The Charisms: 6 - The Gift of Prophecy

The prophet Amos declared: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Moses expressed the desire: "Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29). Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to seek spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. "Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Our God is a God of revelation. Regular people do not get access to God’s secrets but his secrets are revealed to his servants, the prophets. A prophet utters words inspired by God, a message to a person or the Christian Community. He speaks on God’s behalf, communicating the mind of God and what God thinks of a current situation or His intention for the future.

The purpose of prophecy is to encourage and build up the church. This is done when words of comfort are spoken from the mouth of God. "On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their building up and encouragement and consolation. Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church" (1 Corinthians 14:3-4). In the book of Ezekiel, we see the prophet prophesying and when he does so, it brings life to the dead bones. In a similar fashion when a prophet speaks words of God he gives life to the spiritually dead.

Here are some of the facets of the gift of prophecy:

It requires no interpretation.

It must be used in proportion to ones faith (cf. Romans 12:6).

The person operating the gift is responsible to maintain both order and submission to the Church’s shepherds (CCC801). "And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32).

Prophets can make mistakes so each prophecy must be weighed carefully (1 Corinthians 14:29).

Prophecy convinces the unbeliever of the presence of God (1 Corinthians 14:24-25).

Prophecy should be comforting and not distressing or uncertain to the one who is receiving it.

If the prophecy has to do with the future, it must come to pass, if it doesn’t come to pass it means the prophet is a false prophet.