I believe in the power of the Word of God – not just the Word written and stored on a shelf, but the Word written in the hearts of believers and then spoken into the world.
In this modern day of worldwide instant communication it is easy to begin thinking that the power of the Word of God is dependent on the fact that anyone, anywhere can find it and hear it. I think that puts a little too much weight on man’s inventions bringing about the fulfillment of the Word.
Rather, I believe that like the prophet Ezekiel, a believer today could stand in a valley of dry bones and begin to prophesy to them until they became an exceedingly great people before the Lord (Ezek 37). You could say that Ezekiel was in a visionary state and not in a real valley and to that I would say, “so?” The fact is that Ezekiel prophesied the Word of God to a people who did not yet exist and continued speaking until they came into being. The generations of restoration that returned to Israel and rebuilt the temple were called forth by the Word of God spoken by Ezekiel.
It has always been this way; God’s Words have always been the force that frames the ages of man (Heb 11:3). From the beginning God spoke, “Let there be…” (Gen 1) and that which we now see was created by the things which were not seen. This pattern is repeated from Genesis 1, through all of the prophets and into the book of Acts, where the believers spoke the Word of God with great boldness and the whole of the world around them began to change.
Paul conveyed this in his instructions to the church at Corinth. He told them that one who prophesies edifies the church (1 Cor 14:4). The Greek word translated edifies literally means to build up both in a natural sense as a building, or a transcendent sense as in the building up of human communities and individuals. Speaking the Word of God under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is a powerful, creative force that God has given us to build up His people to do His will and purposes in the world around us.
We are in a time when the world around us needs change. I believe in serving our communities and helping those in need, but even more important must be our determination to prophesy the Word of God. Working purely through social channels to effect change will work at best for a generation or two. Real lasting deliverance and change come because people who believe in Jesus Christ and have hidden His word in their hearts begin to speak that word under the anointing and prompting of His Spirit.
Let there be in this generation a people who say like Isaiah – “Here I am Lord, send me”.