Twenty eight years ago, hubby and I drove into an Australian town well know for its New Age and witchcraft practices. We briefly looked around the town for a gift shop and for somewhere to eat but before we had time to find anywhere, I asked hubby if we could drive on to the next town. I sensed something ‘awful’ in the atmosphere and something like a fear descended on me. Fast forward twenty years and hubby, the kids and I drove back into that same town and it ‘felt’ completely different. We loved the place so much that we decided to revisit it again on that holiday.
What was the difference?
As far as I could tell, there was a Christian church that was having a massive impact in the town ministering to the New Age community. But the New Age and witchcraft presence was still ‘thick’. I believe that the main difference lay within me. I had grown and matured as a Christian, but more importantly, I now knew my identity as a daughter of the Most High King. I was also aware of ‘brushing’ off negative atmospheres (https://www.unlockingthegold.com/spiritual-hygiene-living-from-a-place-of-victory-part-8/). Most of all though, I believe the greatest difference was that my spirit had grown enormously and could now ‘defend’ itself instead of being intimidated.
How do you ‘grow’ your spirit?
Just as your physical body needs nutrition to grow and your soul needs love and care and intellectual stimulation to grow, so too does your spirit needs things to help it grow.
I have identified the top five things I have done to grow my spirit.
- Worship God regularly.
- Grow your identity in God. Go after your inner healing.
- Speak/pray the Bible over yourself.
- Pray in tongues often ie on a daily basis. 1 Corinthians 14:4 says “anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies (or builds) themselves up”. One of the most effective methods is to pray in tongues each day.
- Bless your spirit.
How do I ‘bless my spirit’?
I first became aware of the huge impact of calling one spirit to attention and blessing it after I found some teaching from Arthur Burk and Sylvia Gunther (www.theslg.com) and started practicing on my family. I immediately noticed a difference in our son and how he loved his spirit being blessed. Our son is a spiritual thermostat. He easily and automatically ‘picks up’ the spiritual atmosphere of a room, place or land region and acts this out. This caused numerous hassles earlier in his life until we became more fully aware of what was happening. (A particular city in Australia has the ruling spirit of rebellion over it and when we stayed there, our son became very rebellious. We tried disciplining him without any effect and began to doubt our parenting until I ‘connected the dots’ and realised what was happening. As soon as I identified it, our son’s behaviour immediately normalised.)
Thus, when I began calling my family’s spirits to attention and reading a blessing over them of a night, this son loved it. Each night he would ask me to ‘do that thing that makes me feel good’.
As a side note, I used to call people’s spirit forth eg “Jane I call your spirit forth” but a Pastor’s wife became quite anxious about that as if I was trying to make people’s spirit travel. Thus, I now call their spirit to attention. Look at it as if you are asking them to stand up on the inside and take notice. Eg “Jane, I call your spirit to attention” or “Jane, I call your spirit to take notice of what I am about to say”.
Over time, I have noticed a huge effect on people whenever I bless people’s spirit. I use this all the time in our Church’s Healing Rooms at the end of each person’s time of ministry. In fact, it is uncommon for me to not use it when praying for someone.
David Tensen has a great course on this (www.davidtensen.com). He bases his blessing on 4 D’s – delight, design, destiny and dominion. I can never seem to remember the 4 D’s so I just ask Father God to show or tell me what to bless each individual person with.
I have crafted a short blessing for you, my readers. Please feel free to try it and speak it over yourself, inserting your name into it. I have several friends who each night will call their spirit to attention and bless their own spirit (& their spouse’s if they are married) with a blessing. There is no magic formula for what to say. Go with what you feel Father God is saying to you. With my kids, I will often bless their spirit along the lines of their prophetic words, the giftings they have, their dreams and their sleeping and relationship with Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus.
I also find that if people have their eyes open and look into mine whilst I am blessing them, there seems to be a greater impact on the person. Try it and see.
Blessing:
“(Your name), I call your spirit to attention and bless you with knowing that Father God loves you so much. There is nothing you could do to make Him love you any more or any less. (Your name), Father God had you in mind before He created the world. He ordained your parents, time in history and birth date. I bless you with knowing how precious and valuable you are to God, your family, friends and community. I bless your spirit with knowing that God has gifted you with special gifts and has created you with your personality. He so loves you.
(Your name), I bless your spirit with realising in a deeper way today the reality of God’s love in your life. I bless you with experiencing today Father God romancing you in a fresh new way, with you seeing, hearing and experiencing his extravagant and generous nature and goodness and kindness. I bless you with receiving His kisses of joy today. I bless you as you walk out the next few days and weeks and months ahead that you will see the hand of Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus on your life in a new way. I bless you with amazing insight and discernment from God, with hearing Him at a deeper level and seeing what He is up to in the spiritual world.
(Your name), I bless you that wherever you walk, you carry the peace of God and change atmospheres. That people will know that a child of the Most High God has been there with you. I bless you with leaving a lingering fragrance of the presence of God wherever you step. In Jesus name, Amen.”
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Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:
The purpose of these exercises is to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and recognise God’s voice 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: Chat about what ‘blessing’ is. Have a time of focusing on each individual person and ask God to show, tell or give to everyone else some words to bless that person with. Then all say it over that person. Then move on to the next person. At the end, feel free to share how it felt.
2. Group Activation: Pair up and spend a few minutes asking God what He would have you bless your partner with in regards to the 4D’s – delight, design, destiny and dominion. Then release the blessing over your partner.
3. Beginner Activation: Spend time this week intentionally calling your spirit to attention and blessing it with hearing God’s voice clearly. Also ask God each time what else to bless your spirit with.
4. Intermediate Activation: Ask God to show you someone to bless today. Make or buy a gift for that person that represents the essence of what you are blessing in them and give that to them during the time of releasing the blessing over them.
5. Advanced Activation: Ask God to reveal to you an unreached people group. Spend time with God crafting a blessing for that people group. Ask God to then show you how often He would like you to say that blessing, speaking as if over that people group.