Activating the Prophetic Gift in You

Hey, this is Dr. Ray. I cannot believe it but this is my 150th episode of Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. Thank you for um, being a part of this. You know I do it because of you and I'm hoping that these shows are a blessing to you. I appreciate you very much. If you would like to help us financially, that's always good. I'm not pressuring you, just ask you to pray about it. You can do that uh, through our, through our show link at icmcollege.org/donate. The reason everything is running through icmcollege.org is that's my ministry; that's the college that I founded and that's the college that sponsors this show. It's called The International College of Ministry, at icmcollege.org. If you really want to get equipped - and I encourage you, get equipped to fulfill your call - please go to icmcollege.org. Get a free evaluation, take some free lessons. You need training, we all need training to fulfill our purpose and that's what the International College of Ministry is about; and it’s accredited so check that out. So stay tuned to this show about the prophetic gift and you– can you prophesy? Stay tuned and find out.

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Dr. Ray: Okay, here we go. Welcome to Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self - that's me. Thanks for being with us. Let's look at this scripture because this scripture has been a key scripture in my life and actually, should be a key scripture in your life. It is 1 Corinthians 14:1, and Paul writes to “Pursue love, earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you would prophesy.” So in this scripture are three commandments. Now, these are not requests, and if you believe the Bible is inspired by God - and it is - and I hope you believe that God has given us three commandments here in 1 Corinthians 14:1. The first commandment is to pursue love - well, that kind of makes sense, right? God is love. Jesus said “This is how you know if you are My disciples because you love one another,” okay? Um, we're called to love God, love our neighbor, love our enemies. You know, love is a big thing with God. Jesus so loved us that He gave us life for us. God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. So love is a huge deal and love is a choice and we are called to choose love, amen? 

The second thing it says in that scripture to do– is to desire spiritual gifts. So the– Paul is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit asking us to desire spiritual gifts and there's a very good reason for that, and the reason is explained in 1 Corinthians chapter, chapter 12. We'll look that up really quick. In 1 Corinthians 12:7. Says that “Each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.” Let me repeat that again, “...for the common good.” So Paul wants us, and the Lord wants us - because He's writing through Paul - to desire spiritual gifts because they're for the good of everyone. Common good. Good of the group, good of the church, good of the community. And the Lord is asking you to want these gifts, desire these gifts, put this desire in your heart, okay? For spiritual gifts. Why? because they're important. Healing is important, faith, words of knowledge, discerning of spirits, prophecy. All these gifts are very important and we are called to desire these gifts. And Paul wants us to desire these gifts because of the benefit these gifts have to the church and to your family, to the community. I mean, if you've ever seen a miraculous healing, that's an incredible benefit to the body of Christ. If you've ever received a prophetic word or God has spoken to you and your– and has changed your life forever, that's an incredible benefit to the body of Christ. Sometimes we need wisdom, a word of knowledge, amen? 

Miracles, I mean, who doesn't need a miracle from time to time? We need the spiritual gifts, the church needs the spiritual gifts, your family needs spiritual gifts, your community, the world at large needs to see the manifestation of spiritual gifts, the manifestation of the Spirit. And actually, that translates the evidence of the Spirit, um. So evidence of the Holy Spirit, of course, is the fruit of the Spirit and you should understand that as a Christian, but the other evidence of the Holy Spirit: you are the temple of the Holy Ghost, right? The other evidence of the Holy Spirit is spiritual gifts. These gifts are evidence of the Holy Spirit and we should desire them for unselfish reasons, not selfishly. You– we want these gifts so we can be a blessing to those around us; and Paul was always concerned about the church, the edifying of the church, okay? “He who prophesies edifies the church,” amen. “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but he who prophesies edifies the church.” It's greater to edify the church. Paul talks about this in chapter 14 of Corinthians, so we have a commandment to desire spiritual gifts because they're good for the community, they're important for the community. 

Spiritual gifts build our faith. They, they help our, our belief. They, they do, they– the benefits are just over and over and over– there's so many benefits of spiritual gifts. I've seen spiritual gifts used and I've used spiritual gifts to bring a, a lost person to Christ. Spiritual gifts in operation when people are sick and get healed, spiritual gifts when people are lost and don't know which direction to go and the Lord gives an incredible word of wisdom. Spiritual gifts that can confirm a direction in your life and can confirm uh, and give you an answer to a problem and confirm what it is you're supposed to do. All this is so critical. Spiritual gifts are, are of great benefit - terrific benefit - and we are called to desire them. So we have the commandment to desire– earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but the third part of this commandment is of all the spiritual gifts, he wants you to desire one gift more than the rest and that is the gift of prophecy. And years ago in my, in my prayer, I was just– I was praying and trying to commune with God and I was kind of pondering, why prophecy? He wants us to desire spiritual gifts. Well, you know, the gift of healing, the gift of miracles, man, those are incredible gifts. Why prophecy? And then I feel like the Holy Spirit talked to me and He said, “Because prophecy is My voice; My voice speaking.” And I knew immediately that the Lord was telling me that there's nothing more important than the voice of God. We need to hear God's voice.

You know, many people will, will tell you - some traditions: “Well, God speaks through the bible.” And He does but unfortunately, some people say that's the only way He speaks, is through the bible. Well, that's kind of strange because the bible tells us over and over and over again and gives us example after example after example of God speaking to people. God prophesying to people, prophesying to a nation, giving prophetic words, God speaking to Moses and Joshua and David and Isaiah and God speaking to, to Jesus and to Peter and to, and to Paul. I mean, we see God speaking to people. So the bible teaches us that God wants to talk to us. And prophecy is, is… we, we– is… we make it too complicated. The gift of prophecy is simply this: it's hearing something God is saying, seeing something God is seeing, dreaming a dream that God gave you, having a vision that God provided, and relaying that to the person that's for. Could be for you, it could be for someone else, but it is critical. And so the million-dollar question is, if we have a commandment from God, should we not obey it? 

The three things. Love… pursue these gifts, especially we prophesy. When you tap a scripture like 1 Corinthians 14:1, in my opinion, you have three choices with that scripture. You can look at that scripture and go, I don't believe that. Not going to do that. To me, that's simple- simply rebellion. You: no, no, no, no, I don't, I don't, I don't think that's for me for today. I'm just no– not going to, not going to do that. Or you could look at that scripture and go, Yeah, wow, wow. That's really good. I really, I really need to pay attention to that. I'll think about it someday. I'll I'll procrastinate on that, okay? Or the third option is you can believe it and you can be a doer of the word and do what it says. And here's another point I want to make very clearly: God will never ask you to do something that He will not allow you to do. In other words, if God's asking you to desire spiritual gifts, do you not believe He's going to give them to you? Would you ask your child to desire something and not give it to them? I mean, that's that's just, just doesn't even make sense. Can you imagine um, like it's uh, you know… Years ago I used to love - my kids were young - I used to love to surprise them on Christmas and play Santa Claus and that kind of stuff. Don't– I don't– not going to get into all the Pagan roots of Christmas, okay? But I love to play Santa Claus and I would never dream… I know once that um, my daughter was asking, you know, I think for a Barbie Dream House, okay? And I said, “Okay, okay, I'll get you a Barbie Dream House.” And I said, “Now, my daughter, I want you to want– are you desiring a, a Barbie Dream House?” “Yeah Dad, yeah Dad. I'm desiring a Bobie Dream House– a Barbie Dream House.” Of course I'm going to give it to her. I'm not going to have my daughter desire something that I would not give to her, amen. 

God will never ask you to desire something He's not willing to give to you. So to desire spiritual gifts means He wants to impart spiritual gifts to you, all of you. Now, I do think it's important to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and that's a whole other topic. If you're not filled with the Holy Spirit, please read the book of Acts. Get an elder or an apostle or pastor - somebody to lay hands on you, get filled with the Holy Spirit. The third part of that scripture is especially of all the spiritual gifts, desire that you would prophesy. Now, guys, I have taught this for many years. I have traveled around the country teaching this and activating and imparting the spiritual gift of prophecy. I believe the spiritual gift of prophecy can be imparted, okay? “Do not neglect the spiritual gifts which is given you by laying on of hands,” amen. “Do not–” and Peter: “Do not” ne– “neglect the spiritual gifts which is given you by the laying on of hands,” That means you can receive it and you can be activated in it. God would not ask you to desire the gift of prophecy and never allow you to do that. Well yeah, but you know, I'm not a prophet. I'm not saying you're a prophet, I'm saying we can prophesy. I'm saying - I'm going to be bold - you can prophesy. Well, I, I don't do that. Yes, you can do that. If you ever hear God speak, if you're a Christian, Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice.” “My sheep recognize My voice.” Are you a sheep of Jesus? Or Jesus your Shepherd? Then we should know His voice, amen. 

What pro– prophetic gift is, is God speaking and you're simply relaying what you heard Him speak to another person. Or what you– what– maybe God gives you a picture; you relay the picture God gave you to another person. That's the prophetic gift. And we are called to desire that gift. God wants to speak. And it's interesting to me, the prophetic gift is a mercy gift. Most of the time - if you've ever been in a church and received a prophetic word - most of the time, that prophetic word is something God was already trying to tell you and it's going to be a confirmation. So in a way, the prophetic gift is God's mercy just trying to help you get it into your spirit. What He's been trying to tell you all along. And I can tell you countless stories of the prophetic gift operating and how many times it has blessed people and, and, and confirm people. And in my life, the prophetic gift has impacted my life just like nothing I, I could, could ever, ever imagine. I could tell you story after story after story. 

You know, once the Lord spoke to me prophetically. I'll tell you - this is just such a cool story. So I had uh, I was a single dad for a long time and I had met this um, this lady down in Florida named Christie. And we had become friends but uh, she's in Orlando, I'm in Memphis Tennessee. One day, I received a prophetic word from the Lord and the Lord said “Christie is My perfect gift to you.” And I knew the Lord had spoke to me. Now, He spoke to me prophetically, to my spirit. Now, a prophetic word can come to you directly from God, it can come to you from another individual, okay? It can come to you in a number of different ways, and the word was “Christie is My perfect gift to you.” So that kind of freaked me out a little bit because it was nothing I would ever think of at this time. We were just friends and we lived 800 miles apart. So the next day uh, she called me. Christie called me - I'm in Memphis, Tennessee, she's in Orlando - and I'm thinking, Do I tell her what the Lord spoke to me? Do I not tell her? Do I tell her? Do I not tell her? And so very nervously, I said, “Christie, I believe I heard God speak to me that you are my perfect gift from Him. All of a sudden, I heard a gasp on the phone. Christie gasps. She said, “Hold on a minute, hold on a minute.” She runs and she grabs her journal. And about three or four years before, somebody had given Christie a prophetic word. And the word was, “Your future husband will say to you that you are God's perfect gift for him.” I had repeated word for word exactly a prophetic word that she had received years ago. Long story short, we ended up married. Changed my life forever.

But prophecy is hearing God. And God will give you prophetic words that are simply for you. He'll give you prophetic words that are for other people. And so many times, I believe God is speaking and we're just not paying attention. It's like um, it's like an FM radio. It's just playing but we're not tuning into the channel. God– God's talking. He's talking a whole lot more than we're listening to us. And so many times in your life, you can look back when you made a mistake or got into a situation and you remember, you know, I think I remember that little voice telling me not to do that. I mean, God was telling you. He was warning you. But we didn't pay attention to Him. God is speaking. The question is are we listening? But He also will use you to give prophetic words to other people. And you're thinking, well, well how does that work? Well, I'll tell you how it works. To me, it's um, this is the way I minister prophetically, and I've done it for years and I won’t go into all my story. I've done it in a lot of churches and I've done it in Europe and Indonesia and Guatemala, uh, Philippines. What the Lord does is He– He'll put an impression. It's like a thought that comes out of nowhere, especially a first impression that comes out of nowhere. Usually um, I'm praying for someone. Somebody will come up to me and say, "Dr. Self, could you pray for me?" I may put my hand on their shoulder and I'll say a prayer like, “Lord, I just ask you to, to bless Susie, Father. I just thank you, Lord, for Susie and her husband Jim, and I just ask you to bless them, Holy Spirit. Just touch them right now, just come upon them. In the name of Jesus Christ, Father, give them the desires of their heart.” And all of a sudden, as I'm praying, these thoughts start coming into my mind out of nowhere. And they're not my thoughts. Remember, in the book of Isaiah the scripture says, “My–” God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways.” So I've learned to pay attention to thoughts that seem to pop into my head out of nowhere; and then I will say something like, “Susie, I believe I hear the Lord saying,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so many times… a matter of fact, 90% of the time when I say that, I get a reaction. They start to cry, they start to shake, and they go, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's exactly what I need to hear. That's confirmation,” blah, blah, blah. All I did was I prayed for someone and I pay attention to my first impression.

Now, what happens is many people get afraid. Oh my gosh, what if I miss it? What if I make a mistake? What if I make a mistake? Well, that's a legitimate concern but what I like to do is I like… stay humble. And say if I'm– think I have a prophetic word for someone, what I like to do is say, “Look, I believe I hear the Lord saying this but you can pray about it?” And then I speak it, okay? Now listen [coughs] - excuse me - we have the Holy Spirit living in us and so when I'm prophesying to someone, they also have the Holy Spirit in them, and the Holy Spirit recognizes His own voice. And so if the Holy Spirit in me is talking to the Holy Spirit in the other person, there's going to be a voice recognition and there's going to be some agreement. But if the Holy Spirit in me is talking and I think it's the Holy Spirit in me talking, or maybe it's not the Holy Spirit in me talking, then the Spirit in them is going to not receive it. There'll be a little check in their spirit. 

I have made mistakes, I have missed it before. I have said things I thought were from God and they were not from God and I ask forgiveness when that happens. But so many times that I found out when you step out, it is the Lord; it is God. But you don't want to get into analysis paralysis where you think, I'm just– can't– I just can't do it because what if, what if I make a mistake? What if I make a mistake? Well, what if you change somebody's life forever? What if you change the world forever? Is it not worth it to take a chance and remember the person you're speaking to has the ability to discern? They can pray about what you're saying, they can go ask their pastor about what you're saying, they can look it up in the word of God with what you're saying. And so you know, when somebody gives me a prophetic word, I never ever, ever just, just take it for granted that Oh, that's God. I know that's God. We discern. We learn how to discern if a prophetic word is from God, okay? If you know the word of God, you read the word of God, a prophetic word's always going to line up with the bible. It's going to bear witness with your spirit. There's going to be no confusion in it. God's not the author of confusion. There's going to be no condemnation, there's going to be no shame, okay? Jesus took shame; He took condemnation to the cross. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, so none of these things will be in a prophetic word and that's one of the ways you can learn to recognize it. 

And uh, and sometimes you get prophetic words that are just… make no sense. This is literally over 10 years ago. I'm in a house church up in Memphis, Tennessee, and a guy I didn't even know says um, that, “I see you ministering like in New Mexico and Arizona. Um, I see you ministering in New Mexico and Arizona.” Now I'm in Memphis, Tennessee. I'm not thinking about New Mexico and Arizona. I'll never forget that word, “and it's like you're going there, you're going to do something there,” something like that. Well, I remember it but I kind of just didn't know what to do with it so this is what you call put it on the shelf. I want you to know that this year, in June, I was invited to minister to the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Indians in New Mexico and Arizona. I was at the Navajo reservation at a pastor's conference and there were Navajo leaders from all over the reservation– had come to this conference. And I was able to minister and prophesy to them and that prophecy actually came true. So prophecy - and I knew when I got the invitation to go to New Mexico and Arizona. I remember that prophecy and so I knew it was God's will for me to go there. And it's just an incredible story. 

But listen, why would Paul ask us to covet to prophesy? In verse 39, he says covet to prophesy. He said, “Don't forbid speaking in tongues, covet to prophesy, earnestly desire to prophesy.” The scripture tells us to do this. That's because you can do it. You can hear from God and you can speak what God tells you to speak. It is possible. You don't have to be a prophet, don't have to be some weird, far-out-there person. All you have to be is just a believer who knows the voice of his Savior and is willing to speak to another person what his Savior is saying. You can also get prophetic words that are for a church, for a community, for a nation, okay? And just stay humble and say– tell the person, “Hey, I want you to pray about this but this is what I believe I hear that God's saying. But you, you pray about it.” That's okay. Be humble.

Now, in, in the Old Testament time when the Holy Spirit would fall upon somebody like Isaiah or Jeremiah, the recipients of the word did not have the Holy Spirit so they were 100% dependent upon whatever the prophet said and the prophet could get in trouble if they were not speaking from God. But in the New Covenant, we all have the Holy Spirit and so we're able to judge prophetic words because we have the Spirit of God within us, recognizing the Spirit of God that may be speaking. So the prophetic gift can change your life, rock your boat, change the church. Can set captives free, can impact your children, your job, everything. What you need to do, what you need not to do, where you need to go… it's, it's the voice of God speaking. There's nothing more important than hearing God speak in your life and prophecy, prophetic gift, is one way. Not the only way, but one way that He does it. He speaks to you and He gives you words for other people. 

I was at a restaurant down in um, Miami and there was a server. It was a very busy restaurant and she came up to me and all of a sudden, the Lord just said, “Speak to her.” And I wasn't sure exactly what it was and all of a sudden, I started getting these impressions about her teenage daughters - I believe it was two teenage daughters that she had. And I, I said, “Excuse me, Miss, um, I'm a pastor and I believe the Lord has said something that– about you that I want to speak to you. Would that be okay?” Of course, she said, “Oh sure, sure, sure.” So I gave her the prophetic word that these, these things that came into my mind, God speaking into my mind. All of a sudden, she started to cry. She got down on her knees, laid her head on the table, and here she is, the server in a restaurant. It so happened I was with a very powerful evangelist. He immediately leads her to the Lord Jesus Christ and she she got saved right there in the airport. So that was just - actually was an airport restaurant - it was super cool. It was really super cool. 

The gift of prophecy is God speaking. I– now call me radical, call me whatever; I believe every Christian can prophesy. I do not believe God would ask us to desire something and not give it to us. I believe every Christian, if they desire the prophetic gift and ask God for the prophetic gift, can receive the prophetic gift, be imparted with the prophetic gift, and be stirred up in the prophetic gift. Now, let me say this. I– I’m going to pray for you if you’re listening to me, if you're willing, that the, that the Spirit of Prophecy would fall on you in the name of Jesus Christ. Stir up means to use it and the more you use it, the more you get. That's just the way it works with God. You know, the Bible says do not neglect the gift that's within you. Stir up the gift that is within you, employ the gift that is within you. Amen. 

So can't teach you all about it, but this is my heart today for this podcast. Let me pray for you and if you're willing, I want you to pray and receive the prophetic gift. There's nothing greater. And, and let me tell you something. There'll be times when you will miss it but it… is it not, is it not worth it to be a fool for Christ? Is it not worth the chance? Because I have found out yeah, I have made some mistakes and I've embarrassed myself; but I've also seen lives changed and people get saved and incredible things happen. Amen. A– amen.

Lord, I thank you for each person listening to this show. Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, fall on each person. Let them feel Your presence. Lord, for everyone listening that's willing to receive, I ask for the gift of prophecy - the Spirit of Prophecy - to fall on them. For everyone who is, who is obeying your, your scriptural commandment to desire the gift of prophecy, earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, for everyone listening who is earnestly desiring the gift of prophecy, I ask for this gift to fall on you now. Receive the gift of prophecy in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, touch them. Give them this gift. I rebuke any confusion, any spirit of unbelief. I thank you, Holy Spirit. Fall on them now. Let, them hear Your voice clearly. Let the listener, my listeners, see your pictures, see your visions, have dreams from you, and have clarity to know, to know when you are speaking. And give them the boldness and the courage to give the message to whoever you direct them to. I thank you, Father, that we are desiring spiritual gifts and now, Father, we are receiving spiritual gifts - the manifestation of the Holy Spirit - for each one. Each one willing right now. Come, Holy Spirit, touch them now. Fall on them now. Receive the gift of prophecy now in the name of Jesus Christ. And we believe it done in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. 

Folks, you got to have faith and believe that you received it and just pray. Maybe– here's just a simple way to start out: pray for someone. Maybe just ask someone if you could pray for them. As you're praying, you can start off praying in the natural. Pray a natural prayer but as you're praying naturally for someone, pay attention to the supernatural that comes into your spirit and speak it to them with humility. That's a great way to get started. And you'll be surprised and you'll be amazed at how God can move. Amen. God bless you. Thank you so much for listening to my show; this is Dr. Ray Self. God bless you.

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Well, folks, thank you for listening to another episode of Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self - that's me. I pray that this show has been a blessing to you and I'm asking you now to step out in faith that the Holy Spirit has touched you and you've been imparted with the prophetic gift. It's just an honor to do this. I thank you for everyone who downloads this show. Be sure and subscribe. Shar,e um… give us some reviews on the website, icmcollege.org/selftalk. That's the website, icmcollege.org/selftalk. Or there’s a link to the new Buzz Sprout website that we have. The links to the websites and to our, our website or everything are in the show description notes. Thank you for listening to Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. Uh, the show is about you. I just pray it's been a blessing to you. Let me hear from you. Uh, if you have any request or prayer request or needs at drrayself@gmail.com. I love you much. Thank you again for listening. God bless you.