Scripture:
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other knew That Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:19-20
Observation:
In the Scripture we find a pattern for the establishment and conformation of prophets. The most important requirement of a prophet is God’s presence and favor always with them. The Lord was always with Samuel, and therefore, Samuel’s words became wise and helpful. When Samuel spoke, he did not only inspired people. His words were wise because brought revelation and new insight. His words were helpful because they were practical and relevant. As many years went by and Samuel grew, people form all over Israel confirmed the role of Samuel as a prophet. He did not had to put on conferences, or make marketing campaigns to show people how gifted of a prophet he was. The Lord did that for him and people recognized the hand of God over him.
Application:
Many sincere believers that have the gift of prophecy are not false prophets, but immature prophets. Like any other gift, prophecy needs to be developed and confirmed. I don’t need to speak things so people are impressed. I simply need to obey what God puts in my heart and speak forth. If it’s from the Lord, God himself will touch people’s hearts and the gift will be confirmed. There are others that want to be confirmed as prophets right away. It took many years for Samuel to be conformed a prophet of the Lord, so we shouldn’t expect different. We need to embrace a process of growth as prophets that doesn’t come with age, but it comes with submission and with effectiveness. We don’t need to advertise that God is in our midst. People are not dumb and they can recognize who is speaking on behalf of God!
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being so patient with me and for teaching me how to grow form an immature prophet into a mature one. You are an amazing God, willing to trust your Word to people like me. Please help me to avoid the temptation of having my own PR strategy. I want you to be the one planting seeds in people’s hearts and confirm my prophetic ministry. As a leader in my church, let me guide other prophets in the same path. Let me reproduce what I’ve learned from you and your Word when it comes to prophetic ministry. I love you Jesus! Amen!
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1 comment:
Thank you, Pastor Fernando, for your obedience in sharing God's awesome word and for being very transparent in doing so.
You wrote, "I don’t need to speak things so people are impressed. I simply need to obey what God puts in my heart and speak forth. If it’s from the Lord, God himself will touch people’s hearts and the gift will be confirmed."
This gives me great revelation as I have personally encountered events where the Holy Spirit prompted me to "speak forth." At first, I was hesitant...then I got irritated. The promptings kept on coming -- not easy to turn it off. Plus, it didn't make sense for me to "speak forth" anything when my life appeared a mess. I finally obeyed, and "spoke forth" as prompted. Nope, didn't do it to impress people (please...I'd rather put my feet up, grab a bowl of chocolate ice cream and chill out in front of the tv after working all day...speak forth? leave that to Pastor Fernando...thank you.) Shortly after obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the attacks of doubt hit...why did you say that? what the heck does it mean? now they all think you're "too deep" or even "touched" in the head too! Finally shook it off...God's peace allowed me to shake it off and continue on, even with circumstances from hell trying to invade.
You hit the nail on the head, Pastor. "I don’t need to speak things so people are impressed. I simply need to obey what God puts in my heart and speak forth. If it’s from the Lord, God himself will touch people’s hearts and the gift will be confirmed."
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