Now we go to the gift of prophecy. This is the power to speak supernaturally. The first category was the power to know supernaturally. The second, to act supernaturally, and now the third: To speak supernaturally or the gift of prophecy. (I Cor. 12:10) The gift of prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, not the natural product of man's mind. This gift will be of great importance in the last days. According to Joel 2:28, just before the "great day of the Lord...Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." The word "prophesy" in the Greek means "to speak for God." This is a gift that seemingly all can covet and appropriate. (See I Cor. 14:31)
I like Moses' attitude when God had put His spirit upon 70 elders which He ordained to help Moses in the ministry. When God's Spirit rested upon them the 70 elders prophesied and did not cease? In the end, there were yet two, Eldad and Medad, still prophesying in the camp! They must have had a real anointing!
So there ran a young man to Moses and said, "These two men are still continuing to prophesy." Do you know, when the Spirit of the Lord is on a person it's difficult to quit?
When Joshua heard of it he said to Moses, "My lord...forbid them!"
I respect Moses' answer: "Would to God that all God's people were prophets." (Numbers 11:29) What a humble spirit!
This gift is given to the believer for edification which means building up; for exhortation, which means stirring up; for comfort or consolation. (I Cor. 14:3) The gift of prophecy should not be confused with the ministry of the prophet. The prophet is one of the five ministries mentioned in Ephesians 4:11. The prophet is to perfect and edify the saints. He is a seer or a foreteller. He could, of course, prophesy for edification, exhortation and comfort.
The gift of prophecy is a gift of utterance for edification, exhortation and comfort. This is a wonderful gift for young people: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."
I remember a young black boy in one of my meetings in New York. He was around eleven years old and after I finished preaching he came up and he asked me to pray for him.
I asked him, "What do you want?"
He said, "I want to be able to prophesy."
I placed my hand on his head and said, "Prophesy in the name of the Lord!"
Immediately, the anointing came upon him and he astonished all of us in the meeting! He gave a powerful prophecy that edified and elevated everyone in the congregation. All of us knew that the Word was from God. How could such a young fellow put together the words that flowed from his mouth that night? It had to be God!
The question is, how can I begin to prophesy? How did they start in Acts 19:6? We read that Paul laid his hands on them, they were baptized in the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in tongues and prophesy. We're told that there were about 12 men. Paul did his part; he was a man full of the Holy Ghost. There was an impartation of the Holy Ghost, and the men gave utterance. That is the way it happened in that case.
To illustrate how it works in most of us think of it this way: you may be in a meeting and the meeting seems to be, for some reason, cold and dry spiritually. You can almost feel that in meetings sometimes. You begin to realize that something should be done. How about God doing something? A fire begins to burn In your spirit, and you lend yourself to the Lord. Then the Lord begins to speak through you words which you utter. Usually, it's like many prophecies in the Bible, and it begins something like this: "I am the Lord, thy God, I am with you, be of good cheer." Before you know it, something happens to the whole congregation and the service is lifted! And why not! It is actually God speaking to us! It's much like Jesus when He comforted His disciples and said to them so many times, "Be of good cheer!"
Romans 12:6 says that we should prophesy "according to the measure of our faith." We must understand that it is something that God wants us to do! If you're flowing in the Spirit you'll know when to prophesy--we're not to interrupt the speaker or the service. Do all things "decently and in order." But God will give you a space, perhaps when there is a pause in the service, and you can prophesy. I've found this to be true in my ministry. Time after time it has been my experience. It's a gift that God wants you to have or the Word wouldn't have said that we are to covet these gifts.
We can have a prophetic anointing as we give our testimony--just our testimony--and the anointing can hit us and a prophecy can ensue. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. (Revelation 19:10) However, fear can play a big part to hinder us. A confirmation sometimes is a great help, such as the laying on of hands.
For example, Paul said, "Neglect not the gift that is given thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the presbytery." (I Tim. 4:14) The laying on of hands and prophecy as God leads has often helped people to receive gifts and to assist them in operating in these gifts In the congregation. This should be done by a presbytery.
Much more could be said about the gift of prophecy. If we are hungry for God, we will exercise ourselves to read the Scriptures on the subject, praying and preparing our hearts to move in the Spirit of God.