Covet The Gift Of Prophecy

Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39). In Acts 2:17 Peter quoted the words of the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ....” This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. One of the ways to put that power to work is through the gift of prophecy.

The gift of prophecy is a door to the supernatural; it’s a way to bring the supernatural power of God into your life, finances, job, or congregation if you’re a minister of the Gospel. Therefore, you must learn to prophesy! If you speak in tongues long enough, the anointing will come on you to prophesy; the Word of God will bubble up within you. And when that anointing comes on you, with the Word boiling inside you, give it vent; let it out. That’s prophecy.

To prophesy is to speak words that have divine potency; words that have life; so, don’t despise prophecy. Prophecy is like a guiding light. It was through prophecy that the people knew about the coming of Jesus. There were so many prophecies that the Saviour—the Messiah—would come. The only proof that God had for the people to recognize and say, “This is the messiah,” was His Word spoken by the prophets about Christ—the Messiah.

Prophecy is vital. Have there been prophecies about your life? Paul said to Timothy, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18). Make war with those prophecies. Take every word of prophecy concerning your life seriously. Write them down, so you don’t forget, and chart your course with the creative power of God’s Word in your mouth.

As Christians, we’re not ordinary people; we’re never to be victims in life. If you’ve found yourself in a predicament, a precarious or desperate situation, be comforted; you have what it takes to win, irrespective of the adversity. There’s something in you: the life and dynamic power of the Spirit to effect changes.

That word “power” in our opening verse is actually “dunamis” (Greek), and it means dynamic power or ability to cause or effect a change. It refers to miracle- working ability; power and ability that’s beyond yourself! It’s a “doing-power,” and it’s sometimes translated “might.” It also means the power of excellence; the extraordinary ability to be efficient and effective in all that you do. This is the life we have in Christ—a life of super-productivity and ever-increasing glory by the Holy Ghost!

No wonder He says in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” Your ability to do anything; the reason you can be successful at anything; your power for excellence and innovativeness is the Holy Ghost in you. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Therefore, if you’re struggling in your life; if it seems you’re putting in so much effort and recording incommensurate success, the chances are that you’re neither conscious nor taking advantage of the power of the Spirit within you. Paul said, “I can do all things through the ability of Christ in me”; the prophet Micah affirmed, “…truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord…” (Micah 3:8).

Become conscious, and take advantage of the power of the Spirit within you. Through that power, you can do the unthinkable, the unimaginable, and the impossible: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20). This is Christianity; it’s a life of dominion. You don’t need to go from place to place looking for help and seeking power; all the power you need is in you through the Holy Ghost. Put it to work.

..And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy… (ACTS 2:17)

Did you notice that the first response or result of having the Spirit poured out upon all flesh is that men and women would prophesy? It shows the importance of prophecy in prayer. Until you find yourself prophesying in prayer, you haven’t utilized the power and benefits of prayer.

Prophecy is two-fold: we speak forth and we foretell. The key is being filled with the Spirit. The Bible says in Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” The underlined expression connotes something that’s supposed to continue. The proper rendering is actually, “Be being filled with the Spirit.”

That means you should always be filled with the Spirit. If you’re that way, your prayer life will be enriched with prophecy where you speak forth God's Word and you foretell the future. Don’t leave your future in the hands of others; create your “aion”—course of life—with prophecy.

As an individual, how your life goes depends a lot on you. Likewise, as the Church of Jesus Christ, we must also recognize that we have a responsibility to determine what happens in our communities. That’s why our prayers must be laden with prophecies. Whenever we come together to pray, we must know we’re coming together to determine the future of our cities, our nations, and our world through our prophetic utterances. Hallelujah!