Prophecy Night at Wadsley

We know that many of you appreciate hearing about practical ways to encourage and release people into the prophetic. For this blog, Lucy, our intern, is going to share about a prophetic event that she ran last night at her church…

A little bit about my church:

My church is called Wadsley Parish Church; it has about 70 people (and growing!) and is part of the Church of England. My old youth leader from St Thomas’ Philadelphia recently became the vicar there and he asked 10 people to move with him and share all we’ve learnt from St Thomas’ these past few years. Despite only being there 3 months, it already feels like home and I feel so free and welcome. In terms of the prophetic, there’s a lot more going on than there seems on the surface, and there are definitely a lot of people that are open to what Holy Spirit has in store, even if they don’t publicise it.

Why I wanted to run a prophetic night:

After being part of St Thomas’ for 10 years, I have been raised up in the prophetic and had a chance to work out what prophecy looks like in my life. I’ve been to prophetic events and loved them, but I’ve never had the chance to run one myself, since there were always other people to head them up. Coming to Wadsley, I saw that there was both space and hunger for prophecy, so I figured I may as well run a prophecy evening and see how it goes!

The aim of the night:

One of the most inspiring things at Wadsley is seeing how everyone is so quick to serve and be God’s hands and feet. However, sometimes it’s really important to take a step back and rest in whom God is, and who we are in Him. My aim for the evening was to have a place where people could come, rest, be restored, and tune into what God is saying in an unpressurised environment.

What I actually did:

I wanted the night to be accessible to everyone, so I tried to find activations that allowed people to engage at whatever level they wanted. This is what the night ended up looking like…
1. Firstly, we started off with worship and praising God; resetting our gaze on Jesus.
2. I then put on a quiet CD and read out passages in the Bible, rereading and stressing parts Holy Spirit highlighted to me. Everyone soaked and simply rested in God’s truths.
3. After that, I handed out pens and paper, and we wrote out a letter of thankfulness to God. The letter started “Jesus, I am thankful for…”
After we wrote that, I asked people to listen to God, and then write His reply to our own letter. I asked the question, “Jesus, what are you saying to me?” and then people wrote, in 1st person, God’s reply.
4. Finally, before the event I had printed off lots of pictures of nature that I found on the Internet. I spread the pictures out on the floor, and put people into pairs. I invited people to quietly look at all the pictures, and then ask God which picture He wanted them to give to their partner. They then did this along with a little explanation as to why they chose that picture and what they thought God was saying.

Here are some of the pictures I printed off and used…

Initial feedback from the event:

In the end, about 10 people came, which in perspective is one seventh of the church… Not bad considering I did an awful job at publicising it! I haven’t had a good chance to ask people’s thoughts on the evening in depth as it only happened yesterday, but as everyone left they all seemed really grateful to have time to rest and listen to God. Some of the older generation commented on really loving the Bible reading and soaking time.

My thoughts on how the night went: 

Personally, the most encouraging part of the night was the last activation. Watching everyone prophesy over each other and share what they felt God was saying struck a really deep part of my heart. Hearing God for ourselves is amazing, and I love listening to what He wants to say to me. Yet I find that when we step out and speak His truth into each other’s lives, we manifest the most powerful part of God- we manifest His voice. We aren’t just listening to His voice; we’re speaking His voice. So for me, I loved watching that take place. It was such a simple exercise, and so easy to do, but God spoke so powerfully through it.

Tips and lessons learnt:

My biggest learning curve was to realise that this night had nothing to do with me. Yes, I was running it, so in that way I had a responsibility, but it was 100% up to God to show up. Realising and accepting that was equally humbling and freeing!
Looking back in terms of practicalities, I would have publicised the night a lot better than I did: making posters; giving notices in church; just making sure everyone knew about it. I opened this night up to the whole church, but it worked perfectly with 10 people and so would easily work within a small group or a missional community.
Finally, I found that releasing people to engage at their own level made the night so much more accessible and peaceful. Of course, there is a time to press in and stretch ourselves, but this night wasn’t about that, it was about resting and reconnecting with God.

We hope that Lucy’s experience has encouraged, inspired, and challenged you to step out in the prophetic in your own churches and communities!

Many blessings from all of us at Accessible Prophecy.