Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

Insights on How to Prophesy

the Church, except that the Old Testament prophet was usually given a dramatic experience to verify the Lord's presence, whereas today's Chris tian has the Holy Spirit abiding within. Local church prophecy springs from the same anointing and inspiration that causes a person to speak in tongues.Fluency in personal, devotional "spiritual language" greatly facilitates the ability to experience inspiration and speak with prophetic unction.Tongues and prophecy are closely allied and have an overlapping effect, since both are inspired utterance. Here are some ways prophecy comes and how we can cooperate with God and each other to see the best pqssible results: A strong, undeniable mental impression. In its simplest form, New Testament prophecy consists of receiving a "revelation" from God (apokalupsis) and then reporting that revelation publicly under the impe tus of the Holy Spirit.Usually there is a strong, persistent, unshakable thought that one perceives to be from God.God makes "a direct, divine impression" spoken in the inner spirit of the prophet. 1 This is similar to and can even be identical-to the Old Testament experience of hearing the audible voice of God.Jack Hayford describes prophecy like this: "...When a Christian either hears, sees, or senses a prompting from the Holy Spirit and speaks what he or she has received ... to someone need ing the ministry that gift will supply." 2 If a person actually hears an audible voice or receives a mental impulse from the Holy Spirit, it may mean that he or she is to retell what God has spoken.The empowerment of the Spirit may come on the person and he or she will be saying it exactly as it was given. A vision. In this case a person relates a word or picture that is seen, as John did (Revelation 1:11).These mental pictures are God's prophetic visual effects, and they sometimes make a clearer statement than words can.Usually the person receiving the vision simply tells it as it has been (or is) unfolding in his or her mind.A divine vision is attended by the spe cial presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit.Often such a vivid visual ization of a spiritual truth is better retained in human memory than words would be.I have met people with whom I shared such a vision years before, and the picture was still fresh in their minds. A revelation from God has a unique touch on it.There is such clarity of picture, logic of sequence, forcefulness of meaning and power of expres sion that it can clearly be attributed to God.It is best to wait for the mean ing of a vision before giving it. A spontaneous burst ofwords. This is generally a more dynamic, Pen tecostal style of prophecy.In chapter 5 I called this "an immediate unc tion." Old Testament prophets and prophetesses would sometimes proph esy like this.Although powerful, such unpremeditated manifestation can 365.