THE BIRTH IS COMING SUDDENLY
By Mando Matthews
ekballopasadena.org
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.” Habakkuk 2:3
We all have them. Words. Dreams. Prophetic promises. The moment they’re spoken over us and into our spirits, we conceive and become pregnant with the dreams of God. These words come corporately, over the body of Christ as a whole, and individually. Some of us have carried these words for weeks or months, while others have been pregnant with the promises of God for decades. When William Seymour from Los Angeles, Maria Woodworth Etter from Chicago, and Charles Parham from Texas, all prophesied around 1913 that in 100 years there would be a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit and glory far eclipsing the move of the Spirit of that day, the body of Christ was impregnated with promises that have been carried for over 100 years! Like a pregnant woman who has gone past her due date, many of these words and prophetic promises over his body have been delayed.
On March 17th, 2018, I believe that God gave my wife and me a prophetic experience with the birth of our 5th child that I hope will be an encouragement to the body of Christ. Like many of these overdue promises, we were about 10 days past the due date that we were given. We were anxious for our baby to be born. Despite our hopes and my wife’s walking, it seemed that the baby wasn’t budging.
And then the moment came without warning. There were no contractions until, suddenly, my wife had 3 contractions two minutes apart! We immediately called our midwife and quickly hopped into the car to drive 12 mins through the rain to the birth center. The contractions continued with increasing frequency and intensity while we were en route. We arrived at the birth center and discovered that the midwife had not yet arrived. Feeling that the birth was imminent and not wanting to have the baby in the car, my wife exited the car. With the next contraction the baby’s head and right arm emerged. Without time to turn off the car engine, I ran over just in time to catch our son as he was born- right there on the driveway of the birth center- ALL WHILE IT RAINED! Our midwife arrived and accompanied us into the birth center. As we discussed the timeline of our very short labor, I realized that there were only 21 minutes between our realization of contractions and the birth of the baby! Talk about SUDDENLY! As in Habakkuk 2:3, we had waited and waited, and then suddenly, he was here!
Shortly after the birth, I heard the Lord speak to my spirit, “Name the baby ‘Rain.’ The promises of My rains have been delayed but are coming SUDDENLY!” Rain was also the first thing that touched our son’s skin after he was born. So, we named our son, Garrett Ellis Rain Matthews.
Yes, the birth of the great move of the Spirit in California has been long overdue. The body has prayed, fasted, repented and prayed some more. We’ve tarried and waited. Now, the birth is at hand! The clouds that you see over California are pregnant and the revival waters over our state are breaking! The “sudden” birth is upon us and coming without warning. As a body, those who have faith will walk together into the land of promise, each of us experiencing the birth of long-awaited promises, visions, dreams and prophetic words.
I no longer say, “Get ready” because the SUDDENLY is coming so quickly we must now believe that we are ready and that God has prepared us for such a time as this. Let’s declare over ourselves, families, churches, and over California that we are ready! Let’s declare the beginning of a “baby boom” of millions of souls being born into in the Kingdom of Heaven in California. The time is at hand for the manifestation of the Glory of the Lord to flood all of California and its inhabitants.
Prayer:
In the name of Jesus, we declare the ending of all delay over the promises of God in California! Like your word says in Isaiah 54:1, we sing, shout and burst into song because the time of birthing is coming suddenly to the barren woman! The time of the great Harvest is at hand! We declare that we are ready for your coming wave of revival!
