That Nasty P Word
One of the many things I have learned as I have traveled is
that different words hold different weight depending on where you are. I would
expect this from words that are used in the general public; however, where it
surprises me the most is in the church. The church, the place where we all use
the same “dictionary” if you will; where The Bible is the root of all we say,
do and believe. Yet, I have often been reminded how much the American church,
at large, alters what is allowed to carry weight within the church. One of the
words this has become the most evident with to me is Prophecy: yup, that’s the
nasty P word.
Prophecy, prophet, prophesying are all words that seem to
make many American Christians cringe a little; I used to be one of them. I
thought that prophecy was only for back in the Old Testament – for the major
and minor prophets (Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Malachai, Haggai, etc). And that
prophecy was receiving visions from God about future events. However, I have
really come to learn otherwise and I would love to share with you what I’ve
learned and how I’ve learned it.
Before I talk about prophecy, I would like to briefly talk
about prayer: Christians’ favorite P word. We love to pray. When you pray you
are conversing with God and a conversation means more than one person is
talking. So when you are praying to God and asking Him for direction on where
to go in your life you are also listening. You are listening for Him to give
you a direction, looking for a picture, waiting to feel a sense of direction.
As we pray we are listening for the voice of the Lord, for His guidance and for
His wisdom; because we believe that He speaks to us.
Onto prophecy now. The apostle Paul does a lot of talking
about Spiritual Gifts and that of prophesying. I, personally, believe that the
Bible is the Living Word of God; which means that I believe it is all truth,
that God directly & specifically gave these words to the men who wrote it,
and though it’s important to look at the culture of the time that it was all
written for us today. So in 1 Corinthians 14:1,3,4 it is written that “Follow
the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of
prophecy…But everyone who prophecies speaks to men for their strengthening,
encouragement and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he
who prophecies edifies the church”. When I read that verse a few months ago it
hit me in an entirely new way. Paul doesn’t say prophecy and speak out future
events nor does he say act a fool spin in circles draw attention to yourself
and speak future events. Not even close, what he says is prophecy strengthens,
encourages, comforts and edifies man/people and the church. I don’t know about
you but that sounds amazing! I love to strengthen, encourage, comfort and edify
other people; no to mention I love when others strengthen, encourage, comfort
and edify me. None of those are scary words. So, where does prophecy come from?
According to 2 Peter 1:21 “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of
man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The
Holy Spirit, that part of the trinity that dwells in our heart. The part of the
trinity that Jesus himself told his disciples would come to them. He says this
in John 14:25-26 “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach
you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” As
Christians when a new believer excepts Jesus into their heart we tell them that
they now have the Holy Spirit inside of them; that’s who listen to when we ask
for guidance.
All that to say that I’ve come to experience and realize that
in many ways prophecy is no different than prayer. Just as we listen for the
voice of the Lord in prayer, we also listen for the voice of the Lord in
prophecy. If I remember correctly the meaning of the word prophecy is speaking
the word of the Lord. For example, if you are praying for a friend and you feel
the Lord saying something specific for that friend, and then you tell that
friend what you heard; you have prophesied. You heard the Lord’s voice and you
spoke it out and the words were used to strengthen, encourage, comfort and/or
edify. Or those times when “out of the blue” you feel, in your Spirit or in
your gut, that you need to talk to someone – only to find that you brought
needed encouragement to that person: I believe it’s prophecy. The Lord speaks
to each of us so differently- pictures, music, words, verses, stories, dreams,
visions – because he created us differently (Job 33:14-18 talks about the
different ways the Lord can speak to us).
I wanted to share all of this because prophecy is something I
have come to love. It doesn’t come super naturally to me and it has taken
practice for me to sit and listen for the Lord’s voice; but it is so beautiful
when I do. Our team practices listening and prophesying for each other
together. We have been able to give and receive amazing words of encouragement
and challenges from each other as we have turned to the Lord to listen. I am
excited to continue learning about prophecy and exercise my ability to hear the
Lord’s voice for others.
