Want to promote the gift of prophecy in your church, but don’t know where to start? Here are 3 options.
Do you want your church to learn more about the gift of prophecy? Perhaps you’d like to know more personally, but don’t want to go it alone?
This article outlines 3 ways you can learn about the gift of prophecy and involve others in your church too.
Did My Church Encourage The Gift Of Prophecy? …Sort Of
I first learned to prophesy almost by accident. (Except, of course, there are no accidents in God’s kingdom! Hint: see below.)
I had been asking the Lord about spiritual gifts and had one of those “what is your gift?” conversations with a good friend of mine. (And if you’d like to know what happened next then you can find out more inside the School.)
The church I attended at the time was open to the prophetic gifts and certainly had people who operated in them. But there was never any formal program of training for prophecy, or for that matter, any of the other spiritual gifts.
In other words, I was very much on my own, a situation I have a vision to change in the church today.
No Accidents In God’s Kingdom
There are, in fact, no accidents in God’s kingdom!
The Lord has a destiny for each one of us and he has a destiny for his church, as a whole.
And he doesn’t leave things to chance.
He works through his people to build up his church and to extend his kingdom.
And I believe that he wants better for his people, the fullness of life that Jesus talked about.
While he is gracious and enables us to learn even when there is no proper support in place, he is changing the landscape in his church today.
Schools of prophecy and schools of the supernatural (or spiritual life) are springing up all over the place. Now is the time to get on board with what God is doing through this move of the Spirit.
But how can your church get on board?
Read on to find out more.
3 Ways Your Church Can Promote The Gift Of Prophecy
Here are 3 ways that your church can get involved in and promote the gift of prophecy:
- Run a group bible study
- Use an online programme
- Invite someone to speak
Promote Prophecy: Run A Group Bible Study
You can read a book on prophecy, but books will only get you so far.
Unless you challenge yourself to do something about it, then you may not grow in the gift in the way you might hope.
There is a real danger of knowing all about the gift of prophecy, without actually practising it. And there’s a world of difference between knowledge and experience.
However, what if you were to read a prophecy training book together in your local church home group?
By including discussion in the mix, we hear different perspectives on the same subject. You can also do this alongside bible study and compare how prophecy worked in Jesus’ day to how it operates today.
You can also challenge each other and become accountable for your actions.
In other words, together, you can learn more about the subject than you might otherwise do, apart.
Here are some example books you may find helpful:
- Translating God by Shawn Bolz: Great emphasis on God’s love, see my review.
- Prophetic Wisdom by Graham Cooke: Heavyweight for experienced prophets.
- How To Hear God’s Voice by me: Introductory theme for those wanting to hear God clearly and be sure that it’s him.
Promote Prophecy: Use An Online Programme
The next logical step up from reading a book is to utilise an online course.
As I mentioned already, the potential issue with reading a book is that you won’t challenge yourself to practice what you read. And without practice, you won’t improve.
The beauty of an online course is that it’s specifically designed to help you do just that, but at your own pace.
A good online course will include exercises and assignments, in addition to comprehensive foundational teaching on the subject.
One problem you may have with an online course is the feeling that it’s personal to just you and that you’re on your own.
The way around that is to invite your friends to do the course with you.
Ask for a group rate on the course, in order to spread the cost between you and voilà, you can reap the benefits together.
Hint: group rates are now available for the 4 Steps Prophecy School!
Promote Prophecy: Invite Someone To Speak
Most online courses, including the 4 Steps Prophecy School Plus Edition, have a comments system in place. This helps students to feel a little closer to the trainer or coach.
This works very well for some people, particularly if they are comfortable with technology and the online world.
But for others, it's not quite the same as having someone there, face to face.
If that’s you, why not invite someone to speak at your church?
Even if you don’t feel able to lobby your pastor to get a prophetic speaker for a Sunday sermon, you could still invite the right person to your home group.
And it doesn’t have to be for a full-blown course.
It might be for:
- a one-off bible talk
- an hour’s workshop
The important thing is to discuss it with your proposed speaker beforehand to ensure they will include practical examples and exercises.
That way, you know that you will learn more than you might do from a dry intellectual study.
Promote Prophecy In Your Church
Each of the above 3 options above is an easy way to promote the gift of prophecy in your church, without it becoming burdensome.
If you would like to do more to promote the gift of prophecy, I have one more option for you:
Invite me to speak at your church!
The Lord brought a revelation to me about this over the summer and this is an area I believe he wants me to expand on.
I’ll explain a little more next time, but for now, I can tell you the following:
- I can preach a sermon or run a prophecy workshop, depending on the audience.
- I believe the Lord wants me to focus on my local area first, so if you are in the Guildford or Surrey area, then contact me here.
Blessings,
Tim
P.S. If you’re further afield, then let me know anyway and we’ll see what the Lord has in mind!