You Can All Prophesy

1 Corinthians 14:31 NKJV

For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

An important aspect of living the Spirit-filled life includes spiritual gifts. And of all of the spiritual gifts that we are given, we are told to especially desire to prophesy (1 Corinthians 14.1).

Despite the mystery and stigma associated with spiritual gifts, hearing God is a normal part of the Christian’s experience. Sharing what God says is an extension of that experience. At its core, this is what prophesy is: hearing God and saying what He says.

I remember the first time I ever received a prophetic word. I was a relatively new believer and had been in a period of prayer. I barely even knew anything about spiritual gifts. But we had a guest speaker, Sis. Jane Lowder, and she was ministering in prayer at the altar. When she got to me, she began to prophesy and the details of that word were answers to what I had been praying. I saw a vision as she concluded the word which greatly impacted my life. It was an amazing experience and one I can vividly recall almost 24 years later.

Has that ever happened to you? Has anyone ever blessed you by sharing something that you knew was from God, where you knew it was God speaking to you through that person? What if you could do that for someone else?

Spiritual gifts, or charismaton in the Greek, are gifts of God’s grace (charis in the Greek). They are given to us through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.4) and are part of the spiritual power that Jesus promised we would receive when the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1.8).

If we neglect to use the gifts that God gives us, we end up lacking some of the grace that God has provided for us to walk in our purpose. And the truth is that we need God’s power to do His work.

This means that we will do things and believe things that the world rejects. What is normal in the Kingdom are not normal in the world. Example: relationship standards. Remember that there is a price to following Jesus.

But the reward is well worth it.

Embracing Spiritual Gifts

Embracing spiritual gifts, and especially prophesy, means that we will be used by God to edify, encourage, and comfort people. God will use you to bring hope and strength and change. God will use you to build His church, redeem lost people, and place them in community. When we choose to receive and walk in this grace, we will practice using spiritual gifts for the good of others and the glory of God. It’s time we choose to pursue the spiritual gifts!

Avoiding the prophetic or spiritual gifts because of abuse or weirdness will limit our faith. This is just like drinking poison and expecting someone else to suffer—we are the ones who miss what God has for us. And leaving the use of spiritual gifts to the “spiritual elite” is just as bad.

God gave us gifts, individually, so that we would use them (1 Corinthians 12.11).

How would that make you feel to go out of your way to give someone a gift that would bless them and others, only for them to never use it or even refuse to use it?

We need to have faith in God that He gives us good gifts (James 1.17). He promises to teach us and lead us in the truth...and He will—even in the use of spiritual gifts (1 John 2.27, Romans 8.14).

Like Jesus, we are invited to be about our Father’s business (Luke 2.49). Just like we would use our natural gifts to bring success in our business, when we use our spiritual gifts we do our part in bringing the success of God’s.

Remember that using spiritual gifts to build God’s church and bring encouragement, edification, and comfort to people is God’s idea. We can use these gifts because God says that we can. The Scriptures promise these things and the Holy Spirit provides them. God wants to build His church and the prophetic is one of the critical ways that He does so.

1 Corinthians 14:3–4 NKJV

3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

Especially That You May Prophesy

We are commanded to pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts. And we are encouraged to especially desire that we may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14.1).

Here are four ways that we can receive and practice the gift of prophesy (though these principles work for all spiritual gifts):

Pursuit

One of the most important qualities of strong faith is spiritual hunger (Matthew 5.6).

When we are hungry for (desire) God and His gifts we persistently pursue Him.

Luke 11:5–13 NKJV

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The man asked for bread. Jesus compared bread to the will and words of God. He is the Bread of Life and the Word of God. This story, about asking, has layers of meaning, including asking, seeking, knocking for a word from God (bread) for our neighbor. As well as receiving the good gift of God—the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, ask God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Seek Him out, to learn and to know more. Knock and keep looking for access to the things of God.

When you do, it will be given, you will find, and it will be opened…and what God gives you will be good, coming from the Holy Spirit!

Practice

2 Timothy 1:6–7 NKJV

6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We grow in our gifts and our impact when we use them. Timothy needed to be reminded to use the gift that God had given to him. Paul reminded him that God gave him power and that he should not be afraid to operate in the gift that God had given to him.

Romans 12:6 NKJV

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

We need to use the gifts that God gives to us. We can not allow ourselves to be shut down by fear. Instead, let us have faith in God and begin to operate in our gifts according to the measure of faith that we have.

As we use our gifts and see God use them our faith and confidence will grow.

Proficiency

As we practice in faith we will develop proficiency.

2 Timothy 3:14–15 NKJV

14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

We need to continue in using our gifts. By continuing in them, we will grow both in confidence and faith and proficiency.

When I started, it was to believe God for a single word. Then it was a phrase. Then it was for more details.

As I have practiced and stirred up the gifts in me I have learned the nuances in which God speaks to me and I have developed a greater sensitivity and awareness to His leading and guiding.

And yet, I’ve had periods of my life where due to someone else’s abuse or weirdness, I shied away from using my gifts as boldly or often. And I think like a muscle, you can atrophy. We want to maintain our spiritual strength by actively working on our growth, including in spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Timothy 4.7-8).

Protocol

The Letter to the Corinthians we partially written to address the best practices of using our spiritual gifts. In chapter 13 the Apostle Paul emphasizes the role of love in using our gifts. In chapter 14, he offers guidelines or protocols on how to use spiritual gifts in the local church. He does this to preserve unity in love and to prevent abuse.

1 Corinthians 14:31–33 NKJV

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

1 Corinthians 14:39–40 NKJV

39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

We need to learn to operate in our gifts in a way that honors others and does not cause confusion. Here are a few guidelines that we should consider as good protocol.

Remember that everything we do reflects on God. Distinguish between you and God.

Remember that God will not force you to speak - your spirit is subject to you. There are times that you need to keep quiet even if God is speaking to you. Context matters.

Remember that the goal of the prophetic is to encourage and instruct to build the church. If what you think God is saying to you is not redemptive, you should not release it.

Remember to respect spiritual authority and honor people. This means spiritual gifts should be submitted to leadership. It also means that we don’t ambush people.

Conclusion

Operating in spiritual gifts builds our faith and is a part of living a Spirit-filled life. When we use the gift of prophecy we will know that God is using us to speak to others and encourage them.

When we practice spiritual gifts we become partners with God and help build His Church through edifying, encouraging, and comforting people with His words for them.

Our gifts will be used by God to change lives and destinies for the glory of God and the good of people.

Pursue spiritual gifts, especially prophesy.

Practice spiritual gifts in faith.

Continue in them and develop your proficiency.

Operate according to the protocol that the Scriptures lay out and leaders establish.

Together we will see God do great things!