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RIVER OF LIFE CHURCH – CHRYSTAL F.

Worship and Prophecy Through the Psalms
Session 1 Overview of the Prophetic – The Joel 2 Mandate
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see
visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-
29)

I. WHAT IS PROPHECY?

A. The church has become the number one culprit of mystifying the prophetic. Too often, the word
“prophecy” is synonymous with the “weird.” It brings images of some church pastor or visiting
evangelist expounding on our deepest secrets and hidden sins over a microphone. There are
levels in the prophetic, and those who prophesy over a microphone function in the office of a
prophet, which is different from simple prophecy.

B. Simple prophecy is simply that which points others to Jesus. We may not all function in the gift
of prophecy all the time, but being able to speak forth Scripture in its proper context is
functioning in simple prophecy. Prophecy is about having the Word written on our hearts, and
dialoging back to God what His word says about Him and about the world around us.

10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not
do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the
testimony of Jesus. Worship God." For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy. (Rev. 19:10)

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that
was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or
time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. (1 Pet. 1:10-11)

C. As we walk in close communion with the Lord, we learn to hear His voice and know when He is
speaking. Simple prophecy can be dreams, open visions, mental pictures, or words of wisdom
and words of knowledge (“knowing” things about another person that you wouldn’t otherwise
know); however, simple prophecy can also be impressions or the Holy Spirit breathing on a
Scripture and bringing it to our hearts at the proper time.

D. God is highly creative, and our relationship with Him requires us to learn to hear Him in the
different ways He chooses to speak. But whatever we “prophesy,” the spirit of it is based on the
testimony of Jesus to us—what He said, how He lived, His character, His life, His death and
resurrection; and the purpose of our words is to bring Him honor and glory.

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Worship and Prophecy Through the Psalms – CHRYSTAL F.
Session 1 Overview of the Prophetic – The Joel 2 Mandate PAGE 2

II. YOU SHALL PROPHESY

A. In Joel 2, the prophet gives a powerful promise of the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the end
times. God, through His servant, makes a declarative decree of what the church can expect as
the day of Jesus’ return to the earth draws near. This flood of the Spirit on the earth comes with
the manifestation of dreams, visions, and prophetic proclamations, as men and women of all ages
take the voice of the Lord in their inner man and share it with a generation whose ears are
blocked and whose hearts are hardened. (2 Tim. 3)

B. The glory of the promise in Joel 2:28 is the word “all.” The gift of simple prophecy that the Lord
intends to lavish on the earth “in that day” belongs to all people who love and fear Him. It is in
God’s heart to give His prophetic voice to each of His servants who desire to know Him. Paul
reiterates that all men have the ability to prophecy in the New Testament. (1 Cor. 14:31)

C. Conversely, we have the responsibility of studying the Scriptures and earnestly desiring the gift
of prophecy in our lives.

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may
prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for
no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other
hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and
encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up
himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all
to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is
greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that
the church may be built up. (1 Cor. 14:1-5)

D. Our part is to study the Word and learn the voice of God. The Spirit’s part is bringing the Word
back to us in season. What results is a partnership between man and God as the Spirit of Truth
takes from Jesus, the Living Word, and makes it known to us. Jesus promised that when the
Holy Spirit came, He would impart to us the wisdom of the Father. We learn how to listen to the
voice of God and then declare what we’ve heard by relationship with the Holy Spirit. He listens
and then tells us of what is to come only as He hears it from the Father.

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all
truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He
will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He
will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has
are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
(John 16:13-15)

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Worship and Prophecy Through the Psalms – CHRYSTAL F.
Session 1 Overview of the Prophetic – The Joel 2 Mandate PAGE 3

III. PROPHETIC PURPOSE

A. The desire closest to the heart of God is intimate relationship with man. We see this first in
Genesis when God created Adam and established set times to walk with him in fellowship in
Eden. One of the first things God set in place was a time to commune with man. In Revelation,
the last thing word on God’s heart is simply, “Come.” The journey of relationship with the
Father is one in which God desires to be known and to reveal Himself.

B. Prophecy exists for the encouragement of the bride, to encourage her to press into relationship
with God. However, it is ultimately an expression of selflessness, where the person giving the
prophetic message from the Lord sets aside personal comfort to cultivate intimacy with the Holy
Spirit to better hear His voice. The individual who desires to function in a prophetic calling must
first learn to hear the voice of God.

C. Simple prophecy (like all third-party conversations) passes through two filters before reaching its
intended recipient. Words from the Lord are pure and unadulterated, but we see through a glass
dimly (1 Cor. 13:12) and our perceptions skew what we see (the first filter). Then, we must
discern the timing of the Lord and communicate what He tells/shows us to the person for whom
He intended the word (the second filter).

D. The closer we walk in relationship with the Spirit, the less distortion on the word from the Lord.
Prophetic words come in greatest power on and through believers who are voluntary, whole-
hearted lovers of Jesus. It takes great love to live a lifestyle of holiness where we’re ready in all
seasons and times to speak the Word of the Lord.

2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Tim. 4:2)

4 “ The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know
how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning
by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. (Is. 50:4)

E. As with all things, prophetic accuracy increases with use and practice. The Lord will not
manipulate our mouths to speak on His behalf. Part of the beauty of the Lord’s decision to work
through us is His willingness to cover our weaknesses with grace and allow us to partner with
what He’s doing. Prophecy highlights the beauty of a life yielded to the Spirit.

F. Jesus had the prophetic word of the Lord to speak deliverance over the demon-possessed because
He’d already invested Himself in a lifestyle of prayer and fasting ahead of time. When we seek
to be used in prophecy to bless the church, we cannot waste time trying to prepare our hearts
when the opportunity to prophesy comes. We must crucify our flesh ahead of time to be ready in
all seasons.

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Worship and Prophecy Through the Psalms – CHRYSTAL F.
Session 1 Overview of the Prophetic – The Joel 2 Mandate PAGE 4

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the
unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of
him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him
greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said,
“He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he
arose. 28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him
privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind
can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:25-29)

G. Prophecy is servanthood. It comes from a filling of the Father’s love given to us in the secret
place that is ready to spill over when the Lord leads. Prophetic words are not spoken in
harshness or in anger; they are the excess of the Father’s love drawing broken men and women to
Himself. Prophets are first intercessors. Daniel received his great vision of the end-times when
he was praying on behalf of his people.

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my
people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill
of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had
seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the
evening sacrifice (Dan. 9:20-21)

H. God is looking for men and women He can use to speak a word appropriate in season that will
minister to His bride. This requires that we stop coming to church seeking for the worship, the
sermon, or the church leadership to fill us up. The spirit of prophecy transitions us from a “bless
me” attitude to a “use me” mentality.

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