Hi Friends,

I wanted to share a vision with you that I received about a week ago. Because we have been praying for a nationwide revival, it seems that we are getting heat from the enemy in retaliation for our prayers. At the same time we have also experienced an increase in answered prayers. So faith and confidence in the Lord seems to be increasing among believers. In faith I believe, that we will soon see more miracles, signs and wonders. So I believe that this vision may prove to be a warning to us, to check our motives when it comes to the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This is the vision:

I saw a woman walking around the end of a desk.  I did not see her upper body, only her skirt. It was a black straight skirt with a narrow string tie centered at the waist, and tied in a neat bow.  There were side panels to the skirt, made of a contrasting fabric that was white with small irregular black spots, like those on a dalmatian dog. As she walks around the end of the desk she saw me sitting on the floor near the front corner of the desk.  She bent down slightly as if to offer me a hand up. But instead she took a key from my hand and walked away.    

My thoughts, and what I believe the vision means:

Just before I received the vision, I had been praying for a friend and neighbor of mine who is not Christian, but someone who I have known for years now.   My hope is that someday she will give her heart and her life to the Lord. She told me that she had been quite ill with digestive issues, and that she had just lost a close friend.  Being in her 70’s, she has already lost many friends.

The Black Skirt

In the vision, the woman wore a black straight skirt whose style was neat and simple.  The woman was very direct, and knew that I was there. She reached her hand out to me, and took a key from me when I didn’t even know it was in my hand.  I thought her intention was to offer to help me up from the floor, (although I sit on the floor all the time and need no help getting up).

I believe that the woman in the vision represents people who are not walking with God.  The skirt was predominantly black. Black is the darkest of colors. It generally represents wickedness, evil, and death.  Black can represent hell, the place of total darkness, that is reserved for the devil and his angels. Black is the absence of light.  

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  1 John 1:5 

The black skirt represents those who do not know the Lord, and are living a life apart from him.  

The Side Panels

The side panels on the skirt were from a different fabric, white with small black irregular spots.  The white portion, shows that there is some light. This I believe indicates that there is an acknowledgment of God, and Jesus as Savior, however, the black spots show that there is also a presence of evil or sin.  The people who this fabric represents are not entirely the Lord’s. They have a divided heart. They are what we refer to as “carnal Christians.” They live a lifestyle of sin, and worldly pleasures, yet claim to know God.

“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.”  1 John 1:6

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  1 John 1:8  

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.”           1 John 2:9

In the vision, the woman knew where I was seated. She also knew I had a key.  She came from behind the desk which showed that she had some type of power or authority.  I was seated on the floor on the guest side of the desk near the corner. I was not in a guest chair, so apparently I was not invited to sit down, or perhaps I didn’t belong there. 

The woman in the vision, has no spiritual authority coming from God, because she is not walking with him.  Any authority she has comes from the world.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17

The woman wants the key.  She knows that I have it, even though I am not aware that it is in my hand.  She takes it from me and walks away. The woman reminds me of Simon the sorcerer in the book of Acts.

“Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.  He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘This man is the divine power known as the  Great Power.’ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.”

“When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on the apostles hands, he offered them money and said, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’”

“Peter answered: ‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord.  Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Acts 8:9-13 and 18-23

Simon thought that to gain the power of God, you could buy it with the currency of the world.  But the Lord ways and the ways of the world are in opposition to each other. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.“ Isaiah 55:8

Simon wanted the power of God to impress other people, because he was used to being in the limelight, and admired by everyone.  He did not appreciate God, or desire to honor him, because he wanted the glory for himself. This greatly displeases the Lord, for by this, he intended to use the power of God as entertainment and for establishing his name, above the Lord’s.  Simon had no fear of God.

Simon is an extreme example, however you may find his type in the church.  This is why Jesus wanted to make it perfectly clear that not everyone who claims to be a believer truly is.

“Many will say to me on that day, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”   Matthew 7:21-23   

The Key

The key in the vision was in my hand, yet I was not aware of it.  The Lord speaks of the keys to the kingdom of God: “I give you the keys to the kingdom of God.  Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.”  Matthew 16:19

The keys represent spiritual power, and authority.  Even though I was sitting on the floor, and was on the guest side of the desk, I had the keys.  The position of sitting on the floor is a position of humility. I believe that God is showing us that he gives us real divine power, but it comes when we humble ourselves.  

“The Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6 

“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  Matthew 23:12 

The keys were taken from me, because I didn’t know I had them.  Even though I have been an intercessor for years, and I have experienced real miracles, I have to question, why did I not see, or know that I had the keys?  And how is it that another person can take them from me?

I can see three different ways to view this.

One View

First, I believe that the woman may represent those like Simon who wants the key for power, and  authority to perform miracles for their personal glory. There are believers like Simon who do not give themselves to the teachings of God, but are more focused on the power and miracles of God. Simon was so full of himself, that he did not display the fruit of the Spirit, but rather the attributes of the sinful nature.  

Another View

The woman can represent another group of people as well. If the the key represents the knowledge of how the kingdom of God works regarding binding and loosening, then anyone can possess the key.  We see that in the Gospel of Mark, one of the disciples objected to someone else using another key to the kingdom—the name of Jesus:

“‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’

“‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.  Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose his reward.’” Mark 9:38-41 

Some people choose to do the right things because they have a heart that is inclined to be right and just, and their motives come from love. There are such people, but they may not be believers:  

“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.”  Romans 2:13-16  

So the woman in the vision can represents people like my friend, who I spoke about earlier.  She is a non-believer, but because of our prayers for her family and loved ones, she has seen the power of God for herself.  When there is a special need, she will call me for prayer. And because she is Jewish, she is afraid to give up what she knows to be true, for something she does not understand.  She has seen the results of our prayers. But it is simply fear that keeps her from allowing us to pray with her directly. 

She wants the key-- the power and the authority for answered prayer. And, just like the woman in the vision, she knows where to go to find the key. She has seen her prayer requests answered by the Lord, many times now. But at this stage in her life, she is still not ready to do what it takes herself, to have the power and authority for her own prayers to be answered. She still doesn’t understand that she can be both a Jew and a believer in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, at the same time.

Recently she asked me if she could treat our small prayer group to a thank-you brunch! This looks to me like a cup of water, given because we belong to the Messiah! Hallelujah!

Still Another View

The woman can also represent someone who is being used by Satan, to accomplish his purpose. And what would that purpose be? As God’s foremost enemy, the devil ‘s purpose has always been to wreck havoc on the kingdom of God He is out “to steal, to kill and to destroy. “ John 10:10 He opposes God and those God loves. Jesus called the devil, “the father of lies.” John 8:44

If the key represents authority and power, and we as believers have been given that authority and power by God to bind and to loosen, and to bring to naught the devils plans, then we must also realize the it is of utmost importance to the devil to steal it from us.

The woman in the vision knew I had the key. She saw that I was seated on the floor, which may also represent prayer, for I am usually either walking, pacing or sitting on the floor when I pray. When she held out her hand to me, I believed that she was going to help me up. This was a deceitful scheme to take away the key when I opened my hand to receive hers. She took what she came for and left.

Now is it possible for the enemy to actually take away our God-given authority? Does it really reside in a key?The devil uses trickery, to make us believe a lie. The lie is this: “I cannot pray with authority because________.” “God won’t answer my prayers because _________” “My faith is not great enough to be effective., because_________” You can add a lie you’ve heard from the enemy right here: ________________.

As long as you do not buy into his lie, the enemy cannot steal the key from you. That is why scripture says: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

We have to see that the devil will use people to discourage us or undermine our confidence in and our reliance on the Lord. Because the woman in the vision came from behind the desk, she represented one who had a type of authority,, perhaps a boss, a spouse, or an influential person in the church, who will attempt to take away your key.

We simply must remain vigilant and pray without ceasing. We must not take offense, but walk in love and choose to forgive in every situation regardless of whose at fault. “For we are not unaware of the devil’s schemes.” 2 Corinthians 2:11

When the woman came and took the key from me, it is my responsibility to not get offended by her. We are to forgive. “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. “ Matthew 5:39-45

When we earn God’s trust by walking in love, and obedience to his word, and forgiving rather than taking offense, we will keep the key that no one will be able to steal from us. By doing things God’s way, and maintaining a close relationship with the Lord, we will have authority and power to do the Lord’s work—for his praise, for his glory, and for his honor!

May God bless you! Please share this with those who you know, and with those who are of like mind. I know that if the Lord bothers to give me a vision, it is my responsibility to share it with you. Thanks for reading and passing it along!