How to Receive Prophecy Isaiah 30:21
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.
In the Old Testament, only certain kings and prophets and leaders received the Holy Spirit and the whole burden of leadership fell on them. But when the New Testament age dawned, on the Day of Pentecost, God completely threw out the old system of making believers so totally dependent on human leadership for their guidance, and He made every single individual Christian responsible, directly, to His Own Holy Spirit.
Everyone can have just as much of the Holy Spirit as they want or can take, and should be led individually of the Lord.
The Lord did this to prepare the Church (His followers) for an age when it was going to have to survive a lot of persecution and its members would need to be individually led by Him.
Many people think of “prophecy” as predicting the future, but this is not always the case. The word “prophecy” is taken from a Greek word propheteia that means “the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God.”
Prophets do a lot of foretelling under the inspiration of God’s Spirit. But a further meaning of prophecy is to speak under divine inspiration, to forthtell the Words of God – to simply give God’s Word, whatever it may be, whenever it may be, at any time, at any place, to any people, whenever it is God’s will.
Why the Living Word is needed
We have a permanent, written record of God’s unchangeable Words in the Bible, but God is still speaking today, through prophecies, visions, and signs. These current messages from the Lord are His “Living Word.”
You may ask, “Why isn’t reading the Bible enough? Why can’t we just get our answers from the recorded, printed Word?”
