Or,
have you ever thought that prophecy was only for those weird
‘prophetic-type’ people, who always claim they heard from God? Or, have
you been taught that prophecy is not even available today, so why
bother pursuing something that is ‘spiritually-illegal’? Well, I want
to encourage you, that not only is prophecy available today, but more
importantly, that prophecy is part of your spiritual inheritance and
something that YOU CAN DO!
When
thinking about prophecy, you may imagine one of the prophets from the
Old Testament—you know the scary looking dude that came to Israel with
a gut-wrenching, negative assault on the way people were living at the
time and with predictions of doom and destruction. Or, you may think of
a contemporary prophetic person, like some high-profile conference
speaker that talks about ‘seeing’ angels and things like that, and
stuns audiences by calling individuals out by name and giving detailed
information about their lives. While both of these examples can be
accurate descriptions of prophecy or prophetic ministry, the truth is
that there is a far more common expression of prophecy that has been
made available to every believer in Jesus that neither uses the Old
Testament prophets nor the super-gifted modern day prophet as the
normal, day-to-day example of prophecy in a believer’s life.
When
considering prophecy, what we’re really speaking of is ‘hearing’ from
God—and by that I don’t mean some ‘audible voice’, but rather the small
sensing within. But how can you prophesy if you haven’t heard what to
say? This is critical for us to understand, so we can have healthy,
biblical perspective concerning God’s desire to talk to us. Years ago,
I used to imagine prophecy like the example above, with the
super-gifted prophet as my standard for what ‘real’ prophecy looked
like. In one way, I was greatly encouraged by the supernatural display
of power, but in another way, I would get discouraged because when I
looked at my history with God, I assumed because I didn’t have such
awesome experiences that I wasn’t really ‘prophetic’—just someone
hungry for things I probably wouldn’t receive. For me the issue that
affected me the most was my lack of confidence, which caused me to play
down much of what I was receiving from the Lord, believing that it
probably wasn’t Him, so I would just forget it. Over time, however, I
began to discern and value the way the Lord would speak to me and was
surprised how often I was ‘hearing’ from Him.
We
have to be careful when comparing our experiences with others, because
this can end up causing more discouragement than good, especially when
it comes to the issue of ‘hearing’ from God. This can quickly turn into
the ‘have and have not’ divide among believers. This kind of tension
creates unnecessary pain resulting in division and inflexible opinions
justifying one’s experience—or lack of one.
Once
again, God absolutely desires to speak to you, this is at the heart of
being able to prophesy. When we become convinced that God not only
speaks today, but that He will actually speak to us, this awakens hope
and excites our faith to pursue prophecy confidently. In the book of
Joel, God had given an amazing prophecy, concerning a future time when
He would pour out His Spirit in such a way that those receiving the
Holy Spirit would have ‘prophetic’ encounters with God, “It will come
about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And
your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions. 29 “Even on the male and female
servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28–29).
I
can imagine the prophet Joel being completely stunned to hear that the
Spirit would be poured upon all flesh and that they would prophesy and
have dreams and visions. Joel understood that prophecy was only given
to those specially called to that function, yet the Lord said those
filled with the Spirit would prophesy. This gives us a new
understanding of God’s heart as it expresses His desire to intimately
relate to us by graciously providing a way for us to supernaturally
encounter Him.
The
promise of Joel had its initial fulfillment on the day of Pentecost,
Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 in a supernatural
way that caused awe and wonder in those present. Peter said in Acts
2:16 that “this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel,” and
quoted Joel 2:28–32. So, we see the outpouring of the Spirit connected
to the event on Pentecost. This means that anyone who believes in Jesus
has as an inheritance of prophecy, dreams, and visions. God made a way
for all to know Him through His Son and to be filled with the Spirit.
The
Spirit now living inside us communicates God’s heart to us. God wants
all His children to know Him directly and be able to discern His
voice—the ‘prophetic’ Spirit is in every believer, which is unrelated
to a ministry calling. Paul spoke about this inclusiveness of prophecy
in 1 Corinthians 14, “Now I wish that … You would prophesy… For you can
all prophesy… (1 Corinthians 14:5, 31). Paul further encouraged us to
earnestly desire prophecy because of its benefits to strengthen and
encourage others (see 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3).
I
want to encourage you to not only believe that God will speak to you,
but for you to specifically pursue prophecy. The Holy Spirit lives in
you and will speak to you! Be looking for part two of “You Can
Prophesy” to see more practical tips on how to prophesy.
