Prophetic Song In The Coffee Shop

I got to play a rickety old piano in a coffee shop yesterday.  The atmosphere was secular, but I was surprised at the flow of the Holy Spirit.  First, I was surprised that it was so easy to get into the flow.  Second, I wouldn’t have expected the sounds He gave.  Third, I saw a vision.  Here’s more about each of the three surprises I received in the flow.

Surprise #1 – the opportunity  I wasn’t booked to play.  JoAnn and I had errands in San Luis Obispo, and we had a free half hour.  So we went to a coffee shop and saw a piano by the back door.  She suggested I play it; I said I wouldn’t try unless they shut off the background music.  Soon, JoAnn was at the counter with the manager.  The background music stopped and I turned to look at JoAnn.  With an imperious wave of the hand she said, “Piano!”  I sat on the bench and reported for duty.

The disciplines I use when I prophesy are the same disciplines I use in prophetic song.  I quieted my heart, focused on Jesus, and kept reaching for a flow of God-given sound as I played.  More about this in my 31-dy devotional, “Learn To Hear From God.  See http://www.squidoo.com/learn-to-hear-from-god-day-3.  Words, music, or both, the principle is the same.

Surprise #2 – the flow. I tried to play something bright and sparkling, but I think the piano and I were both feeling old and spent.  I reached for a sound I use when I want the sound of many waters.  On this piano, it sounded to me like muddy runoff after a heavy rain.  Then I found myself playing dissonant Flamenco melodies with that felt dark and menacing.  Not the usual fare in a coffee shop in a college town on a cool afternoon.

‘what was that?” JoAnn asked when I finished.  “Why did you play that?  It sounded like warfare”

“I saw a vision while I was playing,” I offered by way of explanation.  “That’s why I didn’t play the music I would have ordinarily chosen for the occasion.”

Surprise #3 – the vision  For now, I’ll tell exactly what I saw.  I’ll have to write another article to tell the understanding that came with it.

I saw great clouds of darkness, clouds of the deception that covers the earth in the last days.  They seemed thick and impenetrable, made of well-crafted and interlocking lies that promised freedom while holding everyone in slavery.  They were so pervasive it seemed hopeless to think anything could dispel them.

Then I saw misty wisps of uncreated light, tumbling through the clouds.  The light was the presence of God Himself.  And in His presence, the darkness became laughable.  The darkness couldn’t put out the light, nor would it take a great effort for the light to put out the darkness.  God was laughing at the darkness.  He is not afraid, nor do we need to be.

I’ll write another article, to share   the understanding that came as I finished playing.

So I encourage you to be venturesome in prophetic song.  Take it inside and outside the church.  You never know how the flow of the Holy Spirit will surprise you.

JoAnn and I discussed the experience as we drove to our next appointment.  Was my playing appropriate?  “You couldn’t have found a better place,” JoAnn suggested when I told her what I’d seen.  Was it warfare?  Was it intercession?  We don’t know.  But here’s what I do know:  Light is on the increase, and darkness doesn’t stand a chance — and why should it?

Stan Smith  ::  © 2011, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

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