Why do Christians chase prophecies?
Copyright 2014 Theresa Harvard Johnson
I love checking the keywords and phrases that lead people to my website. The topic of this post is actually the result of one of them, and I think the searcher had an awesome question: Why do Christians chase prophecies? After following the search string to see what kind of answers this person received, I landed on a website called chasingprophecy.com. It’s a Christian rock band and their slogan is: “Chasing prophesy, pursuing destiny.” In a way, I thought to myself, they answered this question hot on the spot.
You see, believers pursue prophecy primarily for one primary reason: To know what is the perfect will of God for their lives – whether personal, corporate or global. There are people who abuse this and become prophecy-junkies – yep, I said it; but that is a topic for another time. (See the blog post, Prayer Addiction)
Proverbs 18:16 CJB says, “Without a prophetic vision, the people throw off all restraint; but he who keeps Torah is happy.”
Prophecy, throughout biblical history, has provided encouragement, comfort, protection, instruction, direction, strategy, warnings, vision and so forth for individuals as well as nations. There is a need for our living, present and supernatural God to share his living, present and supernatural revelation with His people today. Of these reasons I’ve mentioned, I would place prophetic direction and prophetic vision at the forefront of “the reasons why.”
There are many, many believers who do not put much stock in the release of prophecy today; and this is truly their choice. It’s sad though, as we are sternly warned not to despise it in 1 Thessalonians 5:20: “Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning].”
Yes, I know there are false prophets and teachers; but guess what, there are also those who are authentic. You could very well be one of the authentic ones. All we have to do is walk through the scriptures to see examples of what those false teachers and prophets looked like back then; and mirror that to this day. The same can be said for the authentic. However, there are also believers who have experienced the power of the revealed word of God; applied it to their daily lives; and experienced the fruit! Let those who have an ear hear (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9).
The word chase in our standard dictionaries simply means to pursue until you catch what you are after. For the believer this can be two-fold. It can mean to search out the prophecy as in looking for or seeking the voice of God through his prophets; and secondly it can mean to search out the prophecy until there is understanding, adherence and application.
Matthew 10:41 CJB says, “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive the reward a prophet gets, and anyone who receives a tzaddik because he is a tzaddik will receive the reward a tzaddik gets.”
There is also an expectation among those who believe in prophecy that there is a reward associated with prophecy. That reward, often times, is the covering, protection or fulfillment that the prophecy provides to the hearer who understands its value and responds accordingly.
One of the greatest prophecies in the bible is this from John the Immerser: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Those who believed this prophecy received the blessing the Kingdom and the promise of salvation. In other words, that was the reward.
I am not talking spooky here, and or addressing out of control commercialized, merchandizing prophecy. In answering this question, I am specifically speaking of those who chase or pursue prophecy simply to know the will, way and purpose of the Lord for specific situations or this present season.
1 Corinthians 14:39a CJB says, “So, my brothers, eagerly seek to prophesy…”
