Prophetic Drama – “Dramatic Acts of Obedience” Part 3

Makes you say “Hmmm…!”
The thought of performing drama without rehearsing or knowing how or where the “act” is going to end raises up all kinds of questions:
Q. . . “What purpose will the “Act” serve?”
To strengthen, encourage, equip and comfort whom God will.

Q. . . “Who is the audience?”
An intercessory ‘target’ or local audience or one relating to someone in the audience.

Q. . . “Where shall we perform it?”
That will be agreed upon just as in Acts of Obedience Evangelism.

Q. . . “How do we know who has what role?”
Trust the leadership; all players must function and flow together.

Q. . . “How do we know we’ve reached the end?”
Maturity and discernment among the cast helps; the director can develop a signal to end it.

Q. . . “And just how are we are going to get there . . . together?”
Practice! Practice! Practice! The best part is that even a practice is a prophetic encounter!

Totally before a “live” audience
Everything up to this point was written before ever actually demonstrating a “Prophetic Drama” before an audience. Since then, we hosted the 2007 Drama Ministry Convention (DMC) wherein twice I conducted a Prophetic Drama “hands-on” workshop. In just one hour we were able to grasp the concept; then go before the Lord, hear him, write down the things we saw and heard; and then organize, cast and perform (act out) what we believe was what the Lord was revealing. In both workshops, the groups caught the concept and experienced an exciting adventure they will not soon forget.

In the final evening service at the DMC, I gathered the leaders from the drama ministries attending the convention to perform a Prophetic Drama; as it seemed important to utilize the most mature drama ministers available. After introducing the group I informed the audience that they were going to observe us as we sought God’s heart and received what He would show us. Then they would view our interpretation of it. I asked the congregation to pray in the Spirit as we did. It was good for them to be engaged in the process . . . not to mention the exponential power of agreement. One-by-one, we each told our designated note taker what we were seeing and hearing as we received from God. As we were still in the prayer mode, we did not address the crowd with the details just yet. We kind of leveled off from downloading and we gathered around the note taker to view the list. There was definitely an air of excitement as we were remaining open to God for further instruction while sifting through thoughts and scenarios coming to mind. I asked if any group member had a scene in mind and two of the women in our group replied, “Yes!”

Finally I began to share with the audience the items from our list as the two ladies told the drama group what they were sensing that the Holy Spirit was showing them.

Remember that the dialog is unplanned and we are careful not to prognosticate the ending so that we remain led by His Spirit. And again by faith, we went forward.

The entries on our list were:
1. A beret
2. Fear
3. Wife worried about her husband overseas
4. Losing the house furniture
5. Words of Comfort

The scene called for a wife phoning her husband and a girlfriend who was there with her. The actors took their places. The scene began with the wife calling to inform her husband, who is overseas, that they were being evicted from their house and had already lost the furniture. He said he had always been sending the money home; but it never seemed to be enough. The wife begs the husband to come home to handle the crisis. Tension escalates. She is distraught and says she wants to quit the marriage. After the call has ended, the husband stands in shock and helpless on one end of the stage as the friend, who is a believer, intervenes on the other side of the stage with the wife, who has become somewhat hysterical. The wife begins to hear words of faith in God and how He is working in their behalf and never leaves us nor forsakes us. She is not easily comforted. Her friend is relentless with encouragement until the wife agrees to seek God in prayer and trust Him. They join hands and bowed to pray. The scene ended.

There was a hush over the crowd as we all believed that this situation is or will be very real. All over the room intercession breaks out as we all pray for God’s presence to come on to that scene wherever it may be occurring. Finally, a burst of applause erupts for such an expression of His love and care for us. Someone and/or somewhere these circumstances are an issue and God is on the scene to bring a victory in making a way where there seems to be no way. We look forward to receiving confirmations as we move forward in this genre of drama ministry.

Confirmation
Actually, we did get a testimony from a couple who attended the DMC final service where our church’s drama ministry, “The Grace Players,” performed the piece which originated in a rehearsal. This is the same work I mentioned earlier which was performed at the Easter event. Rarely do we present the same skit to an audience that has recently seen it; however, it was the right skit for the DMC. Interestingly enough, the couple missed the Easter presentation so it was new to them. They told me that the skit which involves a person who receives a “Word” to give $1000 they don’t have to a missionary, was clearly a message for them. This couple admitted that after getting a windfall sum of money; God had told them to give $1000 to the church. This happened just one week prior to the Easter program. They said that they had been dragging their feet in letting go of the finances until now, but knew that God was reminding them to obey.

Onward by Faith
The parameters of possibility are overwhelming when we think how far-reaching this approach is. There is absolutely no doubt that faith is required! A couple of verses come to mind to encourage you to accept and embrace this courageous endeavor.

• For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7 ISV)
• Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith.” (GALATIANS 3:11 ISV)
• For in it God’s righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.” (ROMANS 1:17 ISV)
• Remain alert. Keep standing firm in your faith. Keep on being courageous and strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13 ISV)

This article is the third in a three part series. Read Part 1. Read Part 2.