If you want to release the word of the Lord, you must get sound wisdom. You cannot prophesy in oneness with His heart without it. But how? How do we acquire wisdom? There are a few steps we can take to get started.
Step 1 — Understand that wisdom is your inheritance as a believer.
Proverbs 2:6, 7 tells us, “For the LORD gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous….” He has deliberately stored up wisdom for us. It is His gift to us through Christ, “in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
Furthermore, He desires “that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” so that you can “walk worthy of Him unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might…” (Colossians 1:9-11). There are dozens of Bible verses which assure us of God’s desire to give us wisdom — every one of us, not just some elite group. We need it to succeed in fulfilling His purposes in us, whether prophecy or some other gift, so He has stored it up for us in ample supply.
Step 2 — Ask for it.
Since wisdom is God’s gift to us, you cannot earn it. But you can pursue Him for it. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all men liberally, without reproach, and it shall be given to him” (James 1:5). The next verse encourages us to ask in faith — because God has already said it is laid up for us.
Jesus exhorted us to ask, seek, and knock, “for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7, 8). Many is the time I have asked the Lord for His wisdom — not only for particular situations, but also that it would increasingly evidence in me as a characteristic, in the word of wisdom, and in wise spiritual counsel. Asking once is not sufficient, because gaining wisdom is a lifelong process. We must keep on asking, going continually deeper into the hidden treasures of wisdom He has stored up for us.
Step 3 — Spend time with Jesus.
If you desire wisdom, devote yourself to His presence by listening for His voice, being conversational with Him, and waiting for His response. Absorb large portions of His Word. Meditate on individual verses or passages, letting the Spirit make them a part of you.
Acts 4:13 tells us, “Now when [the religious leaders] saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.“ They recognized a wisdom far beyond scholarly learning in Peter and John. It came from their intimate acquaintance with Jesus.
As you set aside time for Him, Holy Spirit will impart to you wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will give you supernatural understanding and the ability to discern beyond what your natural eyes and ears can comprehend. He did these things for Jesus while He lived on earth, and He will do them for you, too (Isaiah 11:2, 3).
Drawing on the Lord’s wisdom helps us answer questions we commonly struggle with in our quest to prophesy well:
- Is what I am receiving literal or symbolic?
- Who is this word for — just me, my local church, or even the Church as a whole?
- What am I supposed to do with it — pray into it, or release it to others?
- What is the appropriate timing to share it?
- How do I express what I have seen or heard for maximum benefit to the hearers?
As we pursue the Lord for wisdom, He will abundantly fill us with it. It is His very nature, and He loves to conform us to His likeness. Our prophetic words will take on a greater purity, with less of ourselves leaking into the message and more of His heart coming through clearly.
Part 1 — Prophesying in Love
Part 2 — You Must Know God’s Nature
Part 4 — Humility
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