I have been aware in the last week of how significant it can be to “catch” the whispers of the Holy Spirit, then act on them in a timely way. Here’s a couple of my favourite examples….
Whilst having a conversation time with Jesus one morning, the image of a lady’s face came into my mind. It was a young Mum who had recently moved into the area with her husband and two children. I’ll call her “Lily”. I have only met Lily briefly once or twice before and found her to be a lovely, bubbly person. The family are of Muslim background.
After glimpsing Lily’s face, I felt I heard Jesus direct me to take something specific to Lily – a bunch of vibrantly coloured tulips! Hie explained that Lily specially needed some encouragement today as she was sad inside, and struggling. The flowers would be a Heavenly smile tonic for her.!
I was to tell Lily that Father God had prompted me to bring her the flowers today, because He sees her, He knows what’s going on in her heart, and wants to show His love to her. I prayed for Lily and her family and tucked this away for later. The whole sequence lasted only moments, like a beautiful butterfly that floats by, is briefly captured, then released again.
It was afternoon by the time I was able to take round Lily’s flowers. With a busy work and family life, I half expected her not even to be at home. But Lily answered the door with a big smile, and things seemed all quiet in the background.
After greeting her, I started with the words ….”Earlier today, I was praying a blessing over you and your family …. She looked surprised – but in a happy kind of way!
I continued on, telling Lily what I felt Father God had said about giving her something specific today, taking from my tote bag a bunch of bright orange, pink and yellow “Ballerina” tulips with fluted edgings. I explained that Father God wanted Lily to have some special cheer today as He knew she needed that right now. She burst into tears, nodding in agreement.
I waited for Lily to speak when she was ready. It wasn’t the time to talk at length about things now but, through her tears, Lily exclaimed “Thank you, thank you!….I can’t get over how you know this. This is unbelievable. I really want to talk with you more about how this is possible” (meaning hearing from God in prayer).
Before leaving Lily, I assured her I would love to talk when it’s a good time for her and underlined again that all this happened today because Father God sees her. He knows. And He cares so much for Lily that He wanted to let her know that. Her heart was drinking in this Heavenly tonic!
The minute I finished speaking, Lily was needed for her next work call. That whole time, start to finish, had been carved out, protected and uninterrupted for all that Jesus purposed for it!! Hallelujah! And thank you Holy Spirit for prompting me through your butterfly whispers!
The other catch of His whisper came just today after reading some beautiful words of truth about Jesus’ unchanging, everlasting love for us, completely unrelated to our performance. A thought flashed “across my grid” straight after reading it – I need to send this to a certain friend, right NOW!
It all happened in a flash and I know I could easily have ignored it as my own imagination. Experience has taught me, however, to act on his prompts without overthinking things. . The worst that could happen was that this friend would be reminded of the Heavenly Father’s love! So I sent across a screenshot of the reading to my friend, with a note saying I had felt prompted to send it to them today.
Only moments later, this friend messaged back to say how meaningful the message was. Most of all because, just ONE HOUR before I sent it, this friend had prayed that God would give them a word through someone else, a word specifically to show that He loves them! He knows and cares before we even ask!
I’m certain there are many prompts that I fail to “catch”, or act on! But these two recent ones have made me aware how important – and precious - it is to stay alert to those whispers of His Spirit . And to act on them when He gives that nudge. Maybe you, too, would like to join me in asking for “More whispers please, Jesus! “