Who Can Prophecy?
It was in 1976 and I was 25 years of age when I began seeking God, asking what He wanted to do with my life. Each time I prayed the verse of Scriptures that kept coming to my mind was from Ezekiel 33:30-33.
“As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass-surely it will come-then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
At that time, I had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit and the denomination I was affiliated with did not believe in prophets for today. In fact, I had no idea what a prophet was; however, what I did know from reading the Old Testament was they were not very popular. For the next ten years I was confronted with this calling but I did not want to go that way. Each time the calling came I would see myself leaning over a pulpit, wearing an old moth-eaten sport coat, speaking some dry word. Being a banker was much more honorable in the eyes of the world than sounding like some crazy person calling himself a prophet. I learned that it does not always matter what you want. If you ask God for a Word and then reject His Word, He will see that His Word is fulfilled anyway. One way or another, His Word will come to pass either the hard way or the easy way. You have the choice. Unfortunately I learned this lesson, like so many others, the hard way.
Ten years later, I surrendered to the calling thinking that I would just automatically find my way into the ministry. Oh no, I learned another lesson and it is this: the amount of time you reject doing what God has called you to do will determine the length of time before He will allow you to begin living out the blessing of His Word.
The lesson I pray you learn from this message can be summoned up by this one verse of Scripture. “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” (2 Peter 2:21)