I SAID POWER were the words I heard as God spoke audibly to me. It was the only time I have heard the audible voice of God. It wasn’t a booming voice coming from out there. Rather, it was a powerful voice coming from everywhere, all at once, all at the same time. It was the ultimate surround sound. God spoke outside of me and inside of me all at the same time those powerful words. I had been meditating on Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”, when God audibly spoke to me. Having that happen was transformational and revelational. It shows the power of God’s voice, the power of true prophecy. That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.
When God speaks, there is power present in what He says. All of the Universe bends to the sound of His voice. Unquestioning. Uncompromised. Immutable. God’s voice stands out from the sound of everything else going on. In the midst of chaos and noise, God is speaking. His voice surrounds us in everything that is taking place right now. Yet, we often miss what He’s saying. We often fail to listen to “the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day”. Genesis. 3:8, Berean Standard Bible. Nevertheless, He’s there; He’s watching, waiting for someone to notice Him and hear His powerful voice.
That’s what Moses did. He said to himself, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”Exodus 3:3, ASV. When Moses turned aside to see what God was doing, God spoke to Moses, “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’” Exodus 3:4, ESV. In calling Moses, God was revealing His pattern for calling every prophet, for Moses is the pattern for all prophets and Jesus is the prophet like unto Moses. I imagine when Moses heard God speak audibly to him that it very much like the voice I heard that day in my apartment in Iowa City, Iowa where I audibly heard God’s voice. It was powerful and transformational.
That’s how real prophecy is: it acts upon our lives, it does not react to our lives. Real and true prophecy isn’t reactionary. Rather, real prophecy acts on, expects, and anticipates everything and everyone else to react to it. Why is that? Because when God speaks, He speaks from a place of absolute authority. That’s what Moses heard in the desert and I heard in my apartment, God spoke “as One having authority”. Matthew7:29, Berean Literal Bible. God doesn’t ask for permission to speak. He doesn’t have to. He has all authority to speak at any time. And when He speaks, He expects others to listen to Him.
Elijah, who sat with Moses and Christ on the Mount of transfiguration, was like that: He expected others to respond to him. When he cast his mantle over Elisha, Elisha was being given the chance of a lifetime: to be in the presence of Elijah. Elijah didn’t wait. Elijah did not react to Elisha. Elijah moved on and expected Elisha to see and understand the opportunity being given to him: to be in the presence of God’s voice. Elijah was the one anointed to carry God’s voice to his generation. NOTE: God is always looking for who will be His voice in every generation.
Today, Jesus is that voice. And He is speaking from heaven to those who will listen to Him. Are you listening for Him? As I write, I hear the added words, dear one. Note the tenderness of God. God’s voice is powerful and transformative. At the same time, His voice is gentle and instructive. That’s who God is. And that’s what happens when He speaks: we are overwhelmed by what He says and how He says it. That’s what it’s like to be in the presence of God’s voice. That is what happens when God speaks. That is what happens when real prophecy is spoken; real prophecy doesn’t react, it acts, it transforms, it is powerful.
That’s what we need to return to: the power of prophecy. Prophecy isn’t just a collection of words from a wordsmith. No! It’s a declaration from heaven. And it demands a response from earth. God is still looking, searching to and fro, here and there, for someone who will respond to His voice. The question is: Will we come out from among the noise to do what the Father said to Jesus’s three disciples — “hear Him!”? Matthew 17:5, NKJV.
Dear one, are you listening? Prophecy, when it’s truly from God, is powerful, authoritative, transformational. That’s what we should expect. And as long as we are looking at the messenger, we will miss the message and the One speaking that message. Today, we have so much emphasis on the messenger that we have forgotten about the One speaking the message — God. Prophecy is God speaking. It’s not just about Him speaking. No, it’s about what happens when He speaks. Everything and everyone bends to the sound of His voice. Yes, “Thus saith the Lord” still means something when it’s spoken by someone, anyone, who is carrying His voice, for His voice is powerful.
As the Psalmist said, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” Psalms 29:4 KJV And when He speaks, He breaks, He makes, He shakes, He divides, and He discovers. Truly, there is power present in God’s voice. Yes, there is power present in real prophecy. And that’s what we need today — the power of His voice and the power of genuine prophecy.
Let us pray!
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