Nola's email: nola@worldaccessnet.com

I love to pray, to teach, and I really love to "prophesy in the marketplace." My friends think I'm a crazy woman, I embarrass my teenagers (even though they tell me in private that it's cool), and my husband probably secretly covers my marketplace escapades with prayer while he is at work. He likes to quiz me at night about some of my adventures when I went out of the house for the day....God wants it to be fun, you know!!

PROPHESYING AT WAL-MART

This morning at Wal-Mart I decided to see how many people God might let me prophesy to - and I was amazed at His faithfulness to help me deliver (hopefully) accurate (there were no complaints anyway) and compassionate words. I was directed to three couples and three individuals - the individuals and one of the two couples turned out to be Christians. In each situation, I simply introduced myself and excused myself for appearing strange, then explained that as I looked at them from the other end of the aisle, it felt to me like God wanted to say something to them. As I proceeded to share, I found an exhilaratingly warm reception, even from the elderly couple that were initially offended that I would invade the privacy of their shopping experience. Truly, I felt, the harvest IS white and ready unto harvest and I'm not going to say "it's still coming" any more! As I recounted my story to a friend later, she asked if it didn't occur to me that someone might complain to the manager and I might be asked to leave one of these days....or get arrested! Actually, I have never given this a thought! (Maybe I should...!)

LIKE THE BLUES BROTHERS

It was apparent from their reactions that the words touched the hearts of each one, even though half of them also looked a bit perplexed initially. [Wouldn't you, if a perfect stranger walked up and said they had a message from God for you?? I know it got "The Blues Brothers" into a lot of trouble - for all you Belushi Brothers fans...] After praying or prophesying to a stranger, one always wonders about its true impact.

"So, Lord, what's with that? Was this just an exercise in obedience --- simply "practice" in the prophetic?

I didn't lead anyone to Christ--no one fell on their knees and repented right then and there; and I will probably never see any measurable results--because they were all strangers to me, and I to them."

BUT WOULD IT HAVE LASTING FRUIT?

A couple of them appeared nonplussed, perhaps they smiled and nodded just to be polite to the "strange little religious lady" in the Wal-Mart store. I don't know if it will bear any lasting fruit... It might be dismissed as just a small thing or entirely discarded like some wad of paper to the "round file".

Of course, those who attempt prayer and prophesy in the marketplace know that it's an act of faith and a willingness to be used by God for something as simple as this trip to Wal-Mart. We know we risk looking foolish or "missing it".

We think, "if this person ever sees me again, they'll probably point and tell their companion, ‘There's that weird person I told you about in Wal-Mart. NOTHING she said to me made any sense.... I think she's some kind of God-psychic.'�

SO WHAT'S THE POINT?

We ask ourselves, "So, if that's all there is to it, Lord, what would be the point??"

A SEED BED OF HOPE

I was pondering this later tonight at a prayer meeting, when the Lord spoke to me and said, "If all my saints were prophesying in the marketplace, the seed-bed of hope would be laid and the spiritual revolution they seek for their communities could be realized." His voice in my heart was very "matter-of-fact", while I, on the other hand, had to come home and look up what a seed-bed is! According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the definition is as follows: "seed-bed n. 1. A bed of soil cultivated for planting seeds. 2. An area or source of growth or gradual manifestation."

That is quite exciting because there is the admission that no seeds are really sown yet, and that any manifestation would be gradual....and then the Spirit explained it further to me: "Prophesying in the marketplace prepares the hearts of the people in a community with HOPE."

EDIFYING, ENCOURAGING, COMFORTING

The prophetic word edifies, encourages, comforts, challenges, and arouses curiosity. For the unbeliever or the ungifted, they go away wondering (or convinced) that God still talks to humans, and it gives them HOPE that He is "alive and well", and far "nicer" than they were hearing He is! Hope cultivates the soil of their hearts to receive, at a later time, the word of salvation (for the unbeliever) or the challenge of holiness and empowerment to obey (for the believer). If believers were prophesying at work or at the bank, the store, in line at the movies, at the gas station or the post office, then the soil of the community would be getting all stirred up, all over, with HOPE!!

CULTIVATED SOIL PRODUCES FRUIT

The parable Jesus told of the Sower and the Seed teaches us that well-cultivated soil produces fruit that multiplies, while poor soil does not. Wisdom shouts that if there is a way to cultivate the soil and produce "an area or source of growth or gradual manifestation", shouldn't we pursue it with fervor?

The Lord is challenging His people to take chances - you CAN prophesy or pray with strangers in your community. All it takes is a prayer of faith and a little courage to act...and He will do the rest.

So...contribute to the seed-bed of HOPE in YOUR neighborhood! Break up the hard clumps, remove some rocks, add a little fertilizer and PREPARE THE SOIL TO RECEIVE what the Lord wants to bring. Get plucky, you saints!

LAST WEEK, THE LORD SAID, "SURPRISE ME!"

I heard the Lord last week say. . .

"Surprise Me. Stop doing the same old thing. Take the PEPSI challenge at the soda fountain. You say I bore you lately? I see you go to church and prayer meetings, worship and devotions and I see your heart-felt intercession,--but I've given you so much--so freely, and yet you keep it inside the walls of the church. I'm glad you edify the saints and the occasional unbeliever that enters, but you're ready to TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!! In fact, you're LONG OVERDUE. I'm already out there - I've been preparing hearts with hunger and thirst for HOPE! I'm waiting....SURPRISE ME! If you've never started a conversation with a perfect stranger before, try it this week. Surprise Me. If you've never asked a stranger if you could pray with them, ASK AWAY! Get my attention. Surprise Me!"

THE CHURCH HAS BEEN PRAYING FOR THIS . . .

We are asking the Lord of the Harvest for laborers....but are we willing to get out into the harvest field and labor ourselves?

Before the invention of tractors, the hardest part of field work was preparing the soil, especially if it was untamed ground----You never know what you'll find when you put the spade to the earth and scoop up a shovelful. Without the preparation, the seeds cannot find their way into the surface, and the roots cannot grow deep. God doesn't want a short-lived crop any more than we do. He wants "the fruit that remains".

So Surprise Him, and you might just surprise yourself!!

Love,
Nola
Nola's email: nola@worldaccessnet.com