Prophecy

Deeper - Words Revealed in Prayer

Every term, three times a year, we invite the church together for a 'whole church' prayer meeting. Each time is like coming for air as we ask God to breathe life into the plans laid on our hearts. We usually take time to sit and listen. Without fail, it seems like the Lord is ready to speak, nudge and prompt us as we stumble our way forward into His plans and purposes for our lives and the church.

In this new academic year, we sense the Lord calling us deeper—deeper as a church, deeper in relationship and connection, and deeper in community. This journey is not one we take alone, but one where each of us plays a vital role, prodding around in some uncomfortable ways as we allow ourselves to walk tightly in step with the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to have a lasting impact if we don't have depth in our faith, and your role in this is crucial.

And so, many people began to pray and share what God was showing them; here is a snapshot of those words and pictures from our time in prayer together. We ask that you continue to bring these things before the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to help you put words into action as we go deeper.

Follow

Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men; closeness to Jesus comes first. As we follow Jesus, He will make us into something. Let us walk closer and go deeper.

Ice cream

A chain of people bringing hope and joy to the borough. I see an ice cream van and a chain of hundreds of people who are the church, and they are passing the ice cream down the chain of people to those who have nothing.

Fortune cookie

The excitement and accessibility of the faith that comes with knowing that God is not a fortune cookie. Unlike a fortune cookie, it’s not a guess but something that will come to pass. What has God said? What do we need to remind ourselves of?

Aslan

Stop, think, give, Aslan. Make giving accessible. Make it easy to give as we support them. If we all sacrificed a cup of coffee and offered that in support, it would amount. How can we offer deeper support?

Lion

Boldness and purpose, no-nonsense, true and deep, stand out like a lion. We are called to be a lion, fierce, beautiful and bold.

Keep it real

God doesn’t want us to pretend to be happy all the time. He wants honesty and realness. Be honest in our relationship with Him.

Colossians 3:2

Set your mind on things above, be like Jesus and do His work - Be: Jesus, he reveals his character and heart as gentle. Do: Seek and save the lost, and remember what it is really about.

Relationship

Deepening relationships with the Father so that we can deepen with others and with those we serve.

Creativity

There is ingenuity within us - how we outwork things is creative in many ways and God wants to use this.

Dig

Digging wells deeper from those who have gone before. The deeper we dig the fresher the water.

Eagle

A picture of an eagle flying back to the nest feeding the young - bring lost souls back to the nest to feed.

Skyscrapers

They require deep foundations and are tall, seen landmarks. As we go deeper, it is in preparation to build skyscrapers of faith.

Excavator

Large industrial excavator coming towards us - God says he’s got some serious digging to do!

Cavern

A deep cavern full of people singing with a beautiful echo. Sometimes, there are cracks from the surface down to a cave, and through these cracks, the music in this deep place is seeping out, and people are noticing.

Consistency

The deep walk towards Jesus is like weight training- don’t give up too soon, keep going and maintain the course.

Bite

A bite out of an apple, God's goodness is plentiful fruit. The community work is also like a plentiful fruit, God has so many good things for our community.

Viking Ship

On the side of a Viking ship, the timber overlaps and connects and is watertight. We need tight connections with each other. Deeper connections will keep the sheep watertight.

Spread

An image of ice spreading and connecting, Holy Spirit spread through our church.

Partner

Partnership - working together with each other, the community, etc. learning from and with one another.

Connect

A deeper connection is to the Lord's Church, of which we are a part. It’s not just us, it's all of us together!

Courage

As the community develops, we will need the courage to fight for fairness and justice.

Forward

The picture of the hole left behind encourages us to move forward. We cannot go back. The past is past. Let us move forward.

Sunset

There is a sunset below a dark cloud over Sutton. There is often so much more than we can see. Hope is on the horizon, and below that cloud, light is breaking through.

These are some of the words the Lord began to stir in people's hearts. Let me encourage you to pick one or two and begin bringing them to God regularly in prayer. Ask him to reveal more to you and show you how to put these things into action as we look to go deeper as a church.

What would happen if we all began exploring the depths of these words? 

I can't wait to see what God does in and through your life!

Much love,

Julian.

What is prophecy and why does it matter? 

At Sutton Vineyard, we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, given to us to be used in our daily lives (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Prophecy is just one of those gifts that we all have the opportunity to experience. But what exactly is prophecy, and why is it exciting news for each of us? I want to take some time in this post to unpack it a little bit, share some stories, and let you know about an exciting opportunity to develop more in this area of our spirituality. 

We do not believe that prophecy is reserved for a chosen few. Instead, we believe that all believers can hear from God. These messages, taking the form of words of encouragement, correction, or even glimpses into the future, are God's way of actively speaking to His people today. Imagine prophecy not as booming pronouncements from a mountaintop but as a gentle nudge, a whispered message from the Holy Spirit directly to you. It can of course come in other forms, but we usually experience nudges, prompts, words or pictures. 

The prophetic should usually encourage and edify. It is a beautiful way that God uses each of us to spur each other in our own faith journeys, as individuals and as a church family. All of us can hear from God, and as well as receiving words for others, we should also weigh up words we are given against scripture. At the heart of all we do, including the prophetic, love for one another should be at the heart.  

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:2

As we get to know God better, we learn to hear the voice of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is a gift for all, a beautiful invitation to play a part in the vibrant symphony of the Holy Spirit's work within the church. So open your heart, listen closely, and get ready to hear God's voice in you and through you.

If you would like to explore the prophetic more, we have a Prophecy Training day on Saturday 6th July, our next Development Day! We would love for you to join us - find out more here

Below are a few encouraging stories about experiences of prophecy from some people at Sutton Vineyard: 

Julie

Our small prayer group, Walk the Walk, visits churches in Sutton to pray for them; it was put on our hearts to be visible, to lay hands on the buildings and to pray that the Holy Spirit will reign in power, grow His church, blesses its leaders and that love will seep from His house into the community.  

Three of us recently visited some churches, praying for protection and to be a blessing. At one church, which we felt we should visit at the last minute, the words "unfinished project" wouldn't leave me. We were delighted to find the church was unlocked and the vicar was present. We prayed for him, his wife, and the new curate. My team members offered beautiful prophetic words, but I felt compelled to share what God had put on my heart – to deliver a message about revisiting and completing a shelved project. It felt mundane compared to the words brought by my team members, but the vicar shared that he would not normally be there on a Friday and he had only come in to revisit a project that had been shelved and to look at the finances to see if they could commence some hefty, much needed  building work, so I hope we helped with that decision!  

This showed us the power of being a team, and the power of prayer. The vicar referred to our prophetic prayers in his sermon on the Sunday, recounting “a visit by three angels". It is amazing to see how our prayers aligned with God's plan for the church.

Heather

At a recent online prayer meeting, The Fireplace, I had an amazing experience. We were in breakout rooms of three, and during our prayer time, the other women shared incredible things about me, even though they didn't know me beforehand.

The first lady said I was like a "carpet layer," weaving vibrant prayers in all directions. She said I play a key role in God's plans, praying strategically and connecting heaven's power to situations.

The second lady called me a "special fracker," meaning my prayers break ground and pave the way. She even saw my prayers as a giant web catching all the bugs, flies and nasties before they could cause harm.

How gracious of God to encourage me in my praying and with the words I get. I don’t know what happens when I give out the words I get or to the prayers I pray. But given these encouraging words from ladies who don’t know me, don’t know anything about me, It had to be the Holy Spirit, it was awesome.

Tana

Giving a Word:

I recently participated in a student weekend as part of a prophecy team. While praying for a student, the word "Thumbelina" popped into my head. It felt strange, but I trusted the feeling and shared it. The student was incredibly touched! It turned out she'd been asking God for confirmation about becoming a nursery teacher – working with little ones, just like Thumbelina. My word felt like a direct answer from God to her.

Receiving a Word:

Just a week before retiring from my 40-year career, I participated in a virtual prayer group. During the session, someone shared a powerful image with me. They saw me in a tiny, dark room with locked gates. But when you pushed them open, there was a beautiful meadow bathed in sunshine, with meadows and birdsong! It felt like God was saying I'd been feeling boxed in, but a time of newness and transformation was coming, a big open space. Sharing that I was retiring soon from a 40-year career, it felt like a clear message about a new, exciting chapter filled with freedom and light.

Two months in, I can tell you – it's true! I am experiencing this beautiful new way of life described in the picture and looking forward to continuing to move forward into all that God has in store within this new freedom.

Susanne

At a prophetic meeting, called the Fireplace, I attended, I had one word that the Lord gave me which was "tapestry", which led to the word "weaving" for a lady I was praying for. I felt that the Lord wanted her to know that He saw her and that she was weaving Gods' love in all the lives she touched and everything she did. 

He gave me Colossians 2:2, a verse about being woven together in love. The lady then showed me a basket she had woven!

Another time, I was at the theatre with my sister and brother-in-law beside me; the woman in front kept blocking my view by hunching over and straightening up. It was infuriating! But during intermission, I felt convicted when I saw her struggling with crutches! I apologised to God for being grumpy and judgmental. He nudged me to pray for her, even though it felt awkward - a stranger, in the middle of the show! I agreed, only if the opportunity arose.

Luckily (I thought), the play started right after intermission, and I thought I’d avoided needing to pray! But then, leaving the theatre, there she was, waiting by the wall. My heart thumped. It felt like God was giving me that chance. "You did promise me Susanne if the opportunity arose, you would pray for her," a voice inside me whispered. Right, I had. My sister, bless her, disappeared into the toilet just then, leaving me alone. Taking a deep breath, I approached the woman. "Would you mind if I prayed for your back?"

She readily agreed. Right there, in the crowded hallway, I placed my hands on her and prayed for healing and peace. She shared that in 15 years of attending church, no one had ever prayed for her like that. When we step out in faith and bless others, we too are blessed. She even said she'd share the story with her church family.