So recently I have been thinking a lot about prophecy. By which I do not mean the bla telling the future brand of prophecy but the wonderfully biblical version. My thoughts today may make no sense, this is because I am ill... Please bear with me. :)
The Biblical version of prophecy comes from the Old Testament idea of being a prophet.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
(Jeremiah 1:5-7 ESV)
This passage shows a little about what I mean. There is two lines there that sum it up, 'for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.' Therefore the Biblical idea of prophecy isn't telling the future, though that could certainly be involved, it is about speaking the words of God at the right time, in the right place, in the right way. This has been on my mind a lot lately because that would be a very cool thing to be able to do.
That was literally the worst way I could have described that ever!
I am interested in prophecy because I think it is so fundamental to being a Christian for me. What I am saying here is NOT, in any way, that a person needs to be able to prophesize to be a Christian. That is unthinkably unbiblical, what I am saying is that the kind of Christian I am, and the path on which I feel I am being led by the Lord, is one that the gift of prophecy would fit so beautifully into.
Prophecy is, of course, one of the spiritual gifts and, as such, is not meant to be possessed by every Christian, nor is it even necessarily open to every Christian:
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For 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."
(1 Corinthians 12:4-11 ESV)
This passage suggests that not every person is given every gift and so it would be biblically unfaithful to say that every Christian should have the gift of prophecy. Equally though, scripture says we are to desire the greater gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31).
That is what I am doing... I am desiring the greater gift. The gift I think would be wonderful to have as the pastor of a church. I think (although it might not be mentioned on that list) that I have a teaching gift and possibly other things but I'm not sure. Andy always says you should never speak unless it is God speaking. I am not confident enough to say it is God speaking all the time but I am sure it is what He would say if asked about that thing. I think it would be so much more useful to actually be able to speak the words of God as He reveals them.
Imagine the situation where someone is upset about something and God tells you what and tells you exactly what to say to them that would help them and encourage them and lift them up all at the same time.
I have decided that I want this in my life, though, like I said previously, it is a Spiritual gift. This fact, that the gift of prophecy will only come to me if the Lord wants it to, made me think about what I could do to with Him that could start me on a road.
Here's a couple of things I think would be good to do.
1. Be intimately familiar with the Word of God. After all, that is His major form of revelation and any and all prophecies should be in agreement with the revealed Word so it is good to learn verses from the word of God and use them as He calls them to mind in various situations in life.
2. Pray more: knowing God comes from talking to Him about things. My prayers lately have all been very one sided, I have not been doing a lot of listening and that is more important than me talking as God has things to say on all the things I have to pray about. It would be worth inserting some 'listening' to God times in times of prayer :)
3. Be encouraging: as a person I am not this. I have known for some time that my often negative outlook stops me from being as effective for God as I can be. The Bible says, "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." (Proverbs 16:24 ESV)
4. Love: Love is the most important thing of all. If you love the people you are hoping God will give you a word for then you will pray to God for that word and you. Of course, without love, prophecy and teaching and pastor-ship (that's not a word) are nothing.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV)
Of course, these things are not the gift of prophecy, and that cannot be learned by human means, but those things would still be most beneficial to life as a pastor :)
Okay, that's me done on prophecy for now.
in A anim agus A chuid seribhÃs,
Wavey ~
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