The Spirit Prayer Activation (SPA) experience

The Spirit Prayer Activation (SPA) experience ministered to me deeply! I would have never thought 10 years ago that I would have signed up for something like the SPA. I grew up highly critical of “prophetic ministry,” or anything that was “spirit led,” but, God has completely delivered me from the anti-deliverance mindset, thinking only males can minister to me, and a critical spirit.

I was invited to the SPA from Candi Christman, a member of Heritage Christian Fellowship in San Clemente, CA. Pastor Roger Gales introduced me to Candi and I immediately felt her spirit and knew she was all about healing, recovery, and spiritual freedom. There were four months between the time I met Candi and when I attended the SPA and I looked forward to it the entire time expecting to see the Lord at work in a miraculous way.

The SPA is advertised as “Spiritual Renewal: a ministry of Heritage Christian Fellowship.” It is conducted on the 2nd Saturday of every month from 10:00 to 12:30pm. It is conducted on the church property and contains four ministries designed to “draw you closer to God.” I experienced the four ministries in this order:

• Prophetic art station
• Prophetic ministry station
• Healing prayer station
• Soaking prayer station

Prophetic Art 

I was led to the art table and a girl named Harmony prayed over me. I closed my eyes. The entire time was conversing with God and had my hands opened and palms facing up symbolizing a posture of humility and willingness to receive whatever God had for me. Harmony showed me her painting; it was a tree! I started crying and saying, “that’s incredible.” I knew she had heard from the Lord. It was the same exact tree that I had been drawing since 2014. It was a tree with roots showing! I showed her the back of my pocket sized ESV Bible, my preaching Bible. It had the tree next to it! She explained that God is rooting me in him. That was a different perspective that God gave me for the same tree. 

Prophetic Ministry

After returning to the waiting area, I was led to a room with four ladies. I was immediately grateful that the Lord would have four women pray over me. The ladies told me later on that the spirit I brought into the room was peaceful.  I told them once my session was done that I was thanking God because he had delivered me from sexism years ago. 

When the session started, I was asked, “Have you ever had prophetic prayer before?” I answered, “yes.” They explained that they have no other agenda, but to listen to the voice of God and communicate what He was telling them.  It was silent for a minute. The first girl to speak was Candice (?). She said, “Ryan. I’m getting an image of a tree.” I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. Another lady (Sandy?) said, “I’m seeing that tree as well. But I see that you are the tree and that you will provide shade for others to enjoy.  The gal next to her said, “I’m seeing you as a Ninja Warrior but spiritually.” She had no idea that I had competed in Ninja Warrior type games. The gal across from me said, “God is telling you to continue being a shepherd and he wants you to continue to feed his sheep.”

The first girl who spoke said she saw that God was putting me back together and healing me. At that point, I began sobbing uncontrollably. I came into an agreement with all the prayers. I received their prophetic words. I received them with joy and hope (full expectation). 

Sandy looked at me and asked me, “Do you know where Trestles is?” “Absolutely! I live there” I replied with joy. She told me to go down the Trestles Trail and find a mighty Oak Tree. She said that the tree is special and her son finds it easy to hear truth there. I gladly accepted her recommendation.

Everything these ladies were communicating was spot on and in line with my life. When my session was over, I asked them if they had spoken with the other stations; they laughed. They had no interaction with the prophetic art table and I knew that, but thought I’d ask anyways.

Prophetic Healing  

The third station was for healing. Once again, led by all ladies; three this time. Lorra looked over my paper that I filled out at registration and told me, “You have been through so much trauma. And God is healing you.” This was the only station where someone took notes for me. This is what the scribe wrote during my session:

Presence of the Lord to give forgiveness to those who have hurt you and handed people over to the Lord. Released them from their debt because you have forgiven me my debts. God is the judge. Break soul ties. Choose again to forgive until gone. Forgive for consequences you have endured. Bless with Grace, mercy & peace.

The leader of this group asked me to close my eyes and imagine myself meeting Jesus in a special place. The first place that came to mind was the Mighty Oak Tree down the Trestles Trail. She asked me to visualise meeting Jesus there and handing him over every person that I have ever needed to forgive. I started going down the list in my mind. She led me through a “repeat-after-me” prayer, but at the end the Spirit took over and gave me what to say and prayers flowed out of me. Prayers of forgiveness of naming people who have hurt me, what they did, how it made me feel, and ending with a prayer of blessing on them. I asked God to bless every single person who has caused me harm.

The word I kept hearing in this station and in the soaking prayer station was, “God is my defender.  Ryan, I am your defender and you never need to defend yourself.”

The Next Day

The next morning I got on my bike and found the Oak Tree.  Actually, I had no idea what an Oak Tree looked like so I picked one and started to go down my list of people I needed to forgive. What the SPA reiterated for me was the importance of ongoing work in forgiving those who have hurt me. It’s not a one-time deal, but ongoing and daily. 

I highly recommend the SPA for anyone wanting to hear from God and experience inner healing. Humble yourself and he will lift you up.