Many of us have heard the word, but may not know fully what it is or how to do it ourselves… let’s jump right in!
WHAT IS PROPHECY?
Prophecy is a gift of the spirit as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12 {v.10 to be exact} and at it’s basic level is simply saying what God says about a person or situation.
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE?
The purpose of prophecy is to strengthen others, to encourage others and to comfort others. {See 1 Corinthians 14:3 NLT}
WHERE DO I BELIEVE WE’VE GOTTEN OFF TRACK?
Over time prophecy seems to have been limited and diminished to negative words and revelations from God… I personally believe this has caused:
- People who do hear from Him to not want to speak into the lives of others
- People who don’t hear from Him to not want to hear anything about or from Him
HERE’S WHAT I’M NOT SAYING:
I’m not saying that you won’t see negativity, or that dark, hurt and painful things {experience and feelings} won’t be revealed. They will.
HERE’S WHAT I AM SAYING:
What I am saying is that calling out that which is negative {and probably already known} is not prophetic.
The prophetic goes beyond the problem and speaks the answer. It goes beyond the sin and speaks the loving Father heart of God to the person or situation.
Always remember, prophecy strengthens, encourages and comforts.
HOW DO I BELIEVE WE GET BACK ON TRACK?
If and/or when something negative is revealed to you, your immediate response to God should be, “Lord, How can I direct them closer to you? How do I encourage them in this? What is Your heart’s position toward them?”
True prophecy is being able to speak to and point out the GOLD in people {no matter how much dirt you have to dig through to see it}!
ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?
So… I challenge you in two areas today and throughout the entire month of July 2014!
The first challenge is to have a conversation with God about your desire to speak His loving heart into the lives of others.
The second challenge of course, is to GO FOR THE GOLD!
YOU CAN DO IT!
No matter what negative thing you know, hear, think, or see, make a decision {even if only for the duration of this challenge} that you will go beyond what’s easy {calling out that negative which is known} to have a conversation with God about what the answer and GOLD to the situation or person is and SPEAK that!
NEED OR WANT AN ADDITIONAL LAYER OF DIRECTION?
- Let’s say you see that a person is dealing with lust {masturbation, fornication, adultery, or pornography} instead of leading the word, with I see you deal with… You could start with… “You know God’s definition of purity sometimes looks different than ours… and I see Him pulling you closer to a pureness in spirit, soul and body. I see God washing you with pure thoughts, images, feelings and desires. And you’re soaking it all up, as if you’re standing under and enjoying a waterfall.
- It might be better not to start with ‘The Lord saith… or Thus saith the Lord’. If you believe God is giving you a word for someone, lead with a question… “Do you desire to own a blue car?” “Do you consider yourself creative?” “Does a hot air balloon mean anything to you?” If they answer no, guess what… it’s okay. Thank them for their time, say nevermind then and keep it moving. If they confirm, keep listening to and saying what God is saying… then you can say something like, I feel like God is saying this to me about you, I believe God wanted me to tell you etc.
- Don’t discount anything that you hear from God. When you ask Him what He’s saying don’t hesistate to go with what you hear. It may not make any sense to you, but could be the exact thing the person you’re speaking to wanted or needs to hear. #GodKnows
- If you don’t get anything, at the very least say a prayer for the person… not when you get in your car or when you get back home, but right then and there. Intently listen for issues and/or complaints and when people are telling them to you ask if you can pray for them and do it right then and there.
If you want to learn more than what I’ve shared here about the prophectic you’ll love this: http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Training-Prophetic-Ministry-Vallotton/dp/0768424445
ARE YOU READY TO GO FOR THE GOLD WITH US!?
also i want to add, that as a gift of the spirit, prophecy can be turned on at any time by God in the life of ANY Believer who is yielded and releasing their faith to operate in the gifts of the spirit. This does not mean that because a person has operated in the prophetic that they are a “prophet” necessarily, which is one of the five fold ministry. alot of Christians can get off into going around calling themselves prophets, when in fact, they were simply operating in a gift of the spirit. God is all about meeting the needs of people and for that reason, any Christian can operate in this gift as the Holy Spirit sees fit for the situation at the time. in fact, God wants every Believer to be regularly operating in the gifts of the Spirit. we should regularly be releasing our faith to do so! – suz