Two Simple Steps of Prophecy

 

Two Simple Steps of Prophecy 

by Bill Frisbie, Elijah House Spiritual Director

In 1984 my wife and I attended a small church meeting that ended up changing our lives.

Out of the blue, a prophetic brother looked at me and said, “I see you get depressed once a month.”

Wow, I thought, startled. How did he know that? 

That was my first encounter with the prophetic. At the time, I was an evangelical Christian who had a deep love for God’s Word and prayer. Those were the main two ways I connected with Him. I hadn’t been taught about the prophetic—actually I hadn’t even heard of it. 

But that night, all at once, I went from knowing God only in certain ways to knowing Him RIGHT NOW. I realized at a brand-new level that He’s alive and He’s speaking. It was as if everything inside me caught fire in the best of ways.

As the Lord communicated to me through this other person, I felt like He was saying, “Bill, I know you. I know about you, and I want to talk to you. I want to have a relationship with you.”

The Aftermath of Prophetic Encounters

When this kind of encounter happens, we become what I would call lovesick. 

Now that we know the prophetic exists, we want to hear more about God’s heart toward us. We become desperate to hear His heart again.

“Wow. What you just said—that was spot on! Would you speak to me again? Is there something more you want to tell me? I’m listening! I just need another word from God!” 

The apostle Paul wrote about prophecy and being lovesick in 1 Corinthians 14:24–25:

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. (NASB)

Can you hear the cry of that man’s heart? 

“How did you know what you just said to me? How did you know it? Oh my goodness! This changes everything—I MUST have more of God!”

That’s what prophetic ministry is all about. It introduces worship and fire both together. 

When we give someone a word from God, we’re essentially saying, “Let me show you who God is and what He’s saying about you, so you can realize how much you’re loved.”

Recognizing Prophetic Movements for What They Are

A lot of prophetic movements are rejected or spoken against because they’re full of people who are learning God speaks—men and women who have been set on fire and they’re desperate to hear His voice again. 

I know there are many folks who look at prophetic movements and say, “Those poor people. They’re so misguided—they have to get a word from a person just to conduct the affairs of their lives. They don’t hear from God themselves.” 

But we can’t write off movements that set people’s hearts on fire! 

When you’re lovesick, you just want to be with the One who spoke to you. These are children of God who have come alive and fallen head over heels in love with the God Who Speaks! 

Listening to God for Ourselves

Once this has happened—when we’ve realized prophecy is a real thing—the next step is learning to hear God for ourselves. 

This step is incredibly important to our growth and maturity—as well as to what God is doing both in our hearts and in the world around us. There is a charge to the body of Christ to help our constituents mature toward being able to hear from the Lord for themselves.

But at the same time—may we never lose our first love. The fire of His voice. The deepest longing just to hear from Him again.