Prophetic practice thread

[Yekcidmij]

3) Prophecy in the church today would be more of a spontaneous prompting from the Holy Spirit.

But,

Prophecies in the church are always subject to the teachings of scripture.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

OK.....I'm going to walk through some things one post at a time if you'll bear with me Oscar and tell me what you think:

1) Prophecies in the church today are only human words and not equivalent to scripture, not equivalent to Gods words in authority, and not God's words directly. In other words, prophecy in the church today is not God's very words as scripture, for example, would be.

So, if someone really does think God is bringing something to mind it would be more helpful if they qualified it by saying "I think the Lord is telling me", or something along those lines, rather than the more forceful "thus says the Lord" or making it appear as if God is talking directly as He would through a prophet or apostle.


Would you agree?

Absolutely!! I totally agree with that.

In the OT prophets spoke with authority, saying "thus saith the Lord" because the people did not have the spiritual awareness or discernment to be able to sense anything but the human element. Therefore the authority of the prophetic word had to come from the prophet. The people would have accepted that this or that person had the office of Prophet and therefore would have automatically accepted the prophecies as from the Lord because of the authority of the Prophet's office. This stems from the OT way of following God being one of reverential fear and obedience. They had not yet met Jesus who was to show them that God was a loving Father as well as a fearsome God they needed to obey or else.

But in saying that, many of the OT prophecies had very loving words in them that implied that God was a faithful shepherd and perhaps a hint that He could be a Father; but it was Jesus who fully brought the Fatherhood of God to the Jews.

But we in the NT are in a different relationship. Because Jesus died and rose from the dead and then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, we now have a spiritual awareness and discernment to recognise the voice of God when He speaks to us. We have what the OT believers didn't have; a still small voice that speaks to our spirit.

This is why I harp on about a person who receives a prophecy is the one who has the discernment in his spirit whether it is the voice of God to him or not. NT prophecy is then a very personal thing, even when a general prophecy is given in a public meeting. Out of the whole group hearing that prophecy, maybe two or three may testify that they discerned the voice of God speaking to them through it.

Sometimes, when I ask God for a word for someone, I do discern the voice of God giving me the starting lines. Other times, it comes as such a very small prompt that I am not absolutely certain. This is where faith and obedience comes in. Where I am not sure, my faith and obedience kicks in because I believe that it is better to obey and be wrong, than not to obey and someone missing out on a word that could be important for their lives.

If a NT prophecy doesn't contain the voice of God for anyone, everyone will safely ignore it anyway because it won't register to them. This is the big difference between OT and NT prophecy. The OT prophecy had the authority of the office of the Prophet and you had to obey or else. NT prophecy is a love letter from the Father providing comfort, assurance, encouragement and exhortation. The purpose of NT prophecy is so different because it is pastoral, personal and devotional.

Now the office of NT Prophet is different because he will give prophecies to the church in order to show its state before God, or give direction according to the plans and purposes of God for it in different regions. It may be said that the NT Prophet reveals the plans and purposes of God for the church and the NT Apostle is the executive who puts those plans into practical effect. In this way both offices work in tandem. I believe that these ministries are vitally important for the church today, and yet we don't see them operating as they should.

I hope this clarifies things a little bit more.

 

[Yekcidmij]

4) Prophecies should include edifying content.


5) Prophecy in the church today would not be the same as the office of a prophet in the OT. (I just ran across something in the Greek to help support this) The Greek word for "prophet" at the time of the New Test. had a broad range of meanings. It wasn't always one who spoke the very words of God. It was also used to describe a spiritual influence, proclaiming, or making known.

6) Maybe the New Testament verion, so to say, of a Prophet was the new term "Apostle" since "prophet" at the time had such a broad range of meanings.

I found some examples too.

 

[Yekcidmij]

End of my train of thoughts for tonight.

 

[Yekcidmij]

One more thing:

I think it's dangerous to be too subjective about this though. I think great caution should be taken when a prophecy does something like tell someone what to do or when someone wants to make God like a fortune cookie where they desire an excess of messages or when someone claims the "thus says the lord" or "God told me to" or anytime it contradicts scripture.


Other than that.....I think I may try to soften my stance

 

[Yekcidmij]

And I think I'm prepared to back up the things I said with scripture if anyone needs it.

 

[The Princess Bride]

One more thing:

I think it's dangerous to be too subjective about this though. I think great caution should be taken when a prophecy does something like tell someone what to do or when someone wants to make God like a fortune cookie where they desire an excess of messages or when someone claims the "thus says the lord" or "God told me to" or anytime it contradicts scripture.


Other than that.....I think I may try to soften my stance

I dont think it's treating God like a "fortune cookie" when seeking a prophetic word.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

2) Would you say that Paul teaches that God could bring something to mind spontaneously so the person prophecying could put it in their own words? So this revelation could be used in a broader sense of communication from God that does not result in scriptural authority. So maybe it could be something like a sense of something brought to mind that might be different from someones train of thoughts, or a sense of urgency for the person giving the prophecy, or just a general sense that it is from the Lord. It could be used as a sign for the congregation.


That was kind of a question.

That's about the sense of it. That's what I call a 'seed thought' that starts off my prophetic words. When I ask God for a word, I wait for that seed thought. I get a number of thoughts after that, but I wait for a sort of definite thought that seems to carry a bit more weight in my mind. Once I get that, then the rest is a matter of faith and obedience - oh, and trust - that what I am saying or typing is going to carry the voice of God to the person receiving it.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

3) Prophecy in the church today would be more of a spontaneous prompting from the Holy Spirit.

But,

Prophecies in the church are always subject to the teachings of scripture.

Agreed.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

One more thing:

I think it's dangerous to be too subjective about this though. I think great caution should be taken when a prophecy does something like tell someone what to do or when someone wants to make God like a fortune cookie where they desire an excess of messages or when someone claims the "thus says the lord" or "God told me to" or anytime it contradicts scripture.


Other than that.....I think I may try to soften my stance

When I opened up my Prophetic Encouragement thread on the Prophetic Ministry forum and gave all those many prophecies on it, I had to stop because a number of people were doing exactly that - treating me as their fortune cookie. The Lord shut down very quickly when that started to happen, and when those people kept asking for words, the Holy Spirit gave me absolutely nothing. In fact, I stopped altogether and it was more than six months before I gave another prophecy on the forum. It was a valuable experience for me because I had never had that before and it really upset me at the time to think that the prophetic could be so misused.

So I have come to the conclusion that receiving a word of prophecy from a single source should only happen occasionally. If a person wants more than one word on an issue then that person should ask a number of people who are gifted in prophecy. There is nothing wrong with a whole lot of people giving a word of prophecy each for a single person. I have seen this done and it can really blow a person away. What happens in our prophetic equipping days is that a person will get in the hot seat, and everyone else who is prompted will come and give a word for them. Sometimes up to 20 people will each give a word. It is all taped and the person in the hot seat takes the tape away to play afterward. I have two tapes of those sessions where I have received words like that, and have played them recently (about a year later), and I am blessed all over again with the words given.

So this is a ministry idea that you could bear in mind. If you are part of a group who move in the prophetic, you could receive a prayer request from a person, who does not have to be present, and, without knowing any details, get the group to make up a prophetic tape of words for the person. You can have people giving scriptures, images, or words of prophecy. You would be amazed at how accurate they can be, and how much of a blessing they can be to the person receiving them. Because they are on tape, the prophecies can be kept and played again months later. Often a prophetic word given now may have a stronger focus in several months time, adding to the blessing.

 

[rita727]

I dont think it's treating God like a "fortune cookie" when seeking a prophetic word.

Good metaphor.

 

[cory533]

I have found when I go looking for a word of prophesey in the "Do a trick" frame of mind invariably I get a fortune cookie word. It's all well and good it is even accurate in a vauge way. "God would use you in a mighty way" "Keep walking with the lord and you will look back and be amazed how far you have come" For example. I could do as well reading Proverbs.Now when I seek God directly He makes my path clear. Sometimes he uses others sometimes not. Usually if he uses others they were not even aware that He was using them in that way. So if you are asking for a word my advice is first seek the Lord for yourself. then come with a specific need on your heart. But be prepared for a word that is not about what you wanted to know. In my expirience God likes to change things up just so we know who is in charge.

 

[Doer]

I think its awesome how some of you have the ability to prophesize through God. I only hope my spiritual gift will someday soon crown upon my head.

 

[Heartland]

I think its awesome how some of you have the ability to prophesize through God. I only hope my spiritual gift will someday soon crown upon my head.

Paul didn't say to "hope' that maybe we would prophesy, he said to seek earnestly, pour yourself into the desire, lust after! It is the same as the Lord Jesus saying He greatly desired to eat that last passover meal. The wording is that He "lusted after" eating that last meal. Same thing man. Earnestly desire that you may prophesy!

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Paul didn't say to "hope' that maybe we would prophesy, he said to seek earnestly, pour yourself into the desire, lust after! It is the same as the Lord Jesus saying He greatly desired to eat that last passover meal. The wording is that He "lusted after" eating that last meal. Same thing man. Earnestly desire that you may prophesy!

I agree. Earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, ask God directly for it, and place yourself in a group of those who move in the prophetic so you can have opportunity to step out in faith and be mentored. Holding back and wishing for it will not get you there. You need to get in there and prove God if you really want the gift.

 

[spiritlead]

Paul didn't say to "hope' that maybe we would prophesy, he said to seek earnestly, pour yourself into the desire, lust after! It is the same as the Lord Jesus saying He greatly desired to eat that last passover meal. The wording is that He "lusted after" eating that last meal. Same thing man. Earnestly desire that you may prophesy!

I agree. Earnest desire the gift of prophecy, ask God directly for it, and place yourself in a group of those who move in the prophetic so you can have opportunity to step out in faith and be mentored. Holding back and wishing for it will not get you there. You need to get in there and prove God if you really want the gift.

Both these posts totally encourage me, its exactly whats happening in my life

God Bless you guys

 

[spiritlead]

I think its awesome how some of you have the ability to prophesize through God. I only hope my spiritual gift will someday soon crown upon my head.

You can start now DOER, just pray for me, and ask God to show you some things and then post what He shows you

Don't be afraid, step out in faith

 

[ahmunmun]

Spiritlead, I got your PM which contained your real name. I'm still praying for a word. Several thoughts have brushed past my mind but I wouldn't want to label those as prophetic, especially when my past experience reveals that I should never say anything without a little bit of certainty that the word is from God. Perhaps you can also pray that if God permits, that I would receive a word for you? I thought I would give this another try. If I still don't hear anything, then I will trust that God will let you hear His message some other way.

 

[Heartland]

Spiritlead, see if this silly thing means anything to you. After you asked for a word if something came to mind, I prayed and as usual, nothing came to mind. But once I've started down that road it's hard for me to let it go. Later, I thought about it again and I "saw" the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, but I saw it from the "backside". On the shadow side. Every photograph I have ever seen of it was taken so the sun was gleeming on it of course. With the vision was the notion of direction, North or South. (that confused me because one would think that the Gateway Arch has it's opening East and West, but I don't know that as fact).

 

[spiritlead]

Spiritlead, see if this silly thing means anything to you. After you asked for a word if something came to mind, I prayed and as usual, nothing came to mind. But once I've started down that road it's hard for me to let it go. Later, I thought about it again and I "saw" the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, but I saw it from the "backside". On the shadow side. Every photograph I have ever seen of it was taken so the sun was gleeming on it of course. With the vision was the notion of direction, North or South. (that confused me because one would think that the Gateway Arch has it's opening East and West, but I don't know that as fact).

Do ships go thru or under the arch?