Prophetic Words

On Friday night, Susan and I invited three couples to join us at our home for dinner. We had a wonderful time of friendship and laughter, but for me it was very significant.

On my way to the church that morning God spoke to me in a very real way. (When I say God spoke, I’m not referring to audible words, but more like when Nehemiah wrote “He put it into my mind.”) My thoughts were off somewhere else, when suddenly I heard the Spirit whisper, “you know that the dinner you and Susan will be having tonight is a fulfillment of a prophecy that you heard 25 years ago.”

I hadn’t thought about that evening in 1980 for many years, but it all came back to me in a second. We’d been invited to a Full Gospel Businessmen’s Banquet out in Langley, BC, by some friends. After dinner, the speaker, Dick Mills, called out my name and asked me to stand up. There I was, a very shy young pastor with a small church, sitting at the back of the large banquet hall.

He began to tell me and Susan, in front of the crowd, what God was about to do. I’m telling this story to encourage those who’ve received prophetic messages in the past, and also to underline the fact that God clearly sees our future. He alone is able to guide us into the days ahead.

Although Dick spoke to me for several minutes and said many very surprising things (he didn’t know me) that only God would have known, there was one which the Holy Spirit reminded me of yesterday. He said that my ministry would expand beyond where I expected it to and that I would have an influence on some very powerful and successful people. When I heard theose prophetic words in 1980, although the day of their fulfillment seemed years away, I sensed they were true. When something of great significance happened to Susan and I a couple of months after that occasion, exactly as we had been told it would, I knew that we’d experienced a divine encounter.

I told our friends my little story last night of how God had not only seen my future, but theirs also and all of us saw again how awesome our God is. We had a very happy Christmas celebration together.

Just a note about prophetic words. Sometimes we hear something either from the Holy Spirit or from someone with a gift of prophecy. My recommendation is that we do two or three things:

Don’t believe everything you hear, no matter who it comes from. Ask God to reveal whether it is accurate or not. When you feel it’s time, talk to someone you trust, and ask if they would comment on the prophetic word.

Don’t let a prophetic word direct your life. Use it as an encouragement of confirmation, but ask God to speak to you about the matter directly. We serve a speaking God and He will talk to you as well as another person.

I put prophetic words in a “seed file.” Let them sit for a while and see if they take root. For example the prophecy from Dick Mills sat in my file for 25 years. Little roots began to grow shortly after I heard it, but I’ve only begun to see the fruit of it over the past 10 or 20 years.

It's an awesome experience as some of you may know. If you don't think you've ever heard God speaking to you, I encourage you to take the time to hear His voice.

Barry