First, to be clear about this: We believe in prophecy as a gift of the Holy Spirit for our time. It's something we established early in our Christian walk that there is this experience or event known as "Baptism in the Holy Spirit" - it's right there in the Bible, so that's not hard to grasp. The spiritual gifts are not set aside by God. If that were the case we could simply tear out quite a few pages from our Bibles which would only refer to days gone by and would not be relevant for us today.

But here's the thing: Some people seem to think that whatever and anything they just think of is a 'word from the Lord' - it might not be. Not everything we can come up with is prophetic. Sometimes you just have good ideas and it comes from you. Sometimes one thing will suggest something else in your thought process. That something else is not necessarily a prophetic word. Not every good idea, even if it is inspired, is a prophetic word from God. Not every symbol or thought that you think is relevant needs to be shared.

And here's the other part of that problem: To frequently offer up for consumption by congregations all ideas and thoughts which are not God-inspired prophetic words dilutes the power and impact of a real prophetic word. True that real prophecy will carry an anointing and authority which sets it apart from empty talk. True that we are allowed to get it wrong in this New Covenant age. But in a sea of noise from every angle, real prophecy can be lost. And most prophetic words which are not really prophetic words do not usually get challenged by anyone. There is no public weighing of the public word. There is no correction or evaluation.

I would like to see a shift in the prophetic where people are more inclined to hold their tongue, even at the risk of not speaking a word from God, rather than keep speaking many words which are not Him at all. Which is worse? I believe it is the latter, as speaking many words which are not God will have the effect of dumbing down the gift and causing most people to not seek, not ask, not hear and not receive a true life-giving word from God. If we wait, if we are silent rather than noisy, God can still speak. He does not have a problem with making His will and His word known to His people. Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, not soul-based, emotional, knee-jerk, self-aggrandizing, empty, shallow words from our own mind.