In prophecy, the first thing we need to receive is a sense of burden. When we give ourselves fully to God’s love and grace, our hearts are tuned to the same wavelength as God’s. We inherit a sense of ownership for the church community he has placed us in, and, out of the burden, God will express his heart.
We need to be intentional and look around where we live, asking God, who, Lord, do you want to speak to in my church, on my street, or in my daily life? Lord, give me a burden. Once we receive that burden-or compulsion to pray for someone-we can explore it further by asking God several questions:
What are you really saying through this burden?
What are your hopes and dreams for this individual?
What is it you want me to do?
At the end of this prophecy, what do you want to achieve in this person’s life?
What is your objective?
We can never assume that we will immediately know all the right answers. A strong sense of burden can take time to work through and explore with the Holy Spirit. But God will give us a sense of objective. To develop an understanding of how God’s heart works towards people is very important. Why is he picking this person out to receive prophecy? What does he want to achieve through this word?
Having a sense of God’s objective helps us to be clear, specific, and significant in what we are prophesying. It is like what schoolchildren experience when they’re taught how to write an essay: we must support and develop god’s thesis, his key theme, for that person’s life. Without a sense of objective, we sometimes have too many human insights. We see a blurrier picture because we do not have a sharp focus on what God wants to do.
God’s objective also affects our delivery; we must present this word in a manner that connects with whatever God wants to do.
John 5: 19- most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father do; for whatever he does, the son also does in like manner.
If God wanted to impart his peace to a person, you wouldn’t yell to the individual: thus sayeth the Lord, be at peace! If it was the father’s love that needs to be shared, you probably wouldn’t be harsh to a person. The objective and delivery cannot be at odds with each other, or there will be no impartation.
If the objective is to strengthen people, to add resolve and determination to their lives, our prophesying will reflect that aim. We will prophecy in a bold, forthright manner, dwelling on the supremacy of God and taking care to release a confidence into the people concerned. If we have received a word from the Lord about his love for an individual, we should communicate that in a way that causes God’s love to be imparted into that heart.