The Lord promised us that all His children would be given the precious gift to prophesy. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…” (Joel 2:28).
To prophesy is to speak from the mind of God. When you prophesy you are but the instrument that God is pouring through. Prophesying can be about truths from the past, the present or things that might happen in the future. Prophesying future events may be warnings if things don’t change or they may be preordained destinies already decided in the courts of heaven.
When the Spirit of God is upon you, the words of God will flow through you. “Then the Lord came down in the cloud…and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied…” (Numbers 11:25).
I have found most prophesying is the revelation of God’s truth for the present, though useful for the future. We can see that this is true for many of the prophet books in the Bible. The prophets exposed the darkness of the people in their day and warned them of their foolishness. God is looking to change people’s hearts right at the time they are in.
If you have never prophesied over someone, then I pray you would prepare yourselves so God could reach the world around you, through you. You must be in the Word that you would discern a word from God.
When you prophesy, the Holy Spirit gives you the words to say. “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
Find a mentor to help you learn and grow. If you refuse to be mentored, then your pride stands between you and God.
Find a trusted brother or sister in Christ that you can prophesy with. Most often, you need to find someone who is not from your past.
People from your past will often try to keep you there. “…Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house'” (Matthew 13:57).
Before you prophesy, be set apart and be in prayer for much time beforehand. I have found it helps to face each other when prophesying. I also find it helps to touch each other’s hands or put a hand on the shoulder when prophesying to that person.
If you speak in a heavenly language, then start there that your spiritual words would move you in your spirit. If you don’t speak in a heavenly language, then just pray to the Holy Spirit to speak to you in your natural language.
Don’t condemn things just because you don’t understand them. “My friends, be eager to prophesy and don’t stop anyone from speaking languages that others don’t know” (1 Corinthians 14:39 CEV).
You must quiet your soul to hear the whispers of God. “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10).
Be in prayer and ask the Spirit of God to give you even one word for the other person. Be careful to not base this word on what you know about the person or what you see in their emotions when you look at them.
The Spirit sees deep into their heart and can tell you things you cannot see. Sometimes the Spirit will show you an image. Just say the image you see, even if you do not understand the image. I have found others around me or the person I am prophesying to will interpret what the image means.
To hear the Holy Spirit, you must be willing to wait until He speaks to you.
You won’t get a fresh word eating the canned goods of man. “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice…'” (Hebrews 3:7).
Never despair if you do not get a word right away. Sometimes the test is to see if you will wait for Him. Sometimes the test from God is to see if your pride rules you such that you give a word from your own resources. A humble heart will gladly remain quiet if they do not have a word.
If you don’t get a word, then simply pray for them. Tell them you don’t have a word, but there is something on your heart, or a verse that has come to mind that you want to read for them. Often the prophetic word they need is in the verse that God is placing on your heart.
The success of your ministry is not if man listens to you, but if you would listen to God. “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last.” (Isaiah 48:12 NLT).
If you want to hear from God, you need to spend time with Him. “At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart.” (Psalm 5:3 TPT).
The problem we have is our pride thinks we must prove to someone that we hear from God. Your pride will be the barrier between God and yourself. You cannot prophesy from the Lord with a prideful spirit because pride makes us deaf and blind to the things of heaven.
It is better to be silent and right rather than to be prophetic but in error.
Never try to put words into the mouth of God and then claim you can hear Him.
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius
All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted. Please use the version you prefer to review the verses shown here. The best version is the one you read. An even better version is the one you live.
Thank you Paul for this teaching.
I have been praying for a mentor.
You are most welcome. Prayers for you that you can find a mentor in your area.
Thank you for the words of wisdom. Psalms 3:5 is one of my many spoken verses to God during prayer. The Holy Spirit wakes me up to pray and prepare for the day most of the time at three in the morning. As I awake, I think I have to go to the bathroom and I go. But when I get back in the bed, I am reminded to pray and thank God for he is my alarm clock and has been waking me up for prayer even when sometimes I feel like I need more sleep, and get back in bed I find I cannot sleep so I thank God for the peace in my quiet time for everyone is asleep; I can bring all my cares or concern to him and wait for his response, I can pray for others that come to mind.
This morning I was awakened at 1:45 AM, went to the bathroom, and before returning to bed, I said a short prayer., “Lord I honor you and worship you for waking me up, I lay down all my circumstances at your feet and ask, you to allow me a little rest for my body is tired and painful: restore my strength and speak to me as I sleep, so when I awake, I will be renewed and ready to worship you.
Woke up with the word expectations on my mind… I prayed and thanked God for a restful, sleep and a renewed mind! My first post on FaceBook at 7 AM, was, “Thank You, God, for waking me up with an attitude of hope, peace, and expectation, in preparation, for service.
So I was not surprised at this morning’s sermon which was “A New Expectation”. Thank You God for a response with conformation to what you have put in my heart. I will continue to praise and worship you with anticipation while preparing as I wait with great expectation of what You have place in my heart.
I think that the more we can quiet our soul, the more we can sense the Lord is with us.
Thank God for my mentor that has prophecies, over my life in the past and I am seeing God using me for His glory as I mentor others, as the Holy Spirit leads me.