Table of Contents
Key Verses
- Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 BSB
- eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 1 Cor 14:1 BSB
- earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people]. 1 Cor 14:1 AMP
Examples of Personal Prophesy
Joseph
- Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. … Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers Gen 37: 2,5 NKJV
- Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. Genesis 41:46 NKJV
Time to fulfilment: 17-30+ (13+ years)
Dream to Fulfillment Sequence
- Pit
- Potiphar
- Prison
- Prime Minister
Abraham
- Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. … Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Gen 12:4 & 7 NKJV
- Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Genesis 21:5 NASB
Time to fulfilment: 75-100 (25 years)
Promise to fulfillment. What happens in the gap?
- Until the time that his word [of prophecy regarding his brothers] came true, The word of the LORD tested and refined him. Ps 105:19 AMP
Purpose of prophesy
- the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 1 Cor 14:3 NASB
What to do with prophesies?
Believe prophets/prophesy:
- Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 2 Chr 20:14,15 NKJV
- believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 2 Chr 20:20 NKJV
- Put your trust in His prophets, and succeed.” 2 Chr 20:20 NASB
Write down prophesies
- “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. Jer 30:2 NASB
- Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Hab 2:2,3 NKJV
Hold on to prophesy in wilderness; to have hope & to fight fear:
- This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, so that [inspired and aided] by them you may fight the good fight 1 Tim 1:18 AMP
- Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well 1 Tim 1:18 ESV
- Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. Ps 119:49 NKJV
If prophesy delayed, pray
- in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel 9:2,3 NKJV
Prophesy Changes Us - Sequence
- Fact: Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Gen 18:11 BSB
- Prophesy/Promise: behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” Gen 15:4 ESV
- Faith/Believe: By faith even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive [a child], even [when she was long] past the normal age for it, because she considered Him who had given her the promise to be reliable and true [to His word]. Heb 11:11 AMP
- Sarah @ 90: Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. Gen 20:2 NKJV
- Fulfillment: Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. Gen 21:2 BSB
Sequence of events
- Receive Prophesy
- Believe
- Changes happen
- Fulfillment
Responses to prophesy
- Hezekiah: In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. Isa 38:1-5 BSB
COMMENT: Responded by praying
Hezekiah: Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ” So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.” Isa 39:5-8 NKJV
COMMENT: Responded by simply accepting
- Abraham:
And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Gen 18:20-25 NKJV
COMMENT: Responded by interceding.