Intimacy with God

January 31

Intimacy with God by Mike Bickle

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” II Peter 1:19

God has raised up leaders in the church throughout the generations who have functioned as prophets of God crying out against the sins of the people.

John Wesley, for instance, turned England back to God when the people's personal unrighteousness and apathy had brought them to the edge of societal chaos. This outcry is similar to the prophetic cry against social injustice, but different in that it is specifically directed to the people in the church.

It is less like Jonah prophesying against Nineveh and more like Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesying to Israel and Judah. People such as Billy Graham, Charles Colson, John Piper, David Wilkerson, and A. W. Tozer stand out in my mind as prophetic ministers raised up to cry out against unrighteousness in the church as they revealed the deep things about the knowledge of God.

Their words have been anointed by the Holy Spirit to awaken hearts to holiness and passion for Jesus. We who are believers in Christ must emulate them in our attuning our spirits to the Spirit of the Living God so HE may speak to us and show us the deep things of Christ.

May He give us a clear understanding of the men and women of God whom He is using as prophetic ministers to our world today. May He open us to hear Him when He calls us to be among them.

May He anoint our spirits and awaken our hearts to holiness and passion for Jesus Christ the Son of God. May He cause us to be attendant to the words He is speaking though His prophets today, so we do not miss the revelations of the Holy Spirit that He brings to us.

God uses prophetic voices, just as He used John the Baptist, to prick the conscience of believers unto full revival.