Prayer 2021 - April 15 - The Gift of Prophecy

Scripture For Today:

1 Kings 18:36

“…while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I’ve had enough, Lord. Take my life; I’m no better than my ancestors…”

The Gift of Prophecy

 We have been talking about how tongues and interpretation of tongues can and should be used by believers, both in our private prayer time and in public settings. But there is also a gift of prophecy that can be utilized in our private prayer time as well, as the Holy Spirit inspires us to do so.

In First Corinthians 14:1, Paul tells the church at Corinth (which also applies to believers today), to “follow after love and desire spiritual gifts, but rather, that you may prophesy.”

Someone once said, “To prophesy only means to preach.”  In one sense, that is true. Preaching may include prophecy, because, in a general sense, prophecy is inspired utterance of speaking. 

But, if prophecy is simply preaching, Paul told the entire congregation that every single one of them should aspire to be a preacher! And we know that is not the case. Amen.

If prophecy only meant to preach, what does First Corinthians 14:39 mean? Let’s read it, “Wherefore, brethren, COVET TO PROPHESY…”

Paul did not tell them to “covet to preach.” He told them to “covet to prophesy.” The bible also tells us, in First Corinthians 14:3, “he that prophesies speaks unto men to justification and exhortation and comfort.”

The bible also tells us that ALL scripture is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that every believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit. This means every believer should have a measure of the ability to prophesy already in his inner spirit man. As we already covered, if you speak in other tongues, interpret tongues and sing praises to God in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs while in tongues – you are exhorting, edifying and comforting yourself in your private prayer time. Amen!

Then, there is the PUBLIC use of the gift of prophecy. To keep this simple, let me reference back to the public interpretation of tongues. You should not prophesy publicly until you are well experienced in private prophetic interpretation. As you prophesy to yourself and these things begin to come to pass, you are gaining experience in being sensitive to the Holy Spirit in this gift.  

What I would recommend, is to keep a private journal. When you are inspired in the prophetic, write it down, date it and then keep it. Don’t share it publicly. 

When what you prophesied comes to pass, go back, write down the date and exactly how it was fulfilled. This is track record for your reference.

After awhile, you will begin to see patterns emerge. As you gain more experience, the Holy Spirit will know He can trust you, as you are not running all over town blabbing about how “God showed you this was going to happen,” type of talk.

Then, He may show you something specific about a person or region, etc. Write it down. Date it. Then wait. As it comes to pass, again, write down the date it happened and when it came to pass and exactly what happened.

You are establishing a track record of sorts, for your prophetic gift.

Then, when you truly, 100% believe this is a gift you are operating in, share it with your ministry confidant. Your pastor or minister and get their opinion. Only then, once you have sought the counsel of two or more trusted advisors, should you make known publicly that you are operating in a prophetic gift.

Don’t be like Balaam. He operated in the prophetic. He also operated out his human spirit on the things the Lord was showing him. And it did not end well for him, either. Amen.

Let’s Pray!

Please subscribe to this podcast, leave us a quick 5 star review on Apple Podcasts to help us grow and be sure to visit our website for more information on our ministry: https://podcastersforchrist.com. And while you are at the website, download the free resource I have for you… it is free and is called, “How to Start a Christian Podcast.” It will bless you – go and download it today.

You can also WATCH these session on our Facebook Playlist at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtKWeKtmv-BwgkquBTsSh-GznbmuUp_R2