 Now I want to talk to you tonight about discovering and activating the prophetic in you. It's very possible that the Lord has deposited a prophetic gift within you that you yourself have yet to see. It's possible that there are prophetic expressions that have yet to come out of you. Now there are varying degrees of the prophetic. There is the office of the prophet, the office of the prophet is a position of church leadership that comes with a certain kind of authority and influence. For example, just like every believer should be able to understand and then explain the word of God, so every believer should be able to hear from God and communicate those things which they hear. Yet not everyone is a teacher. But everyone has that leadership position where God has ordained them and given them a special focused area of grace for their ministry where they minister the word of God to God's people from a place of authority and influence. The same is true of the prophetic, the same is true of the evangelist. Think about the evangelist. The evangelist is a soul winner, but aren't we all supposed to do the work of the evangelist? Aren't we all supposed to share our faith? So then again we see another example of the difference between the function of a gift and the office of a gift. So the office of the prophet, that's church leadership. That's church authority. That's a position of influence that comes about after you've been proven and then placed there to become a seasoned, a wise, a fixture if you will within the church that is to function within God's structure of church authority and God's structure of church authority is a good thing. But then there is the gift of prophecy. The gift of prophecy has many different expressions. For example, there's the word of knowledge, there's the word of wisdom, there's the discerning of spirits, there is spiritual insight like we see with Jesus ministering to the woman at the well. And then there is the gift of prophecy where you can declare things regarding the future as the Holy Spirit reveals them. Now any one of these expressions in any capacity to any degree may very well have already been deposited in you. And you very well may be walking in the prophetic in some ways without even knowing it already. If you want God to reveal that, lift your hands and say, show me Lord. Be watching online, live or replay, type those words in the comment section. Let that be your prayer. Show me Lord because we all want to see what God has placed in us. Now the prophetic is God's gift not just to the church but also to the nations of the world. When God sends a prophetic voice, he sends the prophet with clarity. He sends the prophet with purpose. Think of all of the chatter in the world. Think of all of the chaos and the confusion. Think of all of the opinions that are coming at us from all different directions, from culture, from movies, from music, from friends, and then the voices that speak to us internally, the mind and the emotions. And amidst all that noise, amidst all that uncertainty, the Lord sends the prophetic voice to speak a bold, a clear, a coherent, a direct message that cuts through that chaos and pierces the heart. Prophets do not cause more confusion, they bring clarity. Prophets do not speak things that are incoherent. They speak things that are coherent and that have purpose. I think much of what we regard as prophecy today is just speaking from the imagination and then slapping the label of the Holy Spirit on it. When God speaks, it's always coherent. Now this does not mean that we don't prophesy in part at times, but the Bible does say that we prophesy in part. So think of a puzzle. God may have given you a piece of the puzzle to speak, but that piece in and of itself will at least have some clarity to it. You may not understand the context of that piece. You may not understand where that piece fits exactly, but that piece itself will have clarity to it. It's not just going to be incoherent babbling and we say, well do something with that if you want. No, prophecy by the Spirit always comes with coherency and clarity. And God gave us the prophetic for several reasons. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse three, the Bible says, but one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them and comforts them. So there we see one of the functions of prophecy is encouragement and comfort. I think that it's interesting that people often complain when positive prophecies are given as if that which is positive can never be true. I'll give you an example of this type of thinking. When I was growing up in church, I was a pastor's kid. And so I remember other kids being jealous of the way I grew up. Some of their parents were divorced. Mine stood together. Some of them went home to chaotic homes. I went home to a peace filled home. Some of their parents didn't live what they preached in their own house. My parents did. Now this isn't to say that what they were going through wasn't something that should have bothered them. My goodness. It was a horrible way to grow up and my heart breaks for them. But sometimes that jealousy would come out and they would tell me things like, well, you know, you don't live in the real world like I do. I'm thinking, what am I like in a simulation, a matrix or something? Am I in a computer program? I didn't quite understand what they meant by that. You didn't grow up in the real world like me. You didn't face the hardship. And when I would hear that type of thinking, it made me realize most people equate the positive with the untrue, the positive with the unreal. And then they take the negative and they say that's the only real that there is. So then if anything is positive, well, that's not really being real. And we do this with our preaching that we select, don't we? We do this with the preaching that we hear. If it's not mean enough, if it's not harsh enough, then it's not really true. And the meaner the preacher is, the harsher the preacher is, the ruder the preacher is, the more likely we are to say, well, that person's just telling it like it is. But your tone and the level of harshness has nothing to do with the level of truth that you speak. It's possible to speak with the soft, gentle, kind tone and tell the truth. It's also possible to speak with the kind, gentle and soft tone and tell a lie. It's possible to speak with harshness and directness and tell the truth. It's also possible to speak with harshness and directness to tell a lie. So we mustn't equate true or false with tone or demeanor or preaching style. Oh, you know, they were being so mean, man, they were going, well, but they were telling the truth. Were they really? And so we do this as humans. This is in our nature, that which is too positive can't possibly be real. We only take the negative to be the real truth. And so then we have problems when people speak things like God is going to bless you. God is going to prosper you. God is bringing great favor. God is going to restore your family. God is going to heal your body. We say, well, I don't know. They're just itching ears telling them what they want to hear. It could be the case, yes. But it also could be the case that they're telling them the truth. We have to remember that one of the functions of prophecy is comfort and encouragement. It is to uplift people's spirits. It is to speak deeply to who they are and call out the spirit that it might overcome the flesh and the sin nature. Having said that, let's balance this because number two, the prophetic is also forewarning. We see in Jonah chapter one, verse one, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its wickedness has come up before me. So there we see a very clear example of the fact that the prophetic can be used to warn people. All throughout the scripture, you will see prophets getting in people's faces saying, here's why God is mad at you. Here's what you did wrong. And again, human nature has the tendency to reject what doesn't go according to its preference. Some people prefer to hear only encouragement and comfort. And some people thinking that it's the only way that God speaks prefer to hear the negative sounding prophecies. You know, we're real, we're raw, we get it, we get down into the truth and yeah, maybe, or maybe we should have the discernment to be able to see past the tone and instead look at the spirit. Because sometimes positive words are from the Lord and sometimes positive words are from the devil's mouth. Most people bless things that God is saying, I have not blessed. Sometimes prophets will say that door is open when God said it's closed. I thank God that the Holy Spirit speaks what we need to hear and not always what we want to hear. And then on the other side of the coin, when someone says something harsh in the prophetic, someone speaks of judgment and holiness and righteousness, God's anger and wrath, we get those who say, well, I don't know, it doesn't sound like the, I don't, I hear this phrase a lot. It doesn't sound like the father's heart to me. I'm like, have you read the Old Testament? I just don't see the father's heart. No, you don't see your hippie Jesus in it, but he's in it. Sometimes God will speak from a place of judgment and harshness, even in the New Testament. You don't believe me? Ask Ananias and Sapphira. God still judges harshly. Now the wrath of God is being stored up unto the day of judgment. So there's a lot he's holding back. But he still punishes sin. Not in the sense that we face the eternal consequences of it here on this side of eternity, but in that it does have consequences that are very real. God will speak warning to nations. God will speak warning to leadership. God will speak warning to individuals about the sins in their lives. And prophecy can and does reveal that. So we can't reject either side of the coin. Again, some have preferences that say, well, I just want to hear positive things. I want to hear about love. I want to hear encouragement. I want to hear things that excite me and cause me to go and seize my destiny. That's good. That's part of it. And then there are some on the other side. I call them the spiritual, what do they call it, the Christian conspiracy theorists. They got their tinfoil hat. The sky is always falling. Everyone's always faking. They're the only ones who got it right. And so they look around and, well, I don't know. It wasn't harsh, so it can't be true. Well, that's a spirit of religious pride is what that is. And so the Holy Spirit is not in either one. What is he for? The Holy Spirit is truth. And so a true prophetic voice is going to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, weigh it against the word of God, and then speak it and speak it boldly without caring what anyone has to say. A true prophet of God will often contradict culture. A true prophet of God will sometimes rebuke the church and sometimes praise the church. Just look at the book of Revelation. Why, in the introduction to that whole book, you see that Jesus goes down the line listing things that he loved about the church and things that he wanted to fix about the church. But he did both. And so prophecy has the purpose of encouraging and comforting, but it also has the purpose of warning. And number three, prophecy always, or I shouldn't say always, is also for the purpose of guidance and confirmation. Amos 3.7 says, indeed, the sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants, the prophets. Now, many people have taken that verse and they've tried to put themselves in the place of God using the authority of that scripture by saying, well, God didn't show it to me, so it must not be his will. No, that's control, that's manipulation. And as I often say, if anybody ever tells you that if you leave them or you don't listen to them, that you won't be able to fulfill God's will or that you'll be cursed in some way, that's your confirmation to leave them and have nothing to do with them because that's witchcraft and manipulation. And God's people said, amen. Okay, so don't ever let anyone use their gift to try to take the place of the authority of the Holy Spirit and scripture. Because the gift of prophecy is to serve, but it's not to Lord over people. And so we see that there's guidance and confirmation in the prophetic. God will begin to push you in a certain direction. I shouldn't even use the word push, I like guide better. Guide you in a certain direction. He puts barriers where there need to be barriers and God will send prophets and here's what you should know about the prophetic is that the prophetic typically will confirm what the Holy Spirit has already been speaking to you. Now this doesn't mean he never gives new information, but that new information will never contradict your spirit. It will never contradict the direction that God has clearly spoken to you. Having said that, as I like to balance all things, we also need to make sure that we're not rejecting new instruction from God while saying that we have already heard from the Holy Spirit when really we've only heard from ourselves and we're mistaking our preference for the spirit. So it goes both ways again. This is why discernment, true discernment that looks beyond our own preferences, emotions, mindsets, all of that to see what the Holy Spirit is actually speaking. And sometimes prophets will come to you and say, this is what the Lord told me to tell you and you receive that word, you say, you know, that makes a lot of sense. And then you run with it. Like I had one guy, one type prophesied to me. He says, I see you using your TV ministry. I see you having cameras set up in nightclubs and you're preaching in nightclubs. I said, well, he didn't tell me that. He said he wanted to do a Christian nightclub and he saw me preaching there. No, what was he doing? He saw that I had equipment that he wanted to use so he gave me a word that benefited him which sometimes people do. I don't know if I'll go any deeper on that one because I get a lot of trouble there. But I think you get the takeaway principle which is discernment, balance. But the prophetic does confirm and sometimes it reveals new information. This is why we have to be discerning. Now, having discussed the purpose of the prophetic, let me show you signs that you might be prophetic and these are signs that you may have missed and I'm gonna show you them from scripture. Go first to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and I'm gonna read verse number one. Now remember, the context here is Paul the apostle talking about first in chapter 12, the spiritual gifts. Chapter 13, he talks about love. Chapter 14, he's talking about order, unity and the place that you have in the body. All of us have a place but watch this now. Verse one, let love be your highest goal but you should also desire the abilities the spirit gives especially the ability to prophesy. So Paul the apostle here is telling us to desire the gift of prophecy. So I'm not saying that the desire for the gift of prophecy is all the conclusive proof that you need to determine that you are indeed called to the prophetic. I am saying that desire itself can be one of the indications that God has given you the prophetic gift. Again, not conclusive. So if you have a desire for the prophetic, that's a sign and there's a difference between a sign and proof. Proof is conclusive, a sign is an indicator. So that desire within you is a sign, not proof that you very well may be called to the prophetic ministry. Sometimes I think the enemy using religious mindset tries to make us feel guilty for things that we ought not feel guilty for. And I think it becomes tormenting when you live that way. Like when you ask God for a gift of healing and then start second guessing it because you want to make sure that you're not asking for it for the wrong reasons. Well, what's the reason you want it? I want to pray for the second, see them be healed. Well, that's the purpose of it. Lord, I want a gift of prophecy. Why do you want the gift of prophecy? I want to hear from God. I want to hear from God and I want to be an encouragement to people. I want to uplift people. I want to speak warnings that will spare their future. I want to speak confirmation that brings relief and makes them go, thank you, I've been waiting for God to confirm that. That could very well be in you and the desire itself could be an indication that the prophetic has already been deposited in you. Paul does say to desire it so that it is okay to ask for it. When I was just beginning my walk with the Lord, I prayed for a few things. One, I prayed for wisdom because I remember I would read the scripture and go verse by verse and halfway through the chapter realize I didn't understand a word that I had read so I'd have to start the chapter over again. And then I asked the Lord for wisdom and the Holy Spirit, it was like he lit my mind on fire, illuminating the scriptures. Revelation is knowledge set on fire by the Holy Ghost and as I began to pour over the scripture, it was like the meanings just clicked, the purpose of the writings just clicked and the connections between scriptures, I just started seeing them by the Spirit. And that developed into the teaching ministry that you're receiving from right at this moment. That's by the Spirit, that's not my ability. People say, well, you know, and please understand, I'm sharing this not to boast on me, it's him, it's all him, it's always been him. But people do tell me, they say, well, you know, the way you teach, it's like you take something so complex and make it so simple. I say, that's the Holy Spirit. You know, and I don't share this often, but you know that there are times I'll wake up at three o'clock in the morning with an entire download of a lesson outline in my head that I have to write down quickly before I forget it. Because I go to bed praying, asking the Lord to reveal it and he gives me phrases, things to summarize the scripture. So that was one of the things I asked for. It was a gift I asked for, the teaching gift. I asked him for the gift of healing because there were many who I had seen afflicted that I wanted to see set free from sickness. And I said, Lord, I know it's not a technique, I know it's not anything outside of who you are. It's simply your power. People look at the miracles that happen through this ministry, it's God's ministry. He does it, and they wonder how, how do you get the miracles? And still to this day, I couldn't tell you. I don't know, it's simply the power of God. So it's a gift you have to ask for. God, please let me function in the gift of healing. And the third thing I asked him for was the word of knowledge. Lord, I wanna operate on the word of knowledge and the reason I wanted it is because I knew that it could work in conjunction with the gift of healing where God could show me certain things in people's bodies or I could hear about people being healed in the congregation and that's what you see happen during the time of healing ministry today. Well, Steve is worshiping with the team. I'm just praying, Lord, show me. I'm praying healing over the people and the Lord will tell me someone over there in the back to the right has been wearing glasses for X amount of years. Their eyes are being healed, God's powers on them. And then the Lord will say someone in the front road to your left, a shoulder problem is being healed. Someone right back here, there's a tumor on the spine and the Holy Spirit just begins to show these things. And if you've ever been to one of the services, you'll see people come up and a lot of people are under the impression that those people who come on the platform are there to receive prayer, they're not. They come on the platform to testify after they've been healed and it was the Lord who touched them. They needed no man to lay hands on them. All these gifts in full operation today why? Because it started with the prayers of a little boy saying, Lord, I'm coming to you in faith and I'm asking, please, give me these gifts. You marvel sometimes at prophets. Something to marvel at, don't glorify them but it's okay to honor their gift. It's okay to acknowledge that they have an anointing. I've watched them. I've seen some prophets prophesy with such accuracy that it's just astounding, a little scary too. Like, please don't say my bank account number that loud. Now some I understand is abuse. Some I understand is manipulation. But that's in every ministry with every, even if it has nothing to do with the supernatural, there's always, wherever there are people, there is manipulation. So let's not throw out the entire prophetic movement because of that. But if you ever watched someone genuinely flowing in a prophetic gift and your jaw just hits the floor and you're watching them and you're saying, how? And then I've interviewed so many prophets. I like to have prophets on my show because then I can get them all to myself, take them to dinner and say, okay, how do you do it? You know my friend, prophet Rob, every time we go to eat, I'm testing them. Okay, I'll pull the waiter. Hey, he's gonna tell you something, give him a word. And he just starts prophesying and it's like dead accurate every time. And how, how, how? How? I'll tell you how. They all tell me the same thing. It's not something they can really teach. They have schools of the prophetic where they could teach you prophetic principles. But they can't really teach you how to actually get that connection to where you can download information and your spirit begin to speak it accurately. They all tell me the same thing. It's just the gift. That's really all it is. I kid you not, I took prophet Rob to, I was helping him check into his hotel because we had taken him to dinner and I was dropping him off. And you know, I have to use, when we bring a guest in, I have to use my card because they're our guests. So I'm checking him in and he just staring at the person at the desk. And I already knew him. Like, okay, I'm punching in my number looking. Okay, here we go. He's gonna, I was excited to see this. He starts prophesying to this woman. He says, I see that you just lost your father. He went to be with the Lord three months ago. He died of cancer. She starts weeping. I mean, this accurate. And she says, how do you know this? How do you know this? Ruben, I'm not kidding. This is what he did. He says, I see him. He has dark black hair, a thick, dark mustache. And then he said his name, he gave the name and she just, he said, you've been wondering because your faith is so weak, you've been wondering if all of this is even real and if he really is even in heaven or if he's just gone. That I came to declare to you that he's with the Lord. And he began to prophesy more personal things to this woman. And it was like her heart was just open. Like, mind you, this is right after revival services. He was on a certain flow. And I remember just meeting with prophetic people like this. And some of that rubbed off on you in some ways. And I remember there was a man by the name Steve Roman, I've told you guys about him before. He was a prophetic voice and a healing minister and he was in a wheelchair. So he wasn't healed himself but he would see miracles. I would watch as he would just call people out. Not questioning, do you happen to have, just you stand up, you had surgery on this part of your spine. They're like, how did you know? And he's like, the Lord showed me he's healing it and they would be healed right there on the spot. Go back, come back with an x-ray and the metal rods and the plates that they would have put in people's back completely gone. Man by the name of Harry Heels. Praying for a woman who's pregnant, he said, the doctors told you they couldn't find a heartbeat and they didn't know she was gonna go get checked because there was no movement. Places his hand on her womb begins to pray that baby starts kicking. I'm talking about real power here. That's the flow of the prophetic. That's what you're asking for. You think you can ask that of a man or a woman? You think I could teach you that? Not a chance. I don't even know how I do it sometimes. It's the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit. So that's why it's so important we go to the source. And if we don't recognize that we start getting into some weird things, don't we? Spooky is right. Standing on people's graves, paying a fee to get an anointing that is not a man's to give. Simon the sorcerer did things like that. Collecting the anointings as if there are more than one. Healing anointing, prophetic anointing, deliverance anointing, Deborah anointing, Moses anointing. Like I wonder, like, do they have like a Judas anointing? Do they have like a, like, how many are there really? There's only one. Only one. It's the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10, 38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. It's just the Holy Spirit. And you'll know the gift will just begin to flow. So that's number one, desire. That desire in you is that purposeful pool of the Holy Spirit on your life. Drawing you toward what God has given you as your assignment. That desire, by the way, also links you with like-minded people. Do you know why you're all here? Because you love the Holy Spirit. Magnetic. It's likeness attracts likeness. We are like-minded. That's why you're here tonight. That's why you're watching online. Because we have a similar desire. We have a similar destiny. We have a similar way of seeing the Lord. And so you'll notice that you're drawn to people for better or for worse. For better or for worse, you are drawn to people who claim to be prophetic. We'll continue lest I become more mischievous there on that point. Number two, the second sign. Recognition. And I'm not talking about status. Here's what Proverbs says, Proverbs 18, 16. A man's gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men. If you are truly a prophet, you don't have to tell me you are. Some people are more interested in the titles and the accolades, praise, and status that they think that title will bring than they are in the gift and the service that that gift can accomplish. They care more about crowds than they do about people. Care more about status than they do about service. And so they pursue the prophetic thinking that it's somehow going to elevate them in life. Let me tell you something. Your gift is never about you. Your anointing is never about you. Your ministry, your calling is never about you. I think sometimes we have this idea that God raises a man or a woman for the sake of raising that man or woman. God does not raise a man or a woman for vanity. When God raises a man or a woman, He does so with one purpose to promote His message in the earth. Period. We get this selfish mindset, like almost like this, like we are the main character in the movie. And everyone else is just a side character or a supporting role. And it's the movie of our life, our calling. And as we move through this timeline of the movie, we begin to accomplish our goals and it's all about us reaching that purpose, us reaching that call, us acquiring that anointing. And that's not what God purposed for it. The anointing is never about us. It's always about others. This teaching gift I'm using, why am I standing here on a pulpit right now? I'm doing this to equip you. I am your servant. You can look at me like a waiter at a restaurant. I'm just serving you a meal in the spirit. But God's the chef. I'm just your server. Bringing you, here's what God said, here you go. Now who's more important? The person who's serving the meal or the one for whom God intended the meal? It's the guest. It's the one for whom God intended the meal. And so we have to keep our perspective right if we're gonna flow in true power. The gift of the prophetic will always make room for you. That's one of the signs you walked in it. That's one of the signs you are walking in it. Is that others begin to recognize it on you, but that recognition, please understand, is not for the purpose of vanity, self, and success. We are not called to be successes. We're called to a crucifixion. And you will actually find more often than not that ministry doesn't come with the praise that people think. You know, sometimes I tell Steve and the staff, you know, sometimes in some ways, I'm grateful for where we are. I'm grateful for what I have. I'm grateful to be in this place, this position of service. But I say, don't you miss sometimes the simpler days? We're literally, you and me and your guitar. We would go to churches. There was no any of it. Now there has to be the structure of ministry. We different message for a different time in order to affect the world in a larger way and in order to reach more people. But sometimes I do wish that it would just be simple again and it just never will be. Because for every person in the church who loves you, there's a person in the church who hates you and one in the world who thinks you're a fake. It's like a two to one ratio. Well, Jesus said they persecuted me, won't they persecute you? Vicious, vicious assaults and attacks and for no reason. And you know, that's part of it. So if you're in this for praise, accolades, the criticisms will crush you. You will find there are more usually criticisms than there are compliments. And that's not because more people hate you than love you. It's just, it's the critics who are the loudest, always. And I don't say this in a sense of saying, oh poor me, feel sorry for me, don't. I love it. I love being where I am with the Lord in ministry. But when you see this sign of the prophetic that others begin to recognize it on you, take it for all it is that it's a sign that you could be prophetic, but nothing more. Because the moment you begin to value compliments and praise is the very moment that you become vulnerable to criticism. Please hear what I'm saying. The very moment that praise begins to matter to you, you're already done. Because the criticisms that always follow will break you if that is the purpose of why you're doing what you're doing. And so recognition is one of the signs that you have a prophetic gift. I'll tell you how this looks because sometimes there are signs and we don't see the signs. The signs are just what we kind of just overlook and we maybe dismiss them as just part of who we are. Like for example, if you're always calling things before other people see it, if you're always seeing that individuals have impure motives before other people can see that those individuals have impure motives. If you're constantly having dreams or daydreams or visions about things that will happen and then they actually happen, that's not just you. That's not just a part of your personality. That very well could be an expression of the prophetic which is point number three, that's function. First Corinthians 12, four, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same spirit is the source of them all. Meaning the Holy Spirit has given these spiritual gifts. He is the source, why does he give us the gifts so that we might use them? And in using them, we demonstrate the function of them and in demonstrating the function of them, that is the sign that you have a spiritual gift. Now, like I said just a few moments ago, it may seem obvious, well David, so one of the signs that I have a prophetic gift is that I have a prophetic gift. Kind of, that's almost what I'm saying. What I'm saying in a more nuanced way is that a sign that you have the prophetic gift is that it's functioning in your life and what I'm saying is sometimes you don't always recognize it functioning. People come to you, what do you think about this person? What do you think about that ministry? What do you think about this sermon, this thought, why? Because they recognize the discernment on you. It's functioning. If you have dreams and then in the next few days or so, the symbolism of that dream or the actual occurrence of that dream takes place, that's prophetic function. If you can discern the motives of someone when everyone else thinks their motives are pure, that's prophetic function. If you have daydreams even, things you see just kind of in your mind while you're caught in the days that actually occur, that is a sign, a prophetic function in you. And instead of dismissing these things as just, oh, well, that is just a coincidence or that is just something that kind of happens in my family or that is just something that from time to time I experience, then you're missing it. Do you know why some people are afraid to operate in the prophetic? They're afraid of operating in the prophetic for fear of discovering that they might not be so prophetic after all. It's the same reason why people who are always talking about, I'm gonna write that book, I'm gonna write that book, I'm gonna write that book. And they love the idea of one day writing the book because then they can get credit for having intentions but no accomplishment on writing the book. Maybe I'm prophetic, maybe I'm prophetic, maybe I'm prophetic and they're afraid that the intrigue of the idea that they might be prophetic would go away if they discover they're not. But isn't it better to discover what you are or you are not in order that you might find your purpose? Like let me just be real, I am not a pastor. We have these weekly gatherings but that's probably as close as we'll come to a church because it's just not my gift. People even in conversations won't want me, I'll be pleasant with you but half the things I say you'll be like, what do you mean by that? People misread my tone, people misread my body language and sometimes I don't know how to respond to things I say. And that's not, trust me, that's not the temperament of a pastor. That's a teacher and an evangelist for sure. I am not called to the mission field yet or now. I don't know, maybe one day God might. I know what I'm not and there's power in that. You know, I would sit with pastors who would often ask for advice on media and when they ask for advice on media I always ask them the same thing. What is your main focus, your place of grace? What is that message? And from week to week I would notice that they would switch it on me. One week they were a prophet, the next week they're evangelists, the next week they were a business kingdom entrepreneur. I don't even know what that is, if that's a thing. Might be the gift of administration, who knows? And they would switch so often that they never gave themselves any time to gain momentum in any one area. People want everything they touched turned to gold instantly and they don't realize that if you decide upon a path that you have to be persistent on that path for a long time before you begin to see fruit on that path. Now I have different styles of ministry, sure. Sometimes I'm preaching, sometimes like tonight I'm teaching, it's a little more conversational. And other times I'm just flowing with the Holy Ghost. Those are the three veins I flow in when it comes to teaching and evangelism. But you know, you've got to find your place. You've got to find your gift. And I'm telling you, it could very well be a prophetic one. But you got to step out and see, isn't it better to step out and find out that you're not than to go your whole life wondering that you might be all the while missing the purpose that God actually has for you? Or maybe to your shock and to your surprise, you'll step out and you'll discover, oh my goodness, there's been a prophetic gift there all along. And then think about the joy of now finding what that gift is and then saying, okay, Lord, now let's sharpen this. I wanna show you how to activate that gift real briefly. Now I have to say this because whenever I talk about activating a spiritual gift, heresy hunters always say, you can't activate spiritual gifts. And then why did Paul write to Timothy stir up the gift? That's all it means is stir it up, start using what was given to you. That's all that literally activation means. It's not like a new age term or saying that we can teach you how to have the gift. No, it's literally just things that we do that strengthen the gift that the Holy Spirit has already placed in us. And if we can grow in it, then why not? Number one, this one's gonna freak you out. Turn to your neighbor, say use the gift. You online, write it in the comments, use the gift. I know, I know. Some of you started shaking when I said that right now. Use the gift. Oh, Brother David, if I misuse the gift, will God take it away? Show me that in scripture. Where? I mean, even Balaam was allowed to continue prophesying. Punished for his nonsense, but it was still prophesying. Let me show you something that'll encourage you. I can't believe I'm actually gonna go here because let's go there. Acts chapter 20. Is a wrong prophet a false prophet? Think about this. Because you look at the Old Testament standard. If someone says that they have a word from the Lord and that word does not come to pass, they are not a true prophet. The Bible says in the Old Testament. And then by contrast, you say that if a prophet accurately prophesized, then that prophet is of me. So here then is the line of questioning that we have to follow if we're going to be consistent on biblical principles. So you mean to tell me that if someone prophesized falsely that they're a false prophet. Okay, let's grant that premise. Slap the label on them. They're a false prophet. What happens then when they prophesy again but accurately? Because if we're using the same cut and dry standard, if you get it right, you're true. If you get it wrong, you're false. Or do you mean that, oh well, they have to get it 100% of the time? Well wait a minute, that's not what it says. It's that they prophesy something and it comes to pass, they're of me. So just a little questioning on the application. Never mind the fact that this is Old Testament standard. Never mind the fact that this has nothing to do with the spiritual gifts talked about in 1 Corinthians 12. Never mind the fact that this is long before we entered this church age. Never mind the fact that we're talking about the law of Moses in many instances. What does the Bible show us? Let's take a look at New Testament prophets. I actually found in the New Testament an instance where people who are called prophets get it wrong and the Bible still calls them prophets. Did you know that's in the book of Acts? I'll show it to you. Acts chapter 20, verse 22. I'm reading this and I'm going wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. The Bible calls them prophets, watch this now. And by the way, please disclaimer, I'm not saying you can go saying anything you want and you're a prophet if you get it wrong all the time. No, there's something that's nonsense. Like I've seen like on social media, you know I was walking in the park, I saw a leaf fall. So God says the seasons are changing. I'm like probably not, that's probably not it. But thank you for your encouragement. It's better to let's just call these encouragements, okay? But watch this now, Acts 20, 22. And now I am bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. Okay, what is he saying here? Who bound him? The Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit tells him, you go to Jerusalem. Clear instruction, does the Bible say that? Yes, watch this. Go now to chapter 21, verse number four, Acts 21, four. We went ashore, found the local believers and stayed with them a week, watch this. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. Wait a minute, did you see that? The Bible says they prophesied. And they're prophesying exactly the opposite of what God told the apostle? Hmm, what is going on here? Let's continue. Acts 21, let's go down to verse 11. He came over, took Paul's belt, bound his hands, his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, the Holy Spirit declares, so shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles. So now the Bible actually, look at verse 10. Several days later, a man named Agabus who also had the gift of prophecy. What's being used here? The office of the prophet or the gift of prophecy? What does it say? Gift. Notice that the Bible doesn't say prophets in the portion of scripture we just read. It calls them believers who were using what? The gift of prophecy. So there we see that the gift isn't held to the same standard as the Old Testament office. Now, before you hear what I'm not saying, let me again say I insist on accuracy and if somebody gets like consistently wrong, bizarre, strange, weird prophecies, okay, it's very likely that they're false. But all I am saying is the standard of if you miss it, you're done. I mean, if we really are gonna be consistent with it, why aren't we stoning people? Well, that part we reject, why? I mean, if these people who call them false prophets really believe they're false prophets, why aren't they stoning them? Because they don't actually believe in the fullness of that text, just the part that fits what they want to say. And so the hypocrisy is exposed in their lack of action. And I'm not encouraging anyone to do that. But here we see a clear example in the New Testament of people who prophesied opposite of what the Holy Spirit had told Paul. Now, what do I think is happening here? Because this is not a contradiction in the scripture. What's happening here is the Holy Spirit probably told them Paul is gonna go to Jerusalem and he's gonna be bound and jailed. He's gonna be miserable there. And so if I'm hearing that from the Holy Spirit, he's gonna go to jail, he's gonna be bound, what am I thinking the Holy Spirit is telling me? Don't go. So what happened is they took an accurate word from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit actually spoke to them and they, through the filter of their own understanding, misunderstood what the Spirit was speaking and then gave that as instruction to Paul. There's no way around this. We see it in scripture happening right there. And so I'm not saying that to encourage apathy where there should be reverence, but I will say that there's some grace for you in the gift of prophecy. Now, trust me, I've seen a lot of strange things and I'll close with this thought. I've seen a lot of strange things in the prophetic movement. I'm just gonna say it. Most of probably the strangeness that I've seen, most of it is probably not the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna be that blunt about it and I've seen so much and there's just so much that's not even anywhere in your biblical. So we have to be discerning, but if you wanna start activating this, you have to start exercising it. And in order to exercise it, you're gonna have to actually speak. Now, three more keys I'll give you and then I won't have time to expound on them. Are you receiving this tonight, church? How many were helped tonight by this message? You online, how many were helped? Let me know. I'll give you the other three and then we'll call it a night, we'll pray. And I wanna pray with you too, watching online. We're gonna pray that gift be stirred tonight. Number two, speaking in tongues. First Corinthians 14, 14 tells us that when I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying or I'm strengthened by the spirit because First Corinthians 14, two and four tells me so. So whatever strengthens my spirit, strengthens my spiritual gifts. So speaking in tongues strengthens the spiritual gift of prophecy. Then we see studying God's word. Why do you need to study God's word if you're hearing from the Holy Spirit? Because the word is the foundation. People do ask rhetorically, if the word of God is sufficient, why should we need to hear for the voice of the Holy Spirit? If the word of God isn't sufficient, then that makes sense. But because the word of God is sufficient, we are positioned to hear him clearly. The word of God fulfilled its purpose, and it is fulfilling its purpose in that it connects us with God and teaches us the boundaries of his truth and will. And finally, meditating on the word. Meditating on the word is thought repetition. Think, think, think about the scripture again and again and again and again. Let it become a part of you. If reading the word is like eating, then meditation is digestion. Now lift your hands, begin to pray in the Holy Spirit. Come on. You watching online? Begin praying in the Holy Spirit. I want you, those of you watching on the internet, live or replay, begin to write your prayer requests in the comment section. Write them now. Jesus, we love you. You're asking God to stir that gift. I don't want you to hesitate. I don't want you to think twice about it, but you're asking the Lord to stir that gift in you and I want you to stand and come to this altar right now. Come and stand and come to this altar right now. And as the people come worship team, you can also come along with them. You're asking the Lord to stir this. He'll do it. You watching online. You're asking the Lord to stir this. He'll do it. We have to just surrender. By surrender, I mean trust him, obey him, know his word, do things his way. Hands lifted, eyes closed. Lord, prepare me. Sing it out, Steve. Lord, prepare me, thanks you, pure. Tried and true, tried and true. With thanksgiving, with thanksgiving. I'll be a living, I'll be your thanks you. Make it your prayer tonight. Lord, prepare me. Everything you have, guys. I'll be a thanks you. Pure and whole, thanks you. One more time, church. Speak it directly to the Lord now. Bring this man here in that button shirt right there quickly. The Lord's doing something with you, sir. Bring him on the platform, please. I want to pray for him. That's the power of God on him. With thanksgiving. It's the glory of God here, church. But touch that one, watching too. Father, let that fire flow. Let the anointing of the Holy Spirit touch that one watching. Wherever they're watching around the world, I pray. Let that which is present here move through my hand right through that camera, right through their screen. Receive it now. There's a flow of the Holy Spirit's power. This is the real deal. This is the real deal. This is the power of Almighty God. Receive it now. Thank you, Jesus, for touching them and setting them free. We give you the glory. Bring that woman here, please. And, church, keep praying in the Holy Spirit. It's the glory of God here. Glory of God here. That's the glory of God here. Come on, boldly and loudly now, church. Praying out loud in the Holy Ghost. Boldly, boldly, boldly, boldly. Warring in the heavenlies. Warring in the heavenlies. Something is happening here. Something is happening here. We honor you, Lord. Qu'en ter yende robobobobobobo sonto. We honor you. Jesus, we honor you. Take just a moment, take just a moment. You watching online, take just a moment. Keep praying, keep praying. Power's flowing, bring her here. Today is a day of liberty. A day of liberty, for God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love. Anxiety is being broken off of you today. The spiritual aspect, the demonic attack, that side of it has been broken off today. Can we just bless his name? Lift your hands and love him, come on, church. Lift your hands and love him. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. Your hands say, thank you, Jesus. You watching online, say, thank you, Jesus. Very reverently now, go back to your seats as the worship team continues to play. And you watching online, that same power that's present here is flowing and touching you right there in your home. That's the anointing. There are people being healed right now watching. There's healing that's flowing. There's deliverance that's flowing. There's impartation that's happening right here right now, right here right now. It is the power of God. We thank you, Lord. Now I need to talk to you just for a minute. Those of you watching online or on replay, I'll need your attention too for just another two or so minutes. We have a vision to continue impacting the world. We have a vision to continue to see lives transformed. Through his ministry, in this season now, souls are being saved. People are being set free from demonic bondage. People are being healed by God's power. Believers are being empowered and edified and equipped that they might step into the destiny that God has purposed for them. Believers are also being refreshed. Teaching is going forth. The gospel is going forth. Truth that challenges culture is also going forth. It's time that the world sees the power of God. It's time that the world sees the power of the Holy Spirit. They are looking to new age. They are looking to humanism. They are looking to the universe and manifestation. They're sneaking demonic beams in your kids' cartoons. Why? Because they're hungering for true power. It's time they see the power of the Holy Spirit. It's time they see it. And what you're seeing happening here in these meetings and the meetings that we hold around the world, what you're seeing happening through the teachings coming out of this ministry, that is the power of Almighty God. Not religion, not fluff, not superstition, not ritual, the power of God backing his truth. Jesus-centered, spirit-filled, Bible-based ministry is happening. We need your help. I need the help of everyone here, present. You know, we have partners all around the world. We have partners sitting in this room who give monthly to this ministry. They're doing their part. Thousands of believers around the world are doing their part for the sake of the gospel. And all I ask is that everyone sitting in this room tonight and that everyone watching, they would do their part too. I'm asking you tonight to sow a gift, sow a seed financially, a one-time gift. You can become a monthly partner or you can do both, large or small, it all counts. But what we do in our togetherness is what carries with it the most power and impact. And right now this ministry is expanding. In a season where businesses, organizations, churches, and even ministries, yes, are shrinking and growing and going backwards, I should say. They're having to shrink and to take things out of what they were usually doing in this season. This ministry is growing and it's moving forward. And I want you to be a part of that favor. So I'm gonna ask my team to now begin to hand out envelopes to those of you who are present here and those of you watching online, you can give by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. Now, you may be watching from different countries. Look, if our donation form doesn't take your giving, then you can give by Facebook or YouTube. But we're asking everyone to try to give through the website. Couple of reasons why. Number one, we can stay in touch with you. We get your email and then you get updates on the ministry. And then number two, YouTube takes a chunk out of what, and so does Facebook. They take large portions out of what you give. I think it's like 30% on YouTube. But if that's the only way you can give is Facebook and YouTube, by all means do that. It's better than doing nothing. But if you can, I'm asking you to use that form on our website at davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. This isn't just for the live viewer. This is for you, the one watching at the replay as well. That form that we have on our website takes currencies from all different nations in all different types of payment forms. So we are likely to have what you need in order to partner with us. So I'm asking you right now, give a one-time gift, become a monthly ministry supporter if the Holy Spirit should so lead you do both. And I'm asking those of you present here to give your gifts. There are many of you who consider this your church, your gathering, I'm asking you to sew your tithes and offerings, you watching online, I'm asking you to just do what the Holy Spirit leads you to do. This is your church, I'm asking you to do the same. All of us need to give something for the work of the gospel. And even now I can see all your comments coming in on Facebook and YouTube, but I can also see the different names of people. Like for example, I see Joanna and Haudavia and Jeremy and my goodness, they're coming in from all around the world. Umak-an-then gave a one-time gift, I believe you're from Canada, God bless you. And many different people partnering, many different people giving Kingsley and Sovereign, what a beautiful name. And Eric, thank you for your partnership. And Irene, thank you for your partnership. And Jayden and Maria and Teresa, thank you for your partnership. And Betty and Josie and Tammy and oh my goodness, the names Eduardo Beatrice, names are coming in from all around the world rapidly. Thank you to the many of you who are partnering now and giving one-time gifts. Those of you who are present here, you know you can give by QR code and all the information on the envelope should be filled out. I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to bless this gift and use it for his glory. Will you pray that with me? Father in the name of Jesus. These are your people, Lord. And they're sowing because they love you. They're sowing because they love the gospel. They're sowing because they believe in soul winning. Father, I pray that you bless them, increase their resources that they might continue to fund your kingdom. We give you the glory, the honor and the praise. Use these gifts as weapons in your hand against the kingdom of darkness. In Jesus' name we pray and the church said, amen. Well, if you enjoyed this message and I encourage you, make sure you're subscribed to EncounterTV. Click on that notification bell when you do subscribe so you don't miss any of the content coming your way. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.