Posted in Bible, Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Life in the Church
By Mike Noel
Be a Person of the Word
In these posts I'll summarize a message I gave at Redeeming Grace Church. The title was “How To Be a Prophetic Christian.” I am going to divide it up into four posts. I believe each part will help us grow as Christians and also grow in the gift of prophecy. Part one is, Be a person of the Word.
Our lives are not to be built on prophecy but on the written Word of God. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that our life should be built on hearing and acting on God’s Word. He said in Matthew 4 that we don’t live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He himself modeled this when he defeated Satan in the wilderness with, “It is written.”
The Bible is the main way we engage God. It is our spiritual food, our weapon of warfare, and the source of growing our faith. It makes us wise and helps us know the God of our salvation. In it we taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 1 tells us that the one who meditates on the Word (day and night) will have a fruitful life.
I want to encourage us to find “small but consistent ways” to read, study and meditate on God’s Word. We all have lots of things we “need” to do. Jesus told Martha there was only one thing that was necessary: sitting at his feet listening to his word. Think about your day and your week. When is a realistic time for you to fit these disciplines into your schedule? Read 2-3 chapters a day consistently, and it will change your life. Find a time to study a topic or passage once a week, and you will soon become addicted to the honey of God’s truth. Begin to memorize a verse or two a week and always have it available to meditate on. Joshua 1:8 tells us if we do so, we will have success in all things!
Prophecy is a gift of the Spirit. He gives this gift of grace as “he wills” (I Cor. 12:11). We are dependent on him giving us this divine gift. However, as he gives it he works through a human vessel, and the more we have hid the word of God in our life the more that our ministry including prophecy will be influenced by that Word. We become what we read, we become what we study, and we become what we think about. Our inner person is built up and strengthened by these things. We build an inner reservoir, a well (a garden hose!) through which the Spirit moves.
Do you want to grow in sensing (discerning/perceiving) the Spirit’s promptings? Immerse yourself in God’s Word, and you will grow in hearing the “voice of the Spirit.” Jesus said, “My words are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Hearing God’s Word is hearing his voice. Hearing his objective word helps our inner person grow more perceptive to the more “subjective” prophetic “whispers” and the leading of the Spirit in all of life. Don’t super-spiritualize this. Romans 8 says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit (Acts 15, “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and us”). As God impresses things upon you whether in prophecy or the general leading of the Lord, there will be a bearing witness in your spirit by the Holy Spirit. Step out and follow those impressions and leadings, and God will direct and guide you!