I am so excited to introduce you to a friend of mine called Charlene Frammingham.
She is a massive inspiration to me as a woman of God, wife, mother to two amazing children, a leader, a prophetic voice, a joy filled person, a lady who welcomes others in, a lady with a heart for revival, an includer and an all-round lover of life. I hope that as you read about Charlene’s journey with God, especially in the way she hears His voice, that you will be encouraged and learn to hear more clearly from God for yourself and for those around you.
What prophetic words have shaped your life?
I love the prophetic and I remember a time in my life when at every opportunity I prayed for a prophetic word for the next step in my life, but reflecting on his words for me I realise they were always the same! I remember being disappointed at some points thinking it would be great to hear something new. I then realised the Father was teaching me the value of being consistent, faithful and steadfast in my calling and that no matter what happened or where I went His call on my life was irrevocable and unchangeable, His gifts to me were never going to be lost or taken away. He has been a faithful father and his consistent words have demonstrated that to me and I fully believe in Him and His good plans and promises for me. Now I have the joy of walking into them! What are those words you might be wandering…well in a nutshell, He has called me as a prophetic voice to the nations and to be a daughter that carries His presence which brings freedom. He has called me to see His kingdom come and promised me I will see signs and wonders released in many people groups. Eeeek… impossible for me but possible in Him!
Have there been pivotal moments in your life that have changed your direction?
Yes, definitely and every pivotal moment has required stepping out in obedience. I have learnt that no matter what the situation or circumstance looks like the only way I know how to live is by following His peace and leading even when it doesn’t make sense to me in that moment. This has led me to moving towns, moving countries, church planting, leaving careers and grabbing hold of new opportunities. This has been costly for me, sometimes financially, sometimes emotionally, but I can say this with full assurance: I am right where He wants me to be. The decisions and sacrifices that I have made on the journey have shaped me and changed my heart to be a little bit more like Him and I am so grateful for that alone. In my very core I trust that the Father has good plans for me, and my family and it is my heart’s desire is to live for Him in the plans He has for me. He gives me grace and adventure in every season, even the hard ones. Personally, my biggest moments were: having a powerful encounter in the Spirit at 18, my first time preaching and publicly prophesying at a conference, being mentored by Julian Adams and I would say my most pivotal moment was leaving my family and home in South Africa to go church planting in Brixton, London. My heart misses Africa often but I live in the grace, peace and joy of knowing I am where I was made to be for a time such as this.
How do you hear from God?
At a young age I remember my dad preaching out of the verse in Acts 2 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’ Something about this verse took hold of my heart and I took it literally and as a daughter I believed this was for me and was my inheritance to hear God and prophecy. I heard His voice from a young age as I believed every daughter and son would. He has spoken to me in many ways over the years and I most often hear him in the quietness and in the waiting. I love feeling and sensing His heart for others and often when I prophesy over individuals it is from a sense of feeling God’s heart for someone, feeling moved by His compassion and love for them. When I see pictures, it is often an impression I get in my mind or like a picture in my thoughts of what is happening in the spiritual realm. I love communicating and hearing from God in different ways and often I’ll ask him to speak to me through things that capture my attention, for instance in my surroundings or a scripture. He loves it when we invite him into our thoughts and conversations, so I keep learning new ways to practice hearing from him.
What is your mission field/passion?
In my youth I always dreamt of being an influencer and making a difference to people. I truly believe in the greatest commandment and I am convinced it is all about loving my God with all my heart, mind and soul and to love my neighbour (the one in front of me) as I love myself! I am utterly convinced we have no greater mission than to love people and to show them the father’s love and kindness, more and more I am undone and overwhelmed by the power of His unconditional love. I want to love people, I want to prophesy in love, I want to serve people out of love, I want to pray for the sick from a place of love. In everything I do I want it to come from a place of His love in me and to partner with love. I love Jesus, I love the church and I love people so I want to grow more in love and everything else will be born out of this one thing.
What do you do whilst waiting for promises to be fulfilled?
I love this question and it is a challenging one! I think often we live in the tension of the now and not yet and so often this can lead to dissatisfaction and negativity in our current seasons. In this I find the best way to live is in gratitude and worship, this is the one thing that lifts my eyes off my circumstances and back into a place of trust and contentment. My constant reminder to myself is that God’s timing for me is perfect and I don’t miss out when I feel everyone else is living in their promise. I realise my life is not my own but surrendered to a loving father who is always good and have good plans for me. I am able to grow in every season and everything I do with my heart, life and attitude is bringing me closer to who I am called to be and He is teaching me more about His love and grace in the process. In every season I get to love, in every season I get to serve, in every season I get to worship, and this is who I am called to be. In the waiting I believe His promises remain and His love is steadfast, and He is my solid rock even in the unknown.
How have you coped with any disappointments? I always loved the saying ‘sometimes all we need to do is stand’. There have been many moments and trials in my life where the pain and disappointment, especially around my health and my children’s health have made me feel weak, angry and frustrated. I believe the best way to live life is authentically and honestly, I have found such freedom in being real about and processing my feelings over and over again in safe spaces with God and with close friends. I think this has only really happened genuinely for me in the last decade and my healing and freedom has come so much quicker because of this. God never promised us an easy life, but He promised us He is faithful and in every disappointment, I trust Him that is won’t be wasted and that He would use if for His glory and my good.
What do you think is the key to breakthrough? This is something I feel particularly provoked about at the moment and I don’t know what the perfect answer is for this question, but in my heart, I believe it is genuine hunger and love for more of Jesus. Sometimes we only come to him when He is the last option and we have tried everything else and I think we can learn so much from third world countries when their only option is Jesus and we see him move so powerfully with miracles upon miracles happening. I think comfort can often replace hunger as often we see people’s faith come alive through trials and times of need. My passion is to see the church including myself get to a place where we are so hungry for His presence to come that we are willing to sacrifice our time, our comfort, our money, our reputation and give him our everything. That the biggest desire of my heart would be for more of Him, that I would love Him with my whole heart. I only know to worship Him in the tough times and desire more of Him and His kingdom in the good times, He is so worthy of our love and affection, our time and surrender. His is so worthy to be praised and if all we do is the very minimum and coast along, we miss out on the glorious and rich life of knowing Him and seeing His kingdom come. Ask God to make you Hungry, ask Him to awaken a desire for Him. He says in Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ and Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul”.
What do you want to see God do in your life?
The one thing that has stuck with me in my Christian walk is the parable of the talents and my heart’s desire is to be the one who hears the father speak these words: 3 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ To know that I have lived my life in obedience and surrender is my hope, to use what He has put in me boldly and obediently and to love unconditionally is my biggest heart’s desire. I don’t ever want to stop growing in love, maturity or faith and I want the love and fire in me to be contagious to the world around me. My dream is to see His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven and to fully understand what that looks like. I want to help, love and prophecy over the church so she is fully awake, and people come alive and walk into every good thing God has for them. I want to hold up His banner of love and for many to encounter Jesus, be healed and set free under it.
How do you pass on what you have? What will you leave as your legacy?
I live my life as authentically as I can, and I invite people in to join me on my journey. I share my heart with those around me and have always been told I am a provocation, which I hope is a good thing. I love to bring truth and inspire others in love. My heart and how I use my prophetic gift is to bring God’s freedom to the lost and broken, to speak life and destiny over people, to demonstrate the father’s heart to his children by bringing what I have and trusting He will use it to bless and encourage. I often get asked to mentor people in the prophetic and I have done this by sharing life with people around me but going forward this may look different. My heart is to demystify the prophetic and share how I hear God and what I see by sharing my process and encouraging others to take risks. My desire is that my own children grow up hearing the voice of God and that they go further, deeper and wider than me and that I would build platforms for them and others to launch off.
What have been your biggest obstacles and how have you overcome them?
Fear has always been my biggest obstacle, fear of failure, fear of making mistakes, fear of rejection. I don’t think I have fully overcome it, but I definitely shut it down quicker and walk in victory more often than I used to! I think a revelation of His perfect love driving out all fear was a precious moment for me when I realised my standing in His perfect love was more powerful than any lie that the enemy could convince me of. I don’t let fear control me now and when I feel like it is taking control of my decisions I recognise that it is stopping me from growing in being obedient and my response is I will often then jump straight in to the thing I was fearing. I decided long ago that I always want to give my ‘yes’ to Jesus and saying yes to Jesus means saying no to fear. Mistakes don’t define us, they grow us, and I believe God is in control even in my failures, so the pressure to be perfect is off and I have the freedom to be obedient to His leading.
What are your top tips for growing in the prophetic?
My advice is to fall in love with Jesus the gift giver, and not the gift. When we love him and have fellowship with Him, we learn to hear His voice from a place of intimacy, we learn to recognise His voice even when it is a small quiet whisper. Ask God for His heart for the person you are prophesying over, and you will prophesy with more compassion and authority. Be an encourager in the everyday, often prophecy flows out of a place of me wanting to encourage someone, even if I don’t prophesy, but by speaking love and truth and calling out the gold in someone the kingdom of heaven is demonstrated. Don’t compare who you are or what your gifts are to anyone else, be like the servant in the parable I spoke about who is faithful with what he was given, and He will entrust you with more. Keep practising, keep taking risks, be courageous enough to get it wrong, keep asking Him to speak to you in the everyday and be faithful with even the smallest and simple words. Prophesying over people is such a privilege as we are able to share His love and heart with them. My heart is that the people I prophesy over don’t walk away thinking about my gift, but rather know they are loved and known by a faithful father.
If you have been inspired by Charlene please drop me a message or comment and let me know how.
If you have enjoyed this blog, you may want to read my first ‘Inspired By’ series.
You can link to previous posts below.
Charlene Frammingham
Kingdom Calling Blog... 