I can honestly say that the Holy Spirit is my best friend. I ask, and He answers. I rely on Him to teach, guide, correct and convict me. But it hasn’t always been this way. My friendship with the Holy Spirit began after my husband, Ron, and I experienced a long, intense year of spiritual warfare several years ago. At the time, we were completely unfamiliar with spiritual warfare, and all we could do was rely on the Holy Spirit.
After that season of unprecedented spiritual attack, we relocated our family to our hometown in Michigan. I spent my time adjusting our kids to their new home and schools and focused on being a mom and wife. I didn’t work outside the home, so I was able to spend the next two years prostrate on the carpet in the presence of the Father, getting to know Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I had one goal in mind: get to know the Trinity deeply.
During this time, I had many encounters and visions with Jesus. I would lie on the floor where it often felt like His face was in the carpet (many times I saw it there) as we dialogued back and forth. No deliverance minister cast out my demons or led me through the deliverance process. Jesus was my deliverer. No one taught me about spiritual warfare. The Holy Spirit was my teacher and guide.
Life those years had been intense, but in the years that followed, I rested in the presence of the Lord and learned about healing and deliverance. I didn’t seek to be prophetic or have a deliverance ministry; I simply desired to get to know Jesus intimately. I allowed the Holy Spirit to lead my prayer and worship time, breaking down strongholds and bringing me into the glory of God’s presence. He directed which books I should study and taught me the Scriptures.
Those years of seeking the Holy Spirit birthed and launched me into deliverance ministry. I followed the Holy Spirit’s leading in deliverance ministry for the next few years, and even though I didn’t walk in prophetic ministry—often referred to as “the prophetic”—at that time, I had a keen sense of discernment and could see into the spiritual realm.
In 2009 the Holy Spirit convicted me of the prophetic call on my life. Up to that point, I never wanted anything to do with prophetic ministry because I had seen impure motives in people seeking it. Jesus had placed a prophetic mantle on me during an encounter I had with Him. But I denied this call three times, and I had been running from it ever since. However, in 2009, I was finally obedient. I repented and embraced the prophetic call on my life—but at a limited level. I still wasn’t fully using what the Lord had given me. When I witnessed people being set free from demonic oppression in five minutes versus eight-hour sessions, I was all in!
I pray and allow Him to guide me through decisions, including where and when to travel, what to purchase and at what restaurant to eat. I’ve relied on Him several times when discerning which regions He has called my team to travel to, minister to and pray over. He’s led us on prophetic ministry tours that we call Be Love Prophetic Tours. We’ve relied on Him to know what city to go to, what route to take and where to stop along the way for ministry, food and lodging.
Along the way I started a podcast called Prophetic Spiritual Warfare, and I’ve given my new book the same title. It’s critical to know the meaning behind this title. Any book or podcast on spiritual warfare will explore combating spiritual obstacles and darkness, but Prophetic Spiritual Warfare emphasizes that the key to spiritual warfare is being led by the examples of Jesus in the Bible and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Being prophetically led by the Spirit of God means we partner with the Holy Spirit in everything we say and do and most importantly in our prayer time. The Spirit of God knows what needs to be prayed about and how it needs to be conquered. He knows each battle we face.
Therefore, when we partner with the Holy Spirit, He will lead us to victory. We are spirit beings. Therefore, we must be led by the Holy Spirit.
Kathy DeGraw is founder and president of Kathy DeGraw Ministries and K Advancement, a prophetic healing and deliverance ministry releasing the love and power of God to ignite and activate people, release prophetic destinies and deliver people from the enemy’s bondage. This column is an edited excerpt of her new book, Prophetic Spiritual Warfare (Charisma House).
This article was excerpted from the June-July issue of Charisma magazine. If you don’t subscribe to Charisma, click here to get every issue delivered to your mailbox. During this time of change, your subscription is a vote of confidence for the kind of Spirit-filled content we offer. In the same way you would support a ministry with a donation, subscribing is your way to support Charisma. Also, we encourage you to give gift subscriptions at shop.charismamag.com, and share our articles on social media.
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