The prophet's handbook

who is eternal, and thus outside of time, speaks to the world locked in time, that by definition is prophecy. Such speaking is what the Father calls prophetic because the message originates outside of the world’s time zones (from eternity) and finds its chronology in humanity. Its events, once they leave the Lord’s mouth, are encoded in creation’s calendars, and reflect God’s scheduled myriad of earthly events. By this means is prophecy set in motion in its appointed times and seasons. Review Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 3:1–11 for biblical amplification. Prophecy is set in time by way of the human medium who utters it. That medium may be a prophet, prophetic vessel, prayer warrior, intercessor, psalmist, or seer. While angels sometimes do this, prophecy still has to be empowered on earth through the utterance of the human voice. By their utterances, prophets activate their words’ implantation in the life or sphere of life of the hearer. Here is what God means by Isaiah 41:4 regarding the generations. Why Do We Need Prophets When We Have the Holy Spirit? Over the years, a misunderstanding of the scope of prophetic work has led many shortsighted Bible teachers to declare that the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in a life eliminates the need for the prophet—the official prophet, that is. Many have contended that the presence of the Holy Spirit within makes everyone who is saved his or her own prophet. Others add that the operation of the gifts of God as specified in 1 Corinthians 12:3–11 more than establishes the church’s independence from the prophet as integral to fundamental New Testament ministry. Nonetheless, they are emphatically named in Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28–29. Practically speaking, even though we have the Holy Spirit, people often cannot hear God clearly enough or frequently enough for themselves. Moreover, those who do hear God frequently find they misunderstand what the Lord is actually saying. How many times have you received a spiritual message that you could neither explain nor interpret? This is because God’s language is different from our own. The Lord’s word and will are not obliged to our culture or its mores because His speech has otherworldly purposes in mind. Aside from His being Creator and the author of all language, God is Spirit; we are flesh. His being and world are of an order and complexity completely different from our world. God as Spirit means He is invisible and we cannot see Him. He must speak to us from