Hello there dear friend,
I am glad to be back with a new post on GTH. I could not do justice to this blog in the last few weeks. We have been busy with the Revive Conferences in Australia. You can see some video updates on the same here and here. I am looking forward to catching up with all the posts we missed.
Certain topics seem more confusing than ever in the church today simply because they’ve been adulterated. One of these is the prophetic ministry or the gift of prophecy. We also need to remember anytime there’s something genuine, there will always be a duplicate. The enemy often uses people to manipulate their gift.
In the next two posts, I’d like to bring to you some thoughts I shared with our church in Montreal. As you read this post, allow the Holy Spirit to teach you afresh.
What is prophecy?
Prophecy means to “speak by inspiration” of the Holy Spirit, to “forthtell” what God is saying, and it could be about your past, present or future.
What is it for?
The primary purpose of this gift is to strengthen, encourage and comfort ( 1 Corinthians 14:3).
Who is a prophet?
Prophet is the one carried along by the Holy Spirit – who stands in the gap between the visible and the invisible. Prophets speak what God puts in their hearts into peoples’ lives. These men of God in the Scriptures spoke as they were moved and carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was nudging them to say things they otherwise wouldn’t have said. “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21).
Can I prophesy?
Here is the good news. Anyone saved and baptised in the Holy Spirit can minister in the gifts of the Spirit including prophesy ( 1 Corinthians 14:31).
In fact, Paul says that prophesy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we are all to earnestly desire ( 1 Corinthians 14:1).
This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”
This scripture is referring to now. We’re living in the end days. God desires for all of us to have and operate in this prophetic gift. God wants all of us to hear as clear as He’s hearing.
Gift versus Office
However the gift of prophesy (1 Corinthians 12) is often confused with the office of the prophet (Ephesians 4:11), which are not the same. All are called to prophesy but not all are prophets.
When a gift is used more frequently and accurately and as assigned by the grace of the Lord, it develops into a ministry and when a ministry is tested over time and received widely in the church, it becomes an office.
Ephesians 4:11 says: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
We need all the above 5 offices to work well in the body of Christ.
How to receive the gift of prophesy?
The gifts given by the Holy Spirit are received by grace and fuelled by faith. [tweet this]
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:3-8).
Prophecy in proportion to our faith can increase and decrease! We don’t all have the same level of faith and grace. When your faith goes deep you are able to hear from the Lord very precise revelations.
The more time you spend in the presence of Jesus the more your confidence increases. [Tweet].
Also the Bible says that the call and gift of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). So you receive this gift by the will of God.
Calling, gifting and anointing are the three important elements of a fruitful ministry. Although the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, remember the anointing depends on our walk with the Lord.
Have a question? Simply leave your questions on any of our social media. I would like to cover this topic in a little more depth in our next post.
Stay subscribed to read more on: “Ways of testing prophesy, six tests of a true prophet, and five ways you can grow in the prophetic.”