Over the eastern seaboard going from NY to SC I saw a bowling ball going to strike seven pins. The bowling ball had my name on it, 'Jim Driscoll'. Each of the pins had a colored ring on it with the lead pin having a white ring. Also, each pin had a name of a member of my family on it with the lead pin having the name of my wife, Mims. I knew as I looked that the ball had left NY State sometime after Christmas and was going to strike the pins on New Year's Day. I also could sense that the pins would continue to fly or roll from the blow throughout the coming year, The last thing I noticed was a mouth on the bowling ball calling out to God in my voice for Him to impact my family with the fullness of His Spirit in the coming year.
The geographic progression of NY to SC parallels two such progressions in my own life. I am from NY State, grew up there and have had many generations on both side of my family in that area. My immediate family currently lives in SC so I can see a heritage to current life connection in NY to SC. Also, I just completed a Christmas trip with my family from SC to NY and back. So there is the immediate time parallel with Christmas being when I was in NY and that I will be here in Sc for the New Year. Also because it is above the US I get the feeling this is for others not just me.
Father Figures
Since my name is on the bowling ball, I believe that the bowling represents me and how God is going to use me to impact my family. I am a father so I believe it also represents others operating in the role of father in their families or communities. The bowling pins are my wife and kids since their name was on them but again I also believe they represent others in those roles. They are seven of them and each has a color on them. I believe this represents the full manifestation of the sevenfold spirit of God. So it seems to be about me and other father figures being used in prayer through our heritage by God to release the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the New Year in a different expression in each member of our families and communities.
If you are a father figure, i.e. a leader of some sort, the natural application of this seems to be to mimic the bowling ball. Otherwise, act as an intercessor and pray that the father figures in our lives will do so. We can pray for God to impact our families through a father's heritage, even if it is in overcoming it. We can pray or God to release a yearlong impact in the New Year that fills families and communities with the full expressions of God's nature. We can dedicate our families to God and persist in prayer all year long. We can look for a diverse manifestation of God's Spirit in each person and cooperate with however He manifests in us.
The following scripture comes to mind: Joshua 24:14-15 "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
I invite every father figure, family and community to join me in praying for God to release His impact this New Year's day and for the effect of that to continue for the entire year. Pray with me through the whole year for the manifestation of this to grow every day. Ask God, as I will be doing, that God will open our eyes to see how He shows Himself differently through each person
Jim Driscoll
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