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Preparing
to Prophesy|
I travelled a lot this summer and attended charismatic gatherings in Ireland, England, Singapore, Italy and the Czech Republic. While I was deeply impressed and encouraged by the faith and faithfulness I witnessed, I was disappointed to find that in each place there seemed to be a famine of the prophetic word of God. Most of the utterances I did hear failed to impress me. It struck me that, by and large, they were non-prophecies; pious sentiments mistakenly expressed in prophetic form. This is most regrettable. We are living at a time when the Church is facing formidable difficulties, such as loss of faith, falling attendances and fewer vocations. The world in which we live is beset by many problems such as war, terrorism, global warming, poverty, injustice and AIDS. We need to hear what the Lord has to say about these issues. In The New International Dictionary of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements the gift of prophecy is described in these words: "Prophecy has been alternatively identified as (1) an oracle, spontaneously inspired by the Holy Spirit and spoken in specific situations; (2) a form of expositional preaching from a biblical text; or (3) a public pronouncement of a moral or ethical nature that confronts society." Over the years I have come to appreciate that prophecy is first and foremost a revelation of God's perspective on life, one that is intended to edify, exhort, correct and comfort. In this article I want to ask, how can we prepare ourselves, as communities and individuals, to receive God's prophetic word? The Gifts must be yearned for and prayed for Firstly, we need to ask God repeatedly for the gift of prophecy. St Paul said: "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy" 1 Cor 14:1, but also to act accordingly. Commenting on this verse, scripture scholar, George Montague, says in his book. The Holy Spirit, "Suggesting a passionate desire and an active seeking of the gifts, this verse implies that the gifts would not come simply automatically, that they must be yearned for and prayed for. It is not a question of being passively open to receive them "if God wants to give them," but rather of making them the object of intense intercessory prayer in the name of Jesus (Mk 11:24; Lk 11:9-13; Mt 7:7-11; Jn 14:13-14)." Prophecy and repentance are inextricably linked Secondly, prophecy and repentance are inextricably linked. We need to have a single- minded desire to know and to do God's will. St Paul says: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will" Rm 12:2. Paul would have been familiar with the Greco-Roman practice of making statues by pouring molten metal into moulds so that it would assume their shapes. Analogously, Paul was saying to the people, don't let yourselves be moulded by the values of the secular world, such as an inordinate desire for such things as riches, 1 pleasure, popularity, and ethical independence. I suspect that, over the years, many of us have allowed our hearts to be compromised. We have tried to create a false synthesis of worldly and gospel values. Consequently, we are less receptive to the subtle nuances of God's inspirations. Prophecy and tongues are closely related Thirdly, the charisms of prophecy and tongues are closely related. The latter is a form of non-conceptual prayer, which not only expresses our intercessions, it also ploughs the soil of the heart in readiness to receive the seed of God's revelatory word. George Montague writes: "Non-rational experience of the Spirit has a great advantage precisely because it temporarily, at least, puts the mind to rest and seeks a deeper union with God in faith and love without words. But just as pregnancy is frustrated without birth, so the activity of tongues is not an end in itself but should normally terminate in some clear message for the community." As we know from experience, at good prayer meetings genuine prophecies are usually uttered during the silence that follows sincere praise and worship in tongues. Is the current dearth of genuine prophecy a sign that many Charismatics are neglecting to pray in tongues? Prophecy is the fruit of wisdom and knowledge Fourthly, prophecy is the fruit of the gifts of wisdom and knowledge. They enable those who receive them to have an awareness of the Person and purposes of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As scripture says: "The anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit- just as it has taught you, remain in him" I Jn 2:27. St James said that we should pray for this kind of supernatural wisdom, but do we? "If any of you lacks wisdom," he says, "he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" Jm 1:5. Gift of prophecy given to open-minded and compassionate Fifthly, the gift of prophecy is granted to those who have the gifts both of magnanimity i.e. open-mindedness, and compassion, i.e. a heartfelt concern for the afflictions of others. Instead of being parochial, true Christian concern is universal in its scope. It goes beyond a narrow and individualistic preoccupation with one's own needs and those of relatives, neighbours and friends. It says with John Wesley, "The wide world is my parish." Caring Christians agree with Protestant theologian, Karl Earth, who said that true believers should have the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other. In other words, they avoid splitting life from religion, by prayerfully striving to relate God's word to contemporary issues. As a result, God sometimes graces them with prophetic insight. I am not surprised to find that those who utter wise and relevant prophecies usually take a keen and detailed interest in the affairs of church and state, whereas those who do not, are often too introverted and pious: so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly use! Many years ago it struck me that the health
of prayer groups could be gauged on the basis of three interrelated
elements, unity of mind and heart; commitment to praise that is loud
and long; and the exercise of the charisms, especially that of prophecy.
The apparent lack of prophetic utterances in recent times could be a
worrying sign that all is not well with the Renewal. Hopefully, these
reflections will enable us, with God's help, to discern and correct
whatever has gone amiss. Who knows, the Lord might even help us to do
both by means of prophetic insights and messages.
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