03.27.2011 The Finish Line!

We can see the finish line! A week from today and this Intro to IHOP internship will be a wrap. It is hard to know how to feel about that, actually! There is such gratitude for the heart exchange and encounters I have had with the Lord, for the new friendships with men and women with like hearts/minds that challenge me to go higher into my own consecration and holiness and to have become so keenly aware of purpose. The other side of the coin is that wow, this season is ending and that always involves shifts/changes and who knows what things will really look like a few months from now? No matter what, it is a comfort to know that I, like you, are in the palm of His hand. I have seen repeatedly the past 6 months that His leadership is perfect and His heart and intent for me is good!

The picture above is of my sweet friend Michelle who married her love Whitney several years ago. She just posted this picture and I had to grab it for this blog because it is truly a 'picture' of my call. Though I was not an actual bridesmaid at her wedding, I did have the privilege to pray with Michelle right before her wedding ceremony....praying into her marriage, her role as a bride/wife. As I finish up this internship and step into the next season, I know I am to help prepare the Bride of the Lamb....Jesus! The church is to be one who has made herself ready, prepared in her character...without spot, wrinkle, holy and blameless. We are living in the time of great adventure!

I will be doing some traveling around for a short season before jumping back into my place here at IHOP-KC. I look forward to getting to see many of your faces and share more of what all God has done and is doing with my life and to have the opportunity to catch up with your lives. Thank you for all the love, prayers, encouragement and support....this has certainly been a joint effort! May you all know His favor and grace in greater measures for the day/season we are in.

Love you all much,

Heather

02.19.11 LIFE!

Today ends our 6th week of Track II....that is hard to believe! We are now running prophetic ministry and healing rooms in the prayer room. What an awesome opportunity to minister the heart of God to people who need to know His love and power! Another huge blessing to me has been to watch my fellow interns, along with myself, growing in so many ways. What can be done with a company of sons and daughters who grab a hold of who they are in Christ, press to know His heart and then move out in confidence in the gifts and anointing He has given to each of them? And I am not talking about just here in KC!

This afternoon we did our first 'Life Siege' at a KC abortion clinic where 6,000 babies loose their lives each year. We stood around the property with red "Life" tape over our mouths in identification of the little ones who have no voice for themselves and prayed for the ending of abortion in our nation....appealing to the Higher Court of heaven for righteousness and justice to arise for the unborn. From what I have been told, somewhere during this time of standing silent and praying, the Lord begins to wreck your heart with His own heart over this issue. I found that to be true.

Interestingly enough, I have two friends who do not know each other, both are due about the same time, both are having girls and I found out within about an hours time frame Wednesday morning that both will carry the name "Justice". And then another friend commented on my FB photo from the Siege that a couple of weeks ago the Lord kept speaking about justice for the year 2011 through 3 or 4 different people at one of their church services. It is evident that this is a stirring the Holy Spirit is awakening in the Body of Christ. As we begin to lift that cry/prayer to the Lord, coming into agreement with the intercession that Jesus Himself is making at the right hand of the Father (He ever lives to intercede for us), heaven and earth are going to press for justice and righteousness together! I heard many years ago from a minister in North Carolina that, "The intercessors get to participate".....in what the Lord is doing. Since we are all called to pray without ceasing, this includes all of us! I keep being struck with the humility of the Living God....He wants and allows us to labor with Him? Nothing less than amazing!

It was such a different intercession experience to have such a deep cry and an inward groaning for justice but to be completely silent. In that silence and with the tears I was getting such a sense that our prayers were resounding through the heavens like thunder before His throne! I was also deeply convicted for the years I have spent fairly unmoved by this common reality of our American culture. As we have this growing cry for justice to spring forth in our lives, our nation and in the world....are we ready for what that might look like? Just as in childbirth, the transition is a bit rough, but the reward at the end of the whole process is new life! So it will be as God brings about justice in the earth.....making wrong things right....the transition might be a bit rough, but afterwards.....Life!

Much love to you all!

Heather

02.07.11 Firsts

Well, February is well underway! It is my hope and trust that this finds you all well. As I consider the past few weeks it struck me that I have had a couple of 'firsts'.....like my first blizzard last week! As we were hearing the warnings of the coming storm and they kept tossing around that word....I had to wonder what they were talking about...at trip to DQ?! Well, now I have been educated by experience! This shot of my car was just prior to a little time of whiteout. It was amazing to watch the foot of snow, which is now an ice pack on all of our yards, accumulate that day. What a Creative God!

Track II of this internship is concentrated, "hands on" training for obtaining our PHDs...prophetic, healing and deliverance! We are receiving some of the most down to earth, practical instruction, laced with such humility on these three areas weekly and then being given opportunity (sometimes known as sink or swim!) to put our hands to the labor in these three areas. This past Saturday my Track II spent almost 4 hours doing prophetic ministry over Track I which has over 100 students! The time alone was stretching but by virtue of having some experience with the prophetic I ended up leading one of the teams. What I didn't know was that as the 'leader' I had to give the first word over each person that came through our team and if the team stalled, it was my job to prophesy and kick it back into gear. What?! Nothing like a little pressure...and that's not quiet how my prophetic flows. Give me 5 or 10 minutes and I might hear something or I might not! Well, Saturday certainly changed my status quo! It is just a blast to have to lean on God....and you find that He is there and He is faithful! It was a pretty cool day, though it wore us out. I also found great delight in watching some of my fellow interns start out so hesitant but then found that flow and just enjoyed ministering words of life. Makes one wonder what other tricks the staff have up their sleeves for the next couple of months??? :)

The Holy Spirit is bringing such clarity to what I have been called to and that in and of itself brings such a confidence. As I finish this internship in April I know that I will be remaining here at IHOP-KC as a missionary, ministering to the Lord in prayer and worship, first and foremost, in a full time way....as my occupation. Ministry to others will be an overflow from that place....and oh what opportunities abound here, even to touch the nations!

As always, know that I am so grateful for all of you that He has placed in and around my life! May you know His favor and grace, as well as having all wisdom and understanding for the time and the season we find ourselves in. He is Faithful! Much love in Him.....

01.19.11 My Year of Jubilee

Well, Happy New Year ya'll! Suddenly I find that Thanksgiving is gone, Christmas came and went...then there was the New Year and here I am at the start of Track II at IHOP-KC. I had such good intentions of adding posts to this blog while we were on break, however....! Hope you entered this year with the knowledge of His grace and favor on your lives. He loves you so.

The holidays were a bit of a whirlwind as I traveled about during the 3 week break. Mac, Sophie and I spent 11 days in Arkansas with my mom. David joined us for a couple of days at Christmas with his 10 or 11 week old German shepherd puppy. That made for some entertainment...watching Sophie who is maybe 10 pounds soaking wet, backing down this puppy that was more than double her size...even crawling on her belly with her tail wagging!! Was able to connect a little bit with a couple of the folks that I use to work with there. Overall it was a quiet time. I then headed to Alabama to return the dogs to their "foster home". I had an extended stay there due to some auto body work that needed to be done, but I won't mention any names Michael....and then I got snowed in by their biggest snow like in over 20 years. It was beautiful! I was able to grab bits of time with many while I was there....and that was special to me. I so appreciate everyone God has brought into my life. If I missed you this time....we will work on my next visit!

We have kicked off this internship and were just trying to get into the rhythm of it....and it snowed like crazy yesterday! So we are having an official 'snow day' today! The classes we have had thus far have been incredible. I am excited about what we will learn and gain in actual hands on training. It all stirs the hunger to walk in the Spirit...truly hearing and seeing as He does and then being able to speak His words into people's lives and watch their heart open to Him.

I woke from a dream yesterday morning where I had seen "Matthew 11:3" When I got to the prayer room yesterday I looked it up and it was a very familiar passage to me. It starts out with, "and said to Him, 'Are you the Expected One?' It then goes into Jesus answer, 'Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended in Me.'

I had just sat through several classes that brought out the various scriptures that tell us to earnestly....with fiery zeal...long and pursue the gifts of the spirit. In contemplating that fresh stirring and reading this passage, of which I have spent much time considering "blessed is he who is not offended in Me"...I saw a new revelation. In the days ahead we will need to have the same report to give those who are seeking the Truth (Jesus)....it's going to be a part of their ability to not be offended as things become darker and more confusing as the end of this age approaches. The question is...will we be able to give that same report??? Go, report what you hear and see...the blind see, the lame are walking, the deaf hear...the dead are alive and the poor are having the gospel preached to them. There is a connection between the testimony of His power and mercy being performed on the earth and their ability to not be offended at the wisdom of His leadership! May we all press into all that He has for us to mature into for His name sake and His glory!

Well, I celebrated my 'Jubilee' birthday today....50! That is just the wildest concept to me....can't really grasp that one for myself. 50 belongs to all those other people. But I love the thought of Jubilee....'those who have sold themselves into slavery get released'. I am claiming that one over my life this year! Freedom in Jesus, right?! As always, may you and your family know HIs Presence, grace and favor in the days ahead. Love you all much!

11.19.10 Gracious and Compassionate....

Greetings all! Everyone gearing up with Thanksgiving plans? I will be heading down to mom's to enjoy the day with her and David. Will be a short trip as nothing closes at IHOP....will just have to miss a couple of days of class/prayer room. It will be good just to get in the car and drive for 6 hours, out of the schedule/routine that has been life!

Needless to say there is so much I could update you all on but neither you nor I have time to write or read that novel right now. I can say that I am pretty floored at God's graciousness, tenderness and compassion as He is ever so gently revealing His heart for me. This week the Intro Track II interns (I am in Intro Track I at the moment and will start Intro Track II in January) have been doing a prophetic practicum and pulling people out of the prayer room who are interested in receiving prophetic ministry. Tuesday I got blessed with this opportunity. Two of the women both saw the same thing. They saw me at the ocean enjoying the sunset...relishing it as His handiwork; His painting. They both shared His heart's response to me in that place of delighting in His creativity, it's beauty. It so ministered to my heart to realize that He sees that part of me that does see Him in nature, sees parts of His heart revealed in it and that I enjoy Him through those things.....He delights in me that I delight in Him! It seems relatively simple but that particular day it ministered to a wounding of my heart where I had been mocked in the past for this very aspect of my personality. It was as if God was taking back that ground for me....totally validated who He had made me to be. It was awesome. When I returned to the prayer room I was just marveling at how He would bother to speak through two different women...just to make this point clear to me...a particle of dust! (We were formed from the dust of the earth; Genesis 1!) As soon as I had spoken that thought to Him, the Holy Spirit immediately whispered, "You know that when the dust of the earth mingles with the Light of the Son....that's how I paint the sky!" I was speechless as He then downloaded His delight to use us to display the colors and shades of His glory in the earth as we sit before Him....mingling with Him...the Light! He will reflect out of our lives, revealing Himself to those around us in His beauty and splendor. Wow. So next time you feel like a dirt clod...nothing special, a failure....go and watch the sunset! Oh what He can do with a little dust....

Love you all much! Know that you are in my heart and prayers. Have a blessed Thanksgiving and safe travels to those who will be on the road.

His,
Heather

11.01.10 "The Time of Singing is come..."

Greetings on this first day of November. As I was sitting here pondering where to begin or what to share, Song of Solomon 2:11, 12 came to mind immediately. "Behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come..." That is how I feel this evening....as though a long, rainy, cold winter has given way to the new life of the next season. I stand amazed at what God can do with a heart!

This Intro to IHOP internship has been described as trying to drink from a fire hydrant and I think that is a completely accurate picture of my life right now. Our schedules remain packed and everywhere you turn there is more of the word spoken to you, written to you (I have a huge collection of notes from classes and church services full of scripture that will take me a year to really study out for myself already!) or being sung over you in the prayer room. Almost daily I am having a significant God encounter....those places where He just lifts up His voice in whatever manner He chooses that day that let's me know He is intricately involved with me, my heart and my life in this season.

There is so much I could try to share, but no way to even record all that is being touched in my heart these days. I do want to tell you that this past week was life changing...at least to this life! Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no revelation (vision), the people cast off restraint...." This week God took opportunity daily to bring me further revelation of my identity in Him. With fuller revelation and understanding of what my function or assignment is within that identity, I just found a freedom rise up within me.....and somehow the winter I have been in for some time now, just gave way to spring!

Let me explain a bit. Many of you have heard the term "forerunner" before. For those who may not be familiar, it is a term used in the Bible to describe John the Baptist, as he prepared the way for Jesus and then also a description of Jesus Himself. A forerunner, by Websters, is simply one that precedes and indicates the approach of another. I have known for about 20 years that I was a forerunner, though I have had little understanding of what that really means. I only know I have been an odd one that seemed to see things coming or have some understanding before the general church population. This has mostly been an irritant, to be honest! You learn something in the word or the Holy Spirit shows you something and you excitedly try to share it with others...but you just get this deer in the headlights response. It took me some time, but I finally understood that it might not be time for everyone to be looking into what I was seeing/hearing. And this in no way is to imply that I thought I was better, smarter or more special than anyone else. I mean, seriously, God used a donkey to talk to Baalam and He says He uses the foolish things to confound the wise! The other major irritation of being a forerunner is that 5 or 10 years later those very same deer in the headlights people are now seeing/hearing what you were talking about....and they step into it and everyone thinks they are the best thing since sliced bread....and no one remembers that you even talked about such matters! And so you grow in humility!

This week God has downloaded to me a fuller understanding of a forerunner. It coincides with what I was seeing for myself here at IHOP-KC, which involved pouring into the younger generation here....those who will have to contend with what is coming to our nation and to the world in the years ahead. I was given this facet of a definition by one of our instructors this week, Craig Cook: "Forerunners prepare the way for the Lord by preparing people to respond rightly to Jesus in the End-Times by making known His plan and will. Forerunners are the "mercy strategy" of the Father." So just as John the Baptist went ahead of Jesus with His first coming, "indicating the approach of another", so God is raising up those messengers with the same calling to prepare the way for Jesus second coming to the earth.

Again, there is so much to this for me that would require me to write a small novel here to explain but it boils down to I received some clarification this week to my identity in Jesus and my destiny as I follow and obey Him. Though I do not know what this will all look like, I felt the focus or "restraint" that Proverbs 29 talked about. I feel very focused and settled, which is a huge relief from the wrestlings I have walked through with all the different facets of this move to KC! I am eager to put the time in the word and in His Presence that will be necessary to truly have the word of the Lord in me....thus it will be what comes out of me!

Thank you all for your prayers, your love and support during this transition. I would not have kept my head above water had it not been for you all! Do continue to pray that I have the stamina to finish out this intense schedule, with health and I am also needing to actively develop my partners team and need wisdom and favor for that. Do feel free to contact me with any prayer needs you might have; it would be my pleasure to pray! Blessings and grace to you all!

His

10.09.10 "Please lower the safety bar....

and keep your arms in the vehicle at all times!" We have just completed our first week of this internship and looking back at it I am reminded of the myriad of times I found myself sitting on the Scream Machine in Six Flags over Georgia with my youth group when I was in high school. The Scream Machine is an awesome old fashioned, wooden roller coaster. That's how this week has been.....anticipation meeting with the experience, breath taking at times, fun, touch of danger (will you actually live through it?!).

It has been a full week of 50+ hours of class, prayer room, worship, services, fellowship and training. It has been awesome! We are getting so much teaching, much like trying to drink from a fire hydrant and it has been rich.

One of the first classes we had this week was on Psalm 133:1-3 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there (unity) the Lord commanded the blessing....life forevermore."

God so met me in the midst of this class on several things within this verse and in the ministry of the leadership team to each of us new interns afterwards but I wanted to share one point in particular as I think it will be life to you guys too. God describes the unity of the saints as "precious oil". The reference of the oil running down Aaron's (a priest unto God) beard talks of anointing oil. In Exodus 30:22-25 tells of the instructions God gave Moses for the making of the holy anointing oil. The oil is to be made from quality spices by a skilled perfumer. Those spices have to be ground to powder and are blended together with olive oil, which unifies the spices and presents them in a useful form together. That olive oil speaks of the Holy Spirit that dwells within each of us. The crushing and grinding of the spices? That speaks of the circumstances, places of difficulty......utter breaking in our lives. As we corporate, by the grace of God, with His workings within each of our lives, we become ground to powder (can anyone else relate to this?!) but as that powder is mixed with His Holy Spirit, as we cry out and bring our brokenness to Him, He brings together an altogether, beautiful fragrance.

Is it not in our dealing with other people that much of our crushing, grinding and breaking occurs and yet that is the very process by which we must go through in order for our "spices" to truly release their fragrance and actually prepares the spice to be mixed and blended with others to become a part of the anointing oil. What a paradox! Unity brings a commanded blessing and yet that unity is compared to anointing oil....with the whole process of crushing, often through the means of our brothers and sisters! Aaron is a picture of Jesus. The anointing oil is a blessing that touches Him, as the Head of the church, and then flows to His body, the church. This oil is "precious".

My heart is challenged to lend my heart to His hand in the midst of my difficult places. He is good in all His ways and He knows what He is doing in my life and yours! May we all have the grace to embrace His processes because He really is answering the cry of my heart and yours. Seriously, is He not just doing what I have asked for? To be like Jesus, to be made useful in His hand? Have you prayed something like that too? We asked for this! And He is being faithful, in the fulness of His love for us. So let us rejoice......

Thank you, again, to all of you who are praying for me. It is strength! May you be blessed with more revelation of His heart over you this week. Much love in Him......