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The Spirit of Counsel: Finding Strategy in the Valley
- Melinda Michelle
- Aug 5
- 5 min read
Ten years ago, I received a prophetic word that revealed pieces of my spiritual identity before I even had an understanding of what that actually was. Among the things spoken over my life was that I would carry a Deborah mantle and a double portion of the Spirit of Counsel. At the time, I could appreciate the words, but I did not fully understand the weight of what they meant. Like many things God speaks, understanding often arrives in seasons rather than moments. Looking back now, I can see that God has been unfolding that revelation layer by layer through years of study, prayer, obedience, and experience.
Today I find myself walking through what I can only describe as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is a season marked by waiting, uncertainty, and warfare. Yet Psalm 23 has become more than a comforting passage to me—it has become a roadmap. The valley is not evidence that God has abandoned His people. It is a place through which the Shepherd leads them. If He leads us there, then His provision must also be present there. The question is not whether provision exists in the valley, but how we access what God has already made available while we remain there.
On August 1, my phone displayed Ephesians 3:20 as the verse of the day for the bible application I use. When I opened the app, I noticed that the current verse had already changed to Isaiah 40:31. I thought little of it at first, but Ephesians 3:20 continued to return to my thoughts days later. Then today (August 5th), my mother unknowingly posted that very verse in our family group chat. By then I could no longer dismiss it as coincidence. It was one of those moments that caused me to pause and pay attention because this was not a new Scripture to me. It was a passage God had highlighted years ago during another significant season of my life.
When I first studied Ephesians 3:20, I became fascinated with the Greek word dunamis, the power Paul says is "at work within us." Scripture uses this word to describe miraculous power, divine ability, and strength supplied by God rather than by human effort. As I continued studying throughout the years, I also noticed that God's demonstrations of power in Scripture were often connected with His ability to marshal resources, multiply provision, and accomplish what seemed impossible through His people. That understanding immediately reminded me of another prophetic word I received the day after publishing my very first book, Surviving Sunday. The prophecy spoke about resources arising through numbers, something that only understood many years later. Every time Ephesians 3:20 resurfaces, it reminds me that God is not limited by visible resources because His power is already at work within those who belong to Him.
Yesterday I watched a teaching by Apostle Isi in which she encouraged believers to take a single verse of Scripture and pray it deeply. She demonstrated what it looks like to allow one verse to become the framework for conversation with God. The simplicity of that approach resonated with me. This morning, I decided to do exactly that. I prayed Ephesians 3:20. I asked the Holy Spirit to reveal what His power already deposited within me was intended to accomplish during this particular season.
After I finished praying, I entered what has become a regular practice in my walk with God. I became still before Him. Instead of immediately moving on with my day, I simply listened. I intentionally set my attention upon the Spirit of Counsel. I carried into that quiet place a list of questions—not questions about escaping the valley, but questions about living faithfully within it. How do I cooperate with the power already working within me? How do I access the provision God has prepared? What strategies should I pursue? What have I overlooked? If Your power is already operating in me, Father, teach me how to walk in agreement with it.
The Scriptures describe the Spirit of Counsel in Isaiah 11:2 as one of the manifestations of the Spirit resting upon the Messiah. The Hebrew word translated "counsel," etsah, speaks of purpose, strategy, planning, wise deliberation, and guidance. It is much more than advice. It is heaven's strategy for accomplishing heaven's purposes. Throughout Scripture, God's counsel consistently precedes God's intervention. Noah received instructions before the flood. Moses received instructions before confronting Pharaoh. Joshua received battle strategies before Jericho fell. David repeatedly inquired of the Lord before going into battle, sometimes receiving different instructions for the same enemy. Again and again, God demonstrates that His people do not overcome by human strength alone but by divine strategy.
Perhaps that is why Proverbs declares that war is won by wise guidance and why the psalmist confidently wrote, "Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel." God's counsel is not merely information; it is direction that leads His people through circumstances they could never navigate by themselves. It reveals not only what to do, but when to do it and how to do it.
As I sat quietly before the Lord this morning, seeking that counsel, my thoughts were directed toward one specific book I had written years ago. It immediately caught my attention because only a few days earlier my mother had asked me about that very book. She wanted to give it to someone from her church. At the time, I simply answered her question. As I went to my website to look at the book, I noticed it was not there. I couldn’t find it on my website, which was actually bizarre. When God instructed me to release this book there was an urgency and it was a countermove to a specific book in the Kingdom of Darkness. I fixed this issue, quickly.
There is something profoundly humbling about discovering that God has been preparing you for your current season long before you recognized you would need it. Books, journals, previous studies, old prayers, and forgotten revelations become reservoirs of provision waiting to be drawn upon at the appointed time. The valley has a way of revealing that nothing God has taught us has been wasted.
I am beginning to see that the Spirit of Counsel is not simply about receiving answers in dramatic moments. It is about learning to partner with the Holy Spirit in every decision, every strategy, every battle, and every assignment. It is choosing to seek heaven's perspective before taking earthly action. It is believing that God's plans are superior to our own and trusting that His counsel will guide us through places where our own understanding reaches its limits.
The valley is real, but so is the Shepherd. The waiting is real, but so is His guidance. The questions are real, but so is the Spirit of Counsel. Ephesians 3:20 reminds us that God's work is not limited to what we can presently see. His power is already at work within His people. As we seek His counsel through prayer, Scripture, and quiet attentiveness before Him, He faithfully reveals the next step. Breakthrough is not always found by striving harder. Sometimes it begins by sitting still long enough to hear the strategy of heaven.
Remember… it’s real in these spiritual streets!™
Dr. Melinda Michelle Jefferson
Additional Resources
The Arsenal – Strategic Warfare Manual - Link
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