Thursday 26 January 2012
In 1Cor.14:1, the Apostle Paul tells us to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. He goes on to say in v.5 that the gift of prophecy is greater than the gift of tongues and the reason is because it edifies the church. Interestingly, despite Paul’s instruction, the pursuit and exercise of the gift of prophecy are quite absent in many churches. We emphasize many gifts – the gift of love, hospitality, leadership, tongues, discernment, etc. but seldom the gift of prophecy. I believe one reason for this lack is because of the abuse of the gift of prophecy. There are strange believers and so-called teachers of the Word who have given “prophecies of the flesh” instead of prophecies of the Lord. The reaction of many in church is unfortunately, throwing the baby out with the bath water. However, the solution of the problem of abuse is not disuse but proper use. What we need to do is to teach the church properly about the gift of prophecy – how we should desire and practice it. The most important starting point is to learn how to hear from God. This is not something anyone can claim to have mastered, but we can most certainly grow in being more and more discerning of God’s voice. I started the process of learning how to hear God’s voice as a young believer, having learned it from the church I was a part of. I began asking God questions about many things. For instance, “Lord, should I speak to this person about this issue or not?”, “Lord, should I buy this at this time?”, “Lord, should I do this or should I not?”, etc. After asking the question, I would wait quietly for a while, sometimes longer, and then I would respond to the first prompting I get in my heart believing that it is what the Lord wants me to do. I got it wrong sometimes, but most of the time, on hindsight, it was truly of God! Then, I started asking the Lord before praying for a person, “Lord, what would you like me to say to this person? Do you have a word for him?” The Holy Spirit would prompt my heart, I would then speak whatever I felt in my heart. To be prudent, I would usually say, “I feel the Lord impressed this on my heart ….”. I would also ask the person if the words made any sense. If they did, fantastic, if not, I’d ask the person to leave it at the back of their mind for sometime because it may become relevant later. If the words remained irrelevant, I’d ask them to just throw it out because I could have been wrong. As I did this more and more, I found that the accuracy rate also increased. Glory to God! As you begin your walk with God today, why not begin by desiring the gift of prophecy and boldly yet humbly practice it. I believe when you do so, you will begin to edify many, including non-believers! Enjoy Him, love Him, serve Him.
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” (1Cor.14:1)
Pastor Barnabas Chong
Email us at twc@cairnhillchurch.com
Today’s recommended video: Prophesy (Christian City Church Oxford Falls) ……
