What Would I Do For You?

(Circa 2000)

My son David is now twenty-three years old (the year is 2011) and his father's delight. He was given his name due to an interior word from the Lord which was confirmed on three occasions before his birth. [i] When David was approaching 4th grade my wife was considering home schooling David as his sister Cassandra was already a home school student and doing quite well.[ii]  However, I was concerned as David was not as pliable as Cassandra and I thought that the home schooling experience might not be the best choice for him. My wife Suzanne, exercising her own very considerable gift of discernment, felt strongly otherwise -which added to my consternation.

While I did not actively bring this concern before the Lord in prayer, I did place this matter on my heart seeking understanding and discernment as to what course of action to take. It was then while driving back home from work in Cambridge that I began to ask the Lord for this discernment when I heard the Lord speak audibly to me: "Peter, what would I do for you?"  Reflecting on this word I then understood that it was God's will that David be home schooled -for that certainly is what the Lord would have provided for me in an identical situation. Once home, I shared this event with David telling him that the Lord himself desired that he begin home schooling. At the time, I also thought that this revelation would help him accept his transition from grammar school (which he seemed to enjoy) to the more private environment of a home school. As a result, David began his home schooling protected from an academic environment becoming increasingly godless and corrupted by the spirit of the age. Now, these many years later I can see the wisdom of the Lord's ways as David prospered greatly in the home schooling environment and to this day remains committed to the reign and rule of Christ in his life.

---

[i] I have told my son that he has been named after David Du Plessis. David was known during his life as "Mr. Pentecost" and was one of the principal founders of the Assembly of God. He was also a participant at Vatican II as an observer.  He spoke prophetically to many in Catholic leadership during Vatican II and urged that a Bible be put into the hands of each Catholic Christian which he believed would result in a great move of God throughout the entire world and the salvation of many.  Sadly, he was not listened to.

[ii] In fact, Cassandra had asked Suzanne to home school her as even as a young girl as she was sensitive to things of the Spirit and was aware that the public school environment would not be helpful for her -that there was a certain "darkness" there which she knew was not of God.

The Power of Praise

A number of years ago, when the Holy Spirit was so powerfully blazing in Toronto (circa 1991), I would on occasion attend conferences there, and, from time to time, just visit there with some friends for a time of prayer and intercession.  One on such occasion (when traveling there with two friends to pray and intercede), we stopped on the way at a large church where a conference was taking place.  There were several hundred in attendance, and at one point in the conference we entered into a time of tremendous praise and worship.  To my great amazement, as we worshiped I had an open vision in which appeared in sharp relief an intricately constructed city with buildings and spires of near eastern design (very Islamic) -having an extremely large bridge leading to its entrance. The entire construction of these edifices was constructed of what appeared to be a black and white material -similar to what extremely compacted salt and pepper might look like. As the praise and worship continued this entire vast and complicated city collapsed and vanished under the power of praise being offered to the Lord. I wondered what it could mean. Today, many years later, I believe I better understand the meaning of this vision. Definitively, no ideology or philosophy inconsistent with the revelation of God's true nature -as revealed through his son Jesus, no matter how intricate it may be, can ever withstand the assault of true praise and worship offered by God's children to the glory of God. In the case at hand, other worshipers were not aware of the loosing of God's power on their behalf to destroy the false and intricate works of the enemy intended to enslave them. Yet, God did, and does, know. In my opinion, never in contemporary history has there been a greater need for times of such prayer and intercession than now. I pray that it may begin -and begin very soon.