This morning I did something naughty. I got to comparing myself to some prophets I know, who seem to always have a word ready on their lips for every single person they meet. There are times when I can do that, but there are also times when I have to really press into God to get prophetic words for people. More recently, it has been the latter. I felt small and ungifted compared to how I perceived my prophetic friends to minister.

So very early this morning I asked God, "Lord, do I really have the gift of prophecy? Have you really given me a prophetic anointing? Or has this just been a figment of my imagination?"

Then I got busy with things of the day, and forgot my question. One of the things I had to do, about 8:00 AM when their switchboard opened, was call MAF regarding their xc.org service. It seemed that their server had been down since last Friday afternoon... so none of my email lists were operating. Steve, their techincal contact, explained that their internal systems were fine, but that their ISP was down.. it was beyond their control and he felt very frustrated about it. It is pretty much unheard of for an ISP to be down for several hours, much less three days!

I offered to pray for him.. He is such a sweet person and he really sees his job as a ministry rather than just a way to earn a paycheck. I prayed for the Lord to fill him with His peace. Then I prayed for the Lord to come into the situation and fix the technical problems, as well as to handle all the "issues" created by the server and lists being down. In other words, I simply covered the situation in basic intercession from all angles.

While I was praying, the Lord began to give me a word for this man. I asked him if it was ok if I prophesied to him. And he was delighted to receive it.

Part of the word was that God knew that he considered this a ministry rather than a job and that he was sacrificing financially to do this when he could easily have a much higher paying job in the secular realm. Therefore, God considered this as sowing into His kingdom and found him faithful with finances. And because he was faithful with mammon, God was going to release the true riches of His kingdom to him, particularly an anointing for the breaking off of yokes and freeing people from oppression of the enemy. He would also see the power of God flow through his hands.

I did not think twice about giving the word, I knew it was the Lord speaking through me. I had totally forgotten that earlier that day I was questioning whether or not the Lord had really given me the gift of prophecy.

Then Steve shared his feedback. He was amazed at this word and at the timing of it. He used to be an missionary airplane pilot and mechanic for MAF overseas before he did this computer job. He started the computer job for MAF (who sponsors xc.org) last November. Missions agency jobs (even computer jobs) pay next to nothing compared to industry standards. Steve shared how 7 years ago, before he became a missionary, he made more than twice what he makes now. And that is not counting inflation. Shortly after he took the computer job at MAF, one of his co-workers, now at Boeing, offered him a high paying job to fly commercially again and be the Director of Maintenance. The job would have been a dream come true. But he turned it down because he felt God wanted him at MAF. But since then, he has been frequently asking God for confirmation that he made the right decision, struggling month after month in prayer. He was willing to make this sacrifice, but wanted to know it was really God telling him to do so.

Steve knew the system had been down since Friday. He is a conscientious person, so he came in very early this morning, at 5:30 AM. He felt quite frustrated because the down time was beyond his control and he so wanted the computer ministry to run smoothly. He found himself wishing that he had taken this other job. In fact, he found himself questioning God, once again, on his way to work this morning, "Lord did I make a mistake in not taking that other job? Do you really want me here?"

So it was incredible to him to get a word about how this job was a ministry to the Lord and God considered him as sowing financially in to His kingdom by working there instead of at a higher paying job. The Lord met him in a wonderful way and I could hear God's life and encouragement breathing into him, even over the phone. It was one of those prophetic moments that I "live for".. the kind I really love where there is so much life and impartation in the word God gives. I love participating with Him in those types of words!

Then God pointed his finger at me and asked. "Does that answer your question?"

"What question Lord?" I started to ask.. and then I remembered... earlier to day I had been asking God if I really had a prophetic anointing or if it was just a figment of my imagination.

So God ministered to me too by letting me minister with Him to Steve. He blessed both of us. Isn't our God wonderful!