August 2022 Prophetic Word: Press
I’ve been lingering on and marinating in this word for the last week. When I began asking the Lord about it at the end of last month, He gave me a few picture illustrations – wine, oil, and a flower press. When something is pressed, pressure is put on it in the form of physical force. It can be a verb or a noun. In each case, flattening, shaping, smoothing, and / or extracting can be part of the process.The most amazing things can come from being pressed – wine and oil are two of them. It takes a lot of work to extract even a minimum yield from a lot of grapes and olives, but the fruit of the labor is often highly prized, especially when given time to age and mature.
Pressed flowers are a delicate thing of beauty. I have an antique flower press given to me 30 years ago by my mother-in-law. It had been given to her by her parents before that. It’s made of thick, heavy pieces of wood and has a big, corkscrew handle that you screw down tightly with flowers or plants nestled between sheets of paper placed between the slabs of wood. In the coming days, the screw handle is tightened even more as the flowers continue to be pressed until the moisture is removed and the petals and leaves become nearly transparent when dry. In each of these, increased force, effort, and time are needed for the pressing to have its effect. We’re in a time of pressing. What will come out when we’re squeezed?
This month we’ll see an outpouring of Holy Spirit, represented by the oil and wine. It’s a time to believe for the miraculous and to be the ones through whom God works to bring about those miracles. Press into Him with the pressure of faith and trust and you’ll see Him work miracles through you!
This is also a month of outpoured blessing, but it will only come as a result of pressure. Oil and wine are also filtered, allowing impurities to be strained out. There’s a “taste and see that the Lord is good” element of wine and oil flowing abundantly, but it can only follow the pressing required for it to flow, as well as filtering, and it may need time to mature to come into its fullness.
This month we’ll see an outpouring of Holy Spirit, represented by the oil and wine. It’s a time to believe for the miraculous and to be the ones through whom God works to bring about those miracles. Press into Him with the pressure of faith and trust and you’ll see Him work miracles through you!
This is also a month of outpoured blessing, but it will only come as a result of pressure. Oil and wine are also filtered, allowing impurities to be strained out. There’s a “taste and see that the Lord is good” element of wine and oil flowing abundantly, but it can only follow the pressing required for it to flow, as well as filtering, and it may need time to mature to come into its fullness.
This is a month to become a thing of beauty through the pressing – even to the point of transparency, like the pressed flowers, with nothing hidden in His sight. As I thought more about this, I also saw a potter molding clay. We’re each going to be molded (pressed) this month – shaped, smoothed, rough edges flattened out. Don’t complain or question it. It’s for destiny’s sake (Isaiah 45:9-11, TPT).It’s important to be discerning in what you listen to this month. Whose report will you believe? This is the Hebrew month when the Israelites chose to believe the negative report of the 10 spies, rather than believe the report of the two who were in the minority. They chose to stand in unbelief and not enter the Promised Land with faith to conquer and take hold of what God had promised them. It delayed them 40 years.
Filter what you hear and be discerning in your understanding of it. What actions will you take based on the reports you hear? We each have promises from God that have to be obtained through faith and it may mean taking risks to stand with the minority report. We get to choose what we’re going to believe, and that choice will bring celebration or delay.
Filter what you hear and be discerning in your understanding of it. What actions will you take based on the reports you hear? We each have promises from God that have to be obtained through faith and it may mean taking risks to stand with the minority report. We get to choose what we’re going to believe, and that choice will bring celebration or delay. Embrace the pressing and press into Him with a return pressure of faith. Be discerning in what you listen to and the corresponding decisions you make. Allow time for maturing and aging.
NEW WINE, Hillsong Worship, Songwriter: Brooke Gabrielle Fraser, New Wine lyrics © Hillsong Publishing.
Living for Him,
Andrea & Brian
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Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
CAVE HIDING
I’ve been hiding in a “cave.” Feeling lost, alone, unsure, I haven’t known what to say, so I’ve stayed quiet. This has come during a time when I’ve heard the Lord more constantly and clearly than ever before and what I’ve heard from Him has been confirmed over and over again through so many prophetic sources.
Despite that, I’ve allowed shame, fear of man, and wondering if I’m being judged to keep me hidden from sight and my voice silenced when I know that’s the farthest thing from what I’m called to be. These lies of the enemy have been a strategy and plan to keep me from moving forward in what I know the Lord has called me to in this new season.
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
The season of the Lord changed, and I had to change with it. Old wineskins would no longer hold the new wine He was longing to pour out. I could no longer wear the garments that had once fit and been comfortable.
It’s left people questioning and those I love dearly not understanding the decisions I was making in following the Lord. I haven’t fully understood His leading either, but I knew it was Him and despite the constant confirmations, I still questioned if what I was doing was “right.”
I walked in shame because the approval and blessing I’d hoped for from man wasn’t there. It wasn’t enough for me to know with certainty that I’d heard from God and had total peace in following Him. Like Elijah, I found a cave to hide in and sat in my perceptions.
Prior to Elijah hiding out in the cave, he had just experienced an incredible victory over the enemy (I Kings 18). The enemy was none too happy about it and spoke death threats over him, producing tremendous fear, doubt, and misgivings in his heart (1 Kings 19:1-3). Elijah allowed the voice of one to drown out the Voice of One who had just shown His power and might to be far greater.
The voice he listened to brought him to such a place of discouragement, defeat, and depression that he longed to die. He fled to the wilderness where was strengthened by an angel more than once, then sent on a journey to a mountain where he went into a cave.In this cave, God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:9b, NKJV)
God didn’t ask Elijah this question because He didn’t know the answer. He was asking for Elijah’s sake. He wanted Elijah to recognize what was in his heart, as well as the lies he had allowed himself to believe. What was God’s answer to Elijah? To go out and stand in His presence.
It was there the Lord once again asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:13b)
Elijah’s response was the same as it had been the first time God had asked him. Oh, how I understand Elijah! I’ve been a broken record before God over these last few months in my cave. I’ve poured out my cries of, “You, said . . . !” And now I feel alone, and unsure, longing for blessing, affirmation, and a sending off into destiny . . .
I’ve felt God speak to me much as He spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden when He asked them, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Gen. 3:11) In essence, He was asking me the same question. Who told me I was being judged? (What would it really matter if I was?) Who told me that I needed the blessing of man when I had the blessing of God? Who told me that the minority was greater than the majority? Who told me that following God wasn’t enough?
Lies. They were death threats to my destiny . . . and I listened to them. I hid in my cave feeling like I had nothing to say, so I didn’t say much of consequence for weeks that became months. I shrank back from being the fiery, passionate, warrior I know I am – the one who strikes fear in the camp of the enemy because of the One who lives and moves and breathes within me.
Outside of the cave, God gave Elijah clear instructions regarding his next steps and, in so doing, dispelled the lies of the enemy. He strengthened Elijah in His presence as He showed Elijah His glory. In the face of that glory, Elijah was able to hear the truth that gave him forward movement in his destiny.
It’s a time for each of us to go out and stand in God’s presence, allow God to ask us what we’re doing in the places we’re in, then allow Him to speak truth to our spirits and souls that will position and propel us in our destinies in this new season.
This isn’t about us as individuals. This is all about a world in need of the One who has defeated the enemy and our roles in enforcing that victory. We have mandates to fulfill on the earth and we can’t do it hiding in caves.
I’m emerging from my cave, getting into His presence, and listening for the next steps He’s telling me. I’m determined to walk out what He reveals and I’m wearing my combat boots as I take each step.
No more hiding in fear.
No more silence.
No more eyes on man.
I have to fulfill my role in bringing heaven to earth and it’s imperative I carry out His mandates assigned to me. He’s positioning me and propelling me forward. I may not fully know what that looks like, but I trust the One who does, and I’ll follow Him anywhere.
What's God speaking to you outside of the cave?
I linked a song below that's great to play as you spend time in His presence listening to Him speak to your heart. I'd love to hear what He shares with you!
Please feel free to share this post with others.
I linked a song below that's great to play as you spend time in His presence listening to Him speak to your heart. I'd love to hear what He shares with you!
Please feel free to share this post with others.
Our Mission: Love Others Well & Empower Them to Do the Same
