When I got saved, the Lord told me that I could not “perform” my Christian poetry. He was referring to the entertainment aspect of spoken word that I had perfected when I was doing “poetry” in the world.
So, for a year after I recommitted myself to the Lord and church, I just got up when called, and read the Christian poems from my first book, For the Love of God, a collection of praise and worship poems (boring). My Pastor asked me to spice it up, but I told him that the Lord told me not to perform, so I didn’t. Another person told me that I was just intimidated to compete with other Christian poets. I was insulted, but I still didn’t give in.
Finally, I was invited to “perform” poetry for a Christmas program. I asked God, “Surely, you don’t want me to just read”. He said nothing until the day of the event. On that morning, I awoke to the sound of the Lord’s voice. “Praise me”, he said. “Okay”, I said in my mind. “Praise Me”, he said again. “Okay”, I said again. “PRAISE ME!!!!!!!” he screamed. “OKAY!!!” I leaped out of bed, grabbed my Bible and began to read a Psalm of David. As I read, the Holy Ghost came upon me and I began to cry and worship God. Finally, the Lord said, “Now go and rehearse”. I was so excited. The new way that God wanted me to share spoken word was through praise. Now, I pray before every appearance. My purpose is to invite the Holy Spirit to the event. That’s how God uses my gift.
© 2008 Arletia McInnis, The Prophetic Scribe
