PRACTICE DOESN’T MAKE PERFECT.PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

CALVIN EDWING RIPKEN Sr.

Session # 11

GROWING IN THE PROPHETIC GIFTING

CATCH THE FIRE AIRPORT CAMPUS.FEBRUARY 15, 2017

WELCOME TO EQUIPPING NIGHTS

“LEARNING TO PROPHESY”SEMINAR

CTF AIRPORT CAMPUSMARCO LAFEBRE

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CONNECT GROUPLEARNING TO PROPHESY

I pray that the Lord our God increases in you His marvellous anointing and impart to you all the revelatory gifting: Words of knowledge, words of wisdom, prophetic words, dreams and visions, discerning of spirits and strengthen your conscience to have a clearer intuition and greater and wonderful fellowship with Him. I pray that he may open your eyes to see the reality of the spiritual realm when He pleases so you could see His ministering angels and rest assured that indeed what is stated in 2 Kings 6:16 is your portion. “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

GOD IS GOOD AND HIS LOVE ENDURES

FOR EVER.

• God’s desire is that everyone of His children be active in the prophetic and revelatory gifting.

• WE HAVE His Hoy Spirit in us.• We can do it.

PROPHETIC NUGGETS

• 29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

• In the Old Testament times, not everyone could prophesy.

• Why?

Numbers 11:29 (NKJV)

• God’s Supreme Revelation• 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time

past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

• Various times and ways• By the prophets,• By His Son.

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)

• Prophetic night dreams.• Open visions during the day.• Audible voice.• Angels messengers.• Divine encounters with God.• NO difference from nowadays.

God spoke in various ways:

• The previous passage is in no way cancelling the use of the prophetic gifting in the NT Church, but rather encouraging us to keep doing it.

• In these days he is speaking to us by His Son.• His Son is the perfect Word of God, divinely reflected in the

Holy Scriptures.• Remember: The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.• Paul urges to the NT church to desire the prophetic gift

• 14 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 

1 Corinthians 14:1-4 (NKJV)

• 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

• Two times Paul encourages us to be bold enough to desire this precious gift of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:5 (NKJV)

• 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

• The main reason for prophesying is to demonstrate that God is in the midst of His people.

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (NKJV)

• John 14; fragments:• Speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. • but he who prophesies edifies the church.• he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. • And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed;• falling down on his face, he will worship God• and report that God is truly among you.

The main point of prophesying is to make people see that God is in our midst

•  For it is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ in us (John 14:18) Who is the source of all prophecy and,

• The primary focus of the revelation He provides concerns Jesus.

Work of the Holy Spirit

Prayer Ministry Time

Some ways in which God spoke to His prophets in the past and is still

using them today to speak with the prophetic church.

• According to the teaching of the Bible the prophet is a speaker of or for God.

• His words are not the production of his own spirit, but come from a higher source.

• He has a twofold capacity of seen things in the natural where anybody else can see them and of hearing things which human ears do not ordinarily receive.

1. The Seer and Speaker of God:

• 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD!

• There are persons who only claim to be prophets but who prophesy "out of their own heart,"

Ezekiel 13:2 (NASB)

• The divine power, which comes over a human being and compels him to see or to hear things which otherwise would be hidden from him, is called inspiration.

2. PROPHETICAL INSPIRATION

• Prophetic dreams occurred many times in the bible, these were given to prophets, kings both godly and ungodly and to all sort of people.

• Some of those dreams may need interpretation as in the case of King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel in here clearly explains that all interpretations belong to God.

• Others as in the case of King Abimelech, or in the case of Joseph the husband of Mary didn’t need any interpretation.

3. Dreams:

• On the other hand, prophecy differs specifically from dreams, first, because the genuine prophetical utterance is received when the prophet is clearly conscious, and, secondly, because such an utterance brings with it a much greater degree of certainty and a greater guaranty of its higher origin than is done even by a dream that seems to be prophetical.

Difference between dream and Prophecy

• Theophanies (visible manifestations of God; face-to-face communication).

• Abraham met the preincarnate Christ and two angels near his tent on the plain of Mamre (Genesis 18);

• Jacob wrestled with an "angel" at Peniel, only to discover "I have seen God face to face" (Genesis 32:30);

• Moses spoke to the Lord in the mount "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus 33:11).

4. THEOPHANIES

•  Angels. Those "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14) have often come to mankind, to bring messages of hope and comfort (Daniel 10:11, 12; Genesis 32:1),

• To direct the servants of the Lord to those whose hearts were receptive to God's truth (Acts 8:26), or

• To warn of imminent disaster if God's word was not heeded (Genesis 3:24).

5. ANGELS

•  Audible voice of God. • Sometimes God spoke on His own! At Sinai the Ten

Commandments were spoken audibly, jointly, by the Father and the Son in a transcendent "duet" that literally caused the earth (as well as the hearts of the human hearers) to tremble.

6. AUDIBLE VOICE OF GOD

• During the wanderings of the children of Israel in the desert, the high priest's breastplate had two large stones imbedded at the top--the Urim and the Thummim.

• The high priest could ask questions, and Jehovah would respond. If the answer were "yes," one stone would glow with a halo of light and glory; if the answer were "no," the opposite stone would be partially obscured by a shadow or a vapor.

7. OPTICS OR VISUALS

• In Old Testament times God also communicated with His people by means of casting lots.

• A modern counterpart is "drawing straws"--a number of straws of different lengths are held in the hand, with all the ends appearing to be even, the difference of length being hidden by the hand. After the straws are drawn, and are compared, it is easy to determine who drew the longest or the shortest.

8. CASTING LOTS

• "Open" visions of the day. The trancelike state into which a prophet entered when going into vision has already been referred to, and will be dealt with more fully below. Both the Old and the New Testaments are replete with references to prophets and apostles receiving visions from the Lord.

9. OPEN VISIONS

• Often the prophets would receive messages from the Lord in the "night seasons" as well as during the day. There is no evidence that physical phenomena accompanied the prophetic night dreams, nor is there evidence that the kind of messages given at night were in any way different from those transmitted in the visions of the day.

10. PROPHETIC DREAMS OF THE NIGHT

• Effects of witchcraft.• Misconception of the prophetic can keep you away of desiring

this gift.• Have you seen the prophetic misused? Have you experienced

this?• Why do you want to prophesy?• What type of words have you received?• What have you done with them?

Hindrances for your growth

• Ministry time:• Prayer

• STEPS FOR PROPHESYING:

• REVELATION• INSPIRATION• COMMUNICATION

• Revelation and inspiration differ. • Revelation is the supernatural communication of truth to the

mind; • Inspiration secures to the teacher or writer infallibility in

communicating that truth to others. It renders its subject the spokesman or prophet of God in such a sense that everything he asserts to be true, whether fact or doctrine or moral principle, is true, infallibly true.

REVELATION AND INSPIRATION

• An uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen.

• God has been pleased in various ways and at different times (Heb. 1:1) to make a supernatural revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing. (See WORD OF GOD.)

• The Scriptures are not merely the "record" of revelation; they are the revelation itself in a written form, in order to the accurate preservation and propagation of the truth.

• Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

REVELATION

• The divine power, which comes over a human being and compels him to see or to hear things which otherwise would be hidden from him, is called inspiration.

• The bible says that the Spirit of God has come over someone; or has fallen upon him; or that the hand of Yahweh has come over him and laid hold of him or that the Holy Spirit has been put on him as a garment, or that the Spirit of revelation has permanently descended upon him.

Prophetical Inspiration:

• But this inspiration is not such that suppresses the human consciousness of the recipient, but rather the recipient is in possession of his full consciousness, and is able afterward to give a clear account of what happened.

• Nor is the individuality of the prophet eliminated by this divine inspiration; unconsciously this individuality cooperates in the formal shaping of that which has been seen and heard.

2.2 Prophetical Inspiration:

• Keep your eyes open. Perceive the atmosphere.• Look to the person that you are prophesying.• Grab the thoughts or pictures coming to you even if they look

irrelevant. The Holy Spirit will guide you to use those thoughts.• Don’t wait to have it all together, deliver what you have.• If you have nothing to say, open your mouth and thank God for

the person receiving your word.• After that you will notice the flow of the rivers of living waters

coming out of you.

Delivering the word

THE NATURAL STEPS FOR GROWING IN THE

PROPHETIC

• Acts 2:38 (NASB)• 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in

the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

• The Holy spirit will gives us His Charismatic Gifts

FIRST OF ALL YOU NEED TO HAVE THE HOLY SPIIRIT IN YOU.

• The Attraction of the Word of God.• The prophecies in the Word of God will cause in us a desire to

know more about them. At This time the Holy Spirit will stir up in us the gifting He has deposit in us.

• Philippians 2:13 (NKJV)• 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do

for His good pleasure.

1. THE INITIAL STEP

• 1 Corinthians 14:1• 14 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that

you may prophesy.

• Once we realize that God’s desire is that we may prophesy, we start to investigate, participate in seminars and do all we can to let this wonderful gift come out of us. Family members, friends, small groups are the initial recipients of our prophetic utterances.

2. DESIRING THE GIFT

• Romans 12:6 (NKJV)• 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given

to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

• Now that we know that the anointing is on us for operating in this gift we have the opportunity to join prophetic groups were we can receive more training, be mentored and be able to use our gift in a safe environment.

3. STEPPING ON FAITH

• 1 Timothy 4:14-15 (NKJV)• 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you

by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

• It’s a time of growth were you are used by the power of the Holy Spirit and people will seek you to receive a word or an insight from you. It’s a time of confidence in your gift and in the anointing that the Holy Spirit has put in your ministry.

4. DEVELOPING THE GIFT

• John 6:44-45New King James Version (NKJV)• 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws

him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

• It comes a time when God removes our confidence in the gift, We may face some trials, we may feel that the gifting has ended but God is drawing us to depend in Him and not in the gift.

5. TIME OF DRIEDNESS

• John 5:19-20 (NKJV)• 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I

say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

• He wants us to have a close relationship with Him and minister out of this relationship rather than from the gift.

6. MATURING IN THE GIFT

• Matthew 13:12 (NKJV)• 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have

abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

• Now is time to impart on others what the Lord has invest in you. You continue operating in the gift but you feel is time to become a model to others, to pass to others what you have receive from the Lord. Teaching, passing on by the laying on of hands, encouraging, mentoring, forming new prophetic people.

7. EXPERIENCING THE FRUIT

• Next week analysis of a received prophetic word.

• Remember we start at 7 pm with a short time of worship in the main sanctuary afterwards we go to our respective rooms.

• Our room is Overflow #3

• See you next Wednesday, God bless.