Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman (SRSC 12)

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

power begins as we free our time and heart to listen and as we commit our will to follow God’s voice.

Learn How to Speak Second, we learn how to speak. At the start, this is often a matter of our own experience. Woolman writes how he structured his time so that “nothing might hinder me from the most steady attention to the voice of the true Shepherd.” We attend to our own exercises* and concerns and we learn to distinguish our own interests from the pure wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Yet over time it becomes more and more a matter of sharing God’s heart. We begin to see—and to feel—the oppressions, the injustices, the sufferings of others the way God sees—and feels—them. Then we act on our convictions, our drawings,* which requires us to speak here or there, welcoming whatever acceptance or rejection we might encounter. Encountering Individuals and Groups in the Spirit After we have learned the basics of a prophetic life and attention to God’s Spirit, we begin to apply them in the contexts of group gatherings and meetings with individuals. We learn to sense the presence of the Spirit of God in a meeting, recognizing spiritually when we are in “a laborious time,” and when by God’s grace we are “favored with an edifying meeting.” We learn to discern when God speaks within and when God compels us to speak without. We grow in care for individuals, sitting with the sick and learning to sympathize with people that we might not naturally like. We learn to sense when and where the power of God is moving in individuals and communities, and we learn to follow that lead.