Draw the Circle, Day 11, partial passage
The Sixth Sense
There is an old adage: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In reality, everything is in the eye of the beholder. The emotions we experience don't reflect our external reality; they reflect our internal reality. We don't see the world as it is; we see the world as we are. That's why prayer is so critical. It's a way of seeing reality - and, more specifically, the reality that is beyond that reality we can perceive with our five senses.
Some things cannot be perceived with the five sense; they can only be conceived by the Holy Spirit. Some things cannot be deduced via deductive reasoning; they can only be imagined by the Holy Spirit. Some things cannot be learned by logic; they can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit compensates for our sensory limits by enabling us to conceive of things we cannot perceive with our five sense. Think of it as a sixth sense. The revelation of the Spirit gives us extrasensory perception in the truest sense of that phrase. He helps us see the invisible and hear the inaudible. But that sixth sense has to be cultivated, much like our five sense do. Our spiritual vision develops much like our physical vision does.
When babies make their grand entrance into the world, their visual resolution is one-fortieth of that of a normal adult. They lack depth perception. And their visual range is only about thirteen inches. The world is low-definition, two-dimensional, and only thireen inches in diameter. Slowly yet sovereignly the world beings to take on width and breadth and depth. By four months, a baby can perceive stereoscopic depth. By six months, visual acuity has improved five-fold. Their black-and-white world has burst into a kaleidoscope of colors, and they have volitional control of their eye movements. And by his or her first birthday, the child sees the wold almost as well as an adult.
Our spiritual eyes develop in much the same way. And prayer is the key to perception. Before our spiritual eyes are opened, the world is only thirteen inches in diameter. It's like living in a low-definition, two-dimensional world. Then the Holy Spirit gives us depth perception. He opens our eyes to see the ordinary miracles that surround us, the ordinary miracles that are us. It's like our spiritual cataracts are removed to reveal a reality that was always there. Like Jacob, we come to the ultimate realization: 'Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.'
When we open our spiritual eyes, we start seeing God everywhere we look. We see the image of God in others. We see His fingerprints on His creation. We see God-ordained opportunities all around us all the time.
It's something like what happens when we watch a film with 3D glasses; when we prayer, God comes at us in ways that startle and thrill us."
International House of Prayer, Prophecy Ministry
A long time ago, Esther told me about a conference she went to at the International House of Prayer church and how people who had served in a prophecy ministry prophesied over her and how amazingly relevant it was to her.
About a month ago, this topic came up during prayer meeting and I felt for some reason, that the Lord wanted me to go to one of these. You can see the church at the link here. It's actually not too far away - they have a twenty-four hour prayer ministry. They also do 10 min sessions in which they prophecy over people, for their edification. The people who do this are kind of like Esther - they see things when they pray, they hear from the Lord, and spend a lot of extra time in training to tune their ears better to Him.
I would usually *never* seek something like that out, but I felt it's what the Lord wanted at the time. I came to one of them, and the appointments were filled. They don't have very many - only 6-10 once a week. They are assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. I came the next week about three hours early and got an appointment.
I came with a completely open mind and asked the Lord that He'd show me whatever it was He wanted. There were three people who prophesied over me and it was very sweet, and personal to me. I'd never been to this church or seen any of these people before who did the prophesying, but I can tell it is a church that is full of the Holy Spirit, unlike the majority of churches that I see. Prayer tends to do that to a church. However, I didn't think it was very significant at the time. I was hoping the Lord would perhaps answer questions I had, but that's not precisely what He had in mind. I didn't know why He told me to come, but He wanted me to, so I did.
I sent it to Esther - they record it for you - and she listened to it and it really blessed her, she said, and she felt it to be spot on and very relevant. I didn't get a chance to discuss it with her until today and I think I know what she means. It was relevant and comforting - just not what I expected at the time. I probably still don't fully appreciate it. I'm not going to take the time to go into any detail about what I thought.
I figured the Lord would ask me to post it eventually. He didn't for a solid month, so I thought maybe I'd get off scot free. But today, He said it should go here. *headdesk* So I put it at the bottom of this page. Things at the bottom of pages are less likely to be read. This is a tactic I actually use a lot. Maybe I shouldn't say that. I'd much rather not post it, but, it's not like it'll harm anything. Oh, there are more crazy people like Esther and I in the world? Surprise, surprise. It's just personal to me. I dislike putting up such things. And I noticed that they added slight background music to it! >:[ This is completely unnecessary. Oh well. You can ignore it, disagree or think it's ridiculous - I have nothing to say either way - it's the Lord's business and I'm sure He'll take care of it like He usually does. I just wish I could predict the Lord or be privy to why He asks some things of me - it'd be nice to know what He's up to more. But as things are, He's the most completely unpredictable of anyone. At least life is never boring!
Link for download. Link for listening.