Praise is a Portal to Presence
New Realms
The past few months, the Lord has been taking me in the spirit to new realms. I have awakened in the night to find my spirit separated from my body, per 2 Kings 5:26, Ezekiel 8:3, 2 Corinthians 12:2, Colossians 2:5, Revelation 4:2, and more. At first, this was very startling and even frightening; it felt as though my spirit was suddenly departing from my body, perhaps permanently. It was like taking a steep drop on a roller-coaster while simultaneously ascending upwards. As this continued happening, each time I would grow more at peace with a growing desire to see where this lead, but they would continue to stop short, and my spirit would return to my body. Jamie Galloway later informed me this has to do with the silver cord spoken of in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, but that’s for another day.
Angelic Conversation
In one instance, I began ascending rapidly, wind rushing over me, and I heard the conversation of two angels. One was waiting idly in heaven, as the woman the angel was assigned to had ceased pursuing the gifts as she was deceived into believing that was improper, despite 1 Corinthians 14:1 charging us otherwise.
While much of the Western church has put more faith in the devil to deceive than the Holy Spirit to lead, distancing themselves from the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, this fear bloomed out of a noble desire to keep Jesus as the focus. The deception is: Jesus cannot be separated from His supernatural nature and gifting.
Fragrant Portals
I’ve had experiences traveling in the spirit to other realms and nations, but this was something else. I earnestly desired to see the completion of one of these encounters, but did not know how or why they were coming about—but I knew Jesus was waiting on the other side. When you encounter Him there is transformation that brings greater conformity to Him and I wanted that.
Eventually, the Lord began granting me revelation in lucid dreams in relation to the doors, the portals, the gates that were leading to Him. I saw many different portals of different shapes, sizes, colours, and materials, but they all had one thing in common: they were roses. God was showing me the fragrance of adoration created portals in the spirit realm.
Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” If we desire to enter into the King’s inner courts, we must come to Him in praise in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Head knowledge apart from experience cannot yield intimacy. As Eric Gilmour says, “Nobody gets pregnant holding hands.”
Future City
As the weeks went on, I continued to have lucid dreams where I would be drawn to the presence of roses, and I would move towards them. When I drew close enough, I began entering into other realms. I saw the night sky lit up with something like many shooting stars, which were angels warring. I suddenly appeared among the battle, on the waters of a city in the future. I saw angels warring against the demonic who operated aircraft with harsh, steel-like appearance similar to Tesla’s Cybertruck. The angels went on to train a squad of maturing sons of God who were to war against the militant oppression to come.
New Heights
Another time, I found a street lined with houses, and the entrance of the street was guarded by an enormous tree with large red roses for leaves. The Lord approved my request to approach, and the roses began changing in colour, alive. I found myself now awake in my bed, my spirit lifted out of my body and ascending upwards. This continued for quite some time, far longer than it ever has before, and I knew I would eventually enter the heavens given the distance that had passed.
As I reached a great height, I felt as though I began slipping. Suddenly, a hand gripped mine, and I could tangibly feel someone holding me. My immediate impression was to grip tighter, which somehow made the ascent more difficult. I decided to trust the Lord, and loosened my grip. As soon as I did, this being gripped me tighter and I felt my face and lips peacefully rest against his forearm. I saw a ledge, as if it were the top of a very great wall, and we had passed it.
See Farther
That morning I continued reading The Final Quest Trilogy by Rick Joyner, where Rick was taken in the spirit to a prison that invisibly bound the world, which only a remnant of God’s people could see. There were great walls that obstructed all vision to the wonderful beauty that awaited on the other side. Speaking to one who was afraid to climb this wall, he said, “You can always go as far as you can see. If you can see the top of the wall, you can get there. When you get to the top of the wall, you will be able to see farther than you have ever seen before. You must keep going for as far as you can see. Never stop as long as you can still see farther.”
Praise is Eye Opening
A primary portal to presence is praise, and in Jesus’ presence our eyes are opened to see, and there we have vision. As Christians, we are charged to bring heaven down to earth; if we fail to praise God, we bring hell on earth. Psalm 6:5 writes, “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” Let us heed the call of Hebrews 13:15, “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.”
Psalm 22:3 tells us God enthrones the praises of His people. “Enthroned” is the Hebrew word “yashab”, which means to inhabit, to sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry. Jesus calls us His beloved and His Bride; if we desire to marry Him, we must praise Him. The most fearful thing a professing believer can experience is standing before God, who is as severe as He is loving, and hear Him say, “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23a).
Know Him
We must know, stand on, and feed on the Word daily, for Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, John 1:14), but when we do so at the cost of neglecting intimacy with the Lord, we have entirely missed the point of the greatest command: to love the Lord our God with all that we are; not just our mind (Matthew 22:37). To praise the Lord is to be spiritually strengthened. Nehemiah 8:10b writes, “for the joy of the LORD is your strength!
While they can all be good things, when we confine God to doctrine, debating theology, study, and 15 minutes of awkward adoration on a Sunday, we have become the walking dead. Psalm 115:17-18 says, “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!”
According to Isaiah 43:21, which says, "This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”, praise is a marker of sonship. Robert E. Murray once said, “No amount of activity in the King’s service will make up for neglect of the King Himself.” The Lord not only desires our hands, but our hearts.
Glory to Glory
So, let us prove our love for the Word, to the Word, by obeying Him, for John 14:15 tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Ephesians 3:19 AMPC goes on to say, “[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!”
In this obedience, we draw near to the Lord in intimacy and heartfelt abandon, and consequentially, He draws near to us (James 4:8). In this intimacy, in this praise, in this secret place, here we walk into the experience Ephesians 3:19 calls us to, and here, we live out 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Beloved, praise Him.
Discover the supernatural beings of the bible by meeting the Living Letters of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet in this Christian Mystic Q&A.