I was visting a church where I am not a member. The church is a spirit-filled Baptist church. The worship is wonderful, the Holy Spirit shows up, yet the service is fairly structured and orderly. They don't really have a "space" for the giving of propehtic words in the service.. On the rare occasions where someone gets a word during service, they are to write it down and give it to the pastor after service. I have visited this church before, so I understood the "house rules."

I was there again sunday morning. In fact, just before I left the house, the Lord sent me back inside to get 4 sheets of binder paper and stick them (along with a pen) in my Bible. God did not tell me why I would need them. But I have learned to obey these little promptings and not worry about "why". So I put the paper/pen in my bible and headed out of the door.

The church had a team of leaders who they had sent down to Argentina for Revival training and to bring some of that anoiting back to their church. The team had just returned. At one point during the service, the team was invited up to share their experiences, and one of the first things they did was to pray for the pastor and his wife... very anointed and spirit-led prayer. As they were praying for him, the Lord began to give me a word for him.. not just a little word, but a very major one. I wanted so badly to jump up and grab a microphone and start prophecying. It was a good word.. it would have encouraged him personaly.. and encouraged the whole body. And the intensity was on me so strong to give it.. I thought I was going to pop.

One of the men on the team began to cough and stepped briefly into the music room.. I almost jumped out of my seat, ran across the platform and followed him into the room so I could tell him I had a word for this pastor and ask him to arrange for me to be able to give it as the prayer ended. But even that (running across the platform to the music room) would have been very out of order and would have been disruptive.

I thought I was going to go nuts.. I was so frustrated. This is every prophet's nightmare.. to get a very powerful and very anointed word and the not to be allowed to release it.

At this point I had a choice. I had been a "visiting teacher" at this church.. I might have been able to get away with coming up and taking the microphone and breaking diretly into prophecy.. but that would have alarmed and startled many people there.. because it is not the way they do things there. If I had done that, I would have probably ended up distrupting the spirit's flow rather than ministering.

I started praying intenstly that the Lord would have someone from the Argintina team ask if anyone had a word for the pastor. But God did not answer that prayer.. at least not the way I wanted Him to. They finished the prayer, the pastor sat down (on the front row way on the left side) and the team continued sharing. I was sitting on the front row as well, but way over on the right side. Since I could not give the word in the mic, I wanted to walk over to the pastor and whisper the word in his ear. But there was not a non-disrputive way to get from where I was to where he was.. and I know God did not want me to disrupt the service... because He wanted to touch people and do powerful things there.

Now, I don't personally agree with not being allowed to give valid propehtic words during the service, but this was their house rules, and I knew I was to obey them.. even if I did not personally like them. I was so frustrated, because I had this awesome word burning in me.. I knew the word would release the Lord's blessing and life.. yet I was not "allowed" to give it. I complained to God that it was not fair for Him to give me a word that I would not be allowed to deliver.

"Teresa," God replied, "Stop complaining and write it down."

Suddenly I remembered the four sheets of binder paper the Lord had me put in my bible. It took three of them to write out that word. After I finished writing it, I folded the papers in half and wrote the pastor's name on the top. The intensity of the word that was burning in me went way down, and I was able to listen to and enjoy the rest of what the team shared. There was still a bit of the intensity left, so I could hardly wait for an opportunity to give the word to the pastor.

It came a bit later, when the team from the Argintina trip invited people to come up for prayer. Folks began coming forward.. so I slipped out of my seat and walked along the asile to the back, across the back, down the left hand asile to where the pastor was sitting. I told him that the Lord had given me a word for him as they prayed or him. I gave him a 10 sentence synopsis of the word and handed him the writen prophecy. He looked very pleased and blessed.. (and who wouldn't be.. the Lord had an awesome word for him).

As I started to walk away from the pastor, I knew (deep my spirit) that this had worked out just the way God intended. The pastor got his word, I got to deliver it and the service was not disrupted in any manner. God's blessings were flowing, the anonting was very strong and the Lord was on the move.

I intended to backtrack (same route) back to my seat. But I only got about three steps and someone stopped me.. a man who had a question for me about an experience he had in a workshop I'd led earlier in the day. There was a little door going outside just where he stopped me, so he asked me to go outside so he could talk to me. I answered his question and then I ended up getting a little word for him. While we were talking, someone else came up and waited for us to finish. They wanted me to pray for them. There had been a death in their famimly earlier that week. We shared a bit and then I prayed... and the Spirit showed up with so much compassion and love. After we finished, I walked back inside. A man (one of their prayer team, I think) was standing by the door praying for a woman. He motioned me over, but I though he was just making a gesture as he prayed.. so I was about to walk past him.. when he gently took my and and laid it on the woman's shoulder. So stopped to pray.. and I had not been there to hear her original request.. so I just prayed what the Lord showed me. God began doing a deep work in her heart and ministering to her powerfully. The man went off to get some kleenix and returned. About then I finished praying.

I took a few steps and noticed the pastor smiling at me. I asked him if he'd read the word yet. He had. Did it make sense and bare witness? It did. He was grinning from ear to ear .. not just from the prophecy.. God had been doing great things through the team from Argintina.. and this pastor was simply glowing with the radience of the Lord. I was blessed just watching him.

Then I noticed his wife sitting next to him. The Lord had given me a word for her (as well as for the pastor) when they'd been prayed for earlier. But the intensity had been much less for her word, so it had been easier to let go "not getting to deliver it". But as soon as we made eye contact, the word came flooding back to me. So I shared it with her, right in front of her husband, the pastor. He was smiling and nodding in agreement. I believe the Lord blessed her with that word.

I ended up with about three or four other opportunties to prophecy that morning ... all life breathing words of enouragement. Man, I love it when God lets me do this stuff! Ministry is my favorite hobby! I am addicted to it <smile>.

The "point" I would like you to take out of this story is that God will work more through our submission than we can imagine. Submission is not a popular word for many prophets.. particularly when the Lord gives us a powerful word ... and "submitting" looks like we won't be allowed to deliver that word. But God has a way of turning situations around and releasing His glory in them, like He did for me that morning! My day ended up with me being incredibly blessed and the Lord opened all these opportunities for me to minister.. I think God did that for me because He knows how much I love to minister and He wanted to bless me for subnmitting..