WHEN GOD SPEAKS – PROVOKING PROPHESY

WHAT IS PROPHESY: –

Prophesy is the revelation of what GOD is going to do, or revealing the will of God
about the future or a future event or events.

A typical example of prophesy is when God spoke to Abraham directly about what He intended to do in his life and the steps he needed to take to position himself in circumstances that will allow God to fulfill His promises/prophecies in his life.  Gen.12^1-3

Many a times God speaks through a prophet to a group of people, to let them know His will about certain situations or circumstances.
Sometimes God may tell a prophet or an individual something and say it is for his or her ears only, it is not for public consumption, for example Daniels visions in chapters 7 and 8  – Daniel 8²⁶

These are all examples of Gods prophesy that can occur in the life of any individual who is a believer of the Christian faith and has chosen to walk with God.

WHAT PURPOSE DOES PROPHESY SERVE?

The relevance of prophesy in our modern technological age is mainly for guidance and warning against danger. For most devout Christians, God( The Holy Spirit) tells them most times about things to come and tells them which way to go or what to do and not to do; but a lot of times we choose to ignore such guidance or warning because of our flesh or personality that is always in conflict with the Holy Spirit (God). It is to be noted that spiritual things, such as communication (prophesy) with the Almighty God, the creator of the ends of the Universe cannot be subjected to our scientific interpretations or measurements, for spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor.2¹⁴ ) Prophesy amongst believers of the Christian faith helps them to grow in the Lord, encouraging and giving them comfort. (1 Cor.14³ )

CHANNELS OF PROPHESY:

The mode of communication for receiving Gods instructions (prophesy) concerning His will; may vary from individual to individual. These various modes are regarded as spiritual gifts which manifests in various degrees of clarity and effectiveness in each individual. Rarely an individual may exhibit all the modes; these are:-

• Through Dreams: God speaks in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in bed. Most individuals experience this mode of communication with  God (Holy Spirit), although many a times they fail to remember their dreams or do not take them seriously when they do (Job 33¹⁵)
• Open Vision: At times events yet to happen are shown to some individuals ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ as they fall into what can be described as a semi sleep or trance state very briefly (seconds). An example is Peter’s vision in the book of Acts 10^9-16 .
• Audible Voice – This is when God speaks and you hear Him distinctly. This does happen to believers who have developed a very personal walk with the Almighty God, through living a righteous, holy life of prayer and fasting, supported by good works. An example of this is seen when God called on innocent Samuel as he took up apprentice priesthood duties with Eli the priest, in 1 Samuel 3^2-14 .

HOW DO WE KNOW TRUE PROPHESY:

Prophesy can come from the following sources:-
(1) God

(2) Devil

(3) The Spirit of Man

The most outstanding feature of a true Prophesy from God is that, it usually sounds difficult to believe because invariably it does not tally with our human understanding. As a believer, you need to have FAITH in God to BELIEVE or ACCEPT it because none of our scientific laws can explain it. As previously stated, this is basically a spiritual thing and can only be understood from a spiritual point of view. Many examples abound in the Bible, one of which is Elisha’s prophesy during the great famine in Samaria and also Ezekiel’s vision and experience in the valley of dry bones. (2 Kings 7^1-2 , Ezekiel 37^1-10 )

WHAT IS PROVOKING?

To provoke, is to cause someone to do what he doesn’t plan to do. We desire to provoke The Almighty God to prophesy on our behalf because we know when He does, we are bound to benefit and our situation can never remain the same.

HOW DO WE PROVOKE GOD TO SPEAK/PROPHESY?

In the Bible, certain actions done by some individuals did provoke God to speak or prophesy on their behalf. Some examples are:-

• When Noah offered a sweet smelling sacrifice unto God, God spoke (Genesis 8^20-22)
• When Abraham tried to offer Isaac as sacrifice unto God in obedience to His instruction, God spoke (Genesis 22^1-18)
• After King Solomon’s burnt offerings unto God, God spoke. (2 Chronicles 1^6-12)

From the forgoing we can conclude that we can provoke God to prophesy on our behalf, if we can give a quality sacrificial offering, an offering that is unusual, not necessarily money, could be serious fasting and prayer, etc. Also rededicating our lives to serve the Almighty God through our Lord Jesus Christ and giving God Intense Praises can also elicit Gods prophesy. All these are corroborated in the Holy book, the Bible. (1 Kings 18^30-41, 2 Kings 3^15-16)

 WHAT DO I DO WHEN I HEAR; THUS SAYS THE LORD:

It is the DUTY of every believer to PRAY into manifestation any prophesy of God given on his or her behalf. Accepting the prophesy and not linking yourself to it through prayer and possibly fasting; the prophesy may become a mirage and unfulfilled because of opposing forces of negativity from the environment and even at times from yourself, from your unbelief and doubts. Prayer and fasting helps you to overcome theses negativities and reinforces the positive manifestation of Gods purpose in your life through the prophesy. Your modus operandi should be PUSH which is: Pray Until Something Happens.

A typical example of this is found in 1 Kings 18^41-15, where the prophet Elijah prayed until it rained.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, to provoke God to prophesy on your behalf, you must be BORN AGAIN, that is to say you must accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior and depart from your former sinful ways to follow after His precepts. This is a basic step necessary for every believer, as the bible describes such an individual as a new creature in the Lord.(2 Cor.5¹⁷)
For our prayers, offerings, sacrifices and praises to be acceptable; to provoke the Almighty God to prophesy on our behalf, we must fulfill this basic step.

                                     CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY.

Author: Ola Suyee