Prophecy
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: Luke 1:67
Zacharias wasn’t a prophet; he was a priest. So how is it that he prophesied? Was he revealing something about the future? Not at all! He was simply proclaiming the wonderful works of the Lord and repeating the promise he was given when the angel visited him. He was not a prophet, but he did prophecy.
So how was this possible and can we all prophecy? The answer is in today’s key verse. It says Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. We can all prophecy, but we must first be filled up to the overflow with God’s Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:1 & 3 says: Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. The apostle Paul taught the church in Corinth that it is the right thing to desire spiritual gifts and especially prophesying. Then he defines what prophesying is. He said it is speaking edification and exhortation to comfort people. Zacharias prophesied out of his great joy as did Mary and Elizabeth in the previous verses in Luke 1.
We know that it is not required to be a prophet to encourage and build others up. Most of us do that to some degree every day. We see a friend hurting, so we speak a word over them that encourages and brings hope to their situation. We are not predicting or talking about a future event. We simply speak or pray a promise from God’s Word that He already gave. In Zacharias’ case, he prophesied in 4 parts: Number one was what he knew about God. He is blessed and the God of Israel. The second part of his prophecy was about past victories. Times and circumstances that God had brought the nation of Israel through. Thirdly, he spoke about the coming messiah, which he knew about from the scriptures. (a promise from God) Lastly, he spoke an encouraging word over his newborn child, the words the angel gave him at the visitation before he was conceived.
- Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
- For He has visited and redeemed His people,
- He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
- He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began,
- We should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
- And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
We can all prophecy, in fact we should be speaking words of encouragement every where we go every day of our lives. Not words we make up or repeating what we have heard about the doom and gloom of the world’s condition, but words that bring hope and put courage into the hearts of those who are feeling faint. Let’s start today to prophecy the goodness of God that we know from personal experience, proclaiming His great salvation through Christ Jesus and holding fast to the promises we know belong to us right here and now!
Today I want to encourage you to prophecy. Put away any fear filled talk and sarcastic responses. Instead declare the greatness of God and turn your attention and others to what He has promised for our day and time. This may require you to get into His Word more to know exactly what He has promised, but that is a good thing. That will pull you in closed to all that He has planned for you, and it will also propel you into the things to come with great power. Begin today to prophecy and take note of how the simple step of rejoicing in faith in His Word will change your perspective and also plant hope for the future into the heart of those around you.
Today’s scripture reading: Luke 1:67-80
67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
The Daily Dose 