Encountering and Releasing the Lord’s Heart w/ Candy Gilbert

0:00 I am Liz Wright. Welcome to Live Your Best Life. The only thing that matters now is living by the power of this wonderful new creation life. We're going to become an undefeatable force of radiating glory and we are rising up strong now in this hour. Hi family, thank you for tuning in from all around the nations of the earth to this week so it's going to be a really special episode of Live Your Best Life with of course me, Liz Wright. And in my conversation today I have a dear friend joining me who is just, it's such a treat to have her on. She is one of those special women that literally everybody feels safe with. Everybody feels seen by, everybody feels believed in by. She's just a beautiful woman of love and of prayer, of powerful prayer and you're going to hear some of her story and how she's involved in the ministry and just she's an absolute blessing to all of us who yell privilege to call her friend. It's my joy to welcome into the conversation with me today Candy Gilbert. Candy, welcome. Thank you, Liz. I'm excited to be here.

1:22 I'm excited to have you here. You guys are going to be so blessed and we're going to pray for you today as well. You're not just going to hear about some testimonies of what's going on in the life of IMC in international mentoring community and in the ministry at large but we're going to pray for you too because Holy Spirit's really pouring out and we want you to benefit as well. So Candy, can we begin by, I want to ask you if you would just share some of your God's story with us just so that people can get to know who you are a little bit more. So can we start there? Absolutely. I was raised in a very Christian family. My father was a Southern Baptist preacher and I like to say my mother was a Southern Baptist preacher's wife which was a bigger deal. Anyway, we were at church all the time, all the time, all the time and I had a very close connection to Jesus until I was about 16 and then I just started to believe some lies that were spoken over me and it took me away for about 10 years. I really did distance myself from anything God and from that point a lot of things happened and I had become

2:53 a person that I didn't even know anymore but I got married, moved to a new city, had a child and went on this three-day retreat and on that retreat I re-met Jesus and he literally tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and he was like, here I am and it changed my entire life. I mean, I cannot even describe the change in me. So in my family, I mean, I came home from this retreat and my son and my husband were like, who are you? I was a completely different person. There is no way I'd be sitting here doing this with you today had he not stepped back in like that because it would have been impossible. I was very shut down, I couldn't speak. I had no voice whatsoever.

3:54 Because of what had been said to you, because of the lie that you believed in. It is amazing the power of the spoken word and they were spoken by my mother which made it all the more powerful, I believe. We obviously worked through all that later and everything was great and she's gone on to heaven and she's in my cloud of witnesses and I'm thrilled to have her here. So it's all great but I went through a five-year period then of intense inner healing and it was at that point, after that point that I began to have these encounters with God that were just amazing with Jesus that I started going to a soaking time at a friend's house every Monday night for like seven or eight years. We did a soaking time and wow what he did for me in those times was, I mean he completely convinced me of who he knew I was all along in ways I can't even begin to describe and it's funny because he must have known that I needed very tangible evidence, because he's done crazy things for me. In fact, I'm not telling one quick story. During that five-year inner healing portion

5:29 of my life, I was searching, really searching even though he had come to me but I just needed to know, I needed to know that he was there and so my husband was on a business trip one time and I had pulled up this website with all these inspirational items on there and one of the things that was on there was this little magnet and on it it said, don't fear tomorrow God is already there and then it was this little mountain scene and it was just this sweet magnet. I left it up on my computer all weekend and I'd walk by and hit the space bar and it would pop up and I was just like, okay, I'm getting this.

6:13 This is the weekend, I'm getting this. So Jeff comes home from his business trip and he always would bring me a t-shirt or something from wherever city he'd been in and he said, he's unpacking and he said, this is really weird but I couldn't find anything in the gift shop. The only thing I could find was this little thing and he tosses me this little sack and I opened up this little sack and inside was that magnet. Oh my God. The absolute exact one and I said, and I said, are you kidding me? And I'm blubbering and he's like, what? He said, it was literally the only thing in the gift shop that had anything to do with God and there was one of them.

7:02 Oh my gosh, Candy. Now you tell me that thing didn't come out of heaven. That's right, right, straight from his heart to yours. Straight, straight and he's done over and over and over with me and so I am completely convinced of who he is. I am completely convinced of who I am because of who he is. I'm completely convinced that I am accepted and loved and chosen and so are you. So is everyone. All are. It's just so beautiful and huge and wonderful and glorious what he's done for us.

7:50 You know, Candy, that's what comes out of you. Like I said in the introduction, it's true. Everybody I know, including myself, we are blessed by when we're in your presence, everyone feels safe and seen and not judged and accepted and valued and it comes off you and it's how Jesus has healed you, isn't it? Really? It's what you know to be true. I wanted to ask you, so when there was that dramatic difference, so you'd gone from being really hurt and damaged for all those years to Jesus coming and visiting you and you going home and the family like, who's this? What was the huge difference? Do you remember?

8:40 Oh yeah, I could tell you. I mean, clearly security of heart, clearly. Right. When I was 19, I had an abortion and I had completely buried it. Hadn't talked to anybody about it. The only person really who knew was my husband and that was way before I met him, but I just knew that if we're going to get married, he needed to know this one thing about me, but he was the only person who knew. And so I had really buried that and that had played into, I was just kind of a, I was a control freak. I was a perfectionist.

9:22 Everything had to be exactly right. It was crazy. And so at that retreat, they had a prayer request box and I thought, you know, I've got this great husband, great kid, great life. I don't have any prayer requests, but I, you know, I was kind of a screamer with my little boy because I expected him to be perfect. I thought, you know, I could talk nicer to him. And so that was my prayer request. I just said on there that, you know, I just pray that I would be, that I would think before I speak with my little boy. And he was seven at the time. And I just threw it in the box. And then during one of the talks on this retreat, I felt, I literally felt the tap on my shoulder and I turned around and nobody was there.

10:15 But Jesus said, if you want me to answer that prayer request, that request, let's deal with this child. And that led me into the five year journey of healing from that, that, you know, that abortion. I mean, it's crazy. Wow. It's so deep. Yeah. You know, and the thing did, so you carried it, you carried the pain of it secretly, really. Oh, yeah. The most part for all those years. As I'm sure many do, you know, many struggle with that with all the complex emotions around it. Absolutely. Of shame or anger or whatever, whatever, all the emotions that you... Guilt. Yeah. I mean, you name it. You're lugging it around. I don't care what people say. It is there. It really is. Yeah. And you were totally set free?

11:20 He gave me a dream. And in this dream, I knew I was in heaven, but I was at a skating rink. Very weird. And there were all these kids out skating. And I was extremely drawn to this one young woman. She was probably about 16. And I knew it was her. I knew it was that baby. And her name was Kelly. I'll never forget that, which I later found out means warrior, which I love. And she was over with her friends. And she was looking at me. I'm looking at her and they're whispering to her. And she walked over and she just looked me in the eye and she said, I forgive you. And I love you. And then she came and got my little boy who was in the dream too and took him out skating on the skating rink. I mean, it was like, what? It was beautiful. It was just beautiful. I know.

12:25 We emotionally undone the mercy and grace and beauty and love of Jesus. It's astounding. Wow. And there was such closure for you. Oh, yes. Such complete closure. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I could tell my story from that point on. It's incredible such freedom. Oh. And you weren't a screamer anymore. No, I'm not. It's amazing. I literally am not. I'm a recovering screamer, I say. Actually, I just think he healed me. It's great. Totally, totally. All those, the roots of those emotions just gone. And I think as well, it's so clear, a fruit of that is you don't judge people candy and people feel super safe to tell you anything and ask for prayer. And so that's fast forwarding to today. That's what you do now. I mean, you are a central part of our international mentoring community sitting over all the prayer requests that come in and prayer requests that come into the ministry at large from you guys. This is the woman who receives all of the prayer needs and then tells us, tells me and tells our team, these are the needs of our beautiful family. This is how everybody needs prayer. And obviously, you're part of the core intercession. Your whole life is prayer, isn't it? Your whole

13:55 life is Jesus and loving people and you're seriously anointed for it. So just, will you share with us just to give people hope candy? Because we've got now well over 2,000 testimonies of the way Holy Spirit's moving and so much of this is healing hearts, right? Like the Lord did yours, healing hearts, healing trauma. Some of the trauma, I know we've had a few testimonies in of people that have been healed from years and years of trauma in an instant, like you were with the experiencing Jesus' love and it's just profound. Will you share with us? Are there any that just come to mind that are like current favorites? Because I know we've got so many. And then we'll pray for you guys too.

14:40 There are a lot. There's a lot and I don't know how to. You're kind of, they're all favorites really, aren't they? Right. I did have this one, this precious man who completely stole my heart. He had written in that his sister was dying of cancer and every year God gives me a word for the year and this year my word is life. And I have prayed life over so many. I mean, that's my prayer, life, life, life, life, abundant life. And so I joined him in praying for her and wow, it was a months long journey of how, I mean, we just went back and forth and back and forth and he would kind of say, this is what's happening and I'm going to go see her and I just need the words and I wanted to know Jesus. It was just so, so precious. So I just kind of walked with him through that and she did die. But he was by her side and he said it was the most beautiful time with their family and he said, I just don't think it could have been that. Had we not walked that path, you know, just helping him go through,

16:18 it's just amazing. That really impacted me. Because the tribe doesn't even live in the same country as me. It's craziest thing ever. Yeah. But the way you could be there for him, Candy, and love him and support him, help him feel seen and known and that you were there and the people praying for him. And you so faithfully hold people in your heart and you really do get the love of Jesus for people, even though most of the people that we're praying for we've never met in the physical. Right. We feel like we know everyone because we know that's for sure. But you really do get the Lord's heart, don't you? You sit in his compass.

17:01 Yes. Absolutely. That is exactly what I do. I open up these paracuses and I'm literally like, okay, Holy Spirit, here's so and so. I mean, you know them better than I will ever know them. And you know exactly what they need. And most often it's a touch from him. I'm very led to pray that he simply touches them. And I see him doing it. And I can see light coming out of his hands over them and into them. It's just beautiful. He just leads me in ways I never would have thought to pray.

17:54 Yeah, I do. I mean, it's so important, isn't it, to be Holy Spirit-led because my understanding after all these years is that true intercession is simply agreeing with the Lord's heart or a person or a situation and then just releasing that, decreeing that by faith because it's what you see. And yeah, I've been seeing that recently as well, Kandi. Even yesterday on our IMC, I was seeing the Lord touching people, light coming out of his hands and him moving his hands over people's hearts and their hearts glowing again. And for many people who are really going through a lot of stress and difficulty where their love may have sort of got the light and sort of diminished because of pressure and pain and him just reigniting that light again, the warmth of their heart through the experience of his love. And I mean, I agree with you, Kandi, I think more than anything, that's also the way the Lord shows me to pray for people. It's what I primarily agree with him for that people would be graced to experience his love because you know it was his love, the experience of his love that healed you and that transformed your life and that there is nothing more important. I think life changes at that moment, doesn't it? It did for me as well. I was completely healed of trauma through experiencing his love because suddenly my heart went from confusion and separateness and unbelief

19:29 and pain and thinking I had to carry life on my own. And my own understanding of my identity that was self-generated and what other people told me about myself too, oh wow, I'm really loved, I'm really a daughter of the king, I really do have this exceptional value as we all do. So yeah, it's so important and you see the fruit of your prayers and mean testimony after testimony, testimony and it's so, we love it, don't we? All of us, we sit there reading the testimonies, reading the prayer requests and reading the testimonies and crying and thanking Jesus and just getting so excited because this is what it's all about.

20:11 Life's transformed, right? That's what, yeah, the revelation of Jesus that transforms lives, that's ministry, right? But Kandi, I would love to ask you, will you pray for people? I mean, however Holy Spirit leads you, there's so much need, right? There is so much need. We're seeing so much, so much fruit. Heart healed, minds healed, lives healed, relationships healed, bodies healed, encounters, people being in church for decades, never experienced the presence of Jesus. Now on fire in love with Jesus and on it goes, it's just amazing. All Holy Spirit, clearly we can't make that happen. Right. Now it's all Him, it is all Him. Yeah, I actually, what is in my heart, Kandi, I mean obviously flow with Holy Spirit, one of the things I'd love for us to agree with is for people who have gone through what you went through, who may be stuck in shame, carrying the weight of pain, of abortion, or of loss in some way of a child. I think that's really important because I could really feel the presence of Jesus when you begin to share that, feel His compassion. I'm just seeing people sitting in a corner, just huddled in a corner, in the dark really, and just not wanting to be seen, just veiled

21:44 kind of. So Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus, we just agree with you that you are the lifter of their heads, that you are placing your hand gently under their chin and lifting their heads, asking them, please just open your eyes, open your eyes, look in my eyes, and Father, I agree with the light pouring out of you, this the light of your love, the healing light pouring out of your eyes, pouring into their hearts, even now as they hesitate to look up. I just see Him placing His hands on either side of their face and just holding them, just holding them. He's holding you and He is saying, you are perfectly loved, you are my child, you are forgiven, your shame and your guilt has been completely forgotten.

23:05 I don't see it, I don't know it, I can't conceive of it, you're completely covered in the blood of Jesus and I see Him in you, I see Him in you, I see Him in your eyes, I see Him in your smile, I see Him in your entire countenance, you are being restored, you are being restored, you are being raised up, you are being made whole and it is true, it's not too good to be true, it is the goodness that is true. So I just agree that each person is coming into that knowledge, that revelation of who you are, who He is in you, who you are in Him, that you are walking closely with the God of the universe and absolutely anything is possible.

24:18 When you were praying, you were seeing then Kandi, I saw exactly the same thing, I saw the little children inside of so many of us that were hiding away deep inside in the dark and as you were praying the heart of Jesus, His presence began to come, I saw the children coming out of the dark, literally coming out, some crawling on their knees and sort of wincing in the light as they were coming out of the dark and they were moving towards Jesus and I kept seeing Jesus as Aslan and He would come with His strong, compassionate, tender paw and just wrap His love and His protection and strength around each little one as they came out and then they were blinking into the light and just feeling His love and everything was being soothed and comforted and then I began to feel that oil, warm oil comfort of the presence of Jesus just wrapping around every single person and every single younger part of their heart being so we thank you for that integration Jesus, thank you for every remaining part that's been imprisoned, hiding in the dark, shut away separate from being completely restored today, wholly comforted, free, knowing we agree, knowing how valuable

25:53 you are, that there's nothing you've ever done that disqualifies you from the love of the Father, just amazing. Wow, we thank you Lord, we thank you for that healing of the heart and in the healing of each person's body and mind wherever there's been damage, mind and emotions body, vast evil relationship. Often I'll say this is the final saying, restored capacity for attachment, for attachment to ourselves and attachment to other people and attachment to God where that has been intercepted by trauma and pain.

26:33 Wow, wow, Jesus has come today as the God of comfort to set all of you free, holy, integrate you, fill you with His comfort. Amen, wow, wow, wow, we just have a couple more minutes, Candice, is there anything else that's in your spirit that you feel I need to share that or pray that? Just thank you, thank you. And we trust you, we trust your timing and we believe you. Absolutely believe you.

27:15 Completely, totally, amen. So thankful, so thankful. So thankful and Jesus we thank you for all the miracles today, we thank you for any veil of shame, lifted off, we thank you for any sense of separateness lifted off, any sense of isolation lifted off, everything that we prayed, everything that the Lord has flowed through Candice's beautiful heart. Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus that everybody watching this or listening to this becomes convinced of their value. Your value of how loved you are, accepted you are, how besotted Jesus is with you.

27:58 Amen. Amen, we agree. Candice, you're amazing. Thank you so much for all you do and all you pour out in the body of Christ, you're just a blessing. And thank you for being on today because you're normally behind the scenes so thank you for coming in front of the camera so we could all put a benefit. Yeah, crazy. So good to be with you. You too, Liz. And guys, thank you for tuning in, it's been amazing being with you too. Have a beautiful love filled week and I look forward to being with you again next Monday, thank you and God bless.