“I don’t know what you do for a living, but whether you know it or not, you are a prophet. For better or for worse, your words and actions have a butterfly effect on the people around you. . . . Regardless of what you do, you are a teacher-prophet, lawyer-prophet, artist-prophet, barista-prophet.”- Mark Batterson
But Moses replied [to Joshua son of Nun] . . . “I wish that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them.”- Numbers 11:29 (NIV)
Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 10 of Gradually Then Suddenly as he cites a book titled The Power of Positive Prophecy by Laura Beth Jones. In her book, Laura Beth Jones contends that at least forty percent of our lives are based on personal prophecy. But Mark believes the actual percentage to be much higher than forty percent.
Most significantly, in the book Laura tells the story of a man named Michael. He grew up in an abusive family with an alcoholic father. Negative words permeated the air at home. But a dry cleaner in the neighborhood kept candy on his counter. As a result, Michael became a regular ‘customer.’
And one day Jimmy the dry cleaner spoke positive words to Michael. Jimmy told Michael that he was smart and would run a very big business someday. Today Michael runs a multi-million-dollar health organization. Hence, Jimmy the prophet nailed it.
In conclusion, Mark exhorts:
“Truth be told, influence is exponential. It’s not easy measuring legacy, but memory is one metric. If time is measured in minutes, legacy is measured in memories. . . . Long obedience [leaves] a long legacy that inspires long vision. . . . [Jesus] spoke into [Nathanael’s] blind spot quadrant and cast a vision for his life. Go thou and do likewise!”
Today’s question: Do you think of yourself as a prophet, whether you know it or not? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Exercise prophetic imagination”