For as long as God speaks and people listen there will be modern-day prophecy. It is simply hearing from God about your life and the lives of others in a way that is strengthening, encouraging, and comforting. Christians who understand the prophetic will be making life choices based on what they believe God is saying about their purpose and destiny. For instance, someone may have a dream or they may have someone tell them something God showed them about themselves that they had never met before. A few such corresponding and confirming instances can set someone on an amazing life course.
Gift of prophecy
Prophesy is God’s way of calling out His truth about us and enabling us to rise to a greater reality. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:1 that we should desire spiritual gifts especially the gift of prophecy.
It is a common misconception that God only gifts some Christians in prophecy and not others. The verses often quoted to support this misconception are taken out of the context for it is written that to one shall be given the gift of X and to another the gift of Y and to another the gift of Z etc. However, that passage in I Corinthians 12 is in the context of an orderly worship meeting of the church and not life at large. This means that God may impress upon one to give a word of encouragement and another to heal the sick and another to prophesy during the gathering as the Spirit leads.
God is working through the body for the good of the church when we come together. This does not indicate that each person is only equipped with one spiritual gift. We all have the same Spirit and the same ability to operate in all of the gifts as the Spirit leads. Our responsibility is to follow the Lord’s leading in the exercising of those gifts. The key to that is learning to hear Him speak.
God Speaks to us Always
God is always speaking to us; we just have to learn how to identify His voice. Jesus said that the sheep know Sheppard’s voice. They learn Sheppard’s voice from spending time with him. In the same way, we learn the voice of God through spending time with Him reflecting on Him and listening for Him to speak.
God speaks in a variety of ways
He speaks through dreams, visions, impressions, prophetic knowledge, fragrances, angels, still small voice, etc. However, all prophesy must be judged by the infallible Scripture for anything that contradicts God’s Word is not God speaking. We know that all Scripture is God-breathed, and as such it is our standard to judge all prophecy. The Holy Spirit has also been given to us to lead us in all truth. The more time we spend with God and in His Word the more we will correctly identify His voice and His truth when and where He reveals it.
We can all grow in hearing God for ourselves. He is speaking. The question isn’t is He speaking, but are we listening?
