Prophecy is a gift from God, but once you have it, how do you grow your gift of prophecy?
Prophecy is a gift given by God. Thankfully, we can ask for this gift and the Lord is a generous giver!
But once you have received it, how do you get good at it? 6 Ways To Grow Your Gift Of Prophecy will show you how.
Most prophecies start off very general in nature such as, “God loves you” or “God wants to give you his peace”.
So how do we move on from there to share prophetic words that are detailed and incisive? How can we be sure we’re hearing God? And how do we avoid the feeling of being stuck at any given point?
As we grow in the gift of prophecy, the questions are endless. It’s enough to send your brain into meltdown!
In 6 Ways To Grow Your Gift Of Prophecy, I’ll show you how the gift of prophecy grows through a process, a series of stages* which have a practical outworking.
* Note: this article talks about the practical ways that prophetic people grow. You can also read more about the 4 Stages of prophetic growth here.
Inside you’ll:
- see how there is a logical progression to growth in the gift of prophecy.
- identify where you are right now.
- discover the next steps you need to take.
By understanding how the gift of prophecy progresses, you’ll be able to make the right choices to accelerate your growth.
6 Ways To Grow Your Gift Of Prophecy
Without further ado, let’s discuss the 6 ways, which I have couched as practical actions.
As you read them through, think about which ones represent where you are right now and where you need to go next.
1. Spend time in God’s presence
If we want to get to know someone and learn what they think, then we have to spend time with them.
It therefore follows that if we want to get to know God and hear what he has to say, then we need to spend time with him.
Of course, we all have busy lives and many of us struggle with fitting in time for God.
But there’s no getting around it: if you want to hear him, then you’ll need to find that time somehow! If that’s you and you’re feeling stuck, then you may find this article helpful.
However, when we do make that time, we receive untold benefits, through fellowship with the Lord. Not only do we gain the peace we need to succeed each day, we also learn to hear his voice.
2. Learn to hear and discern God’s voice
The good news is that as we spend time in his presence, we learn to hear his voice.
In this place, we also learn the answer to the question, “how can I be sure I am hearing God and not my own thoughts?”
In John’s gospel, Jesus described himself as the good shepherd. Speaking of the shepherd in third person, he said:
“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:3-5, emphasis mine)
This tells us 3 things:
- The sheep (us) spend long periods of time with the shepherd (Jesus).
- They therefore know the voice of the shepherd, so they can follow him.
- The sheep become so familiar with the shepherd’s voice that they instantly know when a stranger calls.
In other words, they learn discernment. By learning to hear God’s voice, we naturally come to understand the difference between his voice, our own mind and that of the world.
3. Deepen your relationship with God
The next step to grow your gift of prophecy is to deepen your relationship with God further.
Once we know how to recognise God’s voice, we need to learn to hear him like Jesus did: anywhere and everywhere.
Jesus spent long periods of time alone with his heavenly Father, but he also knew how to respond to him in the moment.
The reason he said so many amazing things and performed so many miracles at just the right time, was because he only did what he saw his Father doing.
We can learn to do the same, but it’s about more than “quiet times”. It’s about involving him in every moment of our day-to-day lives. And a big part of this is obedience.
A lesson in obedience
In Luke chapter 5, we see Jesus teaching the people, while he sits in Simon Peter’s boat.
When Jesus finishes his teaching, he asks Simon to go out into deeper water and throw down his nets for a catch.
Simon begins to make excuses, saying that they’ve been out there all night and haven’t caught a thing. But because it’s Jesus, he reluctantly agrees.
And through his obedience, a miracle is unlocked. They catch so many fish, that the boats nearly sink!
When we learn to be obedient to God’s promptings through Holy Spirit, we too can unlock miracles. We do this by making our relationship with God part of our lifestyle.
4. Track your progress
As you learn to hear God more and more, in your everyday life, find ways to track your progress.
You’ll get a much better handle on where you are by recording what God is saying, to you and through you.
A great way of doing that is to start a prophetic prayer journal.
Many Christians have a prayer journal where they write down their prayers (what they ask God for) and the answers (what God did).
A prophetic prayer journal goes one step further, by recording everything that you hear from God. This includes:
- what the Lord says to you personally.
- prophetic words and pictures that you share with others.
When you write in your journal consistently, it’s important to review it regularly. This will encourage you as you see:
- how God speaks to you over time.
- confirmations of what you previously heard.
- where you heard God correctly, for yourself and for others.
To learn more about it and begin your own prophetic prayer journal, go here.
5. Spend time with other prophetic people
There’s something else you should know: this journey of growing your gift of prophecy can sometimes be lonely.
This is particularly true if you’re called to the office of prophet (something I’ll try to cover in more detail elsewhere) and many of the prophets in the Bible experienced this phenomenon.
For us in the modern day church, loneliness can manifest itself in several ways. For example:
- Sometimes, God can show you things that he doesn’t show to others.
- Sometimes, he’ll show you a glimpse of the future, but others won’t be able to see it yet.
- And sometimes, the Lord can put you in situations where it feels like it’s just you and him. Even in the middle of a crowd.
However, there are ways to counteract this sense of being alone.
One of the best ways is to get together with others who are sympathetic to, and operate in, the gift of prophecy.
In such a situation you can practice the gift on each other safely, and share your experiences.
This is what I’m trying to do with the Company of Prophets, which I hope to expand soon.
It also leads me neatly on to the next stage.
6. Ask God for more (and fast track your growth)
God loves it when we rely on him and when we ask him for good things. This is how we demonstrate our faith.
I first received the gift of prophecy because I asked the Lord to give it to me.
But I have also learned that I can keep on asking for more.
And you can too.
Ask him to teach you in more detail and to train you in obedience.
Ask him to speak to you in unexpected places and times.
And ask him to help you take risks with your gift.
In my experience, asking the Lord for more is a surefire way to accelerate growth in any spiritual gift.
So always be asking for more and seek out opportunities to fast track your growth!
Where Next To Grow Your Gift Of Prophecy? Choose Your Own Adventure
Look back through the above stages and yourself these questions:
- Which stage am I at right now?
- Where do I want to get to?
- What steps could I take today, to grow my gift of prophecy?
Finally, pick one of these two options:
- If you have already completed the 4 Steps Prophecy School, then share your next steps in the comments area below this article!
- If you’ve not been through the 4 Steps Prophecy School yet, then read on to find out what’s happening this coming week…
Grow Your Gift Of Prophecy Today
There’s one more step I believe I can help you with:
Wherever you are in the process of growing your prophetic gift, the 4 Steps Prophecy School will help you to get to the next level.
Whether you’re trying to figure out where to find time for God in your schedule, learning to hear his voice or just want more, this school is for you!
The School has been out for a while now and everyone who has taken part has said how much they’ve grown in the gift of prophecy.
But there’s a small catch:
In order to continue covering the costs of running this website, I’ve setup two editions of the School … And I’ll be increasing the price at the end of next week (Friday evening, 7th June).
However, until then there’s a special offer available:
You can get the 4 Steps Prophecy School PLUS edition (the School plus all the bells and whistles) for less than the price of the Basic course.
You can find out more and register your place here.
Am in the process of loneliness i nolonger have friends, sometimes i hear his voice but i always have a doubt its difficult for me to differentiate,with my thoughts only after seeing the confirmation that’s when i can realize that it was Gods voice..
Hi Felix,
I’m sorry that you are struggling, feeling you’re without friends, although it’s good that you’re finding you can hear God in the midst of it.
It sounds like you could do with some fellowship with trustworthy believers at a local church, as they may be able to help you discern what is from God or is your own thoughts.
I hope you find some good friends soon.
Blessings,
Tim
Thank you
You’re welcome. 🙂
Blessings,
Tim