The Story Behind My Praise

One year ago today, I was involved in a nearly fatal car accident during my morning commute to work. I wrote the following note on Facebook about four days after the incident. I'm just as grateful today as I was then! Enjoy my testimony...
This past week, I learned the real power of prayer. I have been saved since I was about 8 years old, and I am just now coming to the full realization of the power that is in prayer. In Luke 18:1, Jesus told his disciples that… “…men ought always to pray, and not to faint”. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 exhorts us to “Pray without ceasing”. There is power in prayer!

Many of you know by now that I was involved in a nearly fatal car accident on Wednesday, November 3rd at about 9 a.m. while I was headed to work. It was a rainy and wet morning here in South Mississippi. I was late leaving for work because I had to stop at the hospital (the same hospital I would later have to come back to via ambulance) to pick up some medical records. As I got on the interstate, the Holy Spirit begin to fill the car. I literally felt the presence of God as I was driving. I vividly remember saying to God, “God I feel your presence so heavy in this car”.

I begin to pray in the Spirit as I felt the unction. It got to a point where it became uncontrollable. The rain begin to pour harder and harder and it became harder to see. I continued to pray. I also slowed down (common sense). As I think about what happened within the next five minutes, Romans 8:26 comes to mind:

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words”

Speaking in tongues is often times seen as crazy, foolish and a bunch of hype only exercised by overly emotional Pentecostal believers. But speaking in tongues, or praying the Holy Ghost is a gift that is given by God to the 21st Century believer according to Acts 2. You don’t have to use, but you NEED to use it. Praying the Holy Ghost literally saved my life!

Romans 8:26 says that we don’t even know what to pray, but the SPIRIT knows what to pray because the spirit knows the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10). When you don’t know what to pray, the Spirit of God does. He is all knowing, and He knows what’s ahead.

1 Corinthians 14:2

“For anyone who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.”

While I was praying and listening to my brother, Myron Williams on the radio, I hit the back of the truck in front of me. Before the accident, I saw the car in front of me suddenly change lanes. I looked up and saw a SUV stopped in the middle of the highway. The driver stopped because the driver in front of them was going too fast and hydroplaned, causing his vehicle to spin around. The SUV that I hit stopped to avoid hitting the first vehicle. I had no way (and no time) to get over because cars were zooming by in the other lane. I hit the brakes on my car but it was too late.

I knew that I was going to hit the SUV and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The road was too wet for my brakes to stop in time. That was the scariest thing I’ve EVER experienced in my life. I had about five seconds to brace myself for impact.

I saw my whole life literally pass before my eyes. I saw my family. I saw my friends. I saw people I haven’t seen for years. I saw my enemies. I saw people I would like to make peace with. All in about five seconds.

BAM! I hit the truck. My glasses went one way, my hat went another way. The airbags deployed and hit me in the face and chest. The seatbelt pulled me back hard, leaving visible marks across my chest and also bruising my pelvis on both sides. My knee hit the dashboard. I blacked out for a couple of seconds and I thought I was dead.

When I realized I wasn’t dead, my first thought was to get out of the car because it may catch on fire. So I unbuckled my seatbelt and stumbled out of the car. I went over to the side of the bridge and held on as I looked back at my car in complete shock. When I got out of the car, my lips could utter no English at first. I was STILL praying in tongues. While the rain was pouring HARD, I lifted my hands to God and spoke my first English phrase…… “THANK YOU JESUS”!!!!

I had a PRAISE BREAK on the side of the road!!!!!!!!!!

God allowed three people to stop and help me. One carried me to her car and placed me in the back seat, out of the rain while the other two went and searched my car for my glasses, my phone and other personal items. One lady looked me in my eyes with tears in her eyes and said, “Someone was definitely watching over you today!”



Several people have looked at my car and asked, “You walked out of this car??????” My answer to that question is, “Nobody did this but GOD!” God still works miracles and I am a walking, talking, breathing miracle! I am the product of a modern day Passover. I am covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ, so death had to pass over me!

I wrote this note to encourage you all to pray! You never know what danger lies ahead. Had I not been praying, God only knows what would have happened to me. I believe that prayer saved my life! We always pray for God’s protection and his covering, but often times we are just saying it because it sounds good. We ought to always be in a position of prayer. We ought to be so yielded to God that when He says “Pray”, we pray without asking questions.

I also wrote this note to encourage you to pursue your destiny while living your life to the fullest. I believe that God spared my life because I am adamant about my destiny, purpose and reaching my full potential. I made a decision at the beginning of this year that I was on my way to destiny, never to accept anything less again. I made a decision that I will not entertain foolishness and stupidity because there is too much destiny and purpose on the inside of me! For that, the devil is mad at “lil ole me”! But I KNOW that all things work together for my good!

I also wrote this note to encourage any of you who do know have a relationship (not religion) with God to accept Him into your heart and start living life according to His word. You never know what lies ahead. You all should be attending my funeral services this coming week, but God covered me through the saving blood of His son, Jesus! God protects and watches over those who are HIS!!!!

Because God spared my life, I owe Him my life. I trust Him with my life! If He has never been Lord of all before, He is now! November 3rd was a redefining moment for me. God blocked it because I have work to do before I leave this Earth, and so do YOU!

In His Arms,
Prophet Joshua

Rock the Boat

A Lesson from Peter

We all know the story of Peter and how he walked on the water when Jesus called him. Many preachers like to focus on his BEGINNING to sink (remember, he didn’t completely sink because Jesus caught him by the hand), but I don’t want to focus on his nearly sinking. What I want to focus on is the fact that he stepped out in the first place! He stepped out of his comfort zone. And even though the other disciples in the boat probably called him crazy, at least he made a move.

What lesson can we get from the Apostle Peter? The lesson I want you to walk away with is that sometimes, you’ve got to step out by yourself. By nature, we as humans follow crowd. We are social beings and we like to go with the flow. Society dictates to us what is “normal” and that’s what we do. At no point in the existence of mankind has walking on water been considered the norm. It is extraordinary and I don’t personally know anyone who has done it.

The problem is, what God has for you is NOT normal. As a matter of fact, there is nothing ordinary or normal about a supernatural God! You’re getting ready to accomplish some things that have never been accomplished before. You don’t have a “reference point”. For example, even something as simple as going to college can be a step toward your destiny. Maybe no one in your family has ever been to college. Maybe you want to open your own business and you don’t know any business people. This means, you have no reference point. You’ve never seen it done before, but you know you heard God say it could be done.

That’s where faith comes in. Faith is not based on what you have seen in the past or what you are currently seeing. Faith is based solely on what God SAID. (Romans 10:17) Our faith is based on what He said and not what we see with our natural eyes. What He spoke is the only evidence we have to be able to hope for what we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Peter had a revelation of who Jesus was, that’s why he could step out. Not only did he know who Jesus was, but he had faith in who he was. He said “If that is you, bid me to come”. He knew walking on water was crazy, but he also knew that if Jesus said it, the impossible would immediately become the possible!

That’s what you need to remember. No matter how crazy your vision or your dream sounds, if God said it, what was impossible in your mind and in the mind of others just became the possible! The Bible says that God glories in the impossible. He wants it to be impossible. He wants it to be so hard that you’ll have to trust him to accomplish it. He wants everybody to see that you can’t do it, so he can show you and everybody else that HE can do it. Simply put, He wants to get the glory!

Faith is blindly trusting in God. Faith is not controlled by your logic. God always challenges us to do things that we’ve never seen done before. He calls us into areas that we’ve never been in before. But if you are fearful of the unknown, you’ll miss what He has for you.

It’s time to rock the boat! It’s time to make some waves! That means you’re going to have to walk alone. If you want something that you’ve never had, you’ve got to do something that you’ve never done! It’s sink or swim; live or die! Your faith must go beyond simply believing. You must act on what you believe. Faith without works is dead!

Peter didn’t have anyone with him when he stepped out of the boat. But the awesome revelation about the whole ordeal is that they were all in trouble. Peter wasn’t the only one who needed to step out; they all needed to step out! Life as they currently knew it was a storm. What am I trying to say? If you stay in the boat, you’re going to stay in the storm and you’re going to suffer. But if you get out of the boat and start walking toward destiny, even though the storms is still raging, you’ll be where Jesus is. Where Jesus is, there is abundant life. Where Jesus is, there is safety, covering and salvation.

Psalms 91:1 says: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high, shall abide under the shadow of the almighty”. Proverbs 18:10 says: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run therin and are safe.” When you get to your destiny, you’re still going to have storms,  but you are protected. You can do what God has for you to do and walk in purpose much easier when you’re covered and protected.

People in the boat are going to talk about you. But Psalms 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way.”

LISTEN: This is not the time to get scared; this is the time to trust God. This is the time to trust that God has ordered your steps before the foundation of the World. You have to trust that God knows what He is talking about. You’re already in a storm, so you have nothing to lose by trusting God.

This is a great and fruitful season in your life, but you’ll never walk in it until you get out of the boat and start walking on some water. Eyes have not seen, neither have ears heard, but you’ve got to step out of the boat and trust God!

Be bold. Be strong. Be innovative. Rock the boat!

It's A Secret

With all that's going on today, you need to get in a place with God. You need to have a place within where you can run to for shelter and covering when life is beating you up.

Psalm 91 says he who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty! God is our refuge. He is our strength. He is our covering. In him, we find peace. It's a secret place. Psalm also says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous can run therein and be safe. There is even protection, peace and covering in his name!

Your secret place must be within, but it can also be without. You need to sanctify and consecrate a place where you can go pray and meditate. Meditation is not just for eastern religions, it is also for born again believers! David meditated on God and His Word. (See Psalm 1:2)

Your secret place may be your car, it may be your office. It could even be a bathroom stall or the broom closet at work. Wherever it is, you need a place where you can go and just hide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Sanctify a place called "there". In Exodus 25:22, God promised that He would meet them at a place called “there” and commune with them.

They had a covenant with God that He would always meet them there. Create a covenant with God that says you will always meet in this secret location. It's no different than lovers who often meet at a back table in a restaurant or a certain tree by the lake. Jesus is the lover of your soul and you need quiet, alone time with Him!

Shut off the phone, get off Twitter and Facebook and get in your secret place! You'll find healing and restoration there. David said in Psalm 23 that he makes us to lie down in green pastures. He leads us beside still waters. And in these places, He restores our soul (mind, emotions, will, intellect)!

Don't ever be too busy to get to your secret place with God! He'll calm your nerves, wipe away your stress and anxiety and keep you from cussing out your co-workers or slashing your enemy's tires!

Go find your place of worship and communion today. He's waiting in you! Shhhhhhhh! It's a secret...