24/09/2026
Prayer and Prophecy
Jesus is our model.
John 1:43-51 ESV says, "43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 4:16-26 ESV says, 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
These are just two examples of Jesus having a word of knowledge. A word of knowledge is when you hear the voice of God and receive His insight into a person’s situation, crisis, ailment, or life circumstance that you have no prior knowledge of. A word of knowledge can bring salvation, freedom, or revival to a person or community. With the woman at the well, a Samaritan village was brought to Jesus through the word of knowledge Jesus spoke into her life.
The Samaritans claimed to be descendants of Jews in Samaria who weren’t deported by the Assyrian armies in the mid-700s BC. They followed the first five books of the Law, known as the Pentateuch. They intermarried for hundreds of years and built a Temple to God on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews built a Temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritan temple was destroyed during the Maccabean revolt that took place during the intertestamental period between Malachi and the Gospels. Their temple was destroyed between 135/134–104 BCE.
In these two passages, Jesus led Nathanael to follow Him, and with the woman at the well, a revival hit the Samaritan community. I love how these two encounters show us that a word from God can begin with one person but have an impact far beyond that individual. What Jesus spoke to Nathanael changed his perspective, and what Jesus spoke to the woman at the well became a doorway for an entire community to encounter Him.
Often, after a word of knowledge, the Holy Spirit will highlight a word of wisdom, which can help solve or bring direction to a situation, crisis, ailment, or life circumstance.
So there is the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the word of prophecy. Prophecy can be forthtelling the Word of God under the unction, power, and direction of the Holy Spirit, or foretelling, which is hearing, seeing, or knowing the person or people’s future under the unction, direction, and power of the Holy Spirit.
Many people label these functions—the word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and word of prophecy—as prophecy. Personally, I don’t want to get caught up in debates or particularities. I just want to hear what God is saying. I want to know His voice and follow His direction. And He oftentimes confirms through the gift of prophecy from others what He has already spoken to us.
There is something incredibly encouraging about having someone else speak a prophetic word that confirms what God has already been showing you. It can strengthen your faith and remind you that God sees you, knows you, and is actively leading you.
Our responsibility when receiving a prophetic word is to test it, weigh it with Scripture, pray into it, meditate on it, validate it with what God has already told us personally or through others, and draw near to Jesus in His love. We are to grow in holiness, sanctification, and His righteousness, developing His character, His will, His Word, and His ways within us.
Foretelling is oftentimes conditional. The conditions will be fulfilled if we are seeking Him, growing in Him, serving Him, and allowing Him to lead us. If we backslide and go back into the ways of the world, it can be left unfulfilled. If we are in a backslidden state, He keeps calling us to Him and gives us an opportunity to repent. If we do repent and turn back to Him, we can step back into that prophecy, although we may have delayed it. However, there is a point—and only God knows when that point is—when it can be left unfulfilled by us.
Jonah was given a conditional prophecy, saying Nineveh would be destroyed in 90 days. But the city repented, and God relented. Jeremiah 18:7-10, God declares, "At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring. And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, but if it does evil in My sight and does not obey Me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended for it."
Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. It is to glorify Him, point to Him, and lead people into greater intimacy with Him.
That is what I love about prophecy. At its heart, it isn't about making ourselves look spiritual or impressive. It isn't about chasing supernatural experiences just for the sake of having them. It is about Jesus.
We want to hear His voice because we love Him. We want to know what He is saying because we want to follow Him. And when He gives us a word for someone else, our desire should be to encourage them, strengthen them, help them, and ultimately point them back to Jesus.
Jesus is our model.
The closer we draw to Him, the more we learn His voice, His heart, His character, and His ways. And the more we know Him, the more we can lovingly and faithfully minister what He is saying.
Ultimately, the greatest prophetic revelation isn't simply knowing what God is saying about the future...it is knowing Jesus.
Prayer and Prophecy webinar Aug. 28, 2025 by Jared Laskey of Fireborn Ministries.
