A PROPHETIC MIRACLE
There was a young man once, sitting in the back of the sanctuary in a Sunday night meeting. I called him out and began to prophesy over him, “I see you as a holy man. You’re like the holy men of old.” I said this young man would be used as an example of holiness as well. What I didn’t know but learned later, was that the guy was a heroin addict. When I called him a holy man something came into him and he was instantly delivered from his addiction! What happened in that moment? He received the prophet’s reward. In Matthew 10:41 it says, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward…” What is the prophet’s reward? It is the ability to do what you couldn’t do one second before you received the prophecy.
WHEN GRACE AND PROPHECY MEET
A prophecy isn’t just empty words and adding the phrase “In Jesus’ name,” to the end of your sentence. The power of true prophecy is in the authority given to us as children of God. When you know you are in submission to God’s mission, you receive a commissioning with the same authority that Jesus had. Now that is where the power in praying in Jesus’ name comes from!
I like to think in pictures so go with me for a minute. Let’s pretend that words have color, and that when you speak your everyday words, they are red. Now pretend that when you are speaking a prophetic word, an extra blue layer of color is added to the words. That blue layer is grace, and it not only adds color, but the ability to make the red words happen.
Grace isn’t just undeserved favor; it’s the operational power of God. So what makes a prophecy a prophecy is the blue on the red: it’s when the power of God is an added layer to your spoken words. You can be sitting with someone in a conversation and suddenly you sense the Spirit of the Lord in the conversation. I’m sure that some of you have felt that as you’re sharing great counsel, something shifts and your simple words become a prophetic declaration. Suddenly, the grace of God is added to what you’re speaking, like the blue being added to the red. What’s absolutely incredible is that the blue gives them the ability to do what you said in the red.
FORTHTELLING THE FUTURE
Prophecy has several dimensions. It is is about foretelling, telling the future, but it’s also forthtelling, meaning it can cause the future. I was ministering at a conference and a pastor asked if I could prophesy over a married couple that was a part of his team. I started ministering to the wife and said, “I see you singing songs, I see you writing songs and I see you playing guitar and leading worship.” But before I could get to, “…I see you singing…” she interrupted and said, “Wait, that’s not me. It’s my husband. I’m tone deaf but my husband is the worship leader in our church.” I responded, “Do you know what a prophecy is?” She replied, “I guess I don’t.” I went on to explain that a prophecy is about the future. If you believe a prophecy then it will give you the ability to do what you couldn’t do one second before you heard it. She asked me to continue giving her the word, and then she received it and believed it for herself.
About eight to ten months later I was at another conference and she came up to tell me what had happened to her after I gave her the word months before. She said as soon as she left the meeting her tone deafness was healed. Within three months she learned to play guitar, wrote several songs and lead worship at her 500 member church on Sunday! What happened to this woman? She received the blue on the red. She garnered grace and the ability to do what she couldn’t do one second before she heard the word. What would’ve happened if she walked away not receiving it for herself, but thinking it was for her husband? She wouldn’t have learned to play guitar or sing, and would have remained tone deaf. She had to add her faith in agreement, so that she could activate the grace that would empower her into the very reality of the prophecy.
So my question for you today is, what prophetic words have been spoken over you that you can add your faith to? And next time someone is prophesying over you, I encourage you to remember the blue on red. Remember the grace that comes with the prophetic, and watch the future change in front of your eyes as God’s grace empowers you into greatness!
