gifts who aren’t partners in building the local church, but people who need more leadership than the pastor feels he has to give.
Instead of the gift ministries arriving to serve the pastors in the local church, they come in expecting to out-rank them and be served for their anointing. These unchecked gift ministries lack validating qualities the pastor needs to see, like humility, genuine care for the local church, observable character, and sound doctrinal preaching that equips, not entertains.
No wonder pastors are fearful and fatigued!
I believe the Holy Spirit is doing a new work to counteract the undisciplined and immature prophet and the brand-building soloists out there.
I believe he’s going to envision pastors everywhere to engage the gifts in their local churches.
I was one of those immature and exhausting prophets, but God has been faithful to give me local pastors who recognized my calling as a partner with a slightly different function - to provide the same care, character, and sound doctrine in the equipping of the gifts. Together, we have stumbled along, guided by faith, to discover a clear, God-given vision for the gifts.
Pastors will have to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit giving gifts, coming alongside manifesting believers to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
It’s my hope that what He’s taught us will inspire pastors to open the door to the gifts again, with fresh vision that we may prophesy.
My Introduction to the Voice of God
I first encountered Jesus in my early days of college. God grew me as a leader in many ways – in on-campus ministry, in church, and among a secular crowd. I became an All-American college quarterback, who led others, while God was constructing a plan to humble me greatly so He could use me.
The early days of my Christian faith were filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t understand what it was at the time; I just felt like I was being followed everywhere. At times, I literally had to stop and look around to see if anyone was there.
He was there. Just beyond the veil of the world I could see, He was holding me close like a Father who couldn’t stop hugging a wayward son who’d returned after being gone for a long time. I was being loved by Him.
And His voice, oh, His voice was magnificent in my spirit.
When I heard it for the first time, I was shocked by the clarity and majesty of it invading my entire being. During the first week after my conversion, I encountered a difficult situation and was questioning His character and sovereignty in my heart. I certainly never expected Him to answer, but He did in what I can only describe as a deep impression upon my soul that was both patient and profound.
It wasn’t audible, or accompanied by lightning and thunder, but it had that effect. It was unexpected, unforgettable and unmistakable. I was blown away.
Imagine a deaf person hearing sound for the first time. That’s what it was to hear God speak for the first time. It was so matter-of-fact, yet so different than my normal thoughts, so strong in its conviction, yet so incredibly kind. I was captivated by His voice.
I suddenly understood Elijah’s reaction when he didn’t respond to the earthquake and fire God had sent him, but Elijah exploded out of his self-absorbed state when he heard the “still small voice” saying, “Why are you here?” (1 Kings 19:12-13).
I had heard the “still small voice.” It might have been still, or quiet, but to me, it certainly wasn’t small.
I heard His voice not with my ears, but rather my heart. It appears mad and marvelous at the same time. His words paint pictures of peace and calm on the canvas of my mind. His voice stimulates my emotion, intellect, and will, all at once, as if they rise in honor of who is speaking. Even before my conscious mind can catch up to what happened, I know what He said. How I know is unexplainable, but the clarity is unmistakable and the conviction it produces is palpable.
I’ve since grown to understand the nuances in His tone as well. If it’s a call to obedience, my busy thoughts are silenced, and I am lost in the fulfillment of His word. If it’s an affirmation, it empties all my ambition and bids me toss the glory at His feet. If it’s a correction, my soul is arrested, and His mercy floods my failure. No matter what direction His voice takes in me, I cannot stay the same when I hear Him.
At times, His voice can be so quiet and so considerate that I will dismiss it out of hand. To my shame and utter foolishness, I believe the kind and wise thought my own, rather than give glory to whom it’s due.
We must never become so accustomed to God speaking to us that we diminish one moment of that wonderful expression of His grace.
To hear His voice is among the ultimate privileges purchased by Christ in our inheritance as the children of God. He paid an incalculable debt we could not pay, bridged a distance we could not measure, and plumbed a depth we could not fathom.
Scripture and the Voice of God
There is no competition between the supremacy of Scripture and God’s voice. His Spirit dwells in me, and speaks to me the unchanging truths of Scripture, which etch their way deeper and deeper into my unsanctified mind.
Though I have an imperfect mind and a corrupt temptation to sin, I am still bid to interpret His voice. That makes Scripture the greatest tool with the highest authority to confirm what I believe I hear from Him. There will be no conflict. However, as I listen more and more, the Holy Spirit takes Scripture and applies it to my life, identifies my heart in it, and edifies me with it. He echoes its essence in my heart and mind and is always making more of Jesus in me with it every day of my life. He speaks plainly, not always in verse, but never in contradiction to Scripture, and always directing me deeper in it.
The voice of God is, and always has been, speaking to men’s lost hearts, from the beginning of time when He called out in the garden, “Adam, where are you?” He draws men to Himself, reveals Himself to them, and transforms them by His Spirit.
The Essence of Prophetic Ministry:
Bringing the Eternal into the Temporal
I have walked in the Holy Spirit for many years; I have seen many different prophetic manifestations. Regardless of content or style, one thing that has remained constant in my own prophetic experience is an unrelenting sense of urgency from the Spirit regarding His love for the gathered people of God.
He absolutely and unreservedly loves His people, and He enthusiastically reminds me of that every time I ask how I can serve them. Like I didn’t hear Him the first time, He recounts for me His undying passion for His saints. His energetic anticipation of any setting where He intends to bless His gathered people is the first thing I prophetically sense. I do not possess that care and compassion for His people on my own; therefore it is an excellent way to confirm I’m hearing God—if I feel greater love for His people than I am capable of, it’s God.
True prophetic ministry exists to trumpet His deep affection for His Church. Like the groom declaring over and over his unswerving devotion to his bride in preparation for their wedding, we must meet each moment of His compassion through the prophetic as if it were the first time.
There is no way to exhaust the love of God for His Church prophetically. We will run out of breath to speak long before He tires one iota of telling the Church how much He loves her.
Every
