Prophetic Practice Night: Learning to Hear God in Real Time
A night of encouragement, confirmation, and remembering how personally Jesus meets us.
I really enjoy going to our Prophetic Practice Nights. I haven’t been able to go as often as I want because of some perfume allergies, but last night I finally made it back—and I’m so glad I did.
These nights are a reminder that hearing the Lord is something we grow in. We practice in the small moments so that when bigger moments come, we already recognize His voice. We begin to trust the way He nudges, speaks, and confirms things.
For new readers, when we talk about prophecy in the New Testament, we’re operating out of 1 Corinthians 14:3:
“He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” (KJV)
Here’s what those words mean:
Edification
To strengthen, build up, reinforce, or establish someone in their faith.
Exhortation
To urge forward, motivate, stir up, or call someone closer to God.
Comfort
To soothe, calm, reassure, or bring peace into someone’s situation.
That’s the heart behind prophetic practice—press into Jesus, listen, and share what He says, all for building up, encouraging, and comforting.
God Moves in Real, Tangible Ways
The theme of the night became clear quickly: God steps into our physical world more than we realize.
We often think of Him as distant because He is holy—but Jesus came in the flesh. He still meets us in ways that feel very real.
One woman shared a testimony to start the evening. Earlier that week, she prayed, “Lord, I want to smell oil from heaven.”
As she was praying with her eyes closed, another woman walked up behind her and held oil under her nose. She opened her eyes and was shocked—it felt like the Lord answering her prayer instantly.
That testimony ended up setting the tone for the whole night.
Practice #1 — Hearing God Through Scents
For our first exercise, the leaders passed around small containers filled with different scents. We paired up, smelled the scent, and asked the Lord what He wanted to say through it.
The guy partnered with me smelled roasted meat with gravy. What he shared was incredibly encouraging.
He said when you make gravy, you leave the browned bits—the stuff people normally want to scrape off. Then you pour wine on the pan to pull out the flavor and turn it into something rich and beautiful.
He felt the Lord saying to me:
“This wine is My blood poured over the burnt seasons of your life. The parts you want to forget—the things that felt ruined—are precious to Me. My blood turns those pieces into the richness of your message.”
He said the richness in the word I share comes from those pressing seasons—like grapes being pressed—and that this is where the anointing flows.
This meant a lot because I had just restarted my Substack and had been asking the Lord what direction Brian’s Notebook should take. This felt like a direct confirmation.
Practice #2 — Musical Chairs, Prophetic Style
For the next exercise, we played a version of musical chairs. They asked for five people. Four walked up immediately, and since they asked for one more, I joined.
And something interesting happened.
Every time the music stopped, the chair right in front of me was open.
I just slipped into it without effort. One guy even commented on how casually and calmly I was walking.
After the exercise, they gathered a few people specifically to prophesy over me, and every word felt incredibly timely.
Word #1 — Like David Facing the Philistine
One woman said she heard:
“You uncircumcised Philistine.”
But she clarified that it wasn’t about me—it was about me being like David, stepping toward the uncircumcised Philistine with courage.
She said she saw me going into places where the enemy tries to intimidate or torment people, and that the Lord was anointing me to bring those things down.
This connected strongly with things I’ve been writing about recently and felt like another confirmation about restarting Substack.
Word #2 — The Gutter Guards Are Up
Another person saw a bowling alley with the gutter guards raised.
She felt the Lord saying:
“There’s no wrong way to throw the ball. My defenses are up for you.”
This really hit home because I’ve been wanting everything on Brian’s Notebook to be perfect. But God was reminding me that He’s guiding the process. I can just write and trust Him.
Word #3 — Ride the Skies With Me
A man said he saw me riding on clouds with Jesus.
He heard:
“Ride the skies with Me.”
He saw me leaping from cloud to cloud with joy—higher than I ever expected to go—completely unafraid. He mentioned Jesus returning on the clouds and felt the Lord was inviting me into a higher perspective and creativity.
This confirmed something I’ve felt for a while:
I touch a lot of different topics, and God is in that. He’s allowing me to explore.
Word #4 — A Victor in Christ
Another person simply said:
“You are a victor in Christ.”
Short and simple, but strong.
A Word That Confirmed Everything
Earlier in the night, before the practices even started, I had gotten a word for one girl about her friends whose dogs had recently died. She later told me it was accurate and planned to reach out to them. That moment was encouraging, but what happened next surprised me even more.
At the end of the night, she came over and said she had a word for me too.
She said she felt the Lord speaking:
“I’ve been sharpening you, chiseling you, and reforming you. I’m removing what was never meant to stay, and adding what will fortify you. I’m shaping you into something specific—because I’ve called you to build.”
She said the Lord was making me into a sharp instrument, one able to war and build at the same time.
She described the calling like this:
to rebuild the ancient ruins,
to raise up former desolations,
to renew ruined cities,
to touch generational desolations,
and to walk in a story of God’s “180-degree turnaround.”
She said people would one day look at what God has done and say:
“It was this… but God.”
Then she said she heard the Lord say:
“You are a tool in My hand. Build My people. Build My body. Build My kingdom.”
She said she saw a merging of prophetic and apostolic gifting in me—that evangelism is already active, but that what’s coming is far beyond anything I expect.
She said:
“You carry the full expression of Jesus in ways you don’t see yet. There is so much more coming.”
Then she smiled and said:
“Go Brian. Go God.”
And here’s the wild part:
None of these people knew that I had restarted my Substack this week.
Every word was a direct confirmation of things I’ve been praying about.
Why I’m Sharing This
Nights like this remind me that hearing God is not about perfection or pressure.
It’s about learning, growing, practicing, and letting Him speak into the real parts of our lives.
This week, I feel freshly encouraged to build Brian’s Notebook with Him—not perfectly, just obediently.
More soon.
— Brian