Aidan McCartney shares his thoughts on prophecy.
I found it very inspiring to spend some time thinking about prophecy. What is prophecy? What might I be called to prophesy about? What could Quakers prophetic message to the world be in 2007.
The first point I came to in our discussion was that prophecy is from God, it is a message that God needs to give to a person or a group of people. It is only through our keen ear for the Holy Spirit and our obedience to God that this message gets out there. This puts an emphasis on us as people of God to be ready to hear and respond to the call. It is helpful for me to remember that a prophetic message is from God and not from me and I pray for humility in delivering the message.
Another thing I sensed through the study booklet is that prophecy takes on many forms. It is not only the preaching of a word of prophecy at a particular time. It can be about how we live our lives, how we are called to react to a situation. It can be a message to a large group of people that turns their world upside down (George Fox) or it can be a desire to bring up our children to know the Lord. (Bridget Butt)
Prophecy can be a scary thing, it can, and probably should, take us outside our ‘comfort zone’ but we are commanded to set our hearts on this gift in I Corinthians 14. This leads me back to my personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I need to know God better, to spend more time in worship, prayer and reading. The more time I spend with God the more I will know where, when and who to prophecy to. It is through the knowledge of my relationship with Christ that I can ‘step out of the boat’ and be obedient to the call.
It is my prayer that the Religious Society of Friends can live out this verse from I Corinthians 14, to set our hearts on spiritual gifts. To desire to know what God has to say to us in 2007 and to act upon it. If we desire these things, even the unpopular messages that call people to account for their sin but offer them redemption through grace then we can truly be a people of God.
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2 comments:
Hi Aidan,
Thanks for the post! Good to get a deeper perspective on our study group
Hi Aidan,
Thanks for getting me thinking more in preparation for the Triennial. I have not been part of a study group so its great to hear other reflections.
The prophetic voice is something that I have been thinking a lot about within the RSofF, especially how essential various branches of Quakerism are to be truly prophetic, which I believe requires radical commitment to justice and also radical hope and faith in God.
I look forward to more discussion!
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