Episode Transcript
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
Help me to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
I set my mind on you.
Help me discern your thoughts.
I fix my eyes on you.
Help me to see more than I can see.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Matthew 2:7–12
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
CONSIDER THIS
Let's begin with another question: What did the Magi feel when they met Herod or bowed down to worship Jesus for the first time? I'm not talking about whether they were happy or sad, but about what they felt in their bodies. Were they peaceful or disturbed? Did they tremble?
What happened to their heart rate? Did they sweat? Were they agitated?
That's an odd series of questions, but let me explain why I think they are important. I never used to think about my body in relation to my spiritual life. I thought a lot about my soul and spirit but never much about my body. When it came to holy things, I had been taught that, at best, my body was some kind of container to house my spirit and, at worst, it was evil. It never dawned on me that my body could have any role to play in discerning spiritual things. It turns out I was wrong.
Let me take you on my journey of discovery. I lived in Dublin, Ireland, for sixteen years. That's where I met Kathie, and our children were born. I was an elder and regular preacher in my church. One Sunday morning, I saw a mental picture of a rash on someone's body and had the impression that the Lord wanted to heal that person. I shared my impression, and a young woman in her early twenties responded. I prayed for her and asked her to go to the women's restroom to check her body to see if anything had changed. A few minutes later, she skipped back into the service with a massive grin—the rash had disappeared from every area of her body.
While she was telling the congregation about her experience, I noticed a very unusual tingling at the top of my legs but thought no more about it.
A few weeks later, when another person testified to their healing, I again noticed the feeling in my legs. I'd now felt it twice, both times when the Lord healed someone. I wondered if I would feel it again. A few weeks later, I felt the same unusual tingling again when preparing to preach. How interesting. I wondered if the Lord wanted to heal somebody. I invited those who wanted prayer for healing to stand, and church members prayed for them where they stood. Several people were healed.
From then on, every time I felt that unusual tingling, I expected God to heal people, and that's what happened. However, just as suddenly as the tingling started, a few months later, it stopped. I've never felt it since.
After that experience, I began to pay more attention to what was happening in my body. I noticed that when the Holy Spirit moved powerfully in a meeting, my body would tremble like a leaf shaking gently in the wind. The more I paid attention, the more I observed. I noticed that the first part of my body to respond to the presence of the Holy Spirit was my stomach muscles, which would spontaneously contract. This still happens today. I've learned that when my stomach muscles unexpectedly contract in a church meeting or conference, the Holy Spirit is beginning to move and is inviting me to pay attention and follow along.
When I searched the Scriptures, I discovered that it is not uncommon for people to have bodily reactions when they encounter Jesus. The unborn John the Baptist "leaped" in Elizabeth's womb when he first came into the presence of the unborn Jesus (Luke 1:41). The guards who came to arrest Jesus in the garden fell backward when Jesus declared his divinity and said, "I am he" (John 18:5). When John first saw Jesus in his Revelation, he fell at Jesus's feet "as though dead" (Rev. 1:17).
I've also learned that my body can sometimes sense evil. I've always loved books. So, when we lived in Dublin, I regularly walked to a Christian bookstore close to my work. I enjoy walking, but there was one section of my journey I never enjoyed. Most of the time, when I walked down one street, I felt my heart racing. I became sweaty and agitated. I'd then turn the corner and feel normal again. At that time, I had no explanation for what I felt.
Twenty years later, I was ministering in Hong Kong, and a young married couple came forward for prayer. The husband, who had better English, explained that his new bride was struggling from a spiritual attack. While he was talking, I had the same bodily reaction as during my walks in Dublin. I felt cold, sweaty, and agitated for no reason I could understand. Then the woman's face contorted, and she started to spit and hiss at me. She looked at me with what I can only describe as pure hatred. It was clear that she was under severe demonic attack, so we had to bind the evil spirit and lead her to freedom. I can tell you that the husband was overjoyed when his beautiful new bride's face returned to normal, and she began to testify to her new sense of freedom.
I could now connect my bodily experience to demonic activity.
Last year, I attended a conference in England. The conference organizers asked me to join the pre-conference intersession team. As I walked around the building, I sensed the spiritual atmosphere was very different from one side of the church to the other. On one side, I felt peaceful and joyful. On the other, I experienced the same unease I had felt in Dublin and Hong Kong. I asked the conference organizers what activities surrounded the church. I learned that outside the church on the side I felt agitated and uncomfortable was the city's Red Light District. Again, my body was sensing the presence of evil spirits at work.
Now, let's return to the Magi. I'd love to know what they felt when they entered Herod's presence and what they experienced in their bodies when they met Jesus. My best guess is that they felt uncomfortable in Herod’s presence. I don’t mean the nervousness we all feel when we meet powerful or famous people. No, I think they may have felt something similar to my experience in Dublin, Hong Kong, and England. I think they sensed evil.
And when they met Jesus, they bowed down and worshipped. I don’t imagine for one moment that their minds grasped they were in the presence of the King of kings, but I like to think their hearts may have jumped a little, much like the pre-born John the Baptist jumped when he first encountered the pre-born Jesus in his mother's womb.
I’d love to know what you think may have happened.
THE PRAYER
Lord, help me to sense your presence. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
Put yourself in the scenes where the Magi first met Herod and when they first worshipped Jesus. What do you think you would have felt if you were one of the Magi? Have you ever noticed anything happening in your body during times of worship? If so, what have you experienced? What might God have been trying to tell you through these experiences?
