Paul’s encouragement to desire the spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. 14:1 is preceded by an essential mandate that must be the motivation for all spiritual gifts: “Pursue love.” That pursuit leads to an earnest desire for spiritual gifts.
Why desire spiritual gifts? So we may love as Christ loves: pouring out abounding grace; bringing hope, healing, encouragement and deliverance; and stirring new life!
At the core of the gift of prophecy is the desire to deliver a divinely inspired word from the Lord to His beloved people. Jesus declared in John 12:49 that He did not speak on His own, but only what His Father had spoken.
With the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth through the gift of prophecy, we can become messengers of hope. A word in season directly from our Father’s compassionate heart may turn someone’s bleak and stormy day into a radical encounter with the living, loving God of the universe.
Video: The Gift of Prophecy
The gift of prophecy is the gift of love, encouragement, correction and guidance. Prophecy lets us bring others’ needs to God, so that He can meet them at their point of need.
Watch Helen Melahouris’ video.
Prayer Points
- Invite the Lord to impact our hearts toward the pursuit of love, both in our worship and relationship with Him and with His people—those who know Him and those who have yet to come into His embrace.
- Seek forgiveness for those times we the church have sought spiritual gifts for our own sake, in pursuit of our own sense of importance.
- Ask for boldness to become messengers of hope through the gift of the prophetic by the power of the Holy Spirit, and invite Him to increase our awareness of His voice and our call to divine appointments.
- Plead for His presence and our awareness of His presence every moment of every day, so that we become vibrant kingdom agents in answer to Jesus’ prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”
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