After Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit, who in-filled the early church with power that enabled them to carry out the ministry of reconciliation. With the receiving of His Spirit, people started to heal the sick, act in divine wisdom, speak in tongues and even prophesy.

The gift of prophecy is one that is essential for equipping and building up the church. It gives people and a community a glimpse of the future, activates them into ministry office and edifies the faith.

Just like any other gift, prophecy must be done with proper stewardship and practices. Here are a few ways that we can move in the prophetic gift without losing the true essence of God's purpose for it.

Record and write

Making a record of prophetic words spoken is very important because some of the things spoken will not become meaningful after a time. It's good to have something to go back to when you need to remember details that were spoken.

Habakkuk 2 is a great example of this, and it says, "And the Lord answered me: 'Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.'"

Judge the message with the authority of scripture

A prophetic word, when spoken through God's Spirit, will never contradict the Bible. So when judging a word spoken prophetically, it is always helpful to weigh it against the Word of God. If a message contradicts God's laws and nature then the word given is not prophetic.

Hebrews 13:6 declares, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." God's ideas and nature in the past will still be the same in the future.

Use it for edification, not condemnation

1 Corinthians 14:3-4 tells us, "On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church."

The word of God through prophecy will always be for building people up. That's not to say that God doesn't reveal warnings and correction, but these can also be said in a way that will encourage. For instance, instead of exposing sin, we can choose to encourage repentance and restoration.

Ask by faith

The gift of prophecy is never earned and cannot be bought with money or good works. Like the gift of salvation, it is given freely because of God's grace and goodness. When we start trying to earn the gift of prophecy, we lose the true essence of it.

1 Corinthians tells us, "For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"