A great flood flood in 2009

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

A "PROPHETIC WORD" for 2009!
by Steve Hill (January 2009)

"Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge" I Cor 14:29

The flood of prophecies for 2009 have begun to come in. They sound remarkably similar to most I have been hearing for the past 15 years! "This is the year of revival! This is the year of His power. This is the year of increase! This is the year of harvest." You mean it really, really, really is going to happen this time?

I cringe to remember giving "prophetic" words like that! We mistook emotional fervour and hype for anointing. There was no judgement! There was no accountability. The only point was the "power" of the prophetic utterance in that moment. It was paid performance art pure and simple! Forgive us Lord!

The future can be an escape from present responsibility!

Prophecies about revival to come lessen personal responsibility even further by emphasizing what God will do rather than what God has already done! If Jesus has dealt with all sin on the cross and if Jesus has all authority, then we are completely, totally and absolutely without excuse!

The problem is not with God! His work - in that regard - is finished! The problem is with the labourers! Jesus commanded us to pray for the labourers! He did not ask us to pray for the harvest. He did not even ask us to pray against the demons! As a matter of record in Luke 10:18, Jesus saw "Satan fall like lightning from heaven" after the disciples went out to befriend, demonstrate and declare the Kingdom.

In John 4, the disciples did not want to go through Samaria but Jesus did. He talked to a woman and had a revival in that town. Jesus pointed out the difference between Himself and the disciples. It was a difference of vision!

"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest?' Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest." John 4:35.

The disciples saw bare, hard ground. Jesus saw white fields. Same view, different eyes, different vision! The problem was not with the harvest but with the labourers!

Harvest fields tend to be poor and difficult places. Harvesting is hard work where ever the field! You have to get dirty and involved. Discipleship is about one on one stuff! Jesus sent away the crowds in order to invest himself in the twelve. Revival is not about platforms and performances. It is about relationships, sacrifice and obedience.

I have a prophetic word for 2009. It is a prophetic word which as been accurate for about 2,000 years and which always will be accurate! It comes from Paul:

"Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2b

And you are right! This is the same as the "Prophetic Word for 2008"!

Steve Hill, 23/04/2009