What does it mean to speak prophetically? What does it mean to speak prophetically? Who can receive this gift?

Prophesying is not a natural ability or something someone can learn. It is a spiritual enablement to speak God's thoughts when the Spirit has something to say. When the message is fully expressed, the prophetic inspiration stops.

The prophetic gift comes from a person's mouth, but it originates in God's mind. The Greek word propheteia means 'to speak forth God's mind and counsel.' God's written word becomes God's rhema, a living word in a special situation. These give life, guidance, and inspiration to those who receive them.

Anyone can speak prophetically

All believers can in principle speak prophetically:

'For you can all prophesy.'

1 Cor 14:31

True prophets speak positively, for edification and not with sour criticism. Paul says:

'But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.'

1 Cor 14:3

'But he who prophesies edifies the church.'

1 Cor 14:4

Prophecies can be triggered through inspiring thoughts, ideas, visions, dreams, mental images, through music, something seen, smelled, heard, etc. A prophecy can sometimes consist of just one word that God gives inspiration to say!

In the end times, God will pour out His Spirit on 'all flesh.'

'Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.'

Acts 2:17

The Bible encourages us to seek this gift.

'Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.'

1 Cor 14:1

Perhaps you sometimes speak prophetically without knowing it? The one who receives the prophetic word feels that the word has weight and God's anointing on it. The word unlocks something in a situation. The prophetic gift has several stages: from sporadic prophetic words among 'beginners' to a well-developed gift that flows quite regularly. Lastly, there is a prophetic service gift in some who have developed the gift through use, over time, who have received a ministry. He has received the gift to be a prophet. We speak of someone who has acquired authority through a ministry that has proven to have good, lasting fruits. There is a difference between having a prophetic gift and being a prophet. In principle, everyone can prophesy, but not everyone has the gift and ministry to be a prophet.

'Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?'

1 Cor 12:29

The prophetic ministry gift is highlighted by Paul along with the other ministry gifts:

'And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.'

Eph 4:11

What it feels like

What does it feel like to speak prophetically? Here are some examples.

Recently, I was sitting with a friend of mine in my car and talking about missionary work. Then I received a text message on my mobile that one of my grandchildren was taking her driving test in Canada. My wife Solveig wrote that we must pray for her. I told my friend that we had to pray that she would pass the test. My friend prayed that she would pass the test 'with flying colors.' When he said the words 'with flying colors,' I felt it was a prophetic word breaking through his prayer. I knew she would pass the driving test!! A few minutes later, the response came from Canada. She passed the test—with flying colors!

I experience that this gift often operates when I speak in the Telechurch. At one of these meetings, I received nearly 40 prophetic words of knowledge. God has given me names of people, special numbers, events, things, and very private matters.

Once, I saw a woman who had replaced her bed and mentioned it to the audience on the Telechurch. Immediately, a woman spoke up and said with great surprise in her voice, 'That's me! I just bought a bed from Ikea.' She was shocked that I knew this.

During another meeting in the Telechurch, I received the words: 'The roof lifted.' A little later in the meeting, one of the listeners told me that he owned two houses in the Philippines. A couple of weeks earlier, a typhoon had swept through the village and blown the roof off both his houses. He now needed help to repair the roofs. I prayed for help and support for this work.

Another time, I saw that a person had applied for a loan of 100,000 kroner from a bank. I mentioned it in the Telechurch. Then a woman responded, 'That's me, I got a 100,000 kroner loan to repair the roof of my house.' Such revelations make people realize that God is near, He sees the details in our lives, and faith increases substantially! Nathanael is a good example of a prophetic word of knowledge. When Jesus met him, He revealed an event in Nathanael's life:

'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.'

John 1:49

This small detail from Nathanael's life convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God:

'Nathanael answered and said to Him, 'Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'

John 1:50

We need prophetic words in our times of confusion, disbelief, and uncertainty—a time when the world needs God's counsel more than ever before. Especially God's church!