Ministries
November / December 2006
Lynne Hammond
Dearest Friend and Pray-er,
No matter how much we love the Lord, we all have times when we lose our inner spark—times when the trials and tribulations of life so tax our energy that our spiritual battery begins to run down.
Wouldn’t it be marvelous if we could simply plug into a divine power supply and get recharged at times like that? Then we could be like the energized rabbit on the battery commercials. No matter how many obstacles and difficulties came our way, we could just keep going… and going… and going… for Jesus. We could live every day aglow and burning with the Spirit, lit up with zeal for Him.
“Sounds great,” you might say. “But this is the real world. Nobody can actually live like that.”
Yes, we can! God has given us the resources we need to do it. He’s given us His Word and His indwelling Spirit. He’s given us the privilege of praying in tongues and praying with our understanding. What’s more, He has given us another resource that many believers never even use.
He’s given us the powerhouse of prophecy!
I’ve been studying that particular gift recently, and I don’t mind telling you, I’m stirred up about it. Today I’m determined to stir you up about it, too. I want to get you plugged into it, recharged, and full of fresh energy of the Spirit. I want prophecy to become a greater part of your personal, devotional life.
NOT FORETELLING—FORTH-TELLING!
Some people think that prophecy is only available to uniquely gifted individuals. They assume it’s just for spiritual leaders and specially called ministers. But according to the apostle Paul, that’s not so. He instructed all believers to covet that gift. He said, “I wish you all… prophesied!” (1 Corinthians 14:5)
One reason many believers are hesitant to prophesy is because they think all prophecy involves foretelling the future. In Old Testament times, that was true. Back then prophecy did predict future events. Since only the prophet and priest could do that, when God’s people wanted to hear from Him, they would have to ask the prophet or the priest to inquire of the Lord and prophesy to them.
Today, however, all that has changed. Instead of foretelling, the simple gift of New Testament prophecy is primarily forth-telling. It is inspired utterance that declares God’s truth.
You can actually get some insight into New Testament prophecy just by looking at the original definitions of the word. In Hebrew, prophecy means to “bubble up” or “flow forth like a fountain.” In Greek, it means “to speak for God.” When we put those two definitions together, we see that New Testament prophecy is simply letting the words of God bubble up from within and flow forth like a fountain.
Thank heavens, as a New Testament believer, you don’t have to go to someone who holds the religious office of “priest” or “prophet” to tap into the refreshing fountain of prophecy. You can do it yourself because as 1 Peter 2:9 says, “you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (NKJ).
If you are born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit, you can open your mouth and let rivers of inspired utterance flow from your innermost being! You can do what the apostle Paul encouraged the believers in his day to do.
You can “…be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19 KJV). You can “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16 KJV).
Not only can you do it, you must do it if you want to stay energized and on fire for God. Why is that? Because, according to the Bible, prophecy brings “…edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3), and those things are crucial to our spiritual well being. They are divinely designed to fulfill three vital needs in our Christian lives.
THE NEED TO BE RECHARGED
The word edification refers to “building or charging something up like you would recharge a battery.” As I mentioned earlier, God has provided us with several avenues of edification, such as the Word, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. But the move of the Holy Spirit—especially through prophecy—affects us like nothing else can.
Early in our Christian lives, my husband, Mac, and I found that out for ourselves. Right after we were born again, we began attending a Bible study where we were not only taught the Word but also experienced the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So, from the very inception of our born again experience, prophecy was a regular part of our lives. As a result, we grew very fast spiritually and we were extremely fervent. We had a lot of fire and zeal for the Lord.
The church we attended when we first moved to Minnesota, however, was very different. Although the pastor did preach the Word, the gifts of the Spirit didn’t operate there at all. After a while, I noticed our spiritual fire subtly began to cool off. I sought the Lord about it and He showed me that we needed the power of prophecy and the move of the Spirit to keep us charged up.
Ever since then, I’ve always put great emphasis on prophecy. I’ve found that when I don’t give place to it in my personal prayer life, something of the fire of God is lost in my experience. My spiritual energy wanes. My fervency begins to fizzle and only prophecy can make it sizzle again!
THE NEED TO DRAW NEAR
The second purpose of prophecy is to exhort which, in its most basic sense, means “to call someone near to God.” Prophetic exhortation can powerfully draw believers and even unbelievers right into the presence of the Lord. It can reveal to people just how real God actually is.
Brother Kenneth Hagin used to tell about a woman he knew who was particularly gifted in that kind of prophecy. He said that when she would stand up in church and exhort people to come to the Lord, the whole congregation would often be overwhelmed by God’s manifest presence. As a result, even hardened backsliders would repent. Sometimes every lost person present would come to the altar and give his or her life to the Lord.
Today, we don’t usually think of prophetic exhortation as a soul-winning tool. But it is. In fact, it’s one of the most effective evangelistic tools we have. As 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 says:
…if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. (KJV)
I saw a striking example of that kind of prophecy back in the early 1970s. At the time, I was with the teacher of that first Bible study I attended, and we were out witnessing to people on the street. We’d found a couple whose hearts were receptive, and we were just about to lead them in the sinner’s prayer when, seemingly out of nowhere, a Japanese man walked up to us and began mocking God.
Suddenly, the people we were about to pray with began drawing back. They were being influenced by what the man was saying. So my teacher began praying out loud in what sounded to us like other tongues. But, it wasn’t just tongues. It was prophecy because the words were Japanese!
Actually, tongues and interpretation are always equivalent to prophecy. But in this case, the Japanese man received the interpretation himself because my Bible teacher was speaking his native language. That was such a sign and wonder to him that he stopped mocking God and got saved instead!
THE NEED TO CONNECT WITH GOD’S OVERCOMING POWER
Not only does prophecy provide edification and exhortation, it also brings comfort. That’s something we all need, because a certain amount of trouble is guaranteed to come into the life of every believer. I’m not just being negative when I say that, either. I’m quoting Jesus. He said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33 KJV).
When we’re just thinking natural, fleshly thoughts, it’s hard to be of good cheer in times of trouble. It’s tough to walk in overcoming faith when circumstances seem overwhelming. At times like that, prophecy is a great help. It connects us with the spirit and truth of Jesus’ victorious power. It reminds us that power is abiding within us. It serves as a healing balm and a source of strength.
During times of stress, you can be totally delivered from the oppression of Satan by praying, speaking, and singing in the spirit of prophecy. I’ve proven that in my own life, and I’ve seen it happen in the lives of others.
Some years ago, for example, I was trying to help two ladies who were severely oppressed and depressed because of terrible situations at home. One lady was able to get free very easily. But I just couldn’t seem to help the other. I did everything for her that I knew. I prayed with her. I gave her scriptures. I encouraged her. But nothing worked. She wasn’t getting in touch with the Father the way she needed to.
One day as I was seeking God about how to help this lady get free, the Lord showed me what to do. He told me to have a prayer meeting with her and help her get over into the spirit of prophecy. So, that’s what I did. The next time I met with her, I told her we were going to pray together in tongues for a while, and then we were both going to prophesy.
At first, she didn’t think she could do it, but I assured her she could. I showed her what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14 about wanting every believer to prophecy. I also showed her verse 13 where he says, “Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret,” (NKJ). Then I explained how tongues and interpretation equals prophecy.
“Obviously, Paul wouldn’t tell us to pray for something we couldn’t have,” I said. “That must mean God will help us interpret our tongues and prophesy if we ask Him. So here’s what we’ll do. We’ll begin praying out divinely inspired utterances in unknown tongues, then we’ll just trust God to help us take another step up and begin to pray out those utterances in English. We’ll let tongues be our springboard into prophecy!”
AN EXAMPLE WORTH FOLLOWING
Sure enough, we had the most marvelous time. We spoke and sang out wonderful words of prophecy that helped her get free. A couple of days later, she called to tell me that she had continued to prophesy and sing inspired songs in her own, personal prayer times.
Of course, before long Satan tried to steal that prophetic flow. (He always comes to steal the Word.) When she asked the Lord what to do about it, she felt impressed in her heart to just read the book of Psalms. She figured since the Psalms are inspired utterances, they would open the door for her to prophesy. So she started singing the Psalms and, just as she had hoped, the rivers of prophecy began to bubble up within her again to comfort her and set her free.
Today I’m more convinced than ever that we should all follow that lady’s example. We should all cultivate the gift of prophecy so we can be edified, exhorted, and comforted every single day. When we bump up against the troubles and trials of life and our spiritual batteries lose their spark, we shouldn’t let our fervency fizzle. We should recharge our spirits with psalms and spiritual songs. We should speak by the spirit of prophecy until we’re fired up and our spirits are sizzling again.
So, let’s do it! Let’s truly start coveting the wonderful gift of prophecy. Especially in the next few weeks, practice it more and more in your own, personal prayer times. Watch how it spiritually energizes you. And until I write again, keep going… and going… and going for Jesus… and be sure to remember that—
You are loved,
by Lynne
Testimonies
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Lynne,
We want you to know what a blessing your ministry has been to us over the recent years. Your PrayerNotes, and in particular, your tapes have been so valuable to us. You have taught us so much and encouraged and inspired us in so many ways as we’ve listened to your teaching. The way we have been led to pray has been greatly influenced by the way you have opened the Word to us—your fervor and enthusiasm, your obvious love for the Lord, and desire to share what God has revealed to you in order to see His kingdom grow. We know God will continue to bless you and use you.
—B.W.
