Our passage tells the story of Samuel as a young boy serving Eli in the Temple. The Lord called to him four times, “Samuel, Samuel.” When Eli helped him realize it was God, not him, calling his name, God spoke to young Samuel that the house of Levi was about to fall. This was one heavy-starter-word for the boy-prophet. At the time of this word, Samuel’s maturity was described like this:

 This all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally.

Eli, in spite of his paternal errors, was not void of wisdom. In fact, he gave Samuel the council that positioned him to hear God’s voice personally. He instructed Samuel, if God spoke his name again, to respond, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” This little story was the beginning of big things for Samuel and the nation of Israel. Of him it was said:

Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail. All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

As I read the scriptures, it is clear to me that God is sovereign. Yet, within that sovereignty is a grand mystery; He involves men in the execution of his plans. In both the Old and the New Testaments, the prophet was integral to the administration of God’s affairs on earth. Yet sadly, much of the body of Christ today has written this gift off as an artifact from an ancient dispensation. As one who has lived for four decades along side this gift, this amazes and saddens me.

I believe the New Testament is a living and active reference point for life in the Spirit, not just an historical account of the unique things God did to inaugurate the Christian religion. Admittedly, prophetic types can come off odd at times, particularly the religious ones who seem to hear more judgment in God’s voice than mercy. However, there are so many legitimate prophetic voices. Regrettably they and the gift of prophecy suffer a credibility loss because grace-deprived prophetic voices still get much airplay. Bad public relations from the Prophetic Department, dispensational thinking, and an Old Testament heart led a sweet, godly, sola scriptura women I know to say, “The Bible instructs that the erring prophet must be stoned!” I believe she was prepared to pick up a stone should the need present itself.

Where grace has not yet prevailed, those wielding their gifts tend to use them as bludgeons. Big sticks don’t liberate slaves and they don’t help to promote servants into sons. For those dispersing words in this spirit, love has not yet fully converted the heart. Whether it’s the grace-deprived preacher or the prophet, for them, it will remain man’s impossibly wicked heart and the judgment he deserves which drives their so-called God-words.

To discern the spirit behind the prophetic voice, ask yourself,  “Is this person speaking down at me from some platform of superiority?” “Is this word tainted with frustration?”  “Is the speaker attempting to guilt me into God’s service?” “Do his words feel like a whip or a cattle prod being administered from behind?” If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you should strongly consider that you’re dealing with an immature messenger of God who still perceives Him as angry with us as opposed to delighted in us.

The prophetic gift was bequeathed to the body of Christ to be an encouragement in our battle and provide wisdom in our mission. Mature prophets know that God is affectionately and patiently disposed toward mankind, especially His children. The credible prophet approaches everyone with the assumption that God has something alive and encouraging to impart. The mature prophetic gift assumes that God is in a good mood, that he hasn’t lost control of the cosmos. In other words—fallen man, in his depravity, is not capable of derailing God’s intentions. The mature prophet lives and speaks out of the assumption that for every situation (individual or corporate), there is always a redemptive opportunity embedded in the circumstances, however bleak they may appear to the natural eye.

Perhaps, most importantly, healthy prophets live and breathe the air of the New Covenant. Their constructive prophetic words flow out of the assumption that the deepest truth about God’s children is not their fallen nature; rather it’s their new nature. This absolutely changes everything!

Sin is an issue but it is not a natural and inevitable outcome for a born-again person! Even if the sin is habitual, that does not prove that a Christian’s heart is primarily depraved. As likely as not, it is merely deprived, bereft of the gracious words that can restore it to its kingdom identity as a new creation, a beloved child and friend of God’s.

Often, the defeated heart is just a conditioned heart—a heart trained to think of itself as one sentenced to fighting a losing battle with the identity of a depraved, pitiful old sinner. They boldy confess, “I’m just blessed to be saved by grace, Praise the Lord. At least I will make it to heaven some day.” (sarcasm intended). The mind of the religiously-conditioned saint plays out like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The tape running in the head says, “I am just a sinner, so in a sense, what could be more natural for me, than to sin. Thank God, Christ will forgive me. Come soon Lord Jesus and rescue me from my guilt and this hopeless battle.” Having fought the battle with my identity rooted in fallenness and with my identity rooted, more deeply yet, in Christ, I highly recommend the latter.

There have been prophetic words that have dramatically affected my life. None of them came from 100% purely refined prophets, there is no such thing. (And note; they were not stoned when they missed it!)  However imperfect, the prophetic voices I have come to trust all operate with the foundational assumption that God still speaks and that He likes to speak to us.

I believe that the prophetic gift is alive and well and just like the gift of teaching, preaching, or evangelism, it is always being refined. We need the encouragement of the prophet. Those with a flow of prophecy live with the same instructions Eli imparted to Samuel, restated as the perpetual request of their hearts “Speak, Lord, for I am listening.

Perhaps if we, who have limited God to the Bible alone for revelation, would approach Him in humility, He would allow us to recover this precious gift for the Church. Perhaps as it finds its way into the sola scriptura camps, prophecy might even be exercised with greater responsibility and clarity, since scripture is already held there in such high regard.

Father, I cannot help but grieve that there are divisions in the body of Christ over things as fundamental as the gifts of your Spirit. Grant us repentance for rejecting things we can’t understand and therefore cannot control. Grant us humility to recognize the vast and mysterious space of your great heart that cannot be accessed through books, only by your Spirit and the revelation He grants. Awaken us to our capacity as agents of personal encouragement and revelation. Just as you inspired the written Word, help us to see ourselves as those upon whom and through whom, you might breathe your revelation. Amen.

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