Amos 8:11-12 NKJV

The words prophet, prophecy and prophetic have tragically become synonymous with erroneous extremes. These extremes range from people predicting the end of the world, to people who cause others to push the Bible aside with their flesh-feeding forecasts. However, the word prophecy has a twofold Biblical meaning: (1) to foretell future events, and (2) to forth-tell the Word of God under His authority and with His power.

Each time a man opens the Word of God to preach to the people of God, he should seek to do so under God’s authority and with His power! God manifests His powerful presence when He is honored by prayer-saturated, sound biblical preaching.

It is God’s desire to use the preacher as His instrument to intersect the lives of His people with His Word. It is at this intersection that your prayer-saturated exposition of Scripture becomes powerfully prophetic in the lives of people. When this occurs, the Word of God causes people to stand in awe of the God of the Word!

So, how long has it been since your preaching was accompanied by the manifest presence of God? There is a vast difference between a political puppet and a powerful prophet in the pulpit. The Father’s hand powerfully rests upon the man who seeks the Father’s heart. The man who preaches the message of the Father’s heart experiences the might of the Father’s hand.

However, today, the terms praying pastor seem to refer to an endangered species, rather than being an oxymoron. The reality is that our preaching is a reflection of our praying, or the lack thereof. The same God who put you into the ministry can put His Word into your heart and your mouth. This results from a lifestyle of prayerfulness.