THE PROPHETIC - Books by Michelle McClain Walterswithin the Prophetic Advantage book. read...

PROPHETICA D V A N T A G E

THE

Michelle McClain-Walters

L E A D E R ’ S G U I D E

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The Prophetic Advantage Leader’s Guide by Michelle McClain-WaltersPublished by Charisma HouseCharisma Media/Charisma House Book Group600 Rinehart RoadLake Mary, Florida 32746www.charismahouse.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Copyright © 2017 by Michelle McClain-WaltersAll rights reserved

Cover design by Lisa Rae McClureDesign Director: Justin EvansInstructional Designer: Regine Jean-Baptiste/ !Impact Course Developers

Visit the author’s website at www.michellemcclainministries.com.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

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CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Part I: How to Lead a GrouP Study

Tips for Leading a Small Group 3

How to Structure Each Lesson 6

Part II: reSourceS and temPLateS

Group Roster 10

Group Calendar 11

Prayer and Praise Log 12

Evaluation Form 13

Part III: LeSSon noteS

Lesson 1: You Have an Advantage! 17

Lesson 2: Cultivate Your Capacity to Hear the Voice of the Lord 19

Lesson 3: Ascend the Hill of the Lord 23

Lesson 4: Go Build! 24

About the Author 27

1

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to The Prophetic Advantage Leader’s Guide. This resource will provide you with everything you’ll

need to lead a small-group study of The Prophetic Advantage. Part I offers tips for leading a small-group study, which hope-

fully will make the task less daunting. In Part II you’ll find helpful resources to use during the study.

This section includes a roster that allows you to capture informa-tion for every member of your small group and a group calendar on which you can record all the pertinent date information for the group. The calendar can also be used to keep track of birth-days and other special events of the group members or within the lives of a church community during the time of the study.

There is also a prayer and praise log that can be used to note prayer requests from the group during each lesson. Be sure to also include praise and thanks for God’s active participation in your group members’ lives. In Part III you will find leader’s notes. These contain possible responses to the discussion questions and additional tips to help you use The Prophetic Advantage Study Guide as a group study. This section also contains an evaluation form for your small group to complete at the end of the study.

Let this tool be a guide as you lead people to experience the fullness of the prophetic advantage.

PART I

HOW TO LEAD A GROUP STUDY

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How to Lead a Group Study

TIPS FOR LEADING A SMALL GROUP

The Prophetic Advantage Study Guide is intended to help people learn to hear God’s voice for themselves and for others.

By doing so, people will begin to walk in the prophetic advan-tage we have as believers. Because this study includes activations in the prophetic, it is important that those leading a small-group study of this material be trained in prophetic ministry. If you are not a seasoned prophetic minister, partner with someone who is. That person does not have to lead each session or host each meeting, but he or she should be available during the small-group sessions, especially during the activation times.

In addition to involving trained prophetic ministers in your group, here are other tips to help you lead an effective small-group study:

Be prepared.Review the materials for each lesson before you begin the ses-

sion. Watch the DVD teaching to familiarize yourself with the information. Make any notes needed to help you communicate the lesson to the group members.

Be prayerful.Pray throughout this process, and ask other intercessors to be

praying for the group.

Study.Use online and printed Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and

additional resources to research terms, scriptures, and concepts in the study that are unfamiliar to you.

The Prophetic Advantage Leader’s Guide

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Stay humble.It is OK to be nervous. This helps keep us humble. In the

moments when you feel most nervous, remember, God is in con-trol. If you receive a question and do not know the answer, write down the question, and let the group members know you will get back to them with the answer. Research the question, and e-mail the answer to the group as soon as possible or share it at the next session. Don’t think you have to know all the answers.

Make room for everyone.Facilitation is both a skill and an art that begins with making

room for everyone to speak. The key to a successful group study is to give everyone an equal opportunity to share throughout the meeting. As a leader you should not dominate the discus-sion time, nor should any other group member do so. Look out for those in the group who are quiet and need more time for reflection. Assure them that their opinions are valuable, and encourage them to contribute to the discussion.

Encourage members to share testimonies.Testimonies are important. Take time each week to allow

group members to share praise reports. Celebrate the growth in each group member.

Model prayer.Pray earnestly for each group member, and invite participants

to pray for one another. Spend time writing down prayer con-cerns, and encourage the group members to document prayer concerns too. Remind the participants to use these prayer con-cerns to pray for one another during the week.

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Discovering the power of hearing God’s voice is a life-changing experience. Your efforts will be a blessing to all who join you in this study. Throughout the study remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He will shine through you if you remain open to Him.


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HOW TO STRUCTURE EACH LESSON

The layout of the study guide is perfectly suited for a small group. Depending on your time restrictions, you can assign

portions of the study guide as homework or work through each section of the workbook as a group. If your group meets for forty-five minutes to an hour, consider following these steps:

1. Assign the reading and personal discovery portions of the study for prework that should be completed before the class begins.

(Please note: If the study guide is provided to the participants before the course starts, for the first lesson simply read the opening section of the study, answer one question from the personal discovery section, then pray and skip to step 3 in this list.)

2. Begin class with prayer and a brief review of the reading and personal discovery sections of the study guide.

3. Answer the reflection questions.

4. Watch the DVD.

5. Complete the group discussion.

6. Assign the homework for the next lesson, which should include the action plan.

Groups that have more time to conduct the study can simply move through the lessons using the “Read,” “Personal Discovery,”

“Reflect,” “Watch,” and “Group Discussion” sections. Allow for

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ample discussion time so all members of the group can share their thoughts. If the group does not have time to answer all the questions in a section, those questions can be assigned as home-work along with the “Action Plan” section of the lesson.

PART II

RESOURCES AND TEMPLATES

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Resources and Templates

Part II of The Prophetic Advantage Leader’s Guide is designed to provide resources to assist you in facilitating your Pro-

phetic Advantage small-group study. On the first form, the “Group Roster,” you can list your participants’ contact informa-tion—names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses—and their teams or roles.

Next is the “Group Calendar,” which you can use to help plan your group meetings. You can use it for managing the meeting locations or identifying the group leaders or meal providers (if your group will provide meals or snacks). The group can also use this calendar to keep track of social and church events, holidays, birthdays, and any other information pertinent to the group.

The “Prayer and Praise Log” can be used to log group prayer requests and praise reports. The leader can assign prayer pat-terns to pray for individual requests or ask the group to pray for the concerns during the week.

Finally, the “Evaluation Form” is provided. You can make copies of this form and hand it out to the participants if you choose to invite feedback to help with the success of future small-group studies.

GROUP ROSTER

Nam

eA

ddressPhone

E-mail

Team or Role

Dat

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sson

Hos

t Hom

e/ M

eeti

ng

Loca

tion

Mea

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ader

GROUP CALENDAR


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PRAYER AND PRAISE LOG

Date: __________________________________

Prayer Requests:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Praise Reports:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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EVALUATION FORM

Congratulations on completing The Prophetic Advantage Study Guide. Please take a moment to evaluate your group study.

Name of Study: _________________________________________

Study Leader: _________________________________________

Study Start Date: _________________________________________

Time of Study: _________________________________________

How many sessions were you able to attend? _________________

What did you find most meaningful about this study?

How has God worked in your life through the message of this study?

Which of the small-group experiences has been the most life-changing—the homework, prayer time, group discussions, read-ings, study guide, or video teaching? Why?


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What statements, scriptures, ideas, or illustrations were particu-larly meaningful to you?

How can we improve the study? What changes do you suggest we make to ensure the success of future group studies?

Was the study what you expected? In what way?

Was the study promoted well? Are there any ways the promotion could be improved?

Was the sign-up and registration process easy? Please share your experience.

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Did you have the opportunity to meet new people? Please share your experience.

Please rate and/or comment on the points below according to the following scale:

1—Excellent 2—Good 3—Fair 4—Poor

_____ Meeting place _____ Length of study _____ Large-group discussion time _____ Size of group_____ Small-group breakout time _____ Meeting day_____ Facilitator’s skill at guiding

discussion_____ Prayer time

_____ Facilitator’s preparedness/organization

_____ Meeting time

PART III

LESSON NOTES

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Lesson 1YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE!

The following are tips for facilitating the questions and activi-ties within lesson 1. These responses are provided as a guide,

but there is no right or wrong answer. Leave time for the par-ticipants to listen to the voice of the Lord and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you or the participants need addi-tional details for answers, page numbers are included referencing where more information related to the questions can be found within the Prophetic Advantage book.

read

Prophecy—the revealed truth of who God is and His will for mankind (p. 4)

Prophesy—to utter forth-telling and foretelling prophecy as a mouthpiece of God (p. 4)

Prophetic—able to hear the voice of God and respond (p. 4)

Why do you believe God gave us the ability to prophesy? As God’s creation, we need to know His heart for us (p. 4).

Forth-telling prophecy—a form of prophecy involving speaking for God to the people, communicating the mind of God for the present (p. 4)

Foretelling prophecy—prediction, the communication of God’s mind for the future, the announcing of a new agenda on God’s timetable for human history (p. 4)


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refLect

Strength—power to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (p. 11)

Valiance—courage to declare the word of the Lord (p. 12)

Fearlessness—boldness to confront and deal with strongholds (p. 12)

Boldness—freedom to speak and declare the voice of God (p. 12)

GrouP dIScuSSIon

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in prophecy? The Holy Spirit makes prophecy possible by giving us access to the revelatory realm of God (pp. 20–21).

Spirit of the Lord—the premier anointing upon a prophet’s life to establish God’s government and rule in us (p. 23)

Spirit of wisdom—God’s creativity, the ability to see that which is waiting to exist (p. 23)

Spirit of understanding—the power to see to the heart of the matter (p. 25)

Spirit of counsel—the ability to devise strategy and the right course of action (p. 25)

Spirit of might—boldness and confidence; the strength of the Lord (p. 27)

Spirit of knowledge—the unveiling of God experienced in per-sonal relationship with Him (p. 27)

Spirit of the fear of the Lord—reverential obedience to God (p. 29)

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Lesson 2CULTIVATE YOUR CAPACITY TO HEAR THE VOICE OF THE LORD

The ability to understand how we hear the voice of God is per-haps the key to learning His voice. The personal discovery

portion of this lesson is designed to help participants assess their previous experience with hearing the voice of God.

PerSonaL dIScovery

Here are tips to help the group participants as they complete their assignment:

• Encourage participants not to overthink their answers. They should go with the first ranking that comes to mind.

• It may be helpful to read all the questions first and make some notations, and then go back and write their ranks.

• The participant does not have to rank all the items listed. The top five are the most important for this exercise. If a participant has no experience with a statement, he or she may place a 0 or n/a next to the statement.

• The benefit of reading all the possible statements is that it helps participants see the many ways God can com-municate with us.

• Some of the statements are listed multiple times, so if the participant’s primary method of hearing God is listed two or more times in her top five choices, that is


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fine. This just means this is a very dominant form of hearing the voice of the Lord in the participant’s life.

If this portion of the study was assigned as prework before the class, be sure to allow all participants to share their dominant method of hearing the voice of God.

In a longer study be sure to leave ample time for participants to read each statement and provide their rankings. As a facili-tator it is important to check and verify with participants what amount of time is best for them to complete the assessment. In a group of mixed ages and learning types consider having class members rotate reading the statements as participants write their own individual rankings in their study guides.

Impression—an idea, feeling, or opinion formed without con-scious thought (p. 113)

Still small voice—the rare occasion of hearing God’s audible voice (p. 113)

Visions—revelatory scenes viewed with your eyes open (p. 114)

Dreams—revelatory scenes viewed during sleep (p. 115)

Television—revelatory insight received from watching television (p. 116)

Newspapers (world events)—revelatory insight received from current affairs (p. 116)

Trances—the experiencing of partial or complete detachment from your surroundings as you receive revelation from God (p. 116)

Circumstances—revelatory insight from natural situations (p. 117)

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Lesson Notes

Preached messages—revelatory insight from preaching (p. 117)

Divine decree—revelatory insight from a declaration spoken over an individual personally or corporately (p. 117)

Prophetic drama—revelatory insight from arts, entertainment, and culture (p. 117)

Weather—revelatory insight from weather patterns (p. 117)

Signs and wonders—revelatory insight from God’s demonstra-tion of His power (pp. 117–118)

Sharing testimonies is important when it comes to hearing the voice of God. These stories are often very inspiring and encourage us as we hear about the faithfulness of God to communicate with us. Sharing testimonies is also great because it allows the group to see the diversity of methods God uses to communicate with us. Who knows—it may even spark a memory or inspire other participants in the group to be open to God’s communication through methods other than the ones already familiar to them.

GrouP dIScuSSIon

• Be sure to have participants read the tips for sharing a prophetic word with their partner.

• The facilitator should walk around to the different pairs to monitor the prophetic practice.

• A section for notes is provided so participants can write down anything they hear that they do not feel they should share or that does not align with the tips pro-vided. In such instances the facilitator or someone expe-rienced in hearing the voice of the Lord can judge what is written to see if it is worth sharing.


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• When the group is ready to begin the activations, the facilitator may want to spend some time in wor-ship before beginning that section. Set an atmo-sphere for God’s presence to dwell within the meeting. Worshipping together and giving God praise and thanks allows us to yield to the Holy Spirit and helps us hear God clearly. Consider playing worship music softly during the time of activations. If you have other mem-bers of your church who are experienced and proven in hearing the voice of the Lord, invite them to the study lesson. This way you will have additional eyes and ears in the meeting space to help those who are hearing the voice of God on behalf of others for the first time.

• Remind participants that if they get stuck, they should stop and ask the Holy Spirit for help.

• Activations can create anxiety and fear in participants, so be sure to pray and ask God to release His peace. Invite participants to focus on the Lord. Striving to hear God’s voice will make it even harder to hear anything. Hearing God’s voice takes no work on our part. We are called simply to listen.

• Encourage participants to open their eyes and look at their partners as they deliver the messages concerning what they hear God speaking. Sharing the voice of God with others should not be a spooky affair.

• Remind the participants that God loves them and loves their partners. There is no failure in God, so they can be free to share. If they have misspoken or their part-ners do not feel the words bear witness with their spirits, this is OK. This is why we practice.

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Lesson 3ASCEND THE HILL OF THE LORD

This lesson encourages the group to do some deep introspec-tion. It is the beginning of a lifelong journey with the Lord—

the journey of becoming more like Christ. Exemplifying the attributes of Christ should be our daily pursuit in our hearts, minds, bodies, souls, spirits, emotions, and attitudes.

PerSonaL dIScovery

Remember, the participants should put the terms in their own words. The definitions of the terms and Scripture references can be found on pages 62–77 of The Prophetic Advantage.

Walk of love—the ability to love God, yourself, and others with the love of God (p. 62)

Humility—meekness, lacking all pride, self-emptying before the presence of the Lord (p. 66)

Purity—state of being free from mixture in motives and of living as an example of God’s excellent and majestic nature (p. 67)

Holy conversation—speech, speaking, talking that is void of sins of the mouth (p. 73)

Servanthood—a willingness to serve others (p. 75)

GrouP dIScuSSIon

Encourage the participants, either as partners or as a group, to identify some of the sins of the mouth that can hinder the pro-phetic flow. A list of various sins of the mouth can be found on pages 74–75 of The Prophetic Advantage.

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Lesson 4GO BUILD!

This is the final lesson, and it is geared toward providing participants with the next steps they can take to continue

growing in their God-given prophetic advantage. Participants should leave this session with a clear blueprint mapping out where to go after the class ends and how God desires to use them to build His kingdom. Spend some time praying for the partici-pants before they arrive at the class, and ask God for insight to help either confirm or assist in providing the next steps for them.

read

The prophetic pattern is outlined on pages 38–42 of The Prophetic Advantage.

Giving a commission to the senior leader—God’s giving a word of command to the senior leader of the church (p. 38)

Providing distinction to the church—identifying the unique qualities of a ministry (p. 39)

Revealing Christ’s nature and character—articulating the char-acter, attributes, activities, emotions, and will of God expressed in the local church (p. 40)

Bestowing the commendation—celebrating the areas in the local church where the leader is effective (p. 40)

Speaking to the areas in need of correction through the two-fold challenge—declaring a word of correction that also includes clear instructions and solutions (p. 41)

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Lesson Notes

Granting a promise—conferring a reward for obedience to inspire hope and comfort (p. 42)

Come up with a list of how prophets and prophetic people are called by God to build using this prophetic pattern. (Review pages 38–42 of The Prophetic Advantage for more information about the prophetic pattern.) The descriptions of the different parts of the prophetic pattern also contain suggestions for ways prophetic people and prophets can deploy these methods within the local church. (Note: The prophetic pattern exercise chart ref-erenced in the study guide is actually referring to the exercise on pages 73–78.)

refLect

Make a list of the challenges the seven churches in Revelation 2:1–3:22 faced. The challenges of the seven churches, according to Revelation 2:1–3:22, are:

• Those in the church in Ephesus were busy doing the work of the Lord, yet they were not in a relationship with the Lord of the work (p. 42).

• The church in Smyrna was bound by fear (p. 43).

• The church in Pergamos was mixing worldliness and godliness (p. 43).

• Those in the church in Thyatira worshipped idols in their hearts (p. 44).

• The church of Sardis focused on activities and not on Christ. (p. 44).


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• Those in the church in Philadelphia had no challenges; they received only praise and commendation (p. 45).

• The church in Laodicea was drifting far from Christ by being self-sufficient and callous (p. 45).

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle McClain-Walters has traveled to more than fifty nations and has conducted prophetic schools that have acti-

vated thousands in the art of hearing God’s voice. The author of The Deborah Anointing, The Esther Anointing, The Anna Anointing, and The Prophetic Advantage, Michelle currently serves as director of prayer ministry at Crusaders Church under the leadership of Apostle John Eckhardt. She is an international and national conference speaker and an apostolic team leader for The Impact Network. Michelle resides in Chicago with her hus-band, Pastor Floyd A. Walters Jr.

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