THE POWER OF PROPHECY

 We continue this month on the importance of the Gift of Prophecy being exercised through our lives. God has not called us to be spectators, but participators. We are not called of God to watch others do it all. He (God) has called us, and equipped us with His Spiritual Gifts, so that we can be functioning to speak “edification and exhortation and comfort” to others by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) Peter told the people that that which was happening in their midst was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the result of which was “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (v. 17-18). The result of that Holy Spirit outpouring and those people prophesying was that 3,000 people believed, were baptized and added to the Church (Acts 2:41).

  In Ezekiel 37 we read of the valley of dry bones, and how those bones were miraculously brought together to form a new body. That mighty event shows us the power of prophecy. Prior to Ezekiel prophesying, those bones just lay there dead and useless. But then God spoke to him these amazing words: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord”’” (v. 4-6). That is something that we would never think of doing! But then, God has not called us to do what we think is right or wrong, but to listen to His voice with the attitude of “Whatever He says to you to do, do it” (John 2:5). Ezekiel had obviously come to a place of obedience to whatever God said to him, for we read his response to the challenge of God: “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone . . .” (please read Ezekiel 37:7-14).

What a key principle this is: “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” Some will make excuses and say that God has not commanded them. But God’s will is that every Holy Spirit-filled Christian prophesies (1 Corinthians 14:1, 3-5, 24-25, 31, 39)! It is part of His New Covenant for us! Prophesying operates a spiritual principle: we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and then be committed to doing whatever He tells us. If we are prepared to listen, He is prepared to talk. Then we must be committed to obey whatever He says. When we live like that, the Holy Spirit is going to reveal more of Christ with us to share with His people. Speaking it out publicly makes it the Gift of Prophecy.

I will never forget one of my trips to the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Harvey Walker (Tauranga, NZ) and I were the first white people in 27 years to be in a certain village on Pentecost Island. We were in a meeting where a young lady prophesied for the first time in her life these simple words: “The Lord is now saying, It is time for the men to come in, it is time for the men to come in.” She repeated these words several times over. When she finished I remember counting the people present: 20 women and three men! But from that prophecy something broke in the spirit realm and from the very next meeting men began pouring into the meetings. In four days we saw over 200 people commit their lives to Jesus Christ! The population of that area was approx. 500! (I could share other experiences where crowds grow quickly when the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are allowed to function.)

There is power in the Gift of Prophecy! We need to know this. The more we understand the purposes and function of the Gift of Prophecy and the other Spiritual Gifts, the more we will want to pursue them in the way the Bible exhorts us to. We miss out on so much of what God wants to do in our midst because we fail to realize that God gave us these gifts to build and extend the Kingdom of God. If we genuinely want to see more people saved into the Kingdom of God, then Spiritual Gifts operating through our lives are a real key to this happening. May we all stir ourselves up with a greater desire to prophesy! ~ Rodney W. Francis.

Bible  Readings:  1 Corinthians 12  ~  1 Corinthians 13   ~ 1 Corinthians 14  ~ Acts 2; ~ Ezekiel 37.

Please Pray This Prayer:

“Dear God, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and I ask You to teach me to get serious about Spiritual Gifts operating more freely out of my life. Your Word tells me that I should and can prophesy, and so I ask You to stir and liberate me to be able to minister this beautiful gift to build up the Body of Christ. Help me to deal with all those negativities in my life which are not allowing me to function in Your Spiritual Gifts. I really do want to be an effective and fruitful minister of Your Gospel in my day and generation. In Jesus' name, I pray these things. Amen."

The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, , New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.