I can speak in tongues, and I can prophesy.
Do I feel absolutely ridiculous when I do? Kind of, but less and less.
If you had told me 6 months ago that I'd receive the gifts of prophecy ands speaking in tongues, I probably would've laughed in your face. The thing is, Paul is pretty darn clear about it.
"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation… So my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." 1 Corinthians 14: 1-3, 39
Okay. So that's leaving out a lot of 1 Corinthians 14, but you can go read it for yourself if you want to. Basically the middle part is talking about how speaking in tongues isn't building up the body if you don't have a translator. I don't know all the history or context behind the book of 1 Corinthians, and I'm not a scholar. But I do know that speaking in tongues even a few times has increased my faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and His manifestations.
Prophecy is a little different to me. It's happened few and far between, and usually I feel like a crazy person and like I’m just making stuff up in my head. But it's always been words of encouragement and uplifting to whoever it's for, and I never could have come up with it on my own or known how it would affect the person.
For example, I "had a word" (of prophecy, encouragement, wisdom, whatever you want to call it) for one of my teammates a couple weeks ago. I was praying for her, and the word "important" kept coming to mind. I couldn't get it out until I told her. Later she came up to me and told me how much that one word mean to her and how much she needed to hear it. That's it.
The thing is, even if that wasn't from God and that was something I just made up, it was still true and it was uplifting, and it can be supported by scripture and by other believers. If I were to tell her that she was going to stub her toe next Tuesday, that'd be ridiculous. That's not what Biblical prophecy is about.
"To EACH is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."
These are all good things. They are all for the common good. They increase faith. They are gifts from the Holy Spirit.
"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit?" Luke 11: 9-13
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." John 14: 12-14
There's a lot that could be said about these passages, and they definitely bring up a lot of questions about God's will, how we should pray, the use of spiritual gifts today, etc. Like I said earlier, I'm not a scholar. I didn't go to seminary. But I know God is teaching me and the Holy Spirit is guiding me through this process of discovery. I believe He has the power to do SO much through me and through us as a body of believers. Like Jesus said in John, whoever believes in Him will do greater works than He did on earth. Not that we can do them on our own, but He does them through us by His power.
I know this blog will probably rustle some feathers- I know it would've made me uncomfortable a year ago- but I just want to encourage you to not freak out about the Holy Spirit and His manifestations because they're "weird" or not seen as much in the U.S. Keep seeking, keep asking, because He will reveal truth about Himself to you-
"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace." 1 Corinthians 14:33
