All posts in Holy Spirit

Retropost Alert!  This is a post of from my very first blog.  I wanted to share it here as well since it was such a powerful experience.  So, go ahead, grab a cup of coffee and read on.

Our church has partnered with another local church to do some multicultural services (ours is a mostly white church while theirs is a mostly black church). They were having a youth revival week, and invited us to serve as a worship team for one night. I admit, I probably wouldn’t have gone if I wasn’t involved with with worship team, so I am mighty glad that God roped me into that!

We sang our songs, and then settled in to hear the very enthusiastic guest preacher. He was an evangelist by calling, and Southern Baptist by background, so you as you can imagine, things got pretty rowdy. I thought much of what he said might have been going over the kids’ heads, but they all seemed to be paying attention pretty well, even the kids from our church who are used to having a 20 minute sermon, tops. This sermon was more like an hour and a half!

The previous night,  I was feeling frustrated with one of the girls in our Adventure group because she was so distracted, and was distracting others with her jokes and laughter. I was trying to explain to the kids about the spiritual battle we are all in, and it was like Satan was purposely putting up road blocks so the kids wouldn’t hear it, especially this one girl. Well, it just so happens that the same girl was serving in the worship team, so she got another dose of “be prepared for the spiritual battle we are in” from this guest preacher. The sermon was amazing, and at the end, he had all the kids come to the front for a blessing.

He blessed the little ones, prayed over them and sent them back to their seats. He kept the older ones there and began to prophesy about them. Now, I’m certainly not charismatic, but after returning from Africa and hearing about the validity the missionaries put on spiritual warfare and the leading of the Spirit, I was a little more open to the night’s events.

He starting with this young girl from the Adventure Group. He told her that she was a special child, and that God had big plans for her. He said that he knew that people at school didn’t understand her, especially when she tried to do the right thing, but to hang in there. I could see our Pastor on the stage tearing up. I was tearing up, and the girl’s mother was tearing up, because it all rang so true. I knew this girl was special, she was always trying to do the right thing, and I had felt for a long time that Satan was really battling for her soul. She returned to her seat, eyes full of tears and just sobbed. I hoped that she accepted Christ that night, and I found out later that she did! Because she had grown up in a Christian home, she had never really owned her faith, but this night, she was challenged to do so. She really felt the Spirit for the first time. She was shaken up about it, and I think the Lord is preparing her for some big changes.

Two other girls from our church were up front, from our youth group. Not my department, but I’ve been really trying to mentor these girls. I know them pretty well, and what he said about them rang very true as well. One he said reminded him of Deborah the judge, destined to be a leader. I can already see this in the works, and I hope this girl continues to be faithful in her calling. Life is tough for teens in high school, and I am going to be diligent in keeping these girls covered in prayer!

So what do you think?  Is prophecy still alive and well in this day and age?   What place does it have in our children’s ministries?

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