According to I Corinthians 14, prophecy is to edify, exhort, and comfort. Many times we have prophecies of exhortation when the need is not to exhort the people, but to edify, to build up, to actually add to the people, and to create in them the things that are to be. Consequently, the prophecies are labored because they don’t shift to the higher level, and we miss the best God has for us. The Lord must help us with every new level of prophecy. We must prophesy the word of the Lord.
When we discipline our children, we don’t just whack them and say, “You’re stupid; you’re naughty,” but we use a positive approach which actually reaches them deeply in the subconscious level, with suggestions that have as binding a force as hypnosis could have. You mold their thinking pattern when you say, “You will serve the Lord! You will be a prophet of God!” When you speak something very positive, you impart to them the positive goal.
As one translation reads, “We prophesy to build up, to stir up, and to cheer up.” We’ve been stirred up a lot, and we’ve been cheered up a lot, but now we need to be built up in the things that are before us in the days ahead. Let’s ask the Lord to help us not to forget this. First let’s prophesy to build up, to literally prophesy strength into our brother. Prophesy the faith into him. Prophesy him right into what God has for him. Literally shove him into it. “You are the chosen of the Lord! You are the remnant of God!” It will have a force.
There must be a projection of faith in the service, not only to prophesy it, but to take it too. Believe that! You must grab hold of what God is holding out to you and say, “It’s mine.” If you receive anything, you must grab for it, then hang onto it and say, “I take it in the name of the Lord.” There must be a faith in your heart to say, “That is the Lord’s blessing and I’m going to grab it. I take hold of it.” When the Lord prophesies strength, breathe deeply and claim it with all your heart in the name of the Lord. Take it in. Let it become a part of your very being.