Christians, how do i understand and learn about the "gift of prophecy"?

[Love&Fire]

It has been spoken over me by other believers that one of my spiritual gifts is the gift of prophecy. I believe that the Holy Spirit reveals the truth (about my life and other's lives) only when I ask, seek, and pray in faith.
How do I use this gift? Where in Scripture can I seek guidance and understanding (specifically aimed at the prophetic)? Any other information or advice would be appreciated.
I enjoy the life and testimony of Solomon and somehow I feel I can relate to alot of what he writes and speaks about.
I believe in the supernatural--which comes from and gives credit to God is the truth . Jesus was a supernatual human, leader, miracle worker, teacher, and He is the Son of God thus fellow Christians should try to live holy lives and be Christlike. The Holy Spirit of God is constantly evident and I believe in supernatural healing and the power of the God allows Christians to accomplish many great things. But don't let that steer you away from what is important. That's all I'm saying.
**Interesting responses**

 

[molliemormon]

When you described your gift the word that came to my mind is REVELATION. Revelation can differ from prophecy, which is usually described to mean a prediction uttered by divine inspiration. Revelation is very personal, and can be the communication of knowledge from a divine source.

Most churches believe that prophecy and revelation have been lost from the earth, and that no man can talk to God and receive answers. If it was true that men could in time past, then why not now?

Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you
James 1:5 If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
1 Kgs 19:!2 After the fire a still, small voice.

God does speak to men on earth through prophecies and revelations. You are experiencing this truth. One of the only churches that believes in this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or otherwise called Mormons). We believe that that truth that was lost was revealed to a prophet through revelation. Go to our website to learn more or to chat with a representative!

 

[Neuropsych]

There are sermons on this. The key is to take the personality traits of all the prophets in the Bible and see if they match yours. Then you'll know how much of the gift you have. Pray every night for God to take a hold of you and force a revelation on your conscience and to reveal it in a vivid dream.

 

[TheBelovedApostlePaul]

It is very sad that people today attend churches that deceive others for the sake of appearances; i.e., making people believe that they alone have a "special" line to God.

You can open your Bible, and read about the prophets, and prophecy. But whoever told you that is lying to you. It is a FACT that prophecy belonged to the nation Israel. Both the gift of foretelling future events, which is spoken directly from God, through the prophet, as well as the fulfilling of the prophecy, were a part of the prophecy program of Israel.

Learning to rightly divide the word of truth; between prophecy and mystery, is essential for any believer today. You probably do not even know what I am talking about, do you? If not, it is not surprising, since only about 1% of churches do rightly divide the word of truth. For the other 99% of churches, the mystery of God that was revealed to the apostle Paul is STILL a mystery, nearly 20 centuries later. That fact alone is the single reason and cause for the following:

Denominations, which all believe something different.
Disagreements about water baptism, and its practical use, which was superseded by the cross.
People attempting to follow Christ preached according to prophecy, instead of Christ preached according to the revelation of the mystery.
People believing in the practical use of supernatural, physically manifested gifts, such as yourself, when these have been superseded by what Christ earned for believers today, which is ALL spiritual gifts in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

There are many many more reasons to begin learning to rightly divide the word of truth, as Paul instructs us to do in 2 Tim 2:15. But the fact is that it is just as difficult to tell religious people this today, as it was for the apostle Paul when he was alive.

The truth is, that the prophetic program of Israel has been "put on hold", and the fulfilling of prophecy which has been made has been held in abeyance, since God cast Israel aside for a time for unbelief in Acts 28:28, and will be until the present dispensation of the grace of God is over, God once again begins dealing with Israel as a nation, and Israel enters the seventieth week of Daniel (the great tribulation).

There are no prophecies being made or fulfilled today. Sorry. If you had this gift, as these people have said, God would show you how to use it, and you would not be here asking this question. Prophecy is God speaking through a man, not human oriented, or something to be learned.

What is really sad is that you will probably dismiss these answers telling you to learn to rightly divide the word of truth, and go right on with whatever it is that you are trying to "accomplish".

To learn how to rightly divide the word of truth, and the difference between the two programs/ministries of Christ, visit:

http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org

There are many good articles under the heading on the left that says BIBLE STUDY ARTICLES.

 

[ChicagoMike]

1 Corinthians 13:8-10
(8) Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
(9) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
(10) But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

"Here Paul writes of the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy and the gift of knowledge (see 1 Cor. 13:1-2) and states that the Lord Jesus had revealed to him (1 Cor. 11:23; 15:3; Gal. 1:11,12) that a time was coming when these sign gifts were going to cease to operate."

"The sign gifts, tongues, prophecy, the gift of healing, etc. were operating all through the Book of Acts, and these gifts are mentioned in the letters that Paul wrote during the Acts period. But when we turn to the letters written after the Book of Acts—the 4 Prison Epistles, and the 3 Pastoral Epistles, we find that the sign gifts either aren't mentioned at all or we see—as with the gift of healing—that they were no longer operating in Paul's life. What he could do in Acts 28, he could no longer do in Philippians, or in 1 and 2 Timothy. He could heal all the sick on the island in Acts 28:9, but he couldn't heal any of his closest co-workers—Timothy, Epaphroditus, Trophimus—after the close of the Book of Acts." [1st source]

 

[tattoomomkc]

That doesn't mean you have "the gift of prophecy". You can't find it in scripture either. Try being humble and pious. Maybe you'll have real revelation.