Profiting from Prophecy

UV 438/10,000 I Corinthians 14 v 3 The functions and utility of prophecy 1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort In these last days, the Lord has poured out His spirit on all flesh that our sons and daughters will prophesy, our old men will see dreams and our young men see visions. This is literally true, a few years ago, the Lord spoke through our eight year old daughter,” Do not judge others, I am at the door.” Later, He told us ,” I am speaking to you through your children as you are not listening to me.” Prophecy has the function of admonition or warning from the Holy Spirit to change our ways. God is a wonderful Person- it is natural He speaks to us or communicates through signs and wonders. We must not respond with disbelief or we grieve the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we should not make prophecy our staple diet replacing the Word in our lives. Very often the most effective and true prophecy is accompanied by a specific portion of scripture to corroborate the prophetic utterance. For instance, the Lord said in a prophetic word, “ I am going to split your tongue.” That utterance was accompanied by a specific reference to the verse in James, “ Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.” The purpose of this prophecy was to build up my communication pattern to be more wholesome and effective. It was meant to edify or build me up. It is intended to build a godly character. It is sometimes given to give guidance in decision making and to fulfill a God –given vision. Once, I was specifically told, “ You have good ideas but you need to form a team to implement the ideas.” Through prophecies, the Lord reveals whether He is pleased or not with our spiritual progress. He exhorts us to move faster if He is not. In times of testing and trial of our faith, the Lord speaks a prophetic word to encourage us to remain faithful and not to give up. Recently, my daughter prayed with a prophet just before she left for her final examinations. She received a prophetic word, “ You will have a testimony between your examinations.” Accordingly, she fell ill the day before the last paper in her graduation examinations. Remembering the prophetic word,we could encourage her to muster her reserves and go and write the final paper. This prophecy was meant for her and our comfort. Similarly, she received last year a word of prophecy from someone on God TV that “ a young lady in India is praying for an university admission in the UK.” Accordingly, a month ago, Praise the Lord, she received an unconditional offer of admission in the desired law school in London. Altogether, prophecies are meant for the building up of our faith in the fact that the Lord is concerned about us as a loving Parent and He does speak to us directly and personally as a person speaks to another. Prateep V Philip