Bible Passage: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-47
A little over a year ago, I experienced the spiritual gift of prophecy. I was visiting a church I’d never been to before.
This church practices the gift of prophecy. Before the service, they listen to God and write down what they think God wants to say to people coming that day. At the end of the service, they share what they wrote down before the service.
That morning, the prayer team shared, “There is someone here named Tim,” and then shared several specific, accurate, and meaningful things about me that only God could have known. I was called out by name in a room of strangers! I was profoundly moved and encouraged as I encountered the living God.[1]
For many years, the church in North America has done everything we can to build the church in our own strength. We have better-trained leaders, better technology, better programs, and more money than any church in history.
Despite this, we aren’t in a “Golden Age” of the church.
I don’t know how you see our world and culture, but we need revival. We need God to work in power to accomplish the renewal of His Church and the saving of the lost in ways that only He can.
Pouring out spiritual gifts (including miraculous ones like prophecy) will be part of that.
The Church grew on Pentecost because God did something that must have seemed weird. He empowered a fledgling church to speak in other languages. Three thousand were added to their number that day because of spiritual gifts.
Receiving that prophetic word changed my life. It didn’t change the foundation of my faith (it’s built upon Christ and the Gospel), but I did experience God in a way that deepened my faith and empowered me to be a witness.
I’ve often told believers and seekers alike of how I encountered God. I have a deeper, more solid faith, and it’s all because the church I visited took the risk to follow Scripture and seek the gift of prophecy that many of us fear.
I fully believe God still speaks through prophecies, heals, and works supernaturally. A week on spiritual gifts without acknowledging this would be woefully incomplete.
God is looking for men who will take Him at His Word and learn to seek His power for the sake of His glory and our good.
Are you one of them?
Prayer: God, I’m a mix of skepticism and hope. I long to see You heal the sick, and I also struggle to believe You’ll do it. I long to see You work miracles, and yet I’m disappointed by what I’ve seen. Keep Your Word and pour out Your Spirit anew. Keep Your Word and pour out all of Your gifts in our churches. Revive Your Church in our time. Amen.
Reflection: How do you respond to the idea that God still works miraculously? What would it look like for you to “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1)?
[1] If you want to hear the story, you can watch it here.
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