What to Do if You Don't Feel Like Obeying God

I've had a bit of obedience to do this week, and I haven't felt like doing it. It's been a struggle. It's a keep-on-going-with-the-hard, when what I want to do is enjoy the fall weather and have a break, kind of obedience, and I've struggled mightily. I've wept. I've prayed. I've fasted. 

Missionaries should always feel like doing what God says, right? Not necessarily. 

It's not "feeling like obeying" that's importance. It's actual obedience that matters.

Jesus didn't always "feel" like obeying God, either. 

His time in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion is a perfect example. He agonized. He sweated drops of blood. He seriously did not want to haul the cross through Jerusalem on His holy back, lie down while soldiers impaled his hands and feet with rough iron nails, and hang by those nails with all the sin of the world on his shoulders. 

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Matthew 26:39

The redemption of the world, my redemption and yours, depended entirely on the willingness of the Son of Man/Son of God to push past how He felt and do what God said anyway. 

That's a scary thought, isn't it?

I wonder what depends entirely on my willingness to push past how I feel and obey...

In the midst of all my crying, praying, and fasting, I've tried to do what Jesus did. Obey anyway. Did it make me "feel" more like obeying? Nope. 

Discipleship is not about "if it feels good, do it," but about "if God directs, do it."

It's that simple. It's that hard.

James, the younger half-brother of Jesus, wrote about trials that are hard. The word he used for trials comes from the root word meaning "to pierce." The hard things we go through are to serve as a divine piercing through which all the "not-like-Jesus" can trickle out. 

Do we, then, fake a smile and keep pressing on? No. Jesus didn't fake a smile about the cross. He agonized, but He also prayed. He asked to avoid it, but He also surrendered. He didn't want to go, but He got up anyway. When the soldiers came, He didn't run. Instead, He stepped forward with "I'm your man" obedience.

How do we get through trials without losing our testimony? The same way Jesus did. We pray. We surrender. We obey. We keep obeying. At the end of the trial, we win the victory.

James listed a few actions that will help us along the way. 

1) Choose joy anyway. (James 1:2)

2) Take your eyes off the trial and put them on the outcome. (James 1:3)

3) Allow yourself to learn the lesson in the trial. (James 1:4)

4) Don't quit, even when it's what you want. (James 1:3-4)

5) If you need wisdom, ask God for it, not your well-meaning friends. (James 1:5)

This week, I've done what James suggested. It's what my fellow missionaries do all the time. I've chosen joy anyway. I've looked toward whatever I'll have learned at the end. I've pondered the lesson I'm being taught. I've persevered. I've asked God to show me the way. 

All those James-style actions didn't change my desire. They helped me obey, though, and the ongoing obedience has helped me persevere. Somewhere down this road, I'll be more like Jesus than I am right now, and closer to the holy perfection He desires for me.

Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. Immeasurably so.

If our struggle, our question, today is whether or not to obey in something hard, the answer is yes. Do it. Even if you don't feel like it. Why? Because it's worth it in the end.

"And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and completely, lacking in nothing." James 1:4 nasb

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Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Worship in the Wilderness

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Middle East, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

Contingent Promises from the Consistent Promise Keeper

Yesterday, I was the substitute teacher in the ladies' class. We were winding up the lesson on John 2 when someone made a comment that sent me down a rabbit trail. It's been on my mind ever since.

The comment was about our tendency toward criticism, which reminded me of Isaiah 58. The prophet's words make one thing clear. God hates a judgmental, critical spirit. He wants us to be rid of it so much that He's made promises for those who let it go.

IF we replace our critical, judgmental spirit with a spirit of generosity and giving...

THEN God will give: 

- clear direction

- hope even in difficult situations

- refreshment

- strength

- restoration of what seems utterly hopeless (repairer of breach, restorer of streets)

IF we honor the Sabbath and treat it as a delightful, holy day...

THEN God will give:  

- delight in Him

- honor

- satisfaction with the inheritance He has promised

These are perfectly clear IF/THEN promises. They're contingent upon us doing our part, but the requirements are not too difficult. 

quit criticizing and judging

honor the Sabbath

What's too hard about that?

What's not to like about God's promises of peace, hope, direction, refreshment?

Today, let's take a close look at God's promises. Are they something we want? Then let's do what it takes to have what God promises. 

Honor His day. Honor His way. Simply obey.

"Stop pointing your finger... Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength..." Isaiah 58:9-10 nlt

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Please like and share to extend our digital reach... This matters more than you know.

In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterdays post: When Our Lives are Utterly Transformed 

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

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#Godpromises 

Why I Didn't Watch the Presidential Debate and What I'm Going to Do About It

I didn't watch the debates last night.

Maybe I should have, but I didn't. I have a TV but I don't have cable or satellite. That's because I'm less of a TV person than I am a cat person. I'm pretty sure my big TV still works, because I turn it on for a minute every few months, just to be sure.

My TV wasn't the reason I didn't watch the debate, though; it was because I never do.

I prefer to skip all the rhetoric and analysis by commentators. I get the transcript of the debate afterward. Then, I check the facts. In this day of fake news sites, you have to be super careful, but it's still possible to get truth.

Truth.

It's a scare commodity these days, but let me remind you that there is a source for truth. The Bible. In fact, Jesus told us that He is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. (John 14:6) If we want truth, we need look no further than Jesus.

When we compare the two candidates against THE TRUTH, JESUS, neither looks too great. However, when I compare my own life against THE TRUTH, JESUS, I don't look too great, either.

When I compare their words against THE TRUTH, JESUS, I'm not too impressed with the candidates, but, again, I don't always line up too well, either.

Yesterday, an interesting thing happened that may have quite an impact on the election process. I spoke at Traceway (a local assisted-living facility) about The Untapped Power Grid Project. We had a wonderful time together. As I do sometimes, I used my "prayer board" to demonstrate what I mean when I talk about praying for my Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. 

I include Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in my Samaria, and pray for them regularly  I didn't intend for their pictures to make it into the stack of missionary prayer cards, but somehow they did. As I walked around the room, looking at the missionaries those great prayer warriors had chosen, I noticed one woman holding Hillary Clinton's picture. 

"Did you want a missionary card?" I asked.

"No. We'd better do something or we're in big trouble. I'm taking her."

She was right. Unless we do something significant, we're in big trouble. That "something" is not more rhetoric. It's not more bad mouthing. It's not more complaining. 

Check the facts for yourself, then get busy doing what must be done.

Repent. Pray.

Yep. Don't just pray. We must start with our own personal repentance. We have sin, too. Not just our candidates. Let's deal with our own faults before we take the faults of others to the Lord.

Once that big job is done, let's get serious about prayer. Combine it with fasting. I can't do this job on my own, but I'm willing to do my part. It's going to take all of us in the body of Christ, however. 

I hope you noticed how I've outlined my plan of action. I'm repenting and praying. Those two things are critical. In fact, I've already begun. 

But that's NOT all I'm doing. 

I'm also checking facts from reliable news sources. Well, as reliable as I can find. What I'm not doing is listening to a "talking head" to get my information. I don't want someone else's interpretation of facts. 

I just want facts, and I know I'll have to dig to get them.

We have a serious problem. Neither candidate is as politically, ethically, morally, (or any other way) as attractive as I'd like, but a choice will have to be made. Let's make a prayerful AND informed choice.

For the sake of the nation, please help.

There are two verses on which I rely. They were first spoken more than two thousand years ago, but their truth has not been diminished by time.

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 

"The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes." Proverbs 21:1 nasb

Whether they realize it or not, a nation depends on the body of Christ to do what we can do. Repent. Pray. Get informed. Make the wisest, most Godly choice we can. We will have to pray hard for the one who's elected, but that's a problem for November. 

Today, let's check the facts, then examine our own hearts, get right with God, and take our candidates to Him. 
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In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. There's still a LONG way to go. I'll have an update later this morning.
In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Gory Gifts: The Biting Cat and the Decapitated Mole
#election2016 #pray

Happy Anniversary Top Ten: The Heartbreak of Human Trafficking

I was rambling around on my blog yesterday and realized that Friday, September 23, is the third anniversary of Lines from Leanna. In three short years, my life has radically changed. I became a "real" writer. God extended my reach, literally, around the world, using only a digital touch. I've learned about topics I hadn't considered studying before. This is one of those topics, and one of the ten all-time-most-viewed blog posts of the past three years. 

I'm sharing it today because it's an important topic and because I've recently been in contact with a ministry to workers in "adult clubs". God has raised up people to minister in this area. I may not be able to join them on the front lines (because I can barely get all I'm doing done) but I'm happy to put you in contact with those who serve. The need is great. The workers are few. 

As you read, be sure to ask God, "Is this a place you want me to serve?" I'm pretty sure the answer will be yes. If we can't go, we can give to those who do. If we can't give, we can pray. 

For sure pray. For those who are trying to rescue the ones who are trafficked and for all who are trapped and can't find their way out. 

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Last Saturday night at the Salad Supper, one of the ladies talked about the problem of sexual abuse and how often she saw it's wounds in the women to whom she ministers in the jail ministry. Our conversation wandered on a bit from there to the problem of human trafficking.

Some of the things I heard frightened me and broke my heart. I wanted to do something to help, but the doing required more knowledge. I've read more than I wanted to know about human trafficking this week.

Here's some of what I've learned:
- Human trafficking is the fastest growing activity of organized crime world-wide. 

- Human trafficking is a $32-150 billion industry. (estimates vary widely)

- The average victim of trafficking is 12 years old. 

- 100,000-300,000 children are at risk of being trafficked each year.

- The average cost of human trafficking is ~ $90,000/person.

- The Polaris website estimates that 68% of trafficking involves forced labor. 26% of victims are children and 55% are women and girls.

- Trafficking involves more than prostitution. It includes forced marriages, labor trafficking, trafficking for organ trade, forced sex acts and performances, and child sex tourism. 

- Worldwide, according to Wikipedia, 2 million children are trapped in trafficking of child sex tourism. (I was stunned to hear that people schedule vacations in order to have sex with children. Fishing trips to the Amazon in Brazil. Trips to Thailand. You can include any brand of perversion if you wish.)

- Sex trafficking victim numbers vary widely, but there are at least 4.5 million victims worldwide.

- Interpol rescued 2,700 victims of sex trafficking in July 2016 alone.

- In Israel, six people were recently arrested for running a trafficking ring in which their victims were speech and hearing-impaired people kidnapped from the Ukraine and forced to beg.

- According to the FBI, 750,000 predators are online at any given time, trolling in 40,000 public chat rooms. During a 10 week investigation, offers to pay for webcam sex performances were made to undercover officers from 20,000 different internet users.

- According to Wikipedia, 10,000 prostitutes (many of whom were victims of sexual trafficking) were brought from out-of-state to Miami for Superbowl 2010. The weekend of the Superbowl is one of the most profitable of the year for sexual traffickers. 

I did a Google search for "prostitution in Tupelo MS" and found a few news reports of arrests for prostitution over the last few years. It certainly didn't look like the problem you might imagine in a big city, but it wasn't non-existent in this area, either. Whether there is an organized structure to it or not, prostitution exists at some level in our area. 

If you're like me, you want to help. The first step in making a difference is to be informed. There are imbedded links above, as well as specific links below. The first link below will help you learn to identify a victim of human trafficking. 

It's also important to understand who is at risk of becoming a victim of trafficking. According to safesupportivelearning.ed.gov (accessed 8/26/16) 

"Possible risk factors associated with child trafficking include the following:

• lack of personal safety
• isolation
• emotional distress
• homelessness
• poverty
• family dysfunction
• substance abuse
• mental illness
• learning disabilities
• developmental delay
• childhood sexual abuse
• promotion of sexual exploitation by family members or peers
• lack of social support" 

The risks for human trafficking are similar, no matter your age or gender. Those who are weak and unable to defend themselves are always at risk of falling prey to those who are stronger. (Here's the link to an article that discusses the risk factors in more detail.) 

It's easy to look at the facts and decide it's a problem for law enforcement officers, and it is. The reality, though, is that it will take all of us to make a difference. 

Internet pornography is highly addictive, and is one of the reasons the trafficking industry has expanded to such an incredible degree. People who use pornography find that, like a drug addict, they need more to achieve the same result. Deeper levels, worsened forms. 

If you dabble in pornography, confess your sin, repent, seek help if needed, and stop. (I was shocked to learn that a small but significant percentage of pornography users are women.) 

Get an internet filter.

If you know someone who uses pornography, urge them to get the help they need in order to stop.

Learn what to look for in trafficking victims and those who are at risk.(The link is below) There is a 1-800 number for victims of trafficking to call for help. I do not recommend trying to get between a victim and the trafficker. That's a job for law enforcement.) You can call the 1-800 number to report a suspected trafficking situation, as well as call 911. 

Volunteer. You can make a bigger difference than you realize by volunteering to help with the jail ministry. You might be the one who helps a person trapped in a terrible lifestyle to break free by the power of God.

Consider volunteering with organizations that serve at-risk youth. Prevention is always better than trying to extract someone after the fact.

Most important, don't underestimate the power in prayer, both individually and corporately. We serve a God who hears and responds when we pray. He cares about the women and children who are victims. He will not turn a deaf ear to our pleas. He will not fail to move.

Now that we're informed, we can begin by praying with insight. Today, let's start by making a commitment to do exactly that.

1) Pray for traffickers to be exposed and stopped.

2) Pray for those who are victims to be recognized, freed, and receive the help they desperately need.

3) Pray for at-risk women and children to receive help in advance that keeps them out of the hands of traffickers.

4) Ask God if you should volunteer with your church or other organization to help those victims who are incarcerated. (Expect a yes on that.)

5) Pray for law enforcement officers to recognize victims and get them the help and protection they need.

6) Many of the victims are held in bondage because of drug addiction, so pray for them to have a desire to be sober and clean. 

7) Pray that victims will find the freedom and healing only Christ can give.

8) Join me in praying that those who have taken, or are taking, a child-sex-trafficking vacation will be caught and arrested before they can traumatize a child, and that the children involved will be rescued.

9) When SuperBowl weekend rolls around, pray that those who are being victimized can be rescued. Pray for the law enforcement officers who are investigating human trafficking to be wise and recognize every instance. I'm praying that the next SuperBowl weekend will be the least profitable weekend for traffickers ever.

10) Pray about volunteering with at-risk youth and welcoming them into your home. (You can expect a yes on that prayer, too.) The organizations working with troubled and at-risk children and adults appreciate your donations, but they need your time equally as much. Volunteers are always in short supply. 

Be the one who loves those in need, just as they are, and demonstrates the love of Jesus to them. 

There is a worldwide problem, but boys and girls, men and women in our area are at risk of falling victim to traffickers, too. Sometimes, they are victimized. 

We can make a difference, if we will. 

When I wonder what Jesus would do about this problem, the answer is clear. 

He'd roll up His sleeves and wade into the fray. 

He'd stand up for those who need Him most.

He'd love with abandon, and invite them to follow Him. 

That's how Jesus loved me, and He revolutionized my life. The people in at-risk situations need the love of Jesus every bit as much as I did. If we are willing to lead them to Christ and help disciple them, He can revolutionize their lives as much as He did mine. 

In fact, that's exactly what He wants to do... and He's depending upon us. Let's be the ones who love like Jesus, give like Jesus, and rescue like Jesus.

Frank Pollard once quoted a poem by C. T. Studd. One line has stuck in my mind for decades.

"Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bell.
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."

When I heard those words, I thought Dr. Pollard said, "rescue ship". I wanted to be a rescue ship, too. There are plenty of people living within a yard of hell. Let's run the rescue ship (or rescue shop) that brings them to the safety of Jesus.

"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." 
2 Peter 3:9 nasb

Here's a link to help you learn to identify a victim of trafficking.
Here's a link to the MS Attorney General's brochure on Human Trafficking.
Here's a link to the MS Attorney General's list of resources. 
Here's a link to the MS Human Trafficking Act of 2013. It provides for a relief fund for victims and forfeiture of assets for those convicted of trafficking.
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photo above courtesy of freeimages.com

Here's a link to yesterday's post: Salad Supper Sweetness
Here's the link to the prayer guide: The Prayer List 

Here's the link to my Global Outreach page: Leanna Hollis MD
#humantrafficking

Adding the Prayer on Top

My pastor tends to preach in "series". Recently, we had a series on the "I AM" statements of Christ. That was followed by a series titled "I am Hope Church", designed to help us understand who we are as the church, the body of Christ. 

Every week, Pastor Scooter has issued a challenge. If you accepted and performed the challenge, you could earn a t-shirt. (We don't have a works-based faith, but we do have works-based t-shirts.) The first week, the challenge was to share your testimony with someone inside the church and with someone outside the church. 

I was already scheduled to speak at a nearby church, so that one was easy for me. At Wednesday night Bible study, we had an opportunity to share our testimony "inside". I hopped up, shared, and earned my t-shirt right off. (Yes. I have a long history as an overachiever.)

There have been several challenges. One week, the challenge was to do something nice for someone and pair it with asking, "How can I pray for you?" I was out that Sunday, so I missed the sermon, but I didn't miss the challenge. 

A young man helped me by doing something I didn't know how to do for myself. When we finished discussing it, he asked how he could pray for me. I told him. I asked how I could pray for him. We prayed.

All day, I thought about how sweet he was. How blessed I felt when he prayed for me. How it was so much more like the church Christ intended.

When I do a "good deed", I (in a way) use my own strength and resources. When I pray, I enlist the strength and resources of God Himself, and that's infinitely better than anything I have.

This week, why not accept the Pastor Scooter Challenge for yourself. Find a need and meet it, then ask how you can pray for the person you've helped. Don't just ask how you can pray. Pray. Right then.

It's like the icing on the cake. The sweetest part of all.

"Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." James 5:16 nasb
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Baptism Excitement

Here's the link to the prayer guide: The Prayer List 

Here's the link to my Global Outreach page: Leanna Hollis MD

#helpinghand #pray

After Orlando: Lowering the Flag

After the gunman shot, killed, and wounded so many Americans in Orlando Sunday, the President and Governor ordered the flags to be flow at half-staff. I'm not usually the one who lowers the flag, but this time, I volunteered to do it. 

It turned out to be one of the most sorrowful tasks I've ever had to perform.

Half-staff means the American flag is lowered, traditionally to the half-way point of the staff, or flag pole. (Half-mast, though in common use, is a term reserved for shipboard flags.) 

To position the flag at half-staff, it must first be raised quickly to the highest position, then lowered slowly. It's to be saluted while being raised or lowered. 

The flag was already at the top of the pole, so I lowered it. It's hard to lower the flag and salute it at the same time, so I saluted in my heart. 

Tears trickled down my face as I adjusted the flag and thought about my fellow Americans who had died in the attack in Orlando. Many of them were the age of my son. 

There are mothers and fathers whose hearts are broken, almost beyond repair. There are sisters and brothers who can never regain what was taken from them. All in the name of hate and evil. I can hardly bear it. 

We've lost more than those fifty people who died, more than those 53 who were injured. We've lost the joy and hope of all those who loved them. They may regain their joy at some point, but it will not be today. Nor for many days to come.

I wept for them all.

Because the Mississippi flag flies under the American flag, there's a big expanse of flag fabric, and it covers a significant part of the pole. I lowered the flags, secured the rope, and stepped back. It looked nice, but it wasn't right. 

I adjusted the position of the flags, secured it again. Changed it again.

The last time, I realized the problem. I raised the flag to the top, slowly lowered it until the Mississippi flag approached (but didn't touch) the ground, and raised it up just a bit. The American flag was at half-staff. Maybe a little below it.

I stepped back and saluted. I knew it looked low, but I left it. If you see our flag, it might catch your attention because of its position on the pole. 

I left it there, on behalf of the American people, as a symbol of humility and deep sorrow. 

It's not the first time we've had to lower the flag in the last few years. It won't be the last. 

We've had a terrorist attack on American soil. Again. Yes, it was a hate-crime, but it was also a terrorist attack. The cover of protection we've enjoyed for more than two centuries is gone. 

I'm not sure we'll ever get it back.

I know one thing for certain, though. If we want to enjoy the favor of God again, we have to make some changes. 

Now is the time to put aside our stubborn pride and humble ourselves before Almighty God. 

We need more than congressmen and women singing "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capital building. We need to, individually and corporately, get on our faces before God and repent of our godlessness. We need to return to Him and His ways.

We need to stop trusting in our own ability to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and trust the One who has provided every good and perfect gift that has come our way.

We need to stop chasing the American Dream and start chasing the Will of God and His plans. 

My fellow Americans, we cannot continue as we are, for evil is rampant. Our leaders lie with impunity and grasp at power as if it could sustain them when hard times come. It cannot.

There is no blessing on evil.

There is no blessing on hate.

The blessings of God are given as He desires. What He wants is a relationship with His people and righteousness in them. We're a long way from that now.

If our great nation is to be saved, we must turn back toward God. We must humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, seek God's face. 

As I stood before that half-staff flag and wept, I realized the flag was in a position of humility, but I'm afraid our hearts are not. 

I have made a start at my own problem of repentance and humility, of besieging heaven on behalf of our nation, but I cannot do it alone. And I don't have to. Men and women across this country have felt the same call I have felt. And they, too, have responded with tears and repentance and a renewed sense of humility and fervor. They, too, are praying for our nation.

In the name of Jesus, please join us in prayer for our nation. Let us humble ourselves together. I fear we are headed in a deadly direction, and destruction will come. It will not be pretty.

We must mourn with those who mourn. We must weep with those who weep. But when the mourning and weeping are done, we must rise up with humility and repentance. 

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Here's the link to yesterday's post: After Orlando

#Orlando #714 #pray #linesfromleanna

Teach us to pray, part 65: prophecy

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, 1 Corinthians 12:7- 10 NASB 

Before we begin this section, we need to clarify something. I've heard quite a few people say that we no longer have prophets, we no longer have prophecy, and that God has given all the prophecy He will ever give. If you read Scripture at all, you know that's not true. Our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He spoke through prophets in the past, (and He did) He still does today. The Word would not mention the manifestation of prophecy if it were not a manifestation. We do not serve a God who offers something then says, "Sorry, I was just kidding." He tells us the Spirit will manifest through prophecy because He will.

Surely the Lord G OD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel 

To His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 NASB)

God does not send judgment without warning His people. He tells one of His prophets. It is the prophet's job to tell the people what God has told them, and God will give the prophet a platform by which to deliver the message. When a prophet has a message, they must deliver it, despite the consequences of the delivery. 

The word translated as "prophecy" is prophēteia. Vine's defines it as "a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden, especially by foretelling future events." 

The one who has the gift (or manifestation) of prophecy will, of necessity, be one who spends considerable time in prayer, listening more than talking, as well as time studying the Word of God. The one with the manifestation of prophecy will take note of the world around him (or her) and consider carefully how current events relate to Scripture. Not everyone who claims to be a prophet actually is, but that does not invalidate the prophetic truth of those who do speak for God. 

I spoke to a women's group at a church that emphasized prophecy several years ago. As a gift to me, the ladies had spent considerable time in prayer for me as I prepared to speak. They had also asked that God give them a "word" for me and, after I spoke, there was a time for them to share what God had put on their hearts. A couple of the ladies were so confident of what they had heard in prayer that they had written it down on a card to give to me. When I read what they had written, I was struck by the absolute truth of it. Their words spoke to a need in my heart that had not been shared with anyone but God. They didn't understand what they had written nor how it applied to my life, but I did.

Some months ago, I attended a conference. My roommates (previously strangers) and I prayed together in the evenings. The second night, they offered to pray for me instead of just with me, and to prophecy over me. I had no idea what to expect, because I didn't know the ladies well and they didn't know me. As the women prayed for me, they spoke whatever God placed in their hearts. One woman spoke about my gift for intercession with such precision that I knew it had come from God. Another woman spoke with such clarity about my life, my profession, and my future that it could only have come from God alone. What she said God was going to do was such confirmation for what I thought I was supposed to do, that it was incredible encouragement for me. Neither of these women knew enough about me to have made these things up. It could have only come from God.

Later, I had another experience of people I did not know praying for me. One woman, who had no idea whatsoever about my life and with whom I had never had a conversation, prayed for me. There had been a situation not long before in which I had done exactly what God had put in my heart. People I love and respect had criticized me for it and it had hurt. In obedience, I had carried on, but it was made harder by the disdain of others. When this particular woman rested her hand on my shoulder, a warmth spread through me. When she began to pray, I was utterly shocked. She spoke specifically about the very instance for which I was criticized. She said, "You obeyed and God was pleased. Do what you hear Him say." I cannot begin to tell you how comforting that was! 

James Dobson and David Wilkerson are people who have been considered modern-day prophets. They have looked at modern culture in light of Scripture and, over decades, predicted which direction our nation would go with accuracy, but they have not always been well-received. Prophets are not usually popular, because they often tell us what we do not want to hear.

Ministers often speak prophetically when they teach the word of God and explain how it relates to our lives. When they "cast a vision for the future", they may be sharing a kind of prophecy.

It is important that we are not blown about by every wind that blows, or led about by every person who claims to be a prophet. Scripture is clear about the possibility of false prophets and how important it is that we not be led astray. When someone speaks a "prophecy" to me, I always ask God for confirmation. I never want to be led exclusively by the words of someone else, nor do I make life-changing decisions on the basis of what someone who claims to be a prophet says. It is the Holy Spirit's job to guide me and speak to me. If He chooses to speak through a prophecy, He will confirm it in at least one other way.  

I had just begun to write full-time but was very uncertain about it. Over a period of two weeks, God confirmed that decision in no less than five different ways by people who, while praying for me or speaking with me, spoke about a "creative outpouring unlike anything you have previously experienced." In every instance, the person speaking had no knowledge of what the other person had said nor any intimate knowledge of me. The final instance was so dramatic and surprising that there was no denying it had come from God.

How does this happen? People who pray prophetically do not just pray their own words. They get still and quiet, then listen for the Still, Small Voice in their hearts. They pray whatever they hear, whether it makes sense to them or not. 

Can we experience the manifestation of the Spirit through prophecy? Yes. When we seek God's will in a particular situation and He gives direction about specific actions to take, that is "divine inspiration declaring the purposes of God". In a way, it is prophetic, but even more, it is a place to begin. If God never does anything without telling His prophets, (and His word says that is true) we can be sure He has told someone. If it concerns us, He will be sure that we get the message. After all, He is more concerned about our obedience and our understanding than we ourselves are. Do you want to know God's will? Just ask Him.