, we went into a vintage shop several of us really felt drawn to. It was an cool little place, very artsy and unique, but also quite covered in intense Halloween freakiness and we definitely sensed some very dark spirits. We wandered around checking out the antiques and praying for a couple people, but still not sure what God had for us. One of the interns suddenly remembered that God had given him a dream of this very shop two years ago. Eventually we met a woman who worked there and it soon became clear that she was why we were there. She was a Christian and she had been hit by a car a number of years ago, and the entire lower half of her body was still out of whack. We prayed a couple times and the pain wasn’t leaving, then Josh got a word of knowledge that one of her legs was shorter than the other. She readily acknowledged this to be true, so we sat her down and commanded the right leg to grow. It did–too far! (This is a fairly common occurrence when legs grow out, by the way. God likes to play.) So we then commanded the left leg to grow to match it. (I have to say that even though I’ve seen legs grow out a good dozen times or so, I can’t always actually clearly see the difference. This time was CLEAR.)

The woman was very encouraged and we prayed for her again. My roommate and I prophesied over her, and the woman started crying and sharing her story. She’s been through so much, but she’s not bitter and she’s a powerful light in dark places. She amazes me. It was past closing time when we left and we were the only ones in the store, but before letting us out she sang us a beautiful song about loving sacrificially like Jesus. Heaven touched earth, I tell you. Here in this dark shop where hell had a stronghold, light was shining brightly.

Our group wasn’t the only one that saw God move. There were a lot of healings and several people really considering giving their life to Jesus. [EDIT: Actually, from what I later heard, at least 7 people actually DID get saved that weekend!!] This is a Facebook status from an intern:

Went to the Edge of Hell Haunted Houses tonight and met a woman who had a headache and stomach pain and both were completely healed. Then she looked up at me and told me she was 100% blind and after I prayed she was seeing light and movement for the first time ever and she said the pressure and pain behind her eyes was completely gone! Come on!!!!! Hallelujah!

Amen. God is good! He uses ordinary people to touch a desperate world with power and love.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5)

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Midpoint Update

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

Hi, all! Sorry it’s been a couple weeks since I last blogged… I haven’t really known what to write about. I’ve been journaling a lot, but so much feels like things I’m still processing internally and not quite ready to share yet.

We just had our midterm break, and it was relaxing and delightful (as well as productive!) but I’m really happy to be back in the regular schedule again.

Halfway through. More than. I leave Kansas City in less than two months.

I’m not sure that’s really sunk in yet. I’ll be glad to see my family again, but I will miss sooooo much about this place… the people, the prayer room, the learning, the freedom, the like-mindedness, the stretching… I don’t know what I’m going to do when I go home and life just goes on, business as usual. I’ve had plenty of times in my life when I get all fired up and then “real life” sets in, and I just sort of… dull down. I can’t let that happen. I WON’T let it happen. When I came here, I felt like I was giving up so much, and this was my “wilderness” season. Ha. This is the sweet season of abundance.

Misty Edwards sang an oracle last night (what I like to call a “prophetic shpiel”) that went something like, “Don’t look back and waste your life remembering the good old days. Nostalgia will kill you.” I pocketed that one, because I guarantee I’ll need it in about two months. I don’t want to spend my time in Cali moping and/or trying to recreate IHOP. Ain’t gonna happen. Good news is… Holy Spirit doesn’t just live in Kansas City. This place is on his heart in a very special way, but guess what… so is California. I don’t need to worry about losing everything I’ve learned and experienced here, because it is a part of me. The DNA of my soul has been rewritten.

I have been sensitised to recognise when I’m starting to get dull, and I have a bucketfull of simple, practical tools to combat it, and a track record that says I know how to use them and I know they actually work. I don’t have to be in the prayer room to intercede, fast, pray in the spirit, meditate, or sing the Word. All I have to do is carve out a little bit of time and space and lift my eyes.

The things that are so easy to believe at IHOP are equally true elsewhere. The things God is doing in this generation are global. He’s raising up a praying church to sing back the King… and Kansas City isn’t living in some alternate reality bubble where that’s only true here. If it’s true here, it really is true EVERYWHERE.

However… I’m also increasingly getting the feeling that my season here isn’t over yet. (I’ll tell that story in a later blog, because it’s still just in the beginning stages right now. [EDIT: HERE it is!]) I’m starting to make plans for coming back, but a lot of things will have to line up in order to make that happen. I’d appreciate your prayers for direction and provision as I begin to step into the next season of my life.
God is so, so faithful. Every day I find myself recounting to myself the stories of how he’s met me and provided for me in the past. He sees me, he knows me, and money has never been an issue for him. If he wants me back at IHOP, he WILL provide. And I get to partner with him in that by giving in faith that his promises are true. That’s just how the Kingdom works.

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Let Us Run (Song 1:4)

On By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff

This should have been posted yesterday, but I instead spent the afternoon reading Mortal by Ted Dekker and the evening reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I do not see any contradiction in this, nor am I ashamed of my use of time yesterday. Except that I neglected to post a blog. Boo me.

So back into the game–here’s another taste of my thoughts on the Song of Songs!

“Draw me after you;”
(Song of Songs 1:4a)

This verse is my absolute favourite of chapter one. I love the yearning in it, the longing for intimacy, partnership, adventure. Draw me after you, Jesus. Seduce me. Woo my heart.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”
(Hosea 2:14)

He draws me away into the secret place by revealing his beauty and whispering his love for me until my faze is completely captured and my heart is overwhelmed with love. All the world is so still there; nothing else exists. Everything else fades away and it’s just the two of us, gazing at each other, whispering tenderly to each other’s hearts. When he begins to open my eyes to who he is, who I am, and the glorious destiny he has planned for us together, every fear and doubt fades away and my only desire is to follow him forever.

“Let us run.”
(Song of Songs 1:4b)

Then comes the running. Let us run, Jesus. I want to run with you.

I picture Jesus taking my hand, winking at me, and whispering, “Run.” And then off we go, leaping over mountains together. Oh, the running. Seriously, there’s an outrageous amount of running involved.

Okay, Whovians, I know you know exactly where I’m going with this. Think of that first moment when the Doctor took Rose’s hand in the dark when she was about to be attacked. She had never seen him before, but in that moment he became her saviour. He said only one word: “Run.” And they ran together through all of time and space. For the Doctor and his companions, it’s always the running–to danger, from danger, always together, always running.

That’s me and Jesus.

What does running with Jesus actually look like on this planet? What sort of adventures are in Jesus’ heart? I think running with him is partnering with the passions of his heart. It’s Isaiah 61, for starters:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
(Isaiah 61:1-3)

Running with Jesus means running to the battle, whether that’s in intercession, justice, evangelism, whatever. It’s all of these and more, maybe in the nations of the world, maybe in your corner grocery store. It’s bringing hope, freedom, joy, and beauty. It’s proclaiming the favour of the Lord, and also his righteous judgment. It’s seeing what he’s doing in the world around you, and acting with him to bring his Kingdom. There is a massively glorious partnership here. We do all of this with his hand in ours, having been drawn away in intimacy so that our heart beats in unison with his. We know his  voice and we move when he moves.

And then the most glorious phrase of all–

“The king has brought me into his chambers.”
(Song of Songs 1:4c)

The King of Kings, my King, has drawn me into the place of deepest intimacy. This is the place of encounter. This is the Holy of Holies.

I don’t even know how to write about this. A deep, warm silence falls on me every time I think of it.

The King has brought me into his chambers.

I’ll leave you with that, then. Go meditate. Ask the King to draw you away into the most secret places of his heart.

And then you’ve got an awful lot of running to do.

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Testimony Thursday – Welcome to the Kingdom!

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

Today was BY FAR my favourite outreach day. We went again to UMKC, which as I said before is my favourite location at which to evangelise. I was with a woman in the evangelism department named Julie who looks like a little ol’ grandma but packs a powerful punch in the spirit. She will talk to anyone, and people listen to her as she simply and boldly lays out the gospel. She frequently ends up praying with people to accept Jesus. Today, I went out with her and a fellow One Thing intern who had never evangelised before. I kinda knew what I was doing, but it usually goes pretty awkwardly, and the testimonies I come back with are usually that we had a divine appointment and got to bless someone’s day. And maybe something minor got healed. Which is great–we’re definitely planting seeds, but I personally have never witnessed anyone get saved or even radically healed on the street before.

What we did today, or rather what we watched Julie do, is pass out cards advertising the prayer room. Those allowed us to get a bit of a gauge on how open a person was. From there Julie would ask if the person had a church, and then would share a bit of her testimony of growing up in church but never really understanding the gospel till much later when she finally confessed her sins and accepted Christ. Then she would ask if the person had ever done something like that, and if not, she would explain the message of the cross and ask them if they would like to pray that prayer.

Simple enough, right? We talked to ten or so people this way, and THREE of them got saved, and FIVE came really close!!

The first was a girl who may have been Indian, I’m not really sure. She had no experience with Christianity at all, and she was really receptive when we told her about the cross. She prayed the little salvation prayer with Julie, but I didn’t get the feeling she really knew what she was doing. So let’s pray that the seed fell on good soil and God keeps revealing himself to her!

The other two we prayed with were Arabic and probably Muslim. They were very interested in the prayer room, and as we started to talk to them they both pulled out little Gideon New Testaments they had been given earlier that week! (Come on, UMKC Christian clubs, keep it up, God’s watering your seed!) They said that they really wanted to read them but couldn’t understand them, because they were in English as well as NKJV. Just as I was about to get their addresses so I could buy them some Arabic Bibles, the other intern with us had the brilliant idea of Bible apps for smartphones! One of the guys handed her his phone, and she quickly found him an Arabic Bible app. He was very excited, and both of them intend to read it. Julie also got them connected with IHOPKC’s Arabic ministry.

We talked to them for probably fifteen or twenty minutes, and after we prayed for salvation with them, they said they felt a lot of peace. It was incredibly glorious to watch God work like that!

UMKC really is one massive open heaven right now. People are so, so open to having spiritual conversations (as long as they’re not late for class) and many are really hungry and searching. Plus, it’s perfect for me, because I know college students.  I know the search for knowledge and purpose. I understand the skepticism as well as the openness, because this generation is willing to try anything, but they don’t want to do it blindly. We talked to one guy who was some sort of art major and had been studying a lot of different religions. He hasn’t committed to Christianity yet, but he was telling us what made the biblical narrative, from the Fall all the way to the cross, so unique. He was intelligent, articulate, receptive, and looking at it all through the lens of an artist. If he hadn’t been on his way to class, I would have loved to spend an hour talking with him. (Get him, God. I want to have coffee with him in the Millennium.)

Jesus is so jealous for UMKC. He loves that campus. Those students were born to be his bride and his inheritance; they just don’t know it yet. And it’s my privilege to get to tell them.

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'”
(Matthew 9:35-38)

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Testimony Thursday: Faithful in Little

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

I went on outreach again today to Oak Park Mall! It was awesome. I admit, last week I was a bit disappointed because I felt like I was on the sidelines a bit, but I shook it off and today was much better. My partner and I talked to at least ten people and prayed with over half of them. I really feel like God set up some divine appointments for us.

We prayed for a couple of women who were working a lotion store. They were both the sweetest, most joyful people ever, both Christians, and we loved getting to encourage them, because they encouraged us so much too!

We prayed for a teen girl in Macy’s who had a swollen pinkie toe. She wasn’t healed, but she was definitely touched, and as we were walking away we encountered a woman who had been interested in our conversation. We asked to pray for her, and she said her life was a mess and she had actually been praying right before she came around the corner and saw us. We encouraged her a bit, and although she didn’t want us to pray right there with her, we prayed together for her after she walked away.

Those were my favourite encounters today. Our other groups came back with stories of a leg growing out, a Methodist couple getting healed and then radically baptised in the Holy Spirit, a couple of atheists agreeing to come to church tomorrow, and a guy coming to the brink of giving his life to Christ.

I realise, I’m not at the place some of the others are. I’m not super prophetic or dramatically anointed for healing. But I do have the Holy Spirit inside me–I know the truth, I hear his voice, and my voice carries power. And he is stretching my faith and teaching me to partner with him more.

As we were briefing and praying before going in the mall, our leader said, “Jesus isn’t here [in the flesh] today–you are.” That started me thinking… what would it be like to go evangelise with Jesus, if he was the partner I was strolling through the mall with? I imagined holding his hand and walking through the stores as he waited to see what the Father wanted to do, then watching as he healed the sick, spoke truth, and brought hope to many.

Then after I watched him with several people, he would say, “The next one’s yours. Go talk to that woman right there.”

“I don’t know about that, Jesus–I mean, I’m not you,” I would probably say (or at least think, which would basically be the exact same thing.)

“What are you talking about?” he would say. “You can do this. I’m right here. I’ve got your back.”

And I would go and do it. Jesus would be right there, giving me the words, silently encouraging me, healing when I asked him to. Not everyone would be receptive, but Jesus and I would be faithful together, to at least offer what’s available.

How painful is it for him when he asks me to go and I don’t because I don’t really trust him?

I know he enjoys me even in my immaturity and is so proud when I step out as far as I can, but sometimes I know I let him down. I’m not always a faithful steward of what I’ve been given. But as I push my faith to the limits now, he’ll give me more faith and more insight, and one day I really will consistently see the lame walk under the touch of my hand. I would love to suddenly be blasted with a massive gift of healing and prophecy, and I am constantly praying for more faith and more anointing, but in the meantime I want to be faithful with what I have. My light might not yet be a full bonfire, but I refuse to hide it.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'”
(Matthew 25:21)

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Bringing Jesus Home

On By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, IHOPKC Life2 Comments

The past few days have been wonderful, overwhelming, emotional… but it’s okay because I like crying. 🙂 God’s doing good things inside me, although I’m not entirely sure what yet.

On Friday night I attended a night of the Call2All congress hosted at FCF. It’s a gathering of church leaders from around the world to put together world evangelism strategies. (Check out Call2All on Facebook with pictures of the event.) At the service I was at, they talked about what was going on with world evangelism and told us about a meeting that happened at Amsterdam 2000 with a few hundred leaders of the world’s most influential ministries such as YWAM and Campus Crusade. They were presented with a list of a couple hundred of the world’s remaining unreached people groups and by the end of the day, they had divided up the list among them and committed together to reach them all. Ideas were flying, partnerships were formed and strategies were devised. The Body of Christ has been mobilised and no corner of the planet is safe.

Also, China is mobilising thousands of missionaries in a divinely inspired “back to Jerusalem” movement aimed at spreading the gospel throughout all the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim nations geographically located between China and Israel. I saw many prominent evangelism leaders on stage at FCF on Friday night (along with the governor of Kansas) joining hands with underground church leaders in China (although most of them couldn’t be on stage because being recorded on camera would endanger their lives) and committing together to do this thing. I watched spiritual history being made.

Let me slow down and explain what this means. This is not another “That’s cool, one more step forward.” This means that the finish line is in sight and the Great Commission is more than likely going to be FINISHED in our lifetime. These leaders are expecting it to be complete in their lifetimes, and they’re all 60-70 years old!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:19)

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
(Matthew 24:14)

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne… crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”
(Revelation 7:9)

One of the main things Jesus is waiting for before he returns is this completing of the Great Commission. And let me repeat—THE FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT. We are no longer in the “drop in the bucket” stage. We are witnessing the beginnings of the final sweep of the gospel in the nations before Jesus returns. Very, very soon, we’ll be living in Revelation.

Jesus could very possibly, dare I say easily, be back on Earth before I have grandkids. That is not a joke or wishful thinking. That is the evidence of the signs of the times.

This is not the era of “someday he’ll return, won’t that be nice” like it’s a sweet fluffy little “happily ever after” in the vague future. No, one day SOON he’s going to SPLIT THE SKY and come with a roar and the sound of a trumpet. (Is 64:1, 1 Thes 4:16) All of creation groans for that day. This planet is on the edge of its seat, waiting for the revealing of the sons of God on the day when the Firstborn comes home. (Rom 8:19, 23)

This is what I’ve been freaking out about. I cannot possibly live a “normal life” in light of this. The only thing that matters anymore is preparing his bride, bringing him home, and seeing him face to face. What will he say to me on that day? Will he honour me by standing like he did for Stephen? (Acts 7:56) Will he give me the crown of righteousness for those who have loved his appearing? (2 Tim 4:8) Will he say “Well done, good and faithful servant”? (Matt 5:21) A thousand years for now, most of what I’m now filling my life with will not matter. What will stand when my life is tested by fire? (1 Cor 3:12-15)

Peter said we can “hasten the day.” (2 Peter 3:12) There are two specific ways I know of to do this: through prayer/ worship and fulfilling the great commission. He is raising up a 24/7 prayer movement of a lovesick bride crying “Come!” (Rev 22:17) and he is raising up a missions movement to carry his glory to the ends of the earth. (Hab 2:14) And now, he is joining them together.

“They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west. Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One.”
(Isaiah 24:14-16a)

What will that look like for me? Do I join IHOPKC? Do I join YWAM? Do I live as an ordinary radical SAHHM (Stay At Home Homeschool Mom)? I don’t know. And for the time being, I am okay with that. There are a few things I know about my destiny. God’s been revealing these to me one by one, uniquely tailored to me. I was made to:

  • Pour out my worship like Mary of Bethany. (First Commandment)
  • Cast vision for who God is and what he’s doing. (Second Commandment and Great Commission)
  • Live with the clear endgame of Jesus’ return to marry his Bride and establish his Kingdom.

That is what my life is about. I want to bring Jesus home. And that day is suddenly looking very, very close.

People, get ready.

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Testimony Thursday: Rose Garden Encounters

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

Good news! I finally got to go on outreach again today. As soon as we got in the shuttle to head out, the leader said he felt God wanted us to break out of our routine a little bit. We prayed about where to go and two people felt God was saying “park,” so we went to this huge gorgeous park in Kansas City that I’d never been to before. Not many people were there since it was a Thursday afternoon, but we walked around for about an hour and a half and had some excellent conversations with people.

As we were entering a nice little rose garden area of the park, my group first met a woman who was tending a flower bed. She was a Christian, and we just got to encourage her in her walk with God and pray for her niece, who was going through a difficult situation with her parents. The woman was really blessed. Next, towards the back of the garden, we met another woman who had a back injury from work. We prayed for healing, and she was so touched that even though she wasn’t healed, she started crying as she opened up about all the struggles this injury had caused. We got to pray and speak prophetic words of love and hope into her life. God definitely touched her in a powerful way. We also talked to three other people and prayed with two of them, and definitely planted some good seeds in the third guy.

I heard snippets of stories from the other groups that showed God was definitely doing powerful things among all of us. One of our groups talked to an agnostic couple, and got to share the full gospel with them before getting shut down. Another group saw two legs grow out. According to our tally sheet, someone even got saved, but I didn’t hear the story on how that happened.

Last Friday at the FCF church service some of us were praying for one of the interns who was sick. She had had a fever all afternoon and evening and felt horrible, but was determined to stay for the service. We prayed, and within a minute or two it completely cleared up and she was fully healthy from then on out. I loved that, even though I think I was struggling with expecting God to actually heal her. As soon as she said she felt completely better, the first words out of my mouth were, “Are you serious?” But it really happened, and we were all so excited and turned it right around into praise.

God’s been talking to me a lot about building my faith. I’ve come to the realisation that faith is a gift, it’s not something I can work up for myself. I can’t do anything at all without God, not even have faith! My faith is small and weak, but all I have to do is keep stepping out and risking, and one of these days God’s going to break through and use me and my little weak prayers in a big way. It’s his job to use me and keep giving me those fresh baptisms; it’s just my job to keep making myself available whether or not I feel it. It’s a partnership, but as has always been the case with God and his people, his faithfulness more than covers my weakness. And he loves to partner with me whenever I step out! It’s not about me; it’s all about his Kingdom anyway. All he asks is willingness and that little mustard seed.

“So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
(Acts 14:3)

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Better Than Wine (Song 1:1-3)

On By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff

One thing IHOPKC is really big on is the Song of Solomon. That’s perfect for me, because I am too. It’s been my favourite book for years. I’ve savoured all of it, even though I’ve only understood pieces of it. It’s so great to finally get some good solid teaching on it verse by verse as a spiritual allegory. I’m just going to share the first little bit of the Song today, because there’s sooooo much good stuff but these first few verses are what I’ve spent the most time with.

The Song of Solomon, also called the Song of Songs (my preferred title), has two main ways to interpret it: the natural interpretation, which celebrates romantic love between a man and a woman leading to marriage, and the allegorical interpretation, which celebrates the love between Jesus and his Bride. This can certainly be taken for the Church as a whole, but it also works beautifully to see it as an individual journey between you and Jesus.

“The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.”
(Song of Songs 1:1)

The best song ever, the ultimate. It’s like what we mean when we say “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!”
(Song of Songs 1:2a)

This is the woman, the Bride, speaking. Notice that she’s not talking to her beloved; the first sentence is to a third party. In the allegorical interpretation, that would be the Father. She is asking the Father to let Jesus kiss her. What does it mean to have Jesus kiss you with the kisses of his mouth? What proceeds from God’s mouth? It’s his Word. “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) So really what she’s saying is this: “Father, let Jesus kiss me with the kisses of his Word!” She longs for that tender caress of hearing Jesus’ words spoken to her heart. (Insert all of Psalm 119 here.)
This has become one of my favourite things to pray. I long for that touch, that intimacy. And I love that it comes through his Word! Logos and rhema, Greek scholars– the written word and the word spoken by the Spirit to my heart. That’s where my life comes from.

“For your love is better than wine.”
(Song of Songs 1:2b)

The second part of verse two is spoken to Jesus. “Jesus, your love is better than wine.”  She’s declaring her priorities, and saying that more pleasure can be found in his love than in any other kind of pleasure available anywhere. Nothing can satisfy like his love can. We were given the capacity to experience love and pleasure because HE is the ultimate love and pleasure! Why do we run to so many other things when his love is better than all of it?

And it’s not just the sinful or even the neutral pleasures of this world, either. His love is even better than his blessings. He gives so many good things, but his raw LOVE is better than them all.

“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”
(Psalm 4:7)
“…In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
(Psalm 16:11)
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!…”
(Psalm 34:8)

“Your anointing oils are fragrant”
(Song of Songs 1:3a)

Guys, what does Jesus smell like? What scents surround his throne? Can you even imagine? It must be so sweet, heavy, wild, intoxicating.

Paul talked about the “fragrance of the knowledge of [God.]” (2 Corinthians 2:14) I like that idea, but I also think it has to do with the fragrance of sacrifice. “…as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2)

How do you release the fragrance from a plant? You crush it. “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) His crushing released the fragrance.

I want to take in Jesus’ wild, sweet fragrance. I want the scent of heaven to saturate me.

“Your name is oil poured out”
(Song of Songs 1:3b)

His name is the essence of his character; it encompasses all of who he is. He is like oil poured out… we can think of his name being poured out over all the nations, his fame spreading and his glory covering the earth. I like that, but continuing the sacrifice theme makes it more personal to me.

“And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.'”
(Mark 14:24)

Paul talked about being “poured out as a drink offering.” (Philippians 2:17; 2 Timothy 4:6) How much more was Jesus poured out for us? He poured out his blood like wine, like oil, flowing down that cross and covering us.

“Therefore virgins love you.”
(Song of Songs 1:3c)

“We love him because he first loved us.”
(1 John 4:19)

His love draws us in. His love seduces us. Even those who only know him a little bit, ie new believers, can’t help but love him. Our love is a response to the revelation of his love. You want to love Jesus more? Get a revelation of his love for you.

And I think I’ll stop there for today. I’ll save my favourite verse of chapter 1 for next time. 🙂

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Testimony Thursday: Dreams, Revival, and Restoration

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life

Hello, all! I’m writing this from a cute little coffee spot called Cafe Main, right next to the Exodus Cry office in Kansas City. It’s a beautifully rainy day off and I’m starting to believe fall is almost here. 🙂

I was looking forward to sharing some more outreach testimonies today, but the group left later than I expected them to and therefore I missed them. 🙁 Next week hopefully, then.

A lot has been happening just among the interns, though, and some of it relates to the IHOPU Awakening that happened here in 2009. There was a period in 2009 during which God visited particularly the IHOPU students in a dramatic way. There was crazy joy breaking out, tons of manifestations of the Spirit, lots of healings, and mostly lots of revelation of tangible love. God’s presence rested so thickly for a while, and then it lifted and the “normal” rhythm returned. Recently many of the interns have been feeling that God is getting ready to release another wave of his Spirit on us in a big way, and many of us have begun fasting and crying out for this revival. There have been a number of confirmations, and even some of the IHOPKC leadership team are getting very excited for what God’s about to do. I’m just praying it will come before I leave in December!

Many of us have also felt an increased burden for sex trafficking in the world, too. Yesterday three students shared dreams they recently had about God’s heart for these girls. Here’s the main message of them all: God’s heart is breaking, and our prayers REALLY DO change things. As we pray, God is releasing comfort and hope to specific girls who desperately need him. One day soon Jesus is coming back to set every captive free, and in the meantime he is raising up intercessors and deliverers to bring a partial fulfillment of that promise now.

In some ways it’s scary to be brought into God’s heart for these ones, because the pain he feels is so crushing. But at the same time it’s powerful to realise that he wants friends to weep with him, and partners to help bring justice. It’s a huge honour to get to stand in intercession and partner with his heart in this way.
We’re seeing answers to our prayers in other ways, too. A number of the interns have been praying for struggling family members, and God has been responding in big ways. One girl has been praying for her dad, who has been homeless and on and off of drugs for years. As she was praying, he got off the streets and started living with his mom, and he’s been clean for several months, which is longer than he’s stayed clean in a long time!!

Another girl shared that her parents, who are divorced, experienced a crisis which made them realise they still loved each other, they started dating, and they are now RE-ENGAGED!! God is the Father of restoration!!!

As for me, I’ve been enjoying tons of mini-breakthroughs in my personal relationship with God. Fasting is much easier now than it was at the beginning, and God’s been teaching and revealing a lot to me through it. I’ve also been working on spending my time more wisely, which has been a pretty foreign concept to me most of my life. But I only have three months left here (yikes!) and I really do not want to waste them. And I’ve been finding so many amazing things in the Bible as well!! Here’s something that blew my mind recently:

“Go out, O daughters of Zion, and look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.”
(Song of Songs 3:11)

In the spiritual interpretation of Song of Songs, the beloved, the king, is Jesus. So what is this crown that Jesus gets crowned with on his wedding day?

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.”
(Proverbs 12:4)

It’s us! The Bride is Jesus’ crown! So who, then, is the mother who crowns him? Here’s what I think:

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars… She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.”
(Revelation 12:1, 5)

I think maybe she’s the woman of Revelation 12, who represents Israel and is portrayed as Jesus’ mother.

Isn’t that awesome? Guys, this is how the Bible was meant to be read, where you’re in the whole thing so you can actually use Scripture to interpret Scripture. We gotta have the whole counsel, guys. It’s so much more fun that way. 😀

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Snippets

On By CaitlynIn IHOPKC Life1 Comment

Hello again, everyone! I was realising it’s been way too long since I blogged, so here we go. Sorry Testimony Thursday hasn’t happened in a while, but I haven’t actually gone out on outreach since UMKC two weeks ago. On-base testimonies lately include a girl at IHOPU who’d been suffering from a nervous system disorder for two years get out of her wheelchair two weeks ago!!

I served again in CEC on Friday night, and it was awesome as per usual. We talked about Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks. I feel like I got some really good clarity right alongside the kids!

I spent last weekend in North Carolina for a friend’s wedding. It was absolutely beautiful to see these two wonderful people join their lives together before God. And since I’ve actually never met the bride, I spent the hours leading up to the wedding hanging out with the groom and his groomsmen. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to be sure!

This weekend has been consumed with the Zechariah conference at IHOPKC. Twelve sessions in three days going through Zechariah and its end times prophecies verse by verse. It was intensely amazing. I’ve never really studied that book before, so I am so excited to take my notes back to the prayer room and pore over them again!

I’ll leave you today with one of my new favourite passages from Zechariah:

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”
(Zechariah 2:10-12)

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