The conclusion of the scriptural way to build up the Body of Christ is that we all have to learn to prophesy. First Corinthians 14:31 says, “For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn.” Since the ones who listen to our prophesying learn, then we who prophesy must learn first. If we do not learn anything, we cannot teach others that they may learn something. A professor’s students can learn much from him because he has learned much. Many of us have been in the church for years, but we have never been taught nor have we learned how to prophesy.
To learn we must first have a desire. If someone does not have the appetite or desire to learn, he will not learn. We must have a desire and a strong will to carry out our desire. It is easy to be a “traditional Christian.” We can just “go to church” every Sunday, and let others who are professionals serve for us. But today the Lord is recovering His interest on this earth. He is recovering the organic building up of His Body, the perfecting by the gifts of all the saints that they may do the same work of the New Testament ministry that the gifted ones do to build up the Body of Christ, and the church meeting in mutuality. The Lord is endeavoring to intercede for us so that He can recover these matters. Now we have to endeavor to practice His scriptural way. We have to pray, and we have to endeavor to learn how to be strengthened to save sinners by contacting them where they are. Then we have to dedicate ourselves and devote some of our time to the Lord to take care of home meetings and group meetings. Also, we have to endeavor to learn how to prophesy.
First, in order to prophesy we must be persons who have been saturated and soaked with the holy Word. Nearly every phrase and every point of Mary’s short prophesying in Luke 1:46-55 is a quotation from the Old Testament. This proves that Mary, a young woman, was soaked in the Word. This is why the Lord chose her to be the mother of the Man-Savior. The Lord Jesus was born into a family that was full of the knowledge and love of God’s holy Word. Mary’s example shows us that if we are going to prophesy, we must get into the Word, being saturated and soaked with the Word to become one with the Word.
Second, in order to learn to prophesy, we must be ready in the spirit to have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 14:32). A ready spirit is a spirit that is always one with the Lord, the Spirit, fellowshipping with Him, remaining with Him, and abiding in Him. When we have such a ready spirit, we can have the spiritual inspiration at any time. We can even tell the Lord: “Please give me the inspiration. I am ready in my spirit, and I have to prophesy.” To prophesy, we need the knowledge of the Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The knowledge of the Word is constant, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is instant. The instant inspiration depends upon our constant readiness. We have to be constantly ready in our spirit to receive the instant inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
If we only have the knowledge of the Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we still will not be able to prophesy. We need to have a clear view to see through all things in all situations. We will not know what to say without a vision. We need to have a clear sky all the time. We need to be sober in our mind and in our spirit. We need a clear view concerning the Lord’s interest on this earth, concerning His Body, concerning the local churches, concerning the individual saints, and even concerning ourselves.
If we have the three items mentioned above, we can prophesy at any time. With a clear view to see, we have something to speak. We also have the ability to speak because we have the knowledge of the Word for the utterance and the proper expressions. Furthermore, we have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When we speak with these three elements, our speaking is the speaking of the Lord and the speaking forth of the Lord.