Out of Your Belly Will Flow Rivers – By Kim Hadaway
Out of Your Belly Will Flow Rivers
In John 7:38, the Word states, “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (KJV). This word has been quickened in my spirit again, as well as the emphasis on rivers. It speaks volumes to me, and I pray it will be quickened in you as well, again and again.
We as children of God are to bring forth life and fruit that was birthed and begun in God. In the above Scripture, we see a key that is so important. The passage begins with, “He that believeth…” The word believe is in no way a shallow belief, but one of complete trust and total reliance on. Jesus is not only the One we trust in, but He must become our trust. And out of this place of trust we will find the abundance of God flowing through us in every area of our lives.
The word states in Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (NKJV). And another Scripture that resonates is Isaiah 26:3, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind…is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You” (AMP). Strength and peace are fruit that are produced as we abide in the river of God.
As we are born again, we are blessed with His extravagant love and the privilege of knowing Him and being filled with Him, His love, His riches, His promises, His healing, His restoration and becoming one with all He is and possesses.
This place is a continuous flow from Him to us, through us to others – ah, what bliss. Again, this is a river that never runs dry, and as we learn to bask in this river we will never run dry.
The Rivers of God
Let me share a couple of other Scriptures with you and encourage you to look them up and meditate on them, because these Scriptures speak of the rivers of God and the abundance, fruitfulness, and healing in them.
Genesis 2 speaks of the river that flows through the Garden of Eden. This river was split into four rivers, and each river’s name describes it as bursting forth with life, fruitfulness and abundance. Solomon was anointed and proclaimed king beside one of these rivers, and the first river unearthed some of the treasures that were in the land. It actually states pure gold, bdellium, and onyx.
The river mentioned in Ezekiel 47 speaks of it flowing from the temple, and everywhere it flows it brings forth life. Many trees of various kinds grow along the banks of this river, and their leaves never wither. There will always be fruit on these trees and new crops of fruit will spring forth every month. There is never a season where fruit is not abounding. This fruit will be for food and the leaves are for healing.
Revelation 22 speaks of the river with the water of life, clear as crystal, that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. As it flows, on each side of the river grows a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves are used for medicine to heal the nations (this is after the vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven). In verse three of chapter 22 it states there will no longer be a curse upon anything, for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him.
I recently heard an analogy of a sponge on the water, which abides or stays in the water and begins to be filled with the water. Before long it is completely immersed in the water until it is overflowing with water. When that sponge is taken out of the water, the water is still in the sponge and it leaks on everything around it. That should be us. Again, this is a simple analogy, but why would we not go deeper in Him? If we think we have experienced all of Him and understand all of His Kingdom, we are deceived. We will continue to discover our Lord and His love forever – I know I desire to grow deeper in Him. In Ephesians 3 it speaks of comprehending spiritually that which in the natural we cannot. But the more we experience Him and His love, the more we find ourselves consumed and realizing there is always more.
During this time of renewed study on the river of God, I began to have experiences with the Lord. By faith I began to posture myself afresh and new to lay in the river of God and allow Him to flow over and through me and carry me wherever He desired.
One such time was after having a disturbing dream. The dream had to do with injustice, and in the dream I knew I was seeing and experiencing what others had been, or were, experiencing. I knew the dream was for intercession, but when I woke from the dream it was a little difficult to pray because of all the emotion in the dream. As I lay (by faith) in the river of God and allowed His peaceful waters to flow over me, I began to have clarity of mind and thought. The intercession came easy and strong.
I actually had a friend with me when the memory of the dream came back to me, and as I shared the dream with her, she too felt the emotion and injustice in the dream. I shared with her that I needed to, by faith, lie in the river of God to have the emotions in the dream washed off, so I would not pray out of my emotion but out a pure place of union with God, and we both did this together. We each tangibly felt the emotion being submitted to God and the peace of God come into us and into the room. The time of intercession was so beautiful and filled with life and revelation, I knew the time had been fruitful.
This is just one example of this, but, even as we go about our daily lives, no matter where we are we can remind ourselves we were created to live in a state of peace with Him, and His peace won’t just affect and change us, but it will affect and change the world around us.
Another Scriptural example of this union is in Ezekiel 1. In this chapter it shares about the living creatures and how they are filled with eyes, and they are only moved by Holy Spirit. They move when He moves, and nothing else moves them. This should be so with us. They are filled with eyes, always seeing what the Father and Son are doing and moving beautifully and in total union with the Holy Spirit of God. This is how we will establish His government on the earth as it is in Heaven, becoming one with Him.
We truly are anointed sons and daughters of the Living God, and I am crying for the river of God to flow in and through us as Believers to bring forth abundant life, food, and healing for the nations!
Prayer For You, the Body of Christ
Lord God, we thank You that we have been given invitation to make our home in You. We are so grateful and filled with joy, and we willingly accept this blessed invitation. We desire to flow with You as one, even as You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are One. We desire to live our lives flowing as one in perfect union with You, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well.
We invite You, Lord God, to continually move in and through us, that Your name will be glorified in all the earth. We pray that many souls will be saved, delivered, and healed in this day and hour, and we will be truly aware of the rivers that flow out of it to bring life to individual people as well as people groups and nations.
Let’s pray for the earth to be “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Prayer For Those Who Cannot Speak For Themselves
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Proverbs 31:8
Lord, we come as priests and kings ministering before You, our God. We cry out for those who cannot speak for themselves. Lord, we cry out for justice to be ensured for those who are being crushed by the enemy’s schemes. We use the voice You have given us and are speaking up for the poor and the helpless, so they may receive justice.
We pray for Your river of life to flow through us, Your people, to those who are hurting and abused and in need of You, so they can experience Your great love, salvation, and abundance. We pray in agreement with Your Word in Isaiah 61 and decree that Your Spirit is upon us. You continue to anoint us to preach the Good News to the poor, and send us to bind up the broken hearted, set the captives free, and open of prison doors. And as we have once been those who were broken, we now sing the songs of freedom for all to hear. We will go forth into the nations and be repairers and restorers and builders in the wastelands, and we’ll see the desolation of many generations brought to repair and complete restoration in Jesus’ name! We call forth salvation for the peoples and nations around the world who have not been able to speak nor cry out for themselves, and we declare they now have a voice and it is heard by the Most High God.
