The Gift of Prophecy is Intended for You

Hello, welcome to Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self, the show that empowers you with the Holy Spirit and gives you the ability to overcome every scheme of the enemy so you can enter your promised land. Today, you're going to get a new strategy for success in your life.

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Hello, welcome to Self Talk. I'm your host, me Dr. Ray Self. Thank you for being a part of today's show. Don't forget to like, download, subscribe, do all that cool stuff. We're getting a lot of downloads now, and it really helps. I appreciate you. Today I want to talk about the gift of prophecy. Can you prophesy? What is the gift of prophecy? Can it be misused? What about it? Let's talk about it. It's an extremely important topic in the New Testament. Stay tuned. The show is brought to you by…my school that I founded, the International College of Ministry. Enrolling every day at icmcollege.org. You know you want a degree, an accredited, Christian, Spirit-filled degree. Go to icmcollege.org. Thanks for being a part of the show. God bless you.

There's a scripture that has just changed my life forever. Of course, a lot of scriptures changed my life, but 1 Corinthians 14:1 is a very critical scripture; and that is, it says, "Pursue love, earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." Now, in this scripture written by the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, there are three commandments. Pursue love. God is love. We're commanded to love. I think we get that as Christians. Don't always do so great at it, but we know that that's a solid commandment. Common commandment. And then it says, "Earnestly desire spiritual gifts." So, that also is a commandment to desire spiritual gifts. Now, He's talking about the gifts He just listed. That's words of knowledge, words of wisdom, healing, uh, tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, faith, discerning of spirits. He wants us to desire these gifts. And when you read the letter to the Corinthians, it's, it's important to understand why. Because he, he explains why. The gifts are for the edification of the church. He says in 1 Corinthians 12, he says, "The manifestation of the Spirit’s for the common good." So he knew that spiritual gifts were for the good of everyone. 

So when you are moving prophetically or laying hands on one for healing, get a word of knowledge, word of wisdom, it's for the good of everyone. And we are commanded to desire gifts. Logically, God would never ask us to desire something He wouldn't give us. Would you do that with your kids? So when God says, "Earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially for you to prophesy," He's not kidding. It's a commandment, and I don't know why we skip over that, but everyone is to desire spiritual gifts, and especially one gift, and that is the gift of prophecy. And I believe that 90% of Christians out there can flow in this gift if they're filled with the Holy Spirit and they desire it and ask God for it. I want to explain that. You see, the prophetic gift in the New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant gift. It's not like the Old Testament, when there was doom and gloom and judgment and predictions of, of dire things headed for the nation of Israel. The New Testament changed everything. The gift of prophecy in the New Testament is for all believers, and there's a purpose for it. And Paul tells us in Corinthians 14, he says, "He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” To us. The prophetic gift, prophetic gift edifies us, builds us up. It builds us up. It encourages us, and it brings us comfort. That's what happens. That's the, that's the new covenant prophetic gift. No wonder Paul wanted us to desire this gift. And I want to tell you something again. God would not ask you to desire something if He's not willing to give it to you. I have seen this countless times all over the country. I've done prophetic conferences. I've been very blessed to do that. And at the end of the conference, I ask for the Holy Spirit to come, for Him to fall and to activate the prophetic gift on those that are in the conference. And time and time again, I see this happen. And people begin to move prophetically. 

You say, "Well, I could never do that." Well, I want to tell you something. God would never ask you to do something that you're not capable of– capable of. Now, got to understand something about God. The things that God asks you to do are always going to stretch you. They're going to be more than you. They're going to be above you, beyond your natural ability. Okay? That's how God is. His thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways; they’re higher than our ways. So God asked us to desire the gift of prophecy. He wants to give us spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. And it is beyond you. And it's more than you can do. It's not a natural gift. That's why it's called a supernatural gift. The gift of prophecy encourages us, edifies us, comforts us. I cannot tell you how many times the prophetic gift has changed my life. I'm married because of God speaking to me about my wife and prophecies that were given to me about my wife. Uh, I'm in the ministry because of the way the Lord spoke to me. You see, the gift of prophecy is God speaking to us. Now, I know it can be perverted. I get all that stuff, and it can be twisted and all that kind of stuff. But God wants to speak to us, and one way He speaks to us is He'll use other people to give us prophetic words. Jesus told us very clearly, "My sheep know My voice." So the prophetic gift in the new covenant is just God speaking to us. It's the voice of Christ. I mean, God speaks to us. And sometimes when He speaks to you, He's speaking to you a message for another person. Okay. 

I can tell you a funny story. I mean, 90%-- 99% of the time it's like that. However, there was one time in– many, many years ago, I lived in a small upstairs apartment. I'll never forget this. There was a, uh, now he's a pastor named John who came into my apartment. And I was praying for John and, and the Lord gave me, I believed, a prophetic word for him. And I said, “John, I hear the Lord speaking this and I want you to receive this, John.” And I gave him this word. He goes, "No, that's, no, no, no, no, no. I don't receive that." I said, “John, I know it's God. He, He's, He wants me to tell you this.” “No, I don't want to receive that.” Well, John proceeded to kind of back out of my apartment. Well, I was a determined young Christian at that moment. So, I followed John down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the parking lot, determined that he was going to receive this prophetic word. He got in his car and drove off. I was a determined young guy. I got right back up to my apartment. I was kind of pondering. And so I prayed. I said, "God, why did John not receive the prophetic word you gave me for him?" And the Lord said, "Well, Ray, it's because the word wasn't for him. It was for you." Now, that could happen. I don't think it's always common, but that could happen. You see, Jesus is speaking through the Holy Spirit to us a lot. And sometimes when we pray, and we're praying for people, He will begin to speak to us about the person we're praying for. Sometimes it's just an impression. Sometimes it's a, it's a thought that comes out of nowhere or a picture. 

It's not uncommon when you pray for people for the Lord to show you something about that person. And then when you speak what you heard or saw from the Lord, it edifies them. It exhorts them. It comforts them. I've done this…and I'm not bragging - I'm not like that - I've done this over a thousand times. Literally. When you pray for another person and you ask God to give you a prophetic word for them, so many times, God will– He'll tell you something and it'll come into your mind out of nowhere, a thought that comes out of nowhere, a picture that comes to your, to your, to your spirit out of nowhere. And when you share that, you'll be surprised how many times it just blows their mind and how it's, it's a confirmation or it's an encouragement for them. The prophetic gift is to be desired. The reason it is, is the prophetic gift is one way God speaks to us in 2026. He wants us to desire the prophetic gift. And sadly, I get it. I know there's the Baptist and the Methodist, Presbyterians. “Oh, 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that has passed away.” That's not true. That scripture is not referring to the passing away of the gift of prophecy. It's referring to the perfect coming, which is the second coming of Christ, or when we are perfected as human beings, which would be probably about the time Christ comes back. However, don't let people tell you the spiritual gifts are not for today. Because I want to tell you something: if you think the supernatural in 1 Corinthians 12 is not for today, how can you trust Romans 10 when it says, “If you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved”? That's pretty supernatural. That's a gift, isn't it? I, I trust that. I trust Romans chapter 10. I also trust Corinthians chapter 12. Don't let people tell you their convenient theology.

See, so many times people have this convenient theology. “Well, my church doesn't believe it, so I've got a theology I've developed by taking this scripture out of context to support what my church teaches me.” But that's not what the Bible is saying. The Bible is saying, "Earnestly desire to prophesy." Matter of fact, 1 Corinthians 14:39, it says, "Do not forbid speaking in tongues, but covet to prophesy." It tells us, "He who prophesies is greater than he that speaks in a tongue." 10 times in Corinthians, Paul mentions the prophetic gift to us. The reason is God wants to be heard. And sometimes the way He's heard is through prophetic words given through other people. And yes, it can be twisted. And yes, it can be perverted. And yes, it can be messed up, and you name it, and destroyed and confused. Yeah, that's because we're human beings. But you know what? I don't know about you, but I know about me. If you speak a prophetic word to me, you say, "Dr. Ray, I've got a prophetic word for you." And here you give me that word; I have the ability, just like you, to discern if that's God speaking to me or not. You may speak something to me that is just off the wall, and I know it's not coming from God. That's okay. I knew you were trying to do your best. You see, we can judge prophetic words. We can judge them by the word, by, by the witness in our spirit. We can judge prophetic words. So, I don't worry about people giving out false prophecies. I never run with a prophetic word. Usually, when you get a prophetic word, it is confirmed over and over again. You have a call on your life. It's confirmed over and over and over again. The Bible says, clearly, we should pursue love, desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

Now, if you believe the Bible is the word of God and you believe we should obey the word of God, what are you going to do with First Corinthians 14:1? Are you going to obey it or ignore it? I want to tell you something. A lot of people ignore that verse, but it's in the Bible. They ignore it because it's not convenient for them. It's not what the church teaches or whatever the excuse is or they say, "Well, I'll think about it later." But you know what? To ignore that verse is to disobey God. Yeah, I said it. To ignore 1 Corinthians 14:1 is to disobey God. The prophetic gift is beautiful. And I, I have a lot of teachings on my website, icmcollege.org. I have a number of teachings about the prophetic gift. I've made a lot of videos about it. If you want more information about the prophetic gift, I can send you, I'll send you the notes to some of my classes. How about that? Just email me at drrayself@gmail.com. d r r a y s e l f @gmail.com, and I will email you the notes to some of my classes. The prophetic gift is God speaking to us, to the church, to our families, to our children. God wants to be heard. That's why, above all the gifts, He emphasizes the prophetic gift more than any other gift because His voice is the most important thing. What God has to say is the most important thing. God speaks through the Bible. People say, "Yeah, I, I, I get prophetic words through the Bible." Yeah, we do. We should. Absolutely. But the Bible tells us, the same Bible that God speaks to us through, tells us to desire the spiritual gift of prophecy. Covet the gift of prophecy.

The Bible that we're all told to obey has a commandment in there that you should not overlook. God wants to use you prophetically to give out His word, His messages to other people through divine appointments. Maybe it's your family, maybe it's your church, maybe it's a stranger. I've given prophetic words to strangers. I've given prophetic words to friends, to church members, people I've never met. And it's, it's been amazing the things that, that have happened through that. Amazing. Amazing. I remember uh, I'll give you one example before we close. There was a, a couple in Pittsburgh and um, I gave them - it's been it's been some years ago. I gave them a prophetic word about having a child, that they were going to have a baby. And they were discouraged by that word. And I thought, “Okay.” I mean, I didn't know it at the time, but they got discouraged. I thought, "Well, wait. That's not how the gift is supposed to work." Well, I come back to that church about a year and a half later, and that couple walks up to me with a child. The reason they were discouraged was she had just recently had a miscarriage. And so, to hear that– a prophecy about having a baby after a miscarriage is probably, you know, could be tough to handle. But God was trying to encourage them that He had another child for them.

So many times God will encourage us through the prophetic word. He'll confirm our call, give us direction, uh reassure us, uh, affirm I– our identity, His will for us, His, His purpose for us, His answer for us, all through the prophetic gift. It's an amazing gift. If you desire it and you ask God for it, He'll give it to you. But then you have to exercise it. The Bible says, "Neglect not the spiritual gift that's within you." You have to exercise it. Don't exercise it, you lose it. Amen. 

Let me pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone listening to this podcast today. I lift them up, Father. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for those who desire the gift of prophecy and are willing right now to receive it, I ask you, Father, to give them, to touch them, to come upon them with your Holy Spirit. Anoint them with the gift of prophecy. Fall upon them. The testimony of Jesus is the gift of prophecy. Lord, Holy Spirit, activate the gift of prophecy on everyone who so desires, listening to this video. And I pray, Father, that you'll give us the wisdom on how and when to use it. I thank you, Father, for everyone hearing this today. I bless them in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. 

Thank you for being a part of the show. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. Um, look forward to next week. And if I can help you in any way, you know, email me, drrayself@gmail.com. If you'd like to make a, a tax-free donation, that would be really terrific. I use the link icmcollege.org/donate. We got a lot of scholarship funds there. I give away a lot of free education to people all over the United States and also overseas. I have over 40 pastors that I support in India. Um, anyway, if you can help me, that'd be great. But that's up to you and the Lord. God bless you. Amen and amen.

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