Scripture to consider:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. — John 14:26 NKJV

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. — John 15:26 NKJV

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. — John 16:7 NKJV

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
— Acts 2:17-18 NKJV (Joel 2:28-32 NKJV)


And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
— Acts 19:6 NKJV

I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
— 1 Corinthians 14:5 NKJV

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
— 1 Corinthians 14:1 NKJV

Blue Letter Bible App

Something we often misunderstand is the role of prophecy. Many might wonder why others call some types of worship — music, art, dance — a prophetic act. When you consider the definition of the words used in Greek or Hebrew, very often words used had multiple layers of meanings.

The English language has almost 500,000 words in vocabulary, so we get very specific in our use of words. It becomes natural to nearly always claim one black vs white answer when a word is used. But ancient languages (Biblical Hebrew = 7,000 and Biblical Greek = 130,000) have less words and the use of words were often poetic in nature, similar to portraying colors in a painting. Red did not automatically translate to a red flower, but could also be used to describe a bird, a barn house, or perhaps the color promoted anger or passion. Or, maybe a better example could be the English word “bark” — this could be the sound a dog makes, when a human ‘barks’ orders at another, or the bark you find on a tree.

The word used to prophesy did not automatically mean to simply speak of the future, but to be divinely inspired. So, when people say, “prophetic worship,” it is music or art considered to be divinely inspired… As it’s worded in letter D of the Greek definition, “to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or praise of the divine counsels…” Or we could even consider an act of obedience to what your spirit guides you to say or do to be divinely inspired.

It can also translate to what we call, “words of knowledge,” like Jesus showed us with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. These are not things of the future but things already taken place yet not known by the individual speaking them, rather information shared by God to show His divine intervention.

Lastly, and more commonly noted, you have the prophets of old that foretold of things to come in which the Lord spoke through them. Today, we are offered a gift to be divinely connected to our Father in heaven. It’s not based on anything we can do. It’s not only our salvation for life after earth. It is also a gift of a “helper” — the Holy Spirit poured out upon us — to be our teacher, our guide, our strength in time of weakness, and our lifeline to Heaven.

The same Spirit in me, in your pastor, in your peer (if truly guided by the Holy Spirit) is the same Spirit gifted to you by the grace and mercy of Jesus. All that is required is a sincere heart that turns away from the world and in turn keeping sights set on Heaven, with the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. This faith and heaven bound thinking shifts what we do and how we do it because we surrender to God with wholehearted trust in Him.

Repentance is not only a sense of guilt or recognizing what is sinful… It is the decision to turn away from what the world says is good or accurate and setting our eyes on the things of Heaven, trusting God and His unending, radical love for us. Sanctification, purification, or becoming a better self, is a process and very rarely instant in nature. Surrender to Him… Let His Spirit guide… And no longer are there limitations of schooling, age, or gender — more so, it is a relationship with Him that gives access to whatever He chooses to use you for.

It is an honor to be His.