Stephanie Ike on Embracing the Supernatural

So tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

Yeah, so I'm the executive pastor at One Church LA, and you know, I like— I think that is the heart, like not even being the executive pastor but just being a minister is the heart behind everything I do. So from, um, I have— we have a talk show called The Same Room. Um, that, you know, where we is merging faith and culture together, writing, an author, but the heart behind everything is really just to serve God's people. And for me, I never even started with like being a pastor. It was never like I had this desire to be a pastor or anything like that. I encountered God when I was 9, and prior to that, I think I dealt with a lot of anger and a lot of questions because my father was murdered when I was 8 months old. Um, and I grew up in Nigeria, so Nigeria is a very spiritual culture. Um, you know, you— it's almost impossible to find an atheist in Nigeria. You're either strong for the Lord or they're strong on the enemy side, you know. It's either or. And I had so many questions because I would see how people would commit. My mom loves Jesus. You know, we will be praying at midnight as children. I'm like, I want to sleep.

Have you seen the little thing floating around on Instagram with the Nigerians on the plane? Have you seen this?

No.

And it just said— I have to find it and send it to you, girl. I was rolling at 5 something this morning. This is one— this is one girl, she's sitting in the corner with her phone with a crazy look on her face, and then she points to the— like, to— so you can kind of see the rest of the people on the plane and the whole plane, uh, I will not die in the name of Jesus. Today is not— but this is the whole plane was praying.

There was a video, it was a lady in London and she's going into the elevator. And so the elevator has, um, like there's a bellman in it and he was like going down and she— the only— she was at the top floor, the only way to go is down. And she's like, in the name of Jesus, I will never go down. Only up is my fortune. The man was so confused, and he was just like—

he was like, do you not want to go to the lobby?

I don't know. And so she just walks in and presses the button herself. Nigerians, we are— we're extremely people of prayer. We are people very cautious with our words, but it's the culture, you know. It's, it's very— it's in the open, right? Nothing is hidden. Like when you're in the United States, for example, a lot of things are hidden, but in Nigeria, spirituality is in the open. So it sometimes it could get extreme, and sometimes it's just the norm.

But it is so late because that whole plane was in prayer.

The whole place.

It was like church.

Oh yeah, I, I, I definitely believe that 100%.

So you have that background.

It makes you—

like you said, it's about ministry, not about pastoring. I know at one point when we talked in person and you gave me a little bit of your background, you were like, listen, I just came to church and was trying to serve. And, and yeah, and it was really a path that God had, um, planned for you. And so now you preach how many, how many weeks out of the year? How much of that belongs to you, is on your plate?

It really depends, but I do— but I would say it's, um, a good chunk, but it really, it all depends. We have like, we have an amazing pastoral team at our church, um, and then our pastors also are part of that as overseers over the house, and they also step in And so it just really depends, but it's a good chunk.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's a good chunk. And the reason why I know it's a good chunk is because I remember seeing your clips or videos every now and then, and then all of a sudden I was seeing them every week.

I was like, oh wait, it's Stephanie again.

Right now you are actually, um, on Sundays dealing with witchcraft, which when I saw you announced that, I was like, woof! I mean, and then I— but then I saw Jackie Hill Perry say something about witchcraft, so I thought witchcraft must be like a part of the current conversation that is happening. But, but why? Why modern-day witchcraft, and why right now?

You know, honestly, I was even— people have sent me Jackie's videos, and they were like, oh my gosh, you guys are talking about the same thing. And for me, it was really just an instruction the Lord had given me um, and it was an encounter. And he told me, I want you to do a series on teaching about the modernization of witchcraft. And he broke down the topics he wanted me to discuss. And I remember just talking to my husband, I was like, oh, the Lord gave me this instruction and I need to get it filmed and I need to study on it and I need to film it. Um, and I just started praying into it, um, honestly. And then we just got it filmed and I'm like, okay God, there must be a need for this in this season, and there must be people who are hungry to just even further their understanding. And even in teaching on it, it also opened my eyes to the fact that actually a lot of people are ignorant about this. You know, when something is, when something is like common for you, you think everybody just understands it. Right. And but in teaching it, I'm like, oh wait, no, a lot of people are actually not aware about, you know, when it comes to witchcraft. Because even when you just say the phrase witchcraft, there's already an image people have in their minds, right? No, this is witchcraft. And the whole idea of the series is that the whole essence of everything Satan, witchcraft, whatever, whatever, whatever, it's all about rebelling against God. That's the whole— that's the heart of it. That's his agenda, is for people to rebel against the ways of God. And that is what the teaching now focuses on, you know, and really just opening people's eyes on how you can easily become a victim of Satan's agenda without even knowing it.

Give me 3 examples, just like bullet point. What are 3 places that are that are under the umbrella of modern-day witchcraft that people may not think are?

Yeah, I'll say one, it is the, the New Age movement, right? And how that is now being embedded into the lives of Christians, right? So when you talk about saging, crystals, um, you know, astrology, horoscopes, tarot card reading, like, people are— you have Christians who have who use crystals. You have Christians who sage. And when you really talk about it, it's like, what does a plant have to do with anything that is spiritual, right? But, but then I could— that's a whole nother topic.

It's a whole thing. But I mean, like, that's the thing, it's just— I mean, I just think that, um, like, I remember when I growing up, you know, horoscope was like, don't read it. Like, my parents were like, don't read it. So I knew that. I knew tarot cards. Crystals were like what we did in geology. You just collected them and talked about them. But like, you're right. Like, now, now I do run into people and they're just— they're collecting them. And I mean, you know, not that they inherently are wrong, they're beautiful and all this, but it's the use of them or the reliance on them, right?

Exactly. And in this, like, my— a huge part of my call has to do with the supernatural and the spiritual realm. And the intention has weight to it. Intention can attract a spirit behind something, right? And so it's just like, for example, in Christianity we have the anointing oil, right? And for us, the anointing oil is a representation of the anointing of God. So when you want to anoint someone and pray for them, you might take oil, and it could be the same cooking oil that you used to make eggs that morning, right?

Listen, let me— listen, when my kids were little, I had oil, but I ran out one time. I would anoint the boys at night. Girl, no, no, I did that second. But then sometimes I'd be upstairs with them and I'm exhausted. I don't want to go back downstairs and get the cooking oil. Honey, listen, the intention said, girl, lick your tongue and just put it on their head. They will not die.

And many times you would see power flow from that.

But it's a prayer.

Why is power connected to it? Because your intention is connected to the Spirit of God. Like, Lord, I'm anointing my child as a representation of your anointing, whatever that is— oil, saliva. And so in the demonic realm, the enemy is looking for objects that he can also cling to and express himself through. And that's why, like, people always— when you read the Bible, like the Old Testament, you see these people who are worshiping false idols and you're like, why are they worshiping wood? No, because there's something that wood is actually doing for them, right? And so it tells you that even though it's just wood, because their intention is to a spirit, then the enemy, a demonic spirit, can occupy that wood, you know. And so when people are carrying crystals and their intention is, this crystal is going to bring me good luck, and this crystal is going to bring me success and wealth, which is outside of Christ, right, then what you're drawing to that crystal is really a demonic spirit to empower it. And then you have opened up yourself to that without even knowing. And so it is same thing with sage. You're using a plant, but your intention is that this plant is going to ward off, you know, bad vibes or bad energy, but it's outside of the Spirit of God. And so it's going to be empowered by a different spirit. And so there are things that people are doing that is just like, man, you are literally— because one of the things the Lord taught me is that everything about life is about establishing a kingdom, right? The whole point of Earth was the extension of the reign and rule of Jesus, right?

That's right.

And so it's not— there's no in-between. You're either building God's kingdom or you're building the enemy's Kingdom, right? And unfortunately, because of ignorance, many people by default are building the enemy's kingdom, you know. And so those are the things that the series really talks about, whether from your career, from so many areas.

I was gonna say, give me like two other examples because you're giving like the whole teaching and principle, which is great.

Yeah, you're even— your career, like what industry that you are called to Um, you know, and in that sense, like, you know, everybody's gotta watch it. But number 2, I would say your career. And number 3, I would also say what you make yourself available to, like what you watch, what you listen to. And what I mean by that is if you're like— there's certain things you watch that could cause your dreams to be manipulated, um, and people start acting out of wrong instructions. Right, and, and living a life that is nothing connected to what God called them to do. So it's— those are 3 key things, but there's so much to it that has to be unpacked.

I recently was at, um, so my mom had a ministry to pastors' wives, and we've continued that in her honor and on her behalf, and to continue serving pastors' wives. Um, and we were doing a panel discussion, and one of the women who I've known for, for many, many years Um, she just said, and she just said it just quickly like this, and everybody in the room I could tell was like, what? She was talking about being marriage and married and withholding intimacy from your husband. And she said, because by the way, you do know that that's a form of witchcraft. Everybody in the room was like, wait, what? She was like, you're manipulating. You are manipulating. And you have to look at when you're using external things to manipulate outcomes, what that actually means you're doing. It's crazy. So anyway, I know witchcraft is not a word we throw around a lot, but I love the fact that you're tackling that head on. Um, you said one of your giftings and callings is dealing in the, um, is dealing in the supernatural. Um, what does that mean? What does that mean? And, and let me, let me, let me pause there. Let me actually back up a little bit. You said, um, you talked about how things are in the open spiritually in Nigeria and not so much here.

Yeah.

And I'm assuming that when you talk about your calling at home— and I mean home like Nigeria upbringing home— that maybe that's not a big deal. If you say it here, is it more so? Do people react to that differently when you say it?

Yeah, absolutely. And it's really like when it comes to teaching and about the supernatural, um, in Nigeria it's not— it wouldn't be seen as like, oh Oh my, because that would— that is really the norm, you know. That is how like you're really raised up in God. Um, it has to do like hearing stories about angels or visitations to heaven is not us— it's not like a far-fetched story in Nigeria. Um, but then, or even hearing stories whether it's from things of God and things of the demonic, none of it is very far-fetched, right? But then in the United States I think because there is this illusion of comfort when it comes to like even living in America, right? I think people put comfort in front of faith, and what I mean by that is as long as I'm comfortable, as long as my life is okay, as long as, you know, the, the use of the language— I'm a good person then I'm good, you know. My bills are paid, everything is fine, then I'm good. And we are void of the reality that no, your life was created for a purpose. And some— there are things that happen, there are many things that happen to people that have no business happening, right? And then we use the banner of like, you know, but God is in control. Absolutely. Like, God can use everything for your good, right? But it doesn't mean that everything that happens was orchestrated by him, because there are certain things— it's just like when you see patterns in a family, right? When you see certain tragic patterns in the family, people dying at a certain age in every generation, there are— there's something behind that that needs to be broken, right? When people talk about things like generational curses or whatever. And so I think as long as there is this illusion of comfort, people don't press into God. And many times people use God as a vehicle for more comfort. So I'm going to church, I'm fasting, I'm praying because I want to raise, because I want a, a relationship, right? I want to move to this city, and God, I just need you to bless me. So we're not tapping into the deep things of God that really equip us to be all that he has called us to be. And so many people are just passing through life rather than living the life that God ordained for them, you know. And that's, that's one of the things I mean by that, because the more you recognize how spiritual life is, it would quicken you to really want to know, like, God, wait, who am I and what have you called me to do, and how have you called me to partner with you?

Listen, you— first of all, I don't know if you heard it. I don't know if you— do you feel it when you cross over into talking and into preaching?

I sometimes— I do, because—

yeah, yeah, because you said it was the way you said passing. You didn't just say passing, you were like passing it. You had something underneath that. I heard it. I, I felt the transition. Okay, but you know, one of the things I think what you're saying is so true, but the reality is we— illusion or not, comfort is accessible. Um, yeah, so when you are talking, when you are preaching, when you're talking, um, because are you in your 30s? Are you still in your 20s?

Um, I just crossed over to the 30s recently, you know, well, 2 years ago.

Oh, you're still a baby. Okay, so when you're talking communicating. You've got, you know, your show, The Same Room, and the whole point, as you mentioned earlier, connecting culture and spirituality. But when you're talking to Americans who have that illusion, or even generationally, where what you're saying is true, but the reality still says, I still have comfort, How do you, how do you break through that? Because if it, even if it's true, if my experience as a 25-year-old, 35-year-old, 45-year-old is, I hear what you're saying, it's true, but my culture, my experience isn't forcing me to press in because I'm just going to quit this job and get another job, or I'm gonna, you know, I'm, I'm going to go with the tickling of the ears. Who's saying what I want to hear? I can turn on YouTube or a podcast or go to any church and hear what I want to hear. So when, when you are giving the message that you're getting, but people's experience collectively and individually still says it might be an illusion, but it's my experience, how do you break through? Or how does someone listening to this message shift their insight when their insight isn't supported by their experience?

Yeah, you know, I do believe that God, in just his masterful, like, wisdom, has an insurance policy in everyone. And for me, that insurance policy is that we were designed— like, we were created to worship. We were created to worship him. And when he is not worshiped in the manner we were created to, we look— we— there are voids that we look to fill. And we worship something. We worship something, right? And no matter what— the beauty of an illusion is that it's— that's exactly what it is. The moment that bubble is popped, reality sets in, right? No matter how comfortable a person might seem, and no matter what it seems like they're pursuing, there's a reason why millionaires commit suicide. There's a reason why some of the richest people in the world are highly depressed, right? Because it reveals to you that this pursuit is endless. Like, when you're pursuing outside of what you were designed for, when you're pursuing outside of your source, you are always empty, and nothing can fill that. There is always going to be— when your life is outside of the plan of God there is this void that you cannot shake off. And the beauty about the word of God is that it communicates truth to your spirit. So whenever a person is even just open to listen, it resonates with them beyond what you're even saying, right? You— what you're saying are the seeds, and that hits a person's heart, and now they start to wonder and they're pondering like, wait, I— something is— something might not be off here. Right? Because those pursuits, you have people who find— they try to fill their voids with relationships, they try to fill their void with more stuff, you know, more money, more cars, more this, more that, you know. But at the end of the day, you recognize the more and the more and the more, the emptier and the emptier you feel. That no one— that is just the reality. And so when you start communicating truth it starts to remove that veil of illusion. It's like, wait, even though my life does seem pretty comfortable, I'm miserable. You know, when you hear stories about, you know, someone who had it all and willed everything to their cat and then moves to some country, it's like, you willed your fortune to a cat? Like, what is going on? You would read about it in the news. I mean, there was a lady who willed an entire fortune to her dog. I said, this dog does not know the value. Whoever is taking care of the dog will know the value.

That's correct.

But she would not know the value. But why do people do these things that seem like, wait, what? Like just random. But at the end of— you recognize, like, I think Solomon said it best, like, you know how none of this have meaning. You know, you think you want more wealth, you want more this, you want more that, but if it's not in the stream of the purpose for which God gave it to you, there will always be that emptiness. You know, it's so good.

You know, you, um, you mentioned earlier, you were talking about dreams, and you talked a lot about operating in the spiritual realm and connecting that for people. Um, and I, and I love the idea. It, when you were talking, I was thinking about saving. You can have the illusion that you'll always be able to go to work, that you'll always be able to make money, that the days will always be sunny, that you have all the time in the world to save for retirement. And if you let that illusion drive your saving habit, then you'll have a day when you will wish you had saved. But you can agree with the truth that no matter what life looks like, I just need to save. And however life comes, you can be prepared for a rainy day. This principle of doing it even if you're living in an illusion. You can still agree with truth even if your life experience says comfort, so you're prepared when the, when the bubble pops. But your whole thing about supernatural living and agreeing with the idea that there are so many things happening in the spiritual realm that we cannot see but that we can participate in because we're spiritual beings, um, dreaming is something, like I said, you've mentioned but we don't hear it talked about a lot. So talk to me about dreams, why it, uh, matters. I know that, that you're working on a book that's going to talk more about that. Um, do you feel like it's for everyone to be able to connect spiritual things happening in spiritual places with the dreams that they have? Is this a gift that only some people have to do that? And how do I tell the difference between the dream because I had too much pizza last night the dream because my subconscious is doing crazy things on me, and the dream where, um, God is using my dreams to speak to me and give me direction. So who is it for, and how do we know the difference in the ones that matter?

Yeah, I'm very passionate about dreams. Um, first of all, it's for everyone. You know, when you look at it from a scientific perspective, literally every single night every human being dreams. Babies dream, Blind people have visual imagery in their dream, right? It's a space that is for everyone. And spiritually, you have— we spend one-third of our lives sleeping. One-third. And when we recognize that in everything we do, that God is with us, it is not a place— one-third of your life is not to be void. Of the Spirit of God, right? Physically, your body is getting rest, which you need, but spiritually, that is a place of encounter where God can give you direction, God can give you vision, God can give you wisdom, he can warn you, right? And so we see that even when we look at the first create— the, the first time that God created a solution, right? When he looks at man and he said, it's not good for man to be alone, and then he creates Eve. But he did this while Adam was in a sleep state. So while Adam— he puts Adam to sleep. And the difference between what Adam experienced in the dream was that literally God was walking with Adam, and so he didn't have to have a dream. It was happening in real time. But now that we have the Holy Spirit in us, that when you're in a sleep state, that God could continue to work and, and bring solutions to your life and through your life. Right? And so when it comes to dreams, whatever you recognize as holy, you would encounter what it's— the, the real function is behind it. When we start to recognize sleep as holy, when we start to recognize that me going to bed is holy ground, then I can begin to encounter— I, I can create that space for an encounter with the Lord, right? Because it's just like, for example, when people say things like Oh, the presence of the Lord is, is here. And then you now get serious and start worshiping in church, right? But the presence of the Lord is everywhere. If you recognize every moment as a holy moment, you can encounter God at the grocery store, right? You— the thing that you're like, oh my gosh. But so when it— when you go back and you talk about dreams, when we change what we think about going to sleep And when we start having expectations that God encounter me even as I go to bed, speak to me— I have had, um, dreams. I think I've had all forms of dreams that people talk about, right? I've had dreams that are like parables. I've had dreams that are pizza dreams. I have dreams that's like, where does that come from? I've had dreams where the Lord encounters me and teaches me and tells me things to preach about, talks to me about the Bible scriptures I've never read in my life. And he gives me insight on what they mean and things like that. I mean, it is, it is a whole world available to literally everyone. But I think the difference, right, because this is one of the biggest things people struggle with— how do I know a dream is from God, from what I watched, food I ate, or it came from the enemy? One of the key things is you have to recognize the nature of God. You have to understand the nature of Satan, and you have to understand the nature of self, right? If a person is obsessing about an individual and you're like, I just want to marry this person, and you have a dream that you marry the person— now let's be real, there is— you have to know who you— you have to know the nature of who you are. You have to know the nature of the things that you lust for. And so when you're having dreams about them, you really have to vet it through. Like, wait, is this just to confirm my own desire, to give me a push about the things that I want, right? And you do have the many things that play a role. Even the types of food you eat can give you— can cause you to have maybe more like scary dreams or whatever. But then a dream that comes from God carries the nature of God, that even when you wake up, it could be a warning dream, it could be something that feels like when you tell the story it feels scary, but actually it leaves you with wisdom. It gives you instruction. It— there's something in your heart that keeps searching to know the meaning. Like, God, why, why does this dream keep reoccurring over and over and over again, right? And it's a place you partner with the Holy Spirit. But there's so much to dreams and how we prepare ourselves to have encounters with God. Because when people go to bed from binging a show, a TV show, you're not creating room, right? You're— you're the last thing what you behold, you— it has— it can impart in you, right? So if the last thing I'm beholding is a show about some— something random or stupid, then I'm going to bed with that imagery in mind. I'm going to bed with those thoughts. And I'm pondering on that, I'm meditating on that. So your dreams could be all over the place, but the more you are sensitive to even how you go to bed, it makes room for so many great encounters. I do believe that dreams are such a great expression of God's mercy for us, because it's literally— you are in a rested state, you're not in a place to argue with the voice of God, and he can give you Yeah, it's just to receive. It is such a, a beautiful expression of God's mercy. And I would argue that it is really one of the most powerful sources or channels to hear from God, because the seeing realm— like, you know, there are different realms when it comes to the spiritual. There's sight, there's hearing, and all of that. But in the seeing realm, you can experience all of that at once. You see, you hear, you feel, you know. You know, people have dreams where just by seeing someone, you know their names already. You don't even have— the person doesn't even say their name, and you wake up and you're like, who is Miranda? Like, what do you mean to me?

What do you do to capture your dreams? Do you have a notebook at the side of your bed? Do you have a journal that's specifically set aside for your dreams? Because I've, I've heard people talk about the importance of, like, they build it into their morning where they wake up and make sure that they have time because, you know, I think many of the things that God gives us, whether they're dreams, whether it's midday inspiration, whether it's a song, whether it's a phrase that you're supposed to put in a book, you have this sweet moment after the download to capture it, and then it's gone.

Yeah, I, I call it— for me, I call it the first 90 seconds. Like, what you do the first 90 seconds when you wake up is so critical. Um, and if you know that you have a habit of going into your emails, checking put your phone on do not disturb. You know, if you want to put— if you want to use your phone as your notepad, then put it on do not disturb. But if you don't have that discipline that even if it's on do not disturb, then get— have a notebook by your bed, right? And invest in an alarm clock or something. Because when the moment you wake up, it is so critical to write it down, do a voice memo, because even if you're extremely tired, reading it back can give— can allow you to have memory triggers. And it's like, oh my gosh, this is what the whole dream was. So that when you do want to spend time in prayer to understand it, you can recall the dream. Because the, the reality is everyone dreams every single night, but not everyone remembers. That's really what it boils down to. Scientifically proven, every single night everyone is dreaming, but not everyone remembers. And there is this lie that you only remember dreams that are important, and that's not true.

When is— give me— can tell me about a dream that you had, um, where God gave you information before you encountered what the dream was telling you was coming.

Oh, so many. My pregnancy was that. The Lord told me how old I would be when I would get pregnant. This was before I met my husband. Yeah, I was, I was praying about marriage and the Lord encounters me in a dream and tells me how old I will be when I get pregnant, just bypass the whole marriage. And I was like, well, I said, now what about the marriage? And when I'm trying to do the math with my mom, I was like, okay, he said I'll be pregnant at this age. So I mean, I'd have to meet him by this time or this time or this time. Um, but yeah, and that is exactly how old I am now that I'm pregnant. He told me how old I will be when I become a mom, and it's all falling in alignment. Um, my whole— like, so many key things about my life I have seen, known, uh, through dreams. Very key details. Like in, as from preaching, ministering, so many key things have he revealed to me in a dream, and it happened in that manner. And sometimes the dream is hidden in like a message. Like, you know how sometimes people have— I mean, the message is hidden in like this movie-like dream. Like, sometimes people have dreams that are like films, right? It's like, what is going on? I tell people, write every single detail down. The things that stand out to you. Because in the love of God, he doesn't always make it extremely clear. Yeah, obvious, because he doesn't want you to miss it. Because you could have obvious dreams from your own imagination. And so when God wants to hide a message and, and give it to you, he, he puts it in a way that you would know that by the moment you decode the dream, it only came from God. Right.

So what do you say when— what do you say when people say to you, I hear what you're saying, Stephanie, but I don't have— I don't— I don't have dreams. The dreams that I do have don't have any kind of meaningful connection to my actual life. I hear what you're saying, it's not my experience. I love God, I study my word, I pray, been in, you know, been in church, all of that. I don't have that experience, what would you say to them?

I would say, you know, I would go back to the word of God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And anything we desire to engage God in, we must first believe that it's possible. Yeah. So like, God is not a respecter of person, so it's never about like he is choosing who to empower in what way or this other way, but everything is engaged through faith. Right? So even if someone is listening right now and they're like, but I don't dream, God doesn't speak to me in dreams, but would you desire that? Because then every single night you could have the— there is the possibility and the opportunity for God to speak to you about the uniqueness of your life just by going to bed, right? But it starts with faith.

The other thing I was curious about, what does your go-to-bed routine look like? You talked about how important it was, the first 90 seconds in the morning, and you mentioned also that, you know, going to bed is a holy experience. So what do you do when you're getting ready for bed to prepare to receive the dreams that God wants to give you?

Yeah, I would say what is consistent, um, is that even before going to bed is just taking some time to meditate on the Lord, right? Taking some time just to be in prayer. And it's just— and it's not— it could be very simple. I could be laying down in prayer, but I'm engaging with God, like, God. And maybe there's some questions I have in my heart, or, you know, there's something that has been weighing heavy on me. There's a burden that I have, and I just present that to the Lord while going to bed. And I would ask him, like, Lord, As I'm going to bed, even my husband and I, we pray, we pray about this almost every night. Encounter us in our sleep, speak to us in our dreams. And, and there are some times where we might just have worship music playing, um, even just as we sleep. We'll just have some, like, we have a certain playlist for nighttime, and that's another way. But it's very critical that even if I was watching, because again, like, we loved, you know, everyone like has a good show you want to watch, and maybe nighttime is the only time you get watch your, you know, your favorite shows and things like that. But because of that, we were intentional for us to not put, um, a television in our bedroom so that that way we still have the discipline that if we were watching it in the living room and we fell asleep, we have to get up and still go to the bedroom. And then in the process of going to the bedroom, I'm making room to engage with God. I'm praying before I finally say, okay, I'm going to bed, you know. But, and, and that has never— if you ask, I probably dream most, like almost every night.

Dreams you can remember?

Yeah.

You just, you've just blown up somebody's whole world. They're gonna be like, wait a minute, what have I been dreaming about? Because I mean, we so are so dismissive of dreams.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Um, I have found myself, I, I don't know that I, I mean, I haven't done the work to know scientifically that we dream every night. Mm-hmm. I know I certainly don't remember my dreams every day. Um, but I can tell you that there have been moments that have actually been scary for me. Um, scary may be too strong of a word, but they've definitely kind of jolted me to attention. Um, whether it was a dream or— and again, I don't think I'm using the right words— or a premonition, like straight up in the light of day where something just comes down to me. I've— there's a couple of things, like I can think of one particular thing I told my sister 3 years ago. It was the week my mother died. And I, um, or the week after, we were, we were preparing for her funeral. And just out of the blue, one day I called my sister and I said, hey, I need you to know this. And she's like, what are you talking about? And why would you say that? And why would you say that now? I said, I don't know, I just, I'm saying it out loud because I don't want to forget. And, um, 3 years later she reminded me, remember when you told me this was going to happen? And, and, and I don't think that I, um, have given adequate credit to that. And she'll say to me, you know, you have a gift of prophecy. And I'm like, no, I don't.

No. And I'm telling you, like, no, I don't. If you embrace it, because what you just expressed, right, there's a way that God speaks that is through your knower, when you just know a thing. And it is the Spirit of God that put it in you so strong that the way you know your name, you know this. And I need to express it. You just— it's, it's one of how— one of the channels in that through which God speaks. It's your, your spirit is so sensitive to this knowledge that you just know it. And the key thing is, I'm so happy your sister said that to you, because when you embrace it— like, a friend of— one of my really close friends um, there was a time that I was sharing with her and I was just telling her, I was like, the supernatural realm is not— it's for everyone. Like, if you want— there are certain encounters that if you desire it with a pure heart, that God can encounter you in a supernatural way. Because we're not— it's not till we get to heaven that we need to experience heaven. You can experience elements of what that and bodies on Earth because we are spiritual beings. And so one day we were having a conversation and she would always like crack up. She's like, Stephanie, anytime I come to your house I start having these like wild dreams. And I'm like, I said, it's a grace, you know. But she goes home and she said that she was literally— she was sleeping and there was someone that like was walking in her house, but it was such a peaceful presence, like it was extremely peaceful and loving, but she was terrified because she was like, oh, I don't think— I, I don't want it.

I don't want it.

That's what—

yeah.

And this is the— this is so key, right? The moment she said, I don't want it, she told me that she could hear a door slam in the spirit, and it was like immediately she recognized that her rejecting it shut the door for that experience. But the beauty is that in God, invitation just opens it up again. Yeah, right. So I think the issue is that we have made what is normal in God, and somehow even in the culture of Christianity, we have made it this like, um, this thing only for a few. You know, and if you have this calling, then you must be— if you could prophesy, you must be a prophet. It's not that, you know. If you see in the spirit, you might— we, we are so quick, we want to put labels on things, and because we are rejecting the labels, we are rejecting the experience. So I don't want people to be calling me a prophet, so I don't want to prophesy, not recognizing, no, you have the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the spirit of prophecy. So the more you engage that— I want to experience, you know, the fullness of who God is. I want to flow. God, let me, let me tap into this. Let me tap into this. You start opening doors for it. I remember when I started praying, I was like, God— I was studying about spiritual gifts, and which is really just spiritual manifestation. It's not really a gift. Right? It's just the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. And it was— there was the interpretation of tongues. And I was like, that would be really cool. I want to interpret some things. And in my desire for it, I kid you not, Chrystal Hurst, it's not something I can have control of, but there are many occasions whether it is myself praying in the spirit or someone else praying in the spirit and I have language for what they're saying. And that when I would even share it with them and they're like, how did you know that? Like, because what I said actually is specific to their life. And I'm like, it's what you prayed, I just interpreted. And so we— the more we embrace it as this should be normal rather than this must mean I have to open a church. No, you don't need to open the church. And that's what freaks people out. Like, oh my gosh, like, what does this mean? Am I a prophet? Am I a pastor? Am I at this? And it's like, let's throw away all the labels except God reveals that to you. Yeah, right. And embrace the encounters that God wants to bring you into. So good.

Listen, you got a bunch of people stirred up today, I can tell you that much. You'd be like, oh my gosh, what have I been dreaming about? What have I missed out on? Yeah, this is great. So great. You, you said— I'll ask you this question as we wrap up. You talked about— you've talked a lot about purpose. You've talked about who God created you to be and what you've known about yourself Um, over, you know, as God has revealed your purpose to you over time. Uh, what is very clear to me, you know, I don't know you well, like, you know, we ain't talking on the phone 3 times a day, but what is very clear to me, both when I see you online, when I've seen you in person, and even in this conversation, is you have a clear sense of who you are, um, by design and also just in the Lord, what he has for you. And I think one of the beautiful things with a woman who has knowing about herself, beyond her knowing her name, she knows herself, she knows her soul, she knows what God has put in there, um, is that you bring a fullness of who you are to marriage. Um, it doesn't take two half people to make a marriage, it takes two whole people. Um, and so the, the knowing, which translates, um, a lot as far as where I sit into confidence, there's confidence when you have a knowing, even as you continue to grow in your understanding of God at work in you. That knowing and that confidence, if someone listens to you, I know they don't have it. They don't have it. They don't, they, they didn't, they didn't, they don't have a history of walking with God in a way where they have the confidence of God's, um, purpose in their life, a confidence of God's revelation in their life, a confidence of God's, uh, answered prayers in their life, confidence of God's word in their life. And so they're watching you, um, you know, today, or listening to you today, or they've caught you on YouTube. You know, you've got the same room, or they've seen you as you teach and preach at, uh, one, um, Potter's House in LA, and they're like, what you have, I don't have. I don't have it. So as you speak and encourage people to, you know, you said a million times in our conversation, this is for everybody, this is for everybody. But someone is listening to you and watching you, and they feel so on an outward concentric circle of what you're talking about. Um, in fact, the reason why they're here they've watched you anywhere else is because they're attracted to that confidence, that purpose, the deep knowing and assurance that you have in your own life. But they're walking around without that. What would you say to the girl or the guy— there's always a few guys watching and listening— who are like, I hear you, but I don't have it. Where do I start?

Yeah, I would start by, you know, there's a scripture when David said The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. And there is a connection with when we recognize who is over us, that we understand that everything that we are and everything that we need is already within us, that everything that would— every You see, I would even give this example. Many times when a person deals with jealousy, jealousy is not as negative as people think, but it is more of the evidence that you are attracted to something you desire but think you lack.

That's correct.

And so I am jealous because something in me desires what I see, but I have believed the lie that I don't have what it takes to produce it. And so jealousy reveals ignorance. And the reality is, everything a person is called to be, everything that— what you desire is not random. What you like in another person, it's random. It's a mirror. It's the evidence of what is in you awaiting discovery. But that discovery is connected to recognizing who is Lord over you. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. That when I— the more I submit myself to God, the more I come into the discovery of what I have in him and who I am in him. The Bible says that our lives are hidden in Christ Jesus. The reality is that you just haven't discovered what God placed within you yet, and, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the awareness of it helps us to get into the journey of discovery. I am still discovering many things about me, right? There's so much that I know that I am in the dark too, and, and that is what— it's part of the reason I hold on to Jesus with my life. Because whatever I think I know, I've not even scratched the surface. And I'm like, God, I want to be everything you've called me to be, but I cannot be it without you. And so my confidence in life is not because I know myself. My confidence in life is because I am in relationship with God. And the more I know him, the more I know me. Because the more I recognize his authority, his power, his abilities, his love, the more I see myself and I know I have nothing to fear. Okay, God told me to do this. All right, we're doing it and he's going to cover me. Okay, God says this is who I am. I'm going to believe it. And sometimes belief begins with rehearsing that you might need to rehearse your identity as a role until it becomes your reality. So when you're reading the Bible and God says these things about you, even though you don't believe it, rehearse it in your daily life. Act like the person. There's this thing that says, what would Jesus do? Then you have to say, what would whatever your name is, right, Amanda, do? What, what would the Amanda that God is showing me do? What would the Amanda that is confident do? What would the Amanda that is not afraid of failing do. And you may not believe it while you're doing it, but rehearse it, and on the way you would realize that you are always acting out reality.

So good. You reminded me of, uh, 2 Peter 1:3, which says— Amplified, I'll read that one— his divine power has been bestowed on us, absolutely everything necessary for a dynamic spiritual life and godliness through true and personal knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. So the power that you need, you have. The intellect that you need, you can get. The information that you need, God can deliver. You already got it. Yeah, but you just become more and more— you become more and more aware of it as you become more and more aware of him. And learn more about it. Yeah, this has been so great. It's so fun. Yeah, listen, we got a little bit of the, you know, we got a little bit of, of silly Stephanie, and we got a little bit of serious Stephanie.

I know, it could— it flips, it flips.

But you know, when you, you know, it's like, it's like, yeah, like my— one of my, one of my— well, you know, out of the 5 kids I have, every one of them has something that they're passionate about. And the, and the response I get from the kid when I'm talking about any random thing is one kind of response. But when I start talking to them about the thing they're passionate about, they go into a whole nother persona. Yep, yep, yep. So it's very clear when you're passionate.

They say you go, they say you go from an 8-year-old to an 80-year-old.

Well, with Priscilla, I always say when she starts talking to me, I'm like, baby, baby, You went into speaker mode. Dial it down. Dial it down. I'm right here. Well, this has been fun. I look forward to the time again when we can actually see each other in person and get to continue to get to know each other better. But thanks for letting me steal you away from your day for a little bit and spend a little time here with the girls in the circle. It's been great.

Thank you. Thank you. Love this.

Hey there, it's me, Chrystal Hurst. I hope you enjoyed that interview. Listen, Sometimes you just need to chat it up with a girlfriend. There's nothing like it. And every now and then in my life, I make room to do that on camera. That's what you just saw. And sometimes I make room to do it in real life with real friends that help me to enjoy life, laugh about life, cry about life if I need to, and just take a load off. And I would love for you to consider getting away with me and my friends, this October, this year 2023. Come to Cali with me. It will be a wonderful retreat of sisters, women who love God, who want to get away, have a good time, and spend time together. You can come alone and meet friends, or you can come with friends and use this retreat to have a time that you gather and catch up. Go to thesistercircle.com/retreat for more information, and I hope to see there. And by the way, if you enjoyed this video, stay on this channel and watch one or two more. I promise more girlfriend chats await you. See you soon.