‘Prophecy’ by Claire Lynch, 2 June 2024
How does God speak to us today, and how can we helpfully share this? Claire Lynch looks at what the Bible says about prophecy in the lives of people who follow Jesus, and what we have learned about this from experience and practice in sharing.
Transcript
Good morning! So this morning we are going to be exploring the topic of prophecy.
Just now, we witnessed Kyle and Rossie, speak words of affirmation, encouragement and blessing over Zeph. They spoke over Zeph what they see God doing in his life, who they see God has made Zeph to be and what they believe God has in store for Zeph in the future, in the hope and prayer that Zeph might walk in all the fullness of what God has for him.
Kyle and Rossie, in prophesying over Zeph, not only expressed their heart for him, but more importantly what they believe God’s heart is for him. God’s heart of love, of grace, and of faithfulness and commitment to Zeph. What a wonderful thing.
But just as I am sure we would all resonate and celebrate God’s heart over Zeph in this way, we each also, have a God who is for us, with a heart full of love, grace and faithfulness. That there are many wonderful things that God would say over each of us, were he given the chance. How might you have felt today if had been stood on this chair like Zeph. What might God say over you?
Prophecy, is a wonderful, life giving practice, that the apostle Paul in the Bible encourages us to eagerly desire and to do. And you can see why.
So this is what we are going to look at today. There’s so much that we could talk about prophecy but we don’t have the time - so I just want to cover a few key elements - that if you’ve never done this before, will be enough to get you started. And then we will take a little time at the end to practise.
Hearing from God is your birthright.
So first of all - hearing from God is our birthright! As children of God, created in his image, it is normal and expected for God to speak to us.
Think about it, if your actual father or mother didn’t speak to you, you would have a highly dysfunctional relationship right?
So just as you expect your Dad or Mum to speak to you with love and kindness, so we can expect God, as our divine parent to speak to us with love and kindness.
And please don’t exclude yourself, if you’re here and you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian or think of yourself as a child of God. If God exists, and therefore by definition he made each one of us, why wouldn’t we have the capacity to be able to hear him and speak with him.
Many of us, who are in relationship with God will know full well how God was working in our lives and speaking to us, even before we ever acknowledged him.
This is not just for people in ‘the club’. God loves to speak to every one of us. I believe he is speaking to us more than we ever imagine, it’s just that sometimes we need to learn how to recognise his voice - and thats what we are going to be doing a bit more of today.
The goal of prophecy is love
Next thing is that that the goal of prophecy is love. We want to make sure that people feel loved when we give them a prophecy. The trouble is, we can fall into the trap of thinking it’s about accuracy. And so because we are not totally sure we’ve got it right, we don’t want to make a mistake or look stupid, we hold back from giving the word.
But the goal is not accuracy, it’s love.
The question we want to ask with every prophetic word is - does this leave the person feeling more loved. And if the answer is yes, why not give it.?
That famous passage about love which is often read at weddings written by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 says this:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If we have all the prophetic gifts in the world, but we do not love - then we are like a clanging symbol - noisy and annoying.
In addition to this, in 1 Corinthians 14:3, Paul says:
“But everyone who prophesies speaks to [people] for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort”
See God’s voice is not a condemning voice. I think many of us feel scared of what God might say to us. But God’s voice is liberating, full of grace and love - like the very best Mother, like the very best Father. The most attentive, kind, gracious, generous, patient parent, a mother or Father could be.
Just ponder that for a moment. When God’s speaks to you, he speaks to strengthen, encourage and comfort. Don’t believe those thoughts and ideas that tell you God wants to expose and humiliate you. Some of us believe that God knows our every thought and every feeling and we feel ashamed, we are scared that God will expose what only he and we know about ourself and expose it in prophecy. That is not God’s desire. Yes, God knows the secrets of our hearts, but the last thing he wishes to do is to humiliate and expose us. God wants to restore your self-respect and self-esteem. He loves you more than you probably love yourself. His desire is to lift you up and re-establish your confidence, to renew your sense of self-worth.
The goal of prophecy is love.
Everyone gets to play
In 1 Cor 14:5, Paul goes on to say:
I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.
Why would Paul rather have everyone prophesy? Of course, because it encourages, strengthens and comforts people.
This is contrary to what many people feel in regard to prophecy. Many people disqualify themselves from joining in for so many reasons:
They are feeling guilty or ashamed about themselves and don’t feel they’re good enough to hear from God,
But prophecy is something that we can all do. The Jewish prophet Joel, said that a day would come when God would speak through all people
Joel 2:28,
‘And afterwards,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.’
That day arrived with Jesus. When he ascended into heaven and poured out his Spirit at Pentecost, that day came.
Paul encourages the Corinthians to ‘eagerly desire the gift of prophecy’. This proves that its not just something that is reserved for the special chosen, a gift your’e either born with or not. No, Paul encourages us to eagerly desire it, because it’s something we can ask for more of, something we can practice, something we can grow in.
Some of you may be familiar with Shawn Bolz, he’s very gifted in the prophetic. He wasn’t born that way, he was just a regular guy. And when he was on staff at a church as a young assistant pastor for 2 years he committed to going through the church database and calling up 7-14 people every week and giving them a prophetic word. He just practised, he pursued the gift and God was more than delighted to bless him with it.
I’m reminded of John Wimber, who founded the Vineyard movement and who had an amazing healing ministry, probably saw thousands of people healed. He prayed for 200 people before he ever saw one person healed - in fact I think 2 people died! He practised and practised and refused to give up. I wonder how many of us give up after about the third failed attempt!!
So prophecy is for all of us if we want it - everyone gets to play.
How do we hear God?
Hearing God speak comes out of personal intimacy with God. The better we know him, the more able we are to recognise his voice. It makes sense, yeah?
In Hosea 9:7 (a story in the Old Testament) a person who speaks prophetically is called an inspired person. They are someone who is breathed upon by God and they have inspired that breath.
You know when you are having an intimate conversation with someone, perhaps sharing something personal with a friend in a busy place and you lean over and they whisper something to you. You feel their breath on your face. This is the metaphor that Hosea is using when he describes someone who listens to God speak to them. God speaks to us in whisper, in a way that you can only really hear if you are prepared to get close.
God invites us into close communication with him. To be prophetic is to be a friend of God. God speaks to those who talk to him and listen to him, and act on what he tells them.
And so when we share a prophetic word, the truth it’s likely to be a mixture of a bit from God and a bit from us. But more we know God, the more able we’ll be able to reflect his heart.
How does God speak?
There’s many different ways you may sense God speaking:
The most common and simplest way that God seems to speak is through an impression in your mind’s eye.
You may simply get an image or see a word in your mind’s eye that kickstarts a sense of God speaking. It may be that there is something about a person you’re looking at that triggers a sense of what God might be saying. It could be the expression on their face or an item of clothing they are wearing.
Or it could be something you see in your mind’s eye superimposed on your vision.
You might notice an emotion that is completely unrelated to your own experience in that moment. You may start to experience a sensation in a part of your own body that is unrelated to what you are physically doing.
The thing to do is to ask the Holy Spirit what this might mean or ask the other person if this means anything to them. If God is speaking, the impression you have may well deepen and expand beyond your initial interpretation.
God might bring other things to mind for you, like a Bible verse, or some words of a song. He may draw your attention to a physical object. Some people hear an audible voice. He may speak to you through your dreams.
God knows how we are wired and will speaks to each of us in a way that most makes sense to us. So it’s different for everyone.
Sometimes you can get a fleeting thought, that goes as quickly as it comes. A bit like a feather dropping on your arm, which you brush off without noticing. But if you can learn to notice those fleeting thoughts, to catch that thought and bring it back before it’s gone - that can be helpful.
I find the needle in a haystack analogy helpful. Sometimes when listening for a word for someone it’s difficult to know where to start. God could be saying anything. A bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack. So instead, make the haystack smaller - ask God for an animal, tree, season ( one of four options!) etc where the characteristics describe that person.
Top Tips
Ok - so a few top tips, and then we are going to give it a go.
1. Chew the fish, spit out the bones
1Thess 5:20 says, we should test everything, and hold on to the good. That we would chew the fish carefully and spit out the bones.
Any prophecy is likely to be a bit of God and a bit of the person giving it.
And so of someone is giving you a word, it’s important to weigh it.
Does this resonate with you?
Does the word fit with the character and nature of God, that we see in Jesus.
Does the word cause fear or shame, if so that doesn’t sound like God. Remember prophecy is to encourage, comfort and strengthen.
Does it confirm what God is already saying? God rarely speaks out of the blue, more often than not a prophetic word confirms what God is already saying to you.
So if the word sits well, great receive it , if not, just let that one go then, the person made a mistake, no big deal.
When we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, we have the ability to discern for ourselves, whether this is Gods word to us or not. So whether the word is from some big famous prophetic person or someone doing it for the first time, we should still weigh it.
Someone with years of experience can make a mistake and someone who is doing if for the first time can be spot on - we just don’t know. So we weigh it for ourselves.
2. Don’t be weird
You might have been put off prophecy because the way it’s been used in the past. Maybe you’ve met prophetically gifted people whose character and manner are off putting. Maybe they haven’t acted with love or just been a bit weird!
So when we’re giving a word, we don’t need to change our voice or speak more loudly, to emphasise what we’re saying. If it’s God’s word for that moment, it’ll cut straight to the heart even if you whisper it.
Be open to the fact you might be wrong … “I have a sense, God might be saying ….” is a great way to start. Then it just leaves it open for the other person to weigh it.
Don’t use spiritual language that doesn’t make sense.
Think about how you are saying it as if you were speaking to your neighbour next door, that you’re gonna see everyday.
3. No hatch, match or dispatch!
Don’t prophecy about about pregnancies, marriages and deaths - really not helpful!
4. Cut to the chase
When you’re giving a word - cut to the chase, what is the essence of the word?
You don’t have to describe everything you see or sense, or have some big long intro into how you came about the word - you know how people often do . “ oh I was on my way to church this morning, and I happened to take a different route, I don’t normally go this way, but today I did and then I saw someone who looked just like you and it reminded me of this dream I had and thats how I know this is for you….” Blady blady blah!
What is the essence, what is God’s heart, that’s all that matters.
If you have a bit of time, you may pray about it - how can I give this word in the most helpful and clear way - uncluttered, that will communicate God’s heart. What is the essence.
5. Prophesy potential not the problem
And what I mean by this is, sometimes God might reveal something to us about the person - maybe they are struggling with insecurity, maybe that they have shame. But this isn’t necessarily the thing God is wanting you to say - if they are feeling these things, they already know full well and they don’t need you to tell them!!
That would be prophesying the problem.
But the prophecy is speaking Gods heart into a situation, and God sometimes lets us in on something, so we understand the situation we are speaking into .
So if God gives you a sense of something like that, the next thing to ask is, so God what is your perspective on this. How do you see the person, what do you want to say. - that’s the word to share.
Sometimes we think we need to say everything that comes to mind but that not the case.
Shawn Bolz says : See people as God sees them and prophesy them into their full identity in God.
OK, so now we are going to give this a go. We’re going to put 4 chairs up here and have a think whether you might like to sit on one of these chairs in a moment. The ones on the chairs are the ones being prophesied over - so that’s the easier bit!
As we get this sorted, for those of you at home, we are going to say goodbye to you for this morning. Thank you for joining us and we do hope you can join us next week.
Practical
Invite people up
Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you for one of the people up there.
If you’re not sure who, then ask the Holy Spirit to highlight someone to you something might catch you attention. Or you might just get a quickening in you spirit. Or if you don’t know who, just randomly pick someone. It really doesn’t matter, God is amazing at working around us!
So if you have picked someone, but you’re struggling to get a sense of anything - you might want to begin to start praying for that person, and let God warm your heart for them and begin to reveal his heart to you.
It may be that you want to use the needle in a haystack analogy. Ask God for a season, or an animal or a tree, that describes them.
As you begin to get a sense of something, however fleeting it may be, just start to converse with the Holy Spirit on that.
I find the traffic light analogy helpful - and there’s often 3 stages in how we process with the Holy Spirit what we are sensing.
Revelation - red light
So the first thing is the initial sense/revelation we may get. This is the red light - so we are not going do anything at this stage.
This could be a word of knowledge, an impression, a feeling, a word, a thought (any of the ways God might speak!)
Sometimes, the information we get may appear negative, remember we don’t prophesy the problem. This might be just something God is alerting us to so we understand the context.
It may be that God speaks to us through a picture that means something to us, but would mean something different to the person. Again, we may not share this picture, this may just be about how God is speaking to us for this situation.
When you have a sense of something, its always good to ask the Holy Spirit - is there anything else?? often we might get a series of things.
Interpretation - amber light
This is the amber stage, so still we don’t act, we stay still, its where we can say.."ok, thank you God for that, now in the light of that, what is it you want to say to them". This bit is actually the prophecy.
Prophesy is communicating God's perspective on a situation, speaking God's heart into the situation. So this is the amber stage.
This is the prophesying the potential bit!
Application - green light
So after we've received an impression or word and we've asked God for an interpretation, the next thing is the application.
We need God’s wisdom for this.
There are generally three options, pray it, shelve it or give it. Occasionally you may get a sense for someone and God is actually just prompting you to pray it. Or it might be that you have a sense of something but it doesn’t quite feel the right time to share it or it doesn’t fully make sense yet - then shelve it, keep it there and wait, or most likely it might be appropriate to give it.
Once we’ve worked this out, then we are on green, we can go!