"According to the Prophecy"

In my former life as a workshop presenter, I used to sometimes read a humorous list of things you can do to freak people out, and one of them was:

Begin every sentence with 'according to the prophecy.'

Only psychos talk like that, right? Well, I'm probably gonna freak some of you out, but here goes:

One day I was reading my Bible, and a verse just jumped out and grabbed me. I wrote it in my journal because it was so cool, but I didn't really think a whole lot about it. I WISHED it applied to me, but I really didn't think it did.

Then some of my friends and I rather impulsively went to a one-hour seminar on prophecy at the International Worship Institute last summer. Now what I know about prophecy would fit in my belly button (it's an in-y, not an out-y), and I'm not even sure what I believe about the subject (it's not exactly standard preaching fare in Baptist churches), but we had some time to kill that afternoon, so here we tiptoe in: Spring, Annette, Tonja, me, and I can't remember who else. (I know Mark wasn't in there because at some point I remember he was out in the hall trying to call us on our cell phones, but by that time we were totally into it and wouldn't answer!)

I don't remember all the details, but the presenter said to think of a scripture that perhaps God wanted to personally give us, and pray it. No, she said to sing it (like in Zephaniah where it says God sings over us). I immediately turned to that one in my journal, and I did that. (Spring can vouch for this whole thing because we paired up for it.) Then WHOA!! I started weeping because I KNEW God wanted to fulfill it!

The verse was 2 Kings 4:16: "About this time next year you will hold a son in your arms." I had been LONGING for a new grandchild, but it looked extremely unlikely at that time.

Well, that was last JULY. Jody's baby BOY is due next JUNE--about three weeks short of a year!

"According to the prophecy!"

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow as I tell you what God spoke to me at a Beth Moore conference last June! Ha!