October 21st 2024. Yesterday morning, while preparing to lead worship at John Bunyan Baptist Church, I had an abbreviated Devotional time. My prayers were more succinct, and instead of reading my usual one chapter from each of the Old Testament and New Testament, I confined myself to reading the “UCB Word for the Day” portion. As I have found so often, what was printed as a daily devotional snippet became the occasion for God to speak to me directly. The text was Revelation 3:7-8: “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens, no-one can shut, and what he shuts, no-one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no-one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Since receiving the new commission through prophet David Opoku to engage in Healing ministry in Oxford, Ingria and I have had to be patient in seeing the outworking. This has been very necessary, because God has had a lot to teach us. But, every time we have begun to feel doubts creeping in, he has encouraged us powerfully by doing acts of healing in various people’s lives. The ‘doubts’ are not about our calling – as I have said to several people – I have never been more certain about anything in my life than the reality of God’s revelation to me in the incident of “the beans” (see a previous post), and in the prophetic commission received in the “Word of Life” Church in south London. The doubts have been more about my worthiness or my obtuseness in recognizing God’s directions.
How comforted I am, therefore, in reading that the church of Philadelphia – the recipient of this prophecy – had little strength (though not warned so severely about its conduct compared with the other six churches who received these words of the Spirit of Jesus through John). The ‘Open Door’ promise came all the more powerfully because, some years ago during my Wallingford Baptist pastorate, the same verse was given to me as I came downstairs fom a pre-service prayer meeting to conduct the service. A day later I would be going to ‘Spring Harvest’ where I would be greatly blessed, and, on my return I would deliver this text as a prophetic word which generated a period of fruitful growth in the church’s life and ministry.
But back to yesterday, the Lord had more to reveal to us. We tuned in to the Burmese Mission Church service on Zoom, after which we shared in a time of prayer (the second of a call to prayer and fasting). There, Pastor Man shared a vision/plan for a gathering of international Burmese (and local) people to take place in Oxford next year to celebrate the “full gospel” of soul-salvation and healing of body and mind (not excluding a positive effect on social and political justice – internationally and in the locality). Her sharing of this vision/plan and my sharing the ‘open door’ text came together to inject fresh hope and confidence.
Watch this space, and be ready to pray for the outworking.
Healing in Jesus' Name 