PROPHETIC WORDS
NOW IS THE TIME TO DRAW NEAR
by Denise Cooper
This prophetic word was given at the NZ Council of Prophets meeting in Christchurch, February 2021.
The Scripture the Lord quickened to me was Matt 25: 1-13, about the ten virgins and their supply of oil. Matt 25:6-7: “At midnight the cry rang out: “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. Five had extra oil for their lamps but the other five had none.
The bridegroom came at midnight, when the virgins were asleep. It’s ‘midnight’ now and darkness is all around us. People are falling asleep in their faith and haven’t replenished their oil. They have no extra supplies in their spirit for the difficult times. Like the disciples in their boat, fishing with no result and saying, “We have worked all night and are tired” (Luke 5:5) they can also become tired and depleted.
I felt the sadness of the Father’s heart over people not making the most of their Covid seclusion and not taking the opportunity to spend quality time with Him. I relate this to Jeremiah 2:2 “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown’ ”. All of Chapter 2 deals with Israel leaving their first love for the Lord.
The challenge came to me that the Father is lonely for the company of His Bride. He wasn’t taken by surprise over Covid, but it gave the Bride an opportunity to spend time with Him, to be at home in isolation and sanctuary, where nobody could visit or disturb. He wants to fill our reservoirs with His fresh anointing and revelation. His desire is to take us into the Potter’s House, to re-shape us and give us a larger capacity for holding His anointing and fresh oil. The picture I have is of His fire coming upon the oil, and we are so in love with Jesus that when we look into the melting pot of our lives, all we see are the flames of the Holy Spirit looking back at us. So now is the time to draw near and replenish our supply.
Verse 13 says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” These are the days preceding the His second coming. Darkness is all around on many levels. God wants to fill our spirits with fresh hot oil from the altar, and we cannot get this from anyone else. We have to get our own oil from His altar by spending time with Him.
For the coming year God is calling us all into His glory, so that He can give us the treasures that are only found when we put time aside. Those treasures include our own supply of miracles, visions, revelations from Scripture, and a double portion of His anointing. The Lord is wanting us to go out to the community to minister from our fresh oil, pray for the sick, and speak a word in season. There’s a fresh move of God coming and He’s wanting His people to be ready. Our lamps need trimming so that we have a strong light.
Re Covid
Regarding the current worldwide crisis caused by Covid 19… There is a retreating of the Covid virus and a window of opportunity for people to be used by God in the community. People have been shaken by the invisibility of this virus, but I see God causing this virus to retreat for a season so that we will have an opportunity to be witnessing, praying and inviting people to know Jesus. We can’t just keep feeding our own spirits; we are also required to feed the non-churched.
On February 17th, The Globe (Canada) published an article, confirming this. Quote from paragraph 3: ‘In the past six weeks, the number of new coronavirus infections reported globally has dropped nearly by half, from about five million the first week of January to about 2.7 million last week. Worldwide, overall daily case tallies are the lowest they’ve been since October, according to the World Health Organization.']
BIO
Denise Cooper co-pastors Empower Church, in Christchurch, alongside her husband, David. Denise’s passion for seeing people reach their potential in the things of God is what drives her. She leads from the front through engaging stories, humour and experiences from her life as a wife, a mother and a Pastor.
She is also known for her powerful dreams, visions and Holy Spirit encounters. Whether preaching or praying for people, Denise always ministers from a strong prophetic anointing and she also carries great authority in deliverance ministry. She knows how to work with the Holy Spirit to lead people into an encounter with Jesus, and loves nothing more than seeing people achieve their God-given purpose in life.