The Gift of Prophecy
"Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts but especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Several months after I married Jackie we were over at her parent's house for a Sunday dinner with a bunch of her brothers, sisters and spouses. After dinner everyone was sitting around the table talking, and a cousin stopped over to visit, having just come from working on a Right to Life mailing. The discussion turned to abortion, and led from there to religion. I was an atheist, as was Jackie's oldest brother Jon, and although I had vowed to myself never to argue either religion or politics with Jackie's family, it was soon a full blown shouting match with Jon and myself against the rest. Being quite upset when we got home to our apartment, I told Jackie that, obviously if there was a God then I would want to know, but I can't intellectually understand what God could be. I asked her to lay hands on me and pray that God would reveal Himself. She did that but there was no bolt of revelation from the sky.
However, over the next six weeks many things began to happen. I started reading Christian books, which answered some of my questions, but which brought up even more. And I went to a few Charismatic prayer meetings with Jackie, and these were quite amazing because every week the same thing would happen. During the week I would be wondering about a couple of things, and at the prayer meeting someone would get up to talk to the group, either with a prophecy, or a sharing, or a teaching, and each one seemed to provide answers to my questions. During those prayer meetings God moved in the hearts of other believers, giving them a message that ministered to my needs, ultimately leading me to surrender my life to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
In the scripture on top from 1 Corinthians, Paul is making the following argument, which leads up to the verse. - At one time the Corinthians were pagans, and as pagans they were led to worship and follow after idols. The idols were inanimate objects, with no life in them. Now they are believers in a living God, and more than that, they have dwelling in them the Spirit of the Living God. This Holy Spirit brings revelation that Jesus is Lord. And this Spirit works in each of them, giving gifts, ministries and effects. The Spirit distributes these to individuals, but they are given to benefit the common good, so that the body of believers would be a healthy body. Although there are a variety of gifts and ministries and effects, and although some of these rank about the others, each one is considered by the Spirit to be important to the health of the body. Even though the Spirit has not distributed the same gifts and ministries and effects to everyone, all are encouraged to desire the greater gifts. The greater gifts and higher ranking ministries are not given to elevate the individual. They are provided by the Spirit because God loves the individuals who make up the body, and He wants the body to be healthy. Those who operate in the greater gifts have a greater responsibility, and they need to show the same love for the body as does God. And while the gifts and ministries of the Spirit are perfect, they operate through imperfect people. Thus, although there may be times when the gifts will fail, an attitude of love will never fail. Love then, is even more powerful than the greatest gifts. It is the reason the gifts were given, it enables the gifts to operate more purely, and it reflects the personality of the One who will one day make the body perfect.
This argument holds true just as much today as it did then. The Holy Spirit has the same gifts, ministries and effects available to any in the body who will ask for them, still given for the health of the body of believers. We are advised to "desire" the gifts, which indicates first, that some are available to all, and second, that seeking may be part of the process to receiving. And we should especially seek after the gift of prophecy, because when used in love and descernment it can be an important way for God to move in the lives of others.
Prophecy usually operates, not as a revelation about future events, although that may happen because God has a plan for every life, but as a message of encouragement that speaks to the needs or desires of a person. Sometimes the Spirit will give guidance, sometimes correction. Sometimes He will just let a person know that He is with them in their pain or struggles, and that He loves them. But the prophetic word will be empty if it is not met with a response. This can be a quite "thank you" to God for an encouragement, or a conscious effort to remember the prophetic word given, praying about it later. Why would the Spirit give direction, or an encouragement to do something, if we were just to say "neat", and forget about it. The prophetic word will usually be a confirmation to what the Spirit has already been speaking to a person.
The Holy Spirit can speak prophetically in a variety of ways. Someone may be praying for a person, and while reading the Bible they see a passage that just seems to leap out at them. The response then is to pray with the wisdom that the Spirit has given in that scripture, or to share that passage with the person being prayed for. Someone may feel a leading from the Spirit to speak out a message in tongues, and someone else, not understanding the tongue, but receiving a word from the Spirit that they know matches what was just spoken in tongues, will give the interpretation. The word may come as the person opens their mouth to speak, or they may have received a sense or an outline of the message. The combination of the two is considered a prophetic message, and tongues here is a different gift than what is available to all as a private prayer language.
A prophetic word will often come without being preceded by tongues, and again, the speaker may just have a word or a phrase to begin with, or they may have a more full sense of the message. In either instance, if it is appropriate for where they are, they need to trust God and speak out what they have, sensing what the Spirt is saying as they speak. If the Spirit stops, the person should stop, not adding personal desires or theology to what the Spirit is saying. I have seen times where one message is given by several people, one pausing and the next picking up in mid sentence. Jackie will often see a picture in her mind of the sense of what the Spirit has, and it becomes more clear to her as she speaks out. At times a person may have a vision, or perhaps a dream that comes from the Spirit. One time before going to bed I was praying for a relative who was very sick, and woke up just after a vivid dream in which I was praying for that person, the Spirit giving me directions as to how to pray. Knowing that the dream was from God, I felt the correct response was to travel to see that person and to pray as I saw in the dream, and I believe that it played an important part in her recovery.
There are other ways in which prophecy may come from the Spirit, and it is important to understand that our souls can often get in the way, either in the proclaiming, or in the receiving of a prophetic word. We need to grow in maturity, having the desire to seek the gifts, the courage to begin to operate in them, the willingness to be mentored in them by more experienced Christians. And we need to grow in spiritual descernment, being able to distinguish between what comes from the Spirit from that which comes from man or from the evil one. And if all things are done in love, we should do well.
Several months after I married Jackie we were over at her parent's house for a Sunday dinner with a bunch of her brothers, sisters and spouses. After dinner everyone was sitting around the table talking, and a cousin stopped over to visit, having just come from working on a Right to Life mailing. The discussion turned to abortion, and led from there to religion. I was an atheist, as was Jackie's oldest brother Jon, and although I had vowed to myself never to argue either religion or politics with Jackie's family, it was soon a full blown shouting match with Jon and myself against the rest. Being quite upset when we got home to our apartment, I told Jackie that, obviously if there was a God then I would want to know, but I can't intellectually understand what God could be. I asked her to lay hands on me and pray that God would reveal Himself. She did that but there was no bolt of revelation from the sky.
However, over the next six weeks many things began to happen. I started reading Christian books, which answered some of my questions, but which brought up even more. And I went to a few Charismatic prayer meetings with Jackie, and these were quite amazing because every week the same thing would happen. During the week I would be wondering about a couple of things, and at the prayer meeting someone would get up to talk to the group, either with a prophecy, or a sharing, or a teaching, and each one seemed to provide answers to my questions. During those prayer meetings God moved in the hearts of other believers, giving them a message that ministered to my needs, ultimately leading me to surrender my life to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
In the scripture on top from 1 Corinthians, Paul is making the following argument, which leads up to the verse. - At one time the Corinthians were pagans, and as pagans they were led to worship and follow after idols. The idols were inanimate objects, with no life in them. Now they are believers in a living God, and more than that, they have dwelling in them the Spirit of the Living God. This Holy Spirit brings revelation that Jesus is Lord. And this Spirit works in each of them, giving gifts, ministries and effects. The Spirit distributes these to individuals, but they are given to benefit the common good, so that the body of believers would be a healthy body. Although there are a variety of gifts and ministries and effects, and although some of these rank about the others, each one is considered by the Spirit to be important to the health of the body. Even though the Spirit has not distributed the same gifts and ministries and effects to everyone, all are encouraged to desire the greater gifts. The greater gifts and higher ranking ministries are not given to elevate the individual. They are provided by the Spirit because God loves the individuals who make up the body, and He wants the body to be healthy. Those who operate in the greater gifts have a greater responsibility, and they need to show the same love for the body as does God. And while the gifts and ministries of the Spirit are perfect, they operate through imperfect people. Thus, although there may be times when the gifts will fail, an attitude of love will never fail. Love then, is even more powerful than the greatest gifts. It is the reason the gifts were given, it enables the gifts to operate more purely, and it reflects the personality of the One who will one day make the body perfect.
This argument holds true just as much today as it did then. The Holy Spirit has the same gifts, ministries and effects available to any in the body who will ask for them, still given for the health of the body of believers. We are advised to "desire" the gifts, which indicates first, that some are available to all, and second, that seeking may be part of the process to receiving. And we should especially seek after the gift of prophecy, because when used in love and descernment it can be an important way for God to move in the lives of others.
Prophecy usually operates, not as a revelation about future events, although that may happen because God has a plan for every life, but as a message of encouragement that speaks to the needs or desires of a person. Sometimes the Spirit will give guidance, sometimes correction. Sometimes He will just let a person know that He is with them in their pain or struggles, and that He loves them. But the prophetic word will be empty if it is not met with a response. This can be a quite "thank you" to God for an encouragement, or a conscious effort to remember the prophetic word given, praying about it later. Why would the Spirit give direction, or an encouragement to do something, if we were just to say "neat", and forget about it. The prophetic word will usually be a confirmation to what the Spirit has already been speaking to a person.
The Holy Spirit can speak prophetically in a variety of ways. Someone may be praying for a person, and while reading the Bible they see a passage that just seems to leap out at them. The response then is to pray with the wisdom that the Spirit has given in that scripture, or to share that passage with the person being prayed for. Someone may feel a leading from the Spirit to speak out a message in tongues, and someone else, not understanding the tongue, but receiving a word from the Spirit that they know matches what was just spoken in tongues, will give the interpretation. The word may come as the person opens their mouth to speak, or they may have received a sense or an outline of the message. The combination of the two is considered a prophetic message, and tongues here is a different gift than what is available to all as a private prayer language.
A prophetic word will often come without being preceded by tongues, and again, the speaker may just have a word or a phrase to begin with, or they may have a more full sense of the message. In either instance, if it is appropriate for where they are, they need to trust God and speak out what they have, sensing what the Spirt is saying as they speak. If the Spirit stops, the person should stop, not adding personal desires or theology to what the Spirit is saying. I have seen times where one message is given by several people, one pausing and the next picking up in mid sentence. Jackie will often see a picture in her mind of the sense of what the Spirit has, and it becomes more clear to her as she speaks out. At times a person may have a vision, or perhaps a dream that comes from the Spirit. One time before going to bed I was praying for a relative who was very sick, and woke up just after a vivid dream in which I was praying for that person, the Spirit giving me directions as to how to pray. Knowing that the dream was from God, I felt the correct response was to travel to see that person and to pray as I saw in the dream, and I believe that it played an important part in her recovery.
There are other ways in which prophecy may come from the Spirit, and it is important to understand that our souls can often get in the way, either in the proclaiming, or in the receiving of a prophetic word. We need to grow in maturity, having the desire to seek the gifts, the courage to begin to operate in them, the willingness to be mentored in them by more experienced Christians. And we need to grow in spiritual descernment, being able to distinguish between what comes from the Spirit from that which comes from man or from the evil one. And if all things are done in love, we should do well.
posted by Bob | 5:11 PM
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