Sandy Warner ~ ~ swauthor@usa.net ~ ~ www.thequickenedword.com

WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF QUICKENING?

Jesus said that it is the Spirit that quickens and the flesh profits nothing: the words that He speaks to us are spirit and life.  John 6:63

The word “Quicken” is an obscure Biblical word, but without its power, our relationship with Him is limited to a dead language.  The literal Greek meaning of the word quicken is to “make alive, give life or vitality.”  (Strongs #2227)

When my son was young and first learning the different ways God speaks, I had a really hard time explaining the word quickening.  On the most simple terms, Quickening represents giving life – any kind of life.  God created life.  If you were trying to help your first grader understand the word “life”, what would you say?  It is really hard to define! 

Maybe I might take him outside and let him feel the wind on his face and watch the leaf respond to the wind.  You dont see the wind, neither can you see quickening or life.  But you are impacted by it.  Quickening, just like the word "life" is really like a verb or an action, an expression of something that is moving and impacting and changing. 

Sometimes it helps to find comparisons when trying to describe something, or understand it.  God’s creation is alive and so it is full of good examples of how to describe various aspects of life.  Since quickening means life, we can draw from examples in nature and explain how they compare. 

EXAMPLES OF HIS QUICKENING POWER AS COMPARED TO HIS CREATION

1.  Quickening is like throwing a rock in a pool of water.  When the circles in the water touch me, it impacts my life.

2.  When I am cold and I sit in the sunny window, the sun warms and comforts me.  That is what the power of quickening is like.

3.  God has placed the whole earth on an axis.  Likewise, when the perspective of His Word touches me, I come into alignment and feel connected.  The quickening of His Word is like settling me into the axis of His purpose.

4.  I can watch a tree bud new leaves and see a baby change as it grows up, but I dont know how it happens.  Quickening is like that too. -  It causes me to change, silently and mysteriously.

5.  Water is purified as it moves and splashes.  Water that does not move becomes stagnant and stale.  When God quickens a Word to my life, it moves me and purifies me.  Without His quickening power, I become stagnant and stale, just like a pond.

6.  When the birds gather, I am surrounded by their loud chirping of many voices.  When God brings me many confirmations, it increases the volume or depth of His quickening upon my soul and spirit.  

7.  The green grass grows, it looks lush and fertile.  Quickening makes me grow lush and fertile.  

8.  I watch a migration of birds "point" as a sign in the sky when they fly like the letter V or an arrow.  Quickening points the way too.

9.  A cat purrs and vibrates peace and quickening vibrates peace too.

10.  A flower unfolds its petals just like quickening unfolds truth.

 

 
Quickening is simply "LIFE" from the Holy Spirit imparted to us.  This was not an attempt to re-define quickening, only help us expand our understanding of the experience of quickening, so that when quickening happens to us, we can recognize it is God, and this will help us identify His personal Words to us easier. 

THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S QUICKENED WORDS
HAS TO BE PERSONAL

We can go through life reading words and looking at signs, but it isnt until they are personal that they give us life.  The words are just flat letters on paper until they are quickened and we finally realize they apply to us.  Quickening happens when you hear a story, or something like that and all of a sudden it connects with your personal life. This is the Lord’s quickening power saying, “Listen to this, I'm talking to you!”

It is the Holy Spirit's quickening power that makes His Words come alive to us and apply to us personally. 

Quickened Words from the Lord are always relevant. His quickened Words are like a puzzle piece that perfectly fits the shape of our life – We could have a need, or be in a set of circumstances, or whatever, and when the Lord quickens something it becomes applicable, it has a niche - a place to fit. 

Sometimes a puzzle piece will appear to have the right shape and size but when you apply it, it is not a perfect fit.  Quickening is not what appears to fit.  Quickening is a realization that it DOES fit.  When it fits, your heart knows it.
 

EXAMPLE OF A “QUICKENED” WORD

The following is an example of experiencing a quickened word.  Remember that since quickening is life giving, it is a word that must be personal and relevant.  I have highlighted all the words that were relevant and cross referenced what the person in this story said with the Lord’s example of what He was speaking to me: 

WORD:  GOD IS LASSOING OUR INDEPENDENCE
 

I am laughing at God's humor and timing.  I was praying the Lord would give me a good example of how God speaks through quickening and how it perfectly relates to our personal lives.  Just as I finished I received an email from a person that had a day dream of riding a wave, wearing a cowboy hat, and his cat is riding on the front of the board with him.  The email was entitled, “It aint going to happen because cats hate water.”

I happened to know this person is very independent and loves cats which are also very independent.  He wants to get planted into a fellowship.  But every time the Lord draws him, then opens the door for fellowship, he stops just shy of going through the door of opportunity of getting touched by real people.

I laughed because I KNEW it was a Word of the Lord because that same morning I had just finished a class discussion lesson with an example of how God speaks to us through our day dreams. 

The Holy Spirit also reminded me about the memory of a cat we adopted, so I looked up the rhema to find the story about Cally.  In that rhema I had heard the Lord say to me: “I was instructing My sons.  At My feet but just beyond reach.”

His phrase, “At My feet, but just beyond reach” was exactly like Cally.  All cat's are independent, but Cally really took the grand prize.  She was obviously abused as a kitten and when she voluntarily arrived at our door step, she adopted us, but on her own terms.  Every time I would call her, she would drop what she was doing, and run to me as though glad to hear my voice.  But each and every time she came, she halted exactly 1 one foot beyond my reach.

What that meant in literal terms, is that if I were to put my foot forward and reach out my arm, there would be one foot clear space between she and I.  She knew my exact limit to reach, without having to take another step.  If I took another step forward, she backed up that same one foot.  She would be content to come if called and she liked the attention, but not to be held or touched.

I knew this was a Word connecting this person’s “day dream.” It fit perfectly!  The cowboy hat was also perfect, as I had several visions in the past of a cowboy angel who was sent to lasso the independent ones.  The jerk of the cowboy rope was exactly portioned to how hard the person was running away and resisting when lassoed. 

As I pondered this, God gave me a quickened eye glance as it landed right onto one of my teddy bear’s hats in the room I was in, without my even realizing it was a hat.  I was still chuckling about God’s creative ways of drawing His kids when Wayne asked me to go out to lunch.  A few minutes later I had a quickened eye glance at a billboard that had a picture of a cowboy on it.

THE QUICKENING
 

1.  The timing of his day dream and my lesson was exact within a couple hours.  The realization of the timing gave me life, in that I was strengthened, encouraged and fortified that God was personally involved in my life and the lessons.  It was very personal that He sent me someone who knew nothing of my lesson to share his cute joke.

2.  The Lord had been talking to me about being independent.  We are independent when we hold some part of our lives away from Him and do not allow Him to approach us in an intimate way.  The theme of his cat brought truth to my door:  If we are going to be independent, we may not get to be a part of His Holy Spirit wave. 

When God speaks truth into our lives, it always sets us free.  And when we are set free, we experience LIFE, which is His quickening power upon His Word of truth.  The freedom is knowing that He loves us and knocks on our independent and closed doors, so that we dont miss out.

3.  Likewise, I remembered from my past rhema that He sends out cowboy angels to wrestle and lasso us with His love until we finally cry uncle and surrender all to Him.  To know He loves us so much to draw us back to Him, is a powerful life giving release when we apply it personally.

John 12:32-33 NKJV

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

John 6:44 KJV

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.