Friends were on holiday in Hawaii when news was received of a hurricane bearing down on the Islands. This was going to cause major issues with their travel plans but, more importantly, the devastation forecast to the people, land etc was predicted to be crippling. So, my friends, realising the authority they had in being a son and daughter of the Most High God, decreed and declared that the direction of the hurricane would change away from inhabited areas and move out to sea and that the force would lessen. They rested in this. They spoke to the wind, the waves, the rain just as Jesus did in Mark 4:35-41 where He “rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”. Around them the taxi driver, the hotel staff, the shopkeepers were all in a frenzy as they realised the devastating effect that the hurricane could have on the tourist industry and they received phone calls cancelling all plans and tours the following few days.
My friends continued to speak with authority to the hurricane and they slept well overnight. Awakening the following morning, news came of the hurricane miraculously changing direction and petering out to a storm level with no adverse impact.
With this in mind, and seeing the manner in which my friends confidence and authority grew as they continued to grow in this area as they sought God in regard to weather conditions and then decreed and declared and prophesied over adverse weather, I decided that I needed to grow in this area.
The Bible has a number of passages about the weather and miracles with the weather. One such passage in the Old Testament is in regard to Moses and Pharaoh and the hailstorms as recoded in Exodus 9:13-29. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Tremendous hail, lightening, thunder reigned forth. Throughout Egypt, hail struck everything in the fields, both people and animals, and it destroyed everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. Verse 26 “The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.” In verse 29, Moses says to Pharaoh “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.” How could Moses do this?
Because He had first heard from the Lord about what his role was and what he was to do and say.
I concentrated on storms around our area in regard to lessening the flooding and damage and redirecting the force. I realised that with any force, the movement has to be directed elsewhere or the force has to dissipate. I didn’t want to pray and have the force changed and then cause a horrific impact elsewhere so I needed to ask God and have an idea of where the force could be directed to with minimal damage.
I would begin by stating my authority that I had in being a daughter of the most high God. I would quote Jesus saying in John 14:12 “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and will do even greater things than these.”
My prayer/declaration would go something like this (realising that the exact wording is not a formula but just a guide): “I hereby give notice to the adverse weather conditions, the storm, wind etc. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Thus, I am a child of the Most High God, the King of Kings. As such, I am His precious daughter who has been given all authority to carry out His works here on earth. Jesus said in John 14:12 “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I have been doing and will do even greater things than these”. Jesus spoke to the storm and commanded it to be quiet so with the authority invested in me as a believer of Jesus I can do what Jesus did. Therefore, I decree and declare now that the wind will lessen, the force will dissipate, the rain will ease, the direction of the storm will change and move out to sea away from impacting negatively any person or land. I speak peace to the air, and that the barometric pressure will be stable and remain high.”
When my authority grew in this area, I then expanded. I began to see the effect when I took notice of any storms coming and listen to God for His heart on the storm. As I decreed and declared a lessening impact, I noticed that there were numerous storms which were forecast to cause horrific damage to our area but the impact seemed to be small and the storm petered out.
A short while afterwards, I was involved in a team that went on a mission trip to another country. Once on the plane, the air hostess announced that the destination weather was sunny and hot at 37° Celsius. Now I don’t cope well in hot weather at all. I had been chatting a lot about this with God before the trip as we would be spending our days outside with our hosts and ministering to many people. I really felt to decree and declare on the plane that the weather would drop to 10°C to a more manageable 27°Celsius.
Imagine my fellow missionaries shock when just before landing, the captain announced that there had been an unforeseen, unprecedented and major change in the weather conditions and the temperature had dropped 10°C.
That following week, we were able to manage our activities heaps easier with the lower temperature. The locals would all comment on how the weather had suddenly turned a lot cooler. There were no major implications on the locals, but huge implications for our team, especially me.
Please, in regard to weather, keep this in perspective. Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel and disciple those who believe, heal the sick. Jesus did not say that we are to focus on changing the weather. He did say though, that signs will follow us.
Mark 16:15-19 Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
I encourage you, my friends, to go on a journey with God in regard to prophesying over adverse weather conditions.
Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:
Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.
1. Children / Families Activation: Choose a country that is in despair and devastation after a cyclone or major flooding eg currently Mozambique or a country that is experiencing drought and thus famine. Prepare a large map of that country to be placed on the floor. As a group, pray and prophesy over that country. Ask the kids to come up with ideas for a prophetic act (something you do in the physical that changes the condition in the spiritual that then impacts back on the physical) to address the issue. Have fun implementing and releasing joy and solutions over that country.
2. Group Activation: Select a country that is currently experiencing or expecting an extreme weather condition. Listen to God as a group for His heart about the situation. Pray, prophesy and sing the result over that area and the weather.
3. Beginner Activation: Ask God to give you a picture or sense of how He sees you. Then make a list of statements about who God sees you as. Compile them into a prophecy about who you are and who you are becoming. Start decreeing and declaring them over yourself. Even draw a picture of ‘who you are’ to remind you.
4. Intermediate Activation: Keep a watch on weather reports for cyclones/hurricanes/typhoons or extreme flooding. Ask God what He wants you to do about the situation. Consider prophesying into the situation and even doing a prophetic act, depending on how God leads you.
5. Advanced Activation: Consider your own nation’s major environmental need as a result of a weather factor eg in Australia – the drought or the bleaching of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Spend time listening to God and then implement how He wants you to respond prophetically about the situation.