Some individuals question the value of prophetic gifts in the body of Christ today. Much of their questioning comes from a mistaken view of prophetic gifts in the New Testament compared to the prophetic office of the Old Testament. The prophets presented on the pages of the O.T. were functioning in the office of prophet who prophesied to the nation on behalf of God. They spoke to kings and called the nation to action. The O.T. clearly says that these men were held to account and that every word they spoke must come true if they were to serve as a prophet. God only selected a few of these men for the office.
In the New Testament, however, prophetic gifts differ from the office of prophet and are given to many to build up the body of Christ rather than to command a nation or a king. Paul tells us in his discussion of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12-14, that the gift is given for the common good and is to be used to strengthen, comfort, and encourage the body. It is a gift that must be developed and learned to be used with skill just as a teacher, an evangelist, a preacher or a musician who is clearly gifted must also grow in their gift before they reach their full potential and effectiveness. Because of that prophecies are to be tested as prophets learn to hear the Lord and understand what he is downloading in them.
Although the gift of prophecy is not always fully developed it still has great power in the lives of God’s people and the more it is developed the more powerful it is. I want to share with you what Graham Cooke says about the power of a prophetic word to impact God’s people in life-giving ways:
“The Father lives with us and occupies the space between the potential we have and the actual that He views in our future. A prophecy is spoken from the future back to the present. That does not yet make it real or substantial. Free will is involved. Prophecy relates to the possibility, not the inevitability, of fulfillment because the will of the individual/group has to be engaged in cooperation with the Lord in order for the word to come to pass…Sometimes people are trapped into reliving or reenacting their past….Prophetic ministry needs to enter that place gently, lovingly, and firmly to extricate the individual from a present/past lifestyle…The best way to extricate people from the past is first to show them the future. Everyone has to have something to reach out for in life…The prophetic must put us in mind of a future time in regard to our present. When our mind is able to cover the ground between our present and our future, then we are free to move on in the things of God. ‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” (Isa.43:18-19)…When people have been damaged, it is the future that can release then from the past.” (Graham Cooke, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, p.114-115)
I have seen people lifted from the past and set on a new path on many occasions by a prophetic word. The moment began with a word of knowledge revealed to the prophet by the Spirit. It is a word about the past life of the individual that the prophet could have only known through a revelation from the Spirit. I can only believe his word about the future if he demonstrates supernatural knowledge about my past. But the power of the moment is not in the prophet.
The power of the moment is found in the realization that God has been intimately involved in my life, even in those hurtful moments when I thought he was paying no attention at all to my pain. His heart of concern and compassion about my pain is communicated through the prophet and his promise for the future releases me from the despair of believing that my life is doomed to be as it has always been. The word conveys the love of God for that person. The word breaths hope for the future into a tired and weary soul. The word invites us into partnership with the creator of the universe to carve out a different future than I was expecting. Prophecy is a true gift of God to his church and its truth resonates with the spirit of the person receiving it as the Spirit of God bears witness with his Spirit about what is being spoken.
If you have not done so, let me encourage you to embrace prophetic gifts. They are not always on target or spoken well by those still learning. But God will still speak to you through imperfect people in ways that he will confirm and that confirmation will fuel your soul for the future. Be blessed today and ask God for a fresh word over your life. You might even receive it from a prophet.
