07/08/2023
The Lord has had me pondering generational blessings and curses lately. During our Altar Fire Revival in May I did a live video from the graveyard directly above the revival field where I found my 3rd great grandmother and several other family members are buried. The thought of that church praying on that hilltop with all of its members, many of them my relatives, touched my heart greatly. I still drive by the graveyard almost daily, to see the concrete stairs of Pitzer’s Chapel United Methodist Church, and to pray that the prayers of my ancestors and the ancestors of my neighbors do not return void but produce the results that people have been praying for over multiple generations. I pray that the ancient wells of revival over my area are reopened and that the living waters flow forth. I pray that Martinsburg experiences a river of living water flowing down main street…just like Ezekiel 47. I pray for the many people of this region and that their souls will be saved, and their hearts filled with the joy of the Lord.
So when you think about your generational role between those people of the past, and your future generations, your destiny comes into focus a bit. We’re not just praying and standing in faith for our own selves…it’s for many of the generations to come. My children are my greatest blessing and assignment. These last few years my children have been toted along with my husband and I to numerous revivals and different church gatherings. People may say…”why are they always going to these church conferences? Don’t they want to go to the beach? Those poor children sit through all those church services.” I’m aware that that is how it may appear to some people. However, I recall hearing Jennifer Martin speak on her upbringing. Her parents took her to their Bible college with them. She sat on the floor while Holy Spirit filled pastors would preach and teach about Jesus. She sat there in the atmosphere of awakening. Later as she strayed from the Lord and went prodigal, she was thankful that her family rooted her in Christ. I want my children to see what God is doing now. I want them to see and hear the testimonies of the current miracles and moves of God. I want them to sit and watch men and women of God moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I want the supernatural of God to be part of their everyday life. I want them to know His power and know they have access to that through Jesus Christ.
This brings me to one of the most impactful questions my 9-year-old son has ever asked me. I was reading my Bible the other night in bed, and he climbed in next to me. He laid there for a moment, and he asked, “Mommy, when was the first time you ever heard God.” In that instant, all my distractions fell away, and I was completely conscious of the hugeness of this question. Why is this so huge? Because I know that he is interested. He is paying attention to what we’re doing and saying. He is contemplating God and not just sitting idly by playing video games. And he is probably wondering when he will begin to hear from God himself. What a wonderful open door as a parent to run through and start teaching him how to talk to God, and how to sit and listen to God.
So, I told him. In the spring of 2021, after I had been born again for approximately 1 year and a couple of months. I spent a month or two asking God, “Who am I Lord? You have set me on fire, but I don’t understand what to do with all this fire. Who do you want me to be?” I asked this continuously. I was desperately seeking a purpose and a mission for the Lord. All I can say is that God lit a fire in me and was fanning the flames. I also felt what I would describe as a warrior spirit rising up inside of me. It was just so much energy and passion to see the Lord’s will for my life, my family, my farm, etc. This was during the time of COVID-19 so there was a lot going on that was causing me alarm. I literally didn’t know what to do with the energy God was filling me with. So, for several years now, I’ve just immersed myself in Him.
One night at about 3:30 a.m. I received my answer to my destiny in a dream. I was sleeping and, in my dream, I saw a typewriter typing letters into what appeared to be text boxes in the sky. At the same time, I heard a booming voice saying what was in the text boxes. The first thing I saw was the word “ORR”, which is my maiden name. Then I saw and heard, “IRON-ORE.” I thought that was interesting because I never thought of the alternate spelling and meaning of my last name before. “JUST AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, YOU SHALL SHARPEN ONE ANOTHER.” At that moment I woke up and sat straight up in bed. I was shaking and trembling. The power of the Lord was so overwhelming. I laid in bed for about an hour and a half just wide-eyed and full of joy and excitement. I can’t describe the relief I felt to know who God said I was. It was everything I needed to hear in that instant. A confirmation of all the stirrings I felt in my spirit. I still didn’t understand it fully, but there was such comfort in just having a direction that God wanted me to go.
As I was describing this word to my son, I was able to tell him the most important part of hearing from God. I said, “Wyatt, you know what that means? It means that we’re strong as iron because we stand in God’s Word. And this word isn’t just for me…it means that you and your sister are strong too. In fact, it’s a word for our entire family.” Do you know how important it is to speak the prophetic words over your family that God has given you? I know what a blessing this word has been to me, and why not share it with my whole family? Some will receive it, and some will not. It’s like the parable of the Sower from Matthew 13: 3-9, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” I have only told a few of my family members this testimony of receiving a prophetic word for us. Just the ones that the Holy Spirit has told me to tell so far. I pray that the words fall on the good soil of their hearts, and they have ears to hear what God is saying right now. However, I do feel a release to type this word now. I’ve been holding onto it for several years and praying into it. I pray they receive it, especially my children. I hope that this word settles into their little spirits and holds them through any tough times in their lives. Reminding them that they are made as strong as iron-ore and that God is with them.
Tonight, I was listening to a recent lesson by Charlie Shamp on You Tube. He said something that really spoke to me about this blog. He said, “When you’ve heard the word of the Lord, you keep moving forward. That’s the spirit of a pioneer. Pioneers keep moving and don’t look back. Pioneers continue to move forward.” You can click here, https://www.facebook.com/charlie.shamp/videos/1063724924592815 to listen to the whole word from him. I love that the Holy Spirit gives confirmations when you need them the most.
I often think about my role in my family. As a mother, I know I need to teach my children to learn their identity in Christ and to grow in faith and boldness. But I also want to teach my children how to hear the Lord for themselves. Another powerful sermon about young mothers that I recently listened to was by Cindy Jacobs. She spoke about the night the Lord called her into His service. He asked her if she would go. She replied, “I will not lay my children on the altar of any ministry.” But then…God explained to her that Satan has a strategy for the earth, but His church does not. Cindy decided she would accept the mission. It was not without sacrifices and heartaches, but God turns all things together for the good of those who love Him. I highly recommend listening to her entire sermon, “For Such A Time As This” here https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1430962961071862 It was truly life changing for me hear her testimony of how God activated her. The only way she was activated was because she had learned to hear from the Lord and obey what He was asking her to do.
If God has taught me anything this year, it’s this. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I pray that you seek the kingdom and ask God for your assignment. I pray that you hear the Lord clearly and then speak that word over your family as we all move into our kingdom assignments. And lastly, that you when you learn how to hear from the Lord, you strengthen someone else and teach them how to hear Him too. Not to be boastful or prideful. This type of strengthening is to lift someone else up because you’ve found the treasure and want to share it with someone else who desperately needs to hear their identity in Christ. Not for our own glory, but to bring glory to God. In Christ’s Love…Katy