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| LIFF IN THE SPIRIT IS A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE OF LIGHT SHINING IN THE SHADOWS |
However, not everyone who speaks a prophetic
word is a prophet. A prophet, or someone who can prophesy on a
regular basis, comes from the Spirit manifesting one of the spiritual gifts in
that person's life in the same way that God gives pastor, teachers, evangelists
and apostles. The Holy Spirit gives all
those spiritual gifts, including prophesy, for the benefit of the congregation
or someone else, never just for the benefit of the person who does the
prophesying, although the one giving the prophetic word may be blessed in being
able to bless someone else with the word. Paul said we should all desire the
better gifts which would include prophesy. But having the gift is not for
the prophet's benefit but for other people. Nor do we receive an ability
to prophesy because we have earned it somehow; that's why they are called
"gifts" because they are “freely given" by the Spirit. And we
cannot seek to prophesy so that it will make us feel closer to God or be the
measure of His acceptance of us. It isn't so we can feel accepted or a
bit more special to Him. None of that is valid. We do not seek to
prophesy for our own advantage. Prophesy is almost never about “us” but about
others. True prophesy is birthed out of
compassion for people. Compassion was
Yeshua's motivating impulse for all He did and said.
BTW,
There are 50 verses using “compassion,” in the Bible, 27 of them in the Old
Testament, and 23 of them in the New Testament, if you would like to do a word
study for some understanding of God’s compassion. Studying God’s Word isn’t just about
information, it’s impartation that brings transformation to our lives. Studying
compassion in the Bible will make you more compassionate. The Holy Spirit will
work it in you as you take the Word seriously.
I would stress to you that until you
get the very basic foundational issues of your relationship with God, and His
love for you, etc., cleared up in your mind, you are not likely to be
prophesying the mind of God to anyone. It could be muddied. Another example: A woman
came to our women’s bible study who obviously had a prophetic gift. She could pick
things up in the Spirit easily. But when she gave the words, she couched them
in her own discouraged and negative mindset as she had been wounded spiritually
and it came through when she spoke the words. When it was pointed out to her gently and lovingly,
she was too defensive to receive it. She was the prophetic one and so what she
said was right, as far as she was concerned.
Prophesy should edify, exhort and encourage – the Three E’s. As said above, we will speak out of our own character.
There are many self appointed prophets speaking
words that are supposedly words from God today which are in grave error and can
mislead people. When they are flattering or draw you to the prophet rather
than to God, or if they make you fearful or discouraged, I would be wary of
them. Even when God convicts us of sin,
He does it lovingly with the sense of great hope of being set free. He is never
condemning; neither should any prophet be. I am all for hearing from God
prophetically, but the Bible is very clear that false prophets who give false prophesies
are dangerous and God warns against them. Only the truth will set us (or
keep us) free!
Tips on Giving Prophetic words. We can speak what we believe may be prophetic words from God without all the fancy and high sounding "Thus saith the Lord...." kind of words. You can more safely (and humbly) say, "I'm hearing (or seeing, or sensing) that God might be saying......” and share what’s on your heart. If it’s to a group, you can add if you feel so inclined and the situation warrants it, “I’m submitting this to you to judge the word” as the New Testament tells us, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). Admittedly that’s difficult in the way our church services are set up. That works much more easily in smaller groups. But a person who gives a prophetic word should always be humble enough to be open to the discerning of the word by others as to whether it rings as truly from God or not. If we are in a loving community of believers, there should be no shame in learning what’s of God and what isn’t. We’re all learning together. I gave a word recently that I after I gave it, wasn’t sure about myself. I judged my own word and then told everyone just that. Later a spiritually mature person told me they felt it was from the Lord. It was good to get that confirmation.
Tips on Giving Prophetic words. We can speak what we believe may be prophetic words from God without all the fancy and high sounding "Thus saith the Lord...." kind of words. You can more safely (and humbly) say, "I'm hearing (or seeing, or sensing) that God might be saying......” and share what’s on your heart. If it’s to a group, you can add if you feel so inclined and the situation warrants it, “I’m submitting this to you to judge the word” as the New Testament tells us, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). Admittedly that’s difficult in the way our church services are set up. That works much more easily in smaller groups. But a person who gives a prophetic word should always be humble enough to be open to the discerning of the word by others as to whether it rings as truly from God or not. If we are in a loving community of believers, there should be no shame in learning what’s of God and what isn’t. We’re all learning together. I gave a word recently that I after I gave it, wasn’t sure about myself. I judged my own word and then told everyone just that. Later a spiritually mature person told me they felt it was from the Lord. It was good to get that confirmation.
If it’s a personal word – and many words we
call prophesy are really or include “words of knowledge” (awareness of
something going on in the person’s life) rather than predictive prophesies – leave it to the person whether they receive it
or not. That’s between them and God. It’s never for the prophet to interpret
the word for the person they’re giving the word to, or to press them to receive
it. It may make no sense to the prophet
but can be personally meaningful to the person receiving the word. If it's a true word for the person, they will
get a witness in their own spirit's that it's true. If not, you only
shared what came to you. You didn’t risk being called a false
prophet.
If the word was truly from God, it
doesn't need all the attempts to make it sound like it really is. The Spirit of
God will make it real to the person. That way, we have avoided any pride
in being "a prophet" but we have delivered the word with humility before
God and the other person(s) and left it to the Lord to make it real or not to
the hearers.
While every believer is capable of
prophesying on some level, not everyone is a prophet. God will occasionally
give prophetic words to his people to meet a need of the moment, or a word of
encouragement, but that does not mean they are now a prophet. Someone might be able to function
prophetically as they speak a word of encouragement or address an issue
prophetically, by giving a word of insight or a Scripture verse that cuts right
through to resolve an issue. But the “office”
of a prophet is an entirely different matter. They carry a responsibility and
authority that is far greater. Thanks be
to God, there are prophetic people today who walk in great power and revelation
and yet, are still quite humble before the Lord. Their words are usually quite
significant and rock solid. There are
levels of that kind of prophetic authority. Some will speak to people about their
lives, others to things concerning church congregational issues, while others
are given insight into political issues, on local, city, state or national
issues or even international issues. They have the authority of God to speak
things into being at those levels. It is best not to enter into speaking
prophetic things in arenas that you don’t know for sure that God has trained
you and given you authority in. A army private
or even a second lieutenant should never take the authority or responsibility
of a general. For more on this, see John
Paul Jackson’s book, Needless Casualties
of War.
Receiving
a word of prophesy. It’s
hard to remember what is said to you, so it’s a good thing the words come from
God; He will remember. It’s helpful to take notes or record it on your cell
phone if you’re able. You should have a yea and amen in your spirit when you receive
a word from God. Usually the word should
confirm something that is already on your heart or something that rings familiar
or true to you. It may even bring peace
to something that has troubled you for a long time. The sister of a friend of mine
had died, much to his distress. He didn’t know if she was in heaven or not. He
was watching a Sid Roth TV show ( www.ItsSupernatural
) one night, stretched out on the couch,.
The guest on the show had a word for someone watching. He said, “I see
you lying on a couch with your feet up and you are troubled because you do not know
if your sister is in heaven or not. God wants you to know that she is. Be at
peace.” Now that’s the kind of word that’s
a joy to receive.
Be careful, however, not to be woo'ed
by the showmanship of some prophets who appear as if they are a bit more
special than everyone else because they can prophesy. I attended a meeting where a prophet was
ministering to people, giving them words as he walked around the audience. He
had a microphone on so we could hear all the words. But for some reason, he was asking, “Do you
receive the prophet?” as if he was an Old Testament prophet and “receiving” him
would be equal to receiving the word of God. (This was the case in ancient
Israel when God had only one or a few prophets at a time who by the Spirit
spoke only the pure words of God.). What
could the people he had standing up by their seats say but yes. I was glad when he
didn’t come to me for if he had asked me that question, I would have had to say
(quietly to him, not in the microphone, I would think), “I know nothing about
your life or character. I will judge the word to see if I think it’s of God but
accepting you is not an issue.” That’s
an extreme case, but crazy things are out there today. Be discerning!
If there's pride and any kind of
exalting themselves in the person giving the word, I would discount what you’re
hearing from them. The gift of prophesy is subject to the prophet (1 Cor.
14:32). That means we speak out of our
own character. Take every prophecy that
you hear to the Lord if it seemed meaningful to you and ask Him to confirm it
to you. Actually, most prophesies should confirm what you already sense in your
spirit. Beware of flattery. As an
example, I was asked to speak at a conference where words were being given that
this one was going to have a great ministry that would be known, and that one
was going to be famous; it went on and on. There was much joyful shouting about
all that but a word about being quiet and reverent in His presence in order to
know truth from error in these days we live in fell flat. Was their preference for “ear tickling?” “For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance
to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3). I fear some were
being set up for great disappointments or worse, attempts to make the so-called
prophetic words come to pass if it wasn’t from God.
Speaking
in Tongues. While I am now addressing the issue of
Tongues, you will see how it also is intertwined here and there with prophesy.
Once we receive the gift of Tongues,
and every believer can, we can speak in tongues at will, just as we speak in English.
We must open our mouths and put voice to the words. It's quite supernatural and
yet is the most natural thing to speak in tongues. Paul said that he spoke in
tongues more than anyone else around him. Considering his revelation, it must
be a good thing. Speaking in tongues edifies or strengthens us
spiritually, to be more sensitive to the Spirit. For someone who desires to prophesy,
speaking in tongues is very important.
It builds up your spirit.
God always speaks when he is about to
do something, beginning with "Let there be light!" He speaks
through us all the time, even when we don't realize it, to encourage or affirm,
or lovingly advise others. He may use us as we pray in tongues prophetically
to declare something that He wants to do, as if we’re calling it into reality,
pulling it down out of heaven, so to speak, to manifest on the earth. This
would be another form of prophesy, which is prophetic prayer. We can declare things into people’s lives at
the leading of the Spirit. And when we
are speaking in tongues, it allows God to "speak" things into our
lives, or the lives of others when we pray in tongues for them, especially when
it is accompanied by an interpretation.
We are often speaking what is beyond
what we understand at the time. So unless God gives us the interpretation
or the sense of what we’re speaking, we may not know what God is doing through
the prayer. That is more the case than not. But even so, our spirits are
strengthened by the speaking in tongues.
I enjoy singing in tongues and even the lovely melodies are sometimes
what seem Spirit-led as I don’t think I would have come up with them on my own.
Other times it seems to be more of a
chant when singing in tongues.
Often speaking in tongues will bring us
new insight into something. God may give us insight or even the sense of
the person we’re praying for even when not with them. We can be praying
privately for others in tongues. I have
prayed for people in the Spirit, that is in tongues, and for one person that I
have my thoughts on as I’m praying for them, I might hear the words in tongues come
with strength, strong and firm, even directive. And then I switch to thinking about
another person I want to pray for, and suddenly the tongues become soft and
tender as I sense God’s gentleness toward them.
It likely has to do with the need in each person’s life at the time.
I personally have never received a
direct interpretation from my tongues or someone else's. But I know people who
speak in tongues and can give interpretation. I know one couple where the wife
gets the message in tongues and the husband gets the interpretation. Let us all pray that God will increase the
gift of tongues and interpretation, as well as prophesy, for the benefit and
edification of the Body for surely we have a great need to hear pure and
powerful words from God that are consistent with His word in these days in
which we live.
I hope this has cleared up some issues or
been helpful for you in some ways. Most of all, enjoy that Yeshua is in
your life, that you are in Him, and you're His. I end with a word from Paul:
“I wish you all spoke with
tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who
prophesies is greater than he
who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.” (1 Cor.
14:5). Amen.
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