My prayer life with God is an adventure of colour, visions and symbols. Often I find myself in an imaginative world that is something like a movie with ever changing aspects, pictures and often don’t make sense when I try to put it all together with human logic.
I think it's at this point when our human logic shuts down what might be emerging out of these strange, yet wonderful experiences. You don’t have to dig too deep into God’s word to uncover some of these weird wonderful visions. Just take the book of Ezekiel, Daniel or Revelation as examples.
So often what we do in our logical reasoned thinking is dismiss the secrets that God might be revealing through these visions that are often beyond our realm of comprehension.
What I do know is that God doesn’t fit in our box and when He does it usually means we might only be dealing with a miniscule facet of the creator God. God’s world is beyond us and is beyond our minds and yet He, if you’re hungry enough invites you into the journey of discovering what is beyond the veil of flesh and blood, material and sight.
Over the years I have desired and hungered for more and more of God and He as a good father has invited me His son into a world that is fascinating, wondrous and only emphasises that life as we know it far more than what we can see.
Recently a vision was shown to me in my place of prayer and worship and I believe that there are some messages that need to be released to those in his Church (Bride).
Here is the vision….
The Vision...
The vision began with a series of colours filling my sight. At first I saw the scene coming together with hues of vibrant blues and purples until the vision looked something like what you would see on the NASA website. This cosmic landscape that had formed in then began to come to life as I saw a convergence of stars coming together to form the shape of a very large oak tree. The stars which had now become a tree of great stature and strength towered over me with large branches being supported by the girth of the strong trunk. At this point the focus was centred around the activity of the branches and the accelerated growth of leaves and fruit that filled these strong branches with colour and density.
The focus then narrowed onto the strange, otherworldly fruits that were coming from this growth. The colours were hard to describe in earthly terms and then suddenly there was movement in the fruit. Immediately, these fruits morphed into a series of lions and lionesses that replaced the imagery of leaves and fruit. As these lions took shape out of the fruit I saw their rippling muscles shimmer in the glow of the cosmic landscape’s light and colour. The imagery spoke of boldness and power and this was only further enhanced as these lions released an almighty series of roars. The imagery and beauty was now combined with a deafening power from the lions that had formed in the vision. At this point I knew I was experiencing a picture and message from God that needed to be shared.
Messages from the vision
Abide in him and remain connected to the trunk
There are multiple messages from this vision, but as I experienced it and as I was painting it at Church, the Lord led me to John chapter 15, verse 5 and the importance of remaining in God. Our life source is from abiding in Him. When we remain in him only then we became the conduit of his character, his values and therefore the Kingdom bringing agents we are all called to be. If you are in Jesus it means you are sent out to the world and you are sent out with power and authority from remaining in Him the Vine.
John chapter 15, verse 5 says,“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”.
Do not let your roar be silenced
The second message is about knowing your identity as Lions of the Kingdom. When I think, see or experience Lions I am captivated by their presence. They are such a symbol of strength, power and authority. God says that we the righteous are as bold as lions in Proverbs chapter 28, verse 1 implying that the same characteristics we have when we understand our identity in Him.
When I reflect on my experience with lions, which only lies with my experiences in Zoos, I realise that it’s not what they do that gives them so much presence, but who they are. The lions know that within them is the power of the source.
This leads to the poignant message of,‘do not let your roar be silenced’. When the lions roared in my vision there was deafening power and sign that these lions knew that they were not to be messed with. A lion’s roar is heard 9km away and if you draw the circle of influence around this roar, you have an effect of 254km.
Your roar matters and especially when your roar carries the authority, the truth and the love of Jesus. In a world where religious freedoms are being challenged do not let the enemy shut your mouth.
Trust in the intimacy of remaining in Him and knowing that this connection will fill your roar. You carry Jesus authority and as Matthew chapter 28, verse 20 it is with you even to the end of the age.
Justin Monaghan is married to his beautiful wife and together they pursue being his Kingdom agents through their intentional Jesus community house in Glenelg. Justin is also a prophetic artist under the label JR Faith Creations as well is pursuing a career in the entertainment industry with his new studies in VFX and digital illustration at university. He is a lover of surfing and anything adventurous.