A really weird thing happened. I was utterly shocked. Looking back on it, it was something that should not have surprised me at all. People with mighty prayer lives shared wise, godly, and insightful words over my life.
Where else would I expect to find such a thing? Should I expect it from the television? Should I expect it from politicians? Should I expect it from some know-it-all lounging around my life?
The only place I should expect those kinds of words should be exactly where I found them. But I was in utter shock. I needed to retreat to the bathroom until I regained my composure. Welcome to the next daily installment of this true story, which you can find posted here each afternoon.
Chapter 7: Back In The Church
I left the bathroom, asking God if I should let Pastor Rick know about 4 a.m. God said yes. I asked if I should let Nicole know that trains means something to me. God said yes.
When I came out, the church was now empty except for Pastor Rick, Nicole’s husband, and Nicole. I came up to the three of them and shared with Nicole first as she broke off to talk with me, while the two men continued their conversation.
I let Nicole know that trains do mean something to me. My father has worked half a century on the railroad, his entire adult life. His father worked his entire adult life on the railroad. His father’s father worked his entire life in the United States on the railroad. I could have shared some of the intimate details of the dozen things that flashed through my head, but I know I had done the job already, and to say more would be fruitless.
All I really needed to do was to stop shrugging my shoulders and “soberly” telling myself “If she has the gifting shouldn’t she be the one to tell me if trains mean something to me?”
Instead I was singing a different tune and aloud, “Yes, trains mean a lot to me and I now realize that I am supposed to take a train home this Thanksgiving to be with my family.”
Her eyes lit up. She told me that I was going to be praying over someone on this train. This train or subway came to her, she wasn’t sure which. She said something more about speed, momentum, and increasing, the exact words of that portion I do not entirely remember.
It was clear that there was even more to the prophecy that I was not comprehending, but I am not sure I was ready for it. There is probably a lot more about trains in my future than I could possibly imagine, and the symbolic meaning goes far beyond the literal. Nicole, knowing her gift better than me, could clearly see things that I was not understanding in her words. She could clearly see things. As she spoke, you could see more things clicking. Thank you God.
The more a person gets to know God, the more these little facets of His infinite magnificence make sense. Yes. I just used the word “sense” to refer to God. The more you get to know God, the more these amazing facets of God that you would never possibly imagine as having anything to do with each other, simply come together. Suddenly, you are sitting there with your mouth hanging open in total awe at the new realization, the fresh, new revelation you just had about God.
That was happening in front of my eyes as Nicole spoke to me. Had we continued much longer, I might have needed to run back into the bathroom again. God is so amazing and for years of my life, I thought God was just some hymns and a good sermon and maybe a good deed or two in between Sundays. I had no idea what a relationship with Christ meant. The words “relationship with Christ,” were practically empty — often used, seldom explained: seldom explained probably because it is so seldom understood.
Chapter 8: And You Will Be Prophesying
I think Nicole also added, “You will be prophesying over someone on that train.”
I left it there. Praying over someone happens throughout my day. Where I am out and about among people, I am asking God who it is that He wants me praying for. Sometimes that ends up being dozens in a day. Sometimes that ends up being just a few people each day. Seldom is it no one, unless, I am in seclusion the entire day.
Sometimes God “derails” everything I thought I was leaving home to do and everything I had planned for myself that day in order to let me know that He has different plans for me. One night, though I lost count, He wanted me from approximately 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. walking the streets of San Francisco praying for those who He directed me toward.
I was about to lay down for bed that night. It had been a long day and I was excited to go to bed. He told me to lay down to pray first. I laid down to pray — which I often do with a towel that I place on the floor and in the prostrate position, submitting before God physically to the greatest degree that I know how, a position God often calls me to pray to Him in. He has even called on me to pray in that way in churches with people in them. I have to get over my sense of embarrassment when that happens. When I do such a thing, often, I ask the pastor of the church if it would be okay before I do it, whichever church I happen to be in. It is his building to watch over, so I do not want to be disrespectful in that space. God has had me pray that way periodically, even on a sidewalk once.
Exhibiting such humbleness and obedience at once does quite a thing to a person. It helps to break down the ego and to remind the person who is in charge. God is in charge. Some believe that the final words of Jesus in Matthew show that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to us. (Matthew 28:16-20) God ultimately remains in charge. I have no question that is true in my life. I have free will, and with that free will, I choose to make God master over my life. At least that is what happens to me when I stop being foolish and let humbleness and obedience be two of the most prominent aspects of my relationship with God.
Chapter 9: They Both Opened Up More
As Nicole continued sharing with me, Pastor Rick and Nicole’s husband came over and they listened in. I explained to them how I had been playing coy and how much 4 a.m. actually meant to me. Pastor Rick added more about the 4 a.m. statement he had made to me.
You might imagine that if you see an image or receive a series of words about a person and the person does not seem to react responsively to what you are saying, that you might stop saying what you are saying. That feedback — or lack of feedback — is a quick indication that you might have gotten something wrong and that it is time to move on. Everyone, even the most seasoned of us, gets things wrong once in a while. That is true even when we are incredibly veteran in our field. That is true even when those things pertain to God. And I think that is what both Pastor Rick and Nicole did. They saw my shoulder shrug and they assumed that they had been wrong. So instead of letting it all flow out when they first spoke to me, they cut things short.
Once I shared that they had not in any way gotten it wrong, they both opened up more about what they had seen, and the pieces began to come together even more clearly.
Some people say that this gift of prophecy is as simple as this: pray for a person, and pay attention to what words and images well up in you as you do that praying. Others describe it in a more complicated fashion, but it comes down to being open to the possibility, sensitive to communication, and attentive to what God is communicating to you.
In the days ahead, I would understand that these two disciples of Christ — Pastor Rick and Nicole — came up to me and said two important things to me independent of each other. They could not have known the true significance of what they were saying to me. They each gave me half of a sentence. One told me about trains. The other said 4 a.m. Over the days ahead, I would realize, God was saying to me loudly and clearly, “Go home and pray about trains.”
Chapter 10: Encourage
In a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he talks about ways to grow as a church, ways to encourage believers, ways to encourage non-believers too. In biblical parlance, that passage is I Corinthians 14. One of the things that Paul talks about is prophesying.
There are churches in our contemporary era that say that’s a bunch of gobbledegook. There are churches in our contemporary era that say that kind of thing might be possible. And there are churches in our contemporary era that say that there is no question that prophetic words are a gift given from the Holy Spirit through a believer to a believer or non-believer to encourage them in their relationship with God. I attend such a church. In fact, I attend two such churches.
There are some pastors who maintain an environment around such things that almost entirely lacks order. There are some pastors who maintain an environment around such things that is done in an orderly way. I attend such a church. In the same passage, Paul writes of the need for orderliness in how the service is conducted. As disorderly as it may sound to have a word spoken to you that leaves you entirely shocked, flummoxed, and emotional, it is not only orderly but surprisingly comforting.
These prophetic words are sometimes accurate. They are sometimes inaccurate. When they are accurate, they can be very powerful and edifying. Jesus says that his sheep know his voice. (John 10:14-16, 25-30) Jesus is my master. There are times when I have no question that my master is calling me. I realize no one else might be able to understand how clearly I know the voice of my master, but I know it, and I know it clearly.
-Allan Stevo
This is a selection from my forthcoming book, “The Amtrak Vignettes.” A neat story began with the writing of “The Amtrak Vignettes” in October 2023. Every day until that story comes to an end, I intend to share a part of it here. It is a part of my faith journey as a Christian, a faith journey that has been deepened since the Ides of March 2020. Some of it gets pretty wild and nothing that a “reasonable” person would find himself in the midst of. Few will be scared off by it. Instead, many will grow deeper in their faith. I know that, because I know my readers well, and I know that few come here expecting me to give a milquetoast version of anything. Come here to be challenged. Stay here to have your life changed. That, I believe, is what will come of this work. You can support that work by signing up below.