Tipping the Bowls

July 21, 2013

About a month ago I was at a birthday party and I struck up a conversation with a guy that was on the nightwatch. He was kind of telling me about his background and how he sometimes organizes mission trips to Israel. He asked me if I had ever gone anywhere and I told him no that I had never really had a heart for missions but I was totally open to going if the Lord made it clear that he wanted me to go somewhere. He asked me if I had a passport and when I told him no he said, you need to get a passport, and then you will put yourself on God’s radar. To be honest I had never even entertained the possibility. I just assumed if I ever went somewhere that I would just get a passport then. But I decided that I was going to go ahead and do it, but secretly. I wasn’t planning on telling anyone. I had no idea how to get one or where so I just figured I would look online or something when I had the time.

Well a couple days later I went to mail something at the post office and as I am walking in there is this huge sign on the door, GET YOUR PASSPORT HERE! So when I mailed my package I asked the lady how I would go about getting a passport. She gave me an application and said to fill it out and then make an appointment and it cost $135. I don’t know why but I hadn’t thought there would be a cost. So I took the application and I said ok Lord well you know I don’t have an extra $135 just laying around so if you want me to get a passport then you need to provide the funds for it. Then I set the application aside and didn’t really think too much about it.

Well the next week, my mom and aunt came for a visit and so we did what we always do when people come to visit, we went to the prophecy rooms. When it was my turn the first guy was saying a bunch of encouraging stuff and then his very last statement he goes, “I also feel to tell you to get your passport ready if you haven’t got your passport. I sense God, there’s going to be an invitation to come. It might be short term it might be long term. Somewhere on a mission field or mission trip. I don’t know how long or when but I just felt to say get that ready.” I about fell out of my chair! 3 confirmations! I have never received that many confirmations for anything before.

I was convinced this was the Lord. So one day towards the end of June I sat down and was writing in my journal. I don’t know why but somehow prayers just seem more real when they are written down. Anyway, I was writing in my journal and talking to the Lord about my life and all of my concerns about money and school and the future. Before I had started writing that day I had actually gone back and reread old entries and was reminded how I have had the same few prayer requests for literally years. I have been praying the same things over and over and outwardly have seen little answers. Then I remembered a teaching that a guy gave during this year’s signs and wonders camp. He talked about the bowls in heaven in Revelation 5:8 which are filled up with our prayers. When he was teaching the kids he told them now we know there are bowls but the thing is, we don’t know how big the bowls are. There might be a bowl that is super small and it only takes like 1 or 2 times for the bowl to spill over and the prayer to be answered. The bowl might be super big and take hundreds of prayers before it tips, we just don’t know. So as I was praying this time I said ok Lord I will do my part and fill out the application but you know I don’t have the money. This really seems like you but could I please just have a power encounter in my finances? Mike Bickle has told countless stories of times where he needed an exact amount and God brought him that exact amount. And it wasn’t really even about the amount, it was more the heart connect of oh wow you really do see me and know what I need. So I asked the Lord for $135 and for tuition, but not just because I need the money, because I want Him to confirm His pleasure over the way I have chosen to live my life. I want the money so that I know He is pleased with my decisions. I looked at the clock and saw the time and the last part I wrote was, “What if this was the year God? What if you went above and beyond to lavish your love on me simply because that’s who you are? What if now is the “suddenly” of God? Could it be now? Could I see some answers to my many prayers this year? Would this prayer today at 2:27 pm finally tip the bowls around your throne and pour out answered prayers? Would ya God?”

So after I prayed, I filled out the application and even anointed it with oil and consecrated it to the Lord. Then I went to bed. The next morning I got up and went to the prayer room. When I came home at 6 am I realized I had forgotten to check the mail the day before. When I opened up the mailbox I saw that there was a check from Grace Fellowship. Now this was super strange because I was not expecting anything from them. I thought oh wow maybe they found some extra money and were able to pay the remainder of my tuition, but the check was made out to me, not IHOPU. So I opened it up and low and behold it was a check for $500!!! Out of the blue for no reason. I couldn’t tell who it was from. There was no name on it. All it had was a small phrase in the little memo part of the check that said for missionary support. So I thought it was for the passport but it wasn’t the exact amount so then I thought well maybe I should save it and put it towards tuition.

The next day I got together with a friend and I told her the whole story. Then I said I think the check is for the passport but it wasn’t the exact amount that I asked for so maybe I should save it. She is very wise and always gives the most wonderful advice. She said I know you wanted the exact amount but what if the Lord decided to bless you above and beyond what you needed simply because He can? She said no Amy it said missionary support. You get your passport and you use the rest towards your monthly living expenses. And then you trust that it’s just a down payment and the Lord will provide the tuition when the time comes. So after praying about it, I felt like that was right so I went to have passport photos taken. The post office lady told me that if you have AAA they will do them for free. So I checked out the website and it turned out that since I have the basic membership they were actually $5. But without anything they were like $15 so I decided it was worth the extra time to drive there. Every little bit helps right? So I got there and the guy was having a hard time with the computer system. He said well let’s just take your pictures while the computer does what it needs to do. Afterwards, the system was still doing funky things and he couldn’t get it to work right so he said you know what just go ahead and take the pictures for free. I got my passport photos for free! Sure it was only $5 but like I said, it’s not the amount. It was just another confirmation that this is the Lord. So I sent everything in and paid my money and now I am just waiting 4-6 weeks to become the proud owner of a U.S. passport.

So I don’t really know what the Lord is doing but it seems as though He is getting ready to take me on an adventure of some kind and my heart is really excited at the prospect of what it might entail. But more than even that, I am excited to think that my prayers may have finally tipped the bowls. He answered immediately. Like so immediately that the check may very well have been in my mailbox at that exact moment and I had no idea. What if this is the season? Would you join me in filling those bowls? The more prayers that go in, the sooner they tip out =)