“Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” (Isaiah 55:2b)

Not too long ago I was part of a worship service where our prophetic team participated by giving prophetic words to people we felt like the Lord was highlighting. I had a specific word for someone that I saw before our team was asked to come up front.

As soon as our team was invited forward, people responded to the question if they wanted a prophetic word by standing up and waving their arms. There was a guy in the back that stood up and waved his arms. As soon as he did, I knew I was supposed to give him a word even though I had none.

What happened to the word that I already had for someone else? I didn’t give it during that service from the front. I knew before going up that I would see him later on during the week and that this would be the time and occasion for me to give him the word. It’s a good thing I did. What I gave him would not have fit in the decorum of a public worship service.

Back to the guy who stood up in the back. I felt like the Lord wanted to honor his hunger for a prophetic word. It doesn’t always work that way. I highlighted the fact that he stood up waving his arms in his desire for a word. There is something about the hunger in his personality that the Lord loves.

God loves it when we are hungry for good things. It’s like we become a lightning rod for His goodness. It’s not that He can’t force-feed us; He is God, after all. He can do anything He likes. It’s not His normal way of operating.

We see this time and time again in the Bible. The crowds, the ordinary people, were hungry for more of what Jesus had to offer. There was Nicodemus who came during the middle of the night. Jesus had compassion on them. He gave them what they came for.

One time I was in a school audience where different leaders were giving prophetic words. One guy rattled off a bunch of numbers. No one responded. He asked if it meant anything to anyone. That’s what he had received from the Lord. I thought the numbers sounded vaguely familiar. It sounded somewhat like my phone number but there was an extra digit and some of the digits were transposed. I did not stand up. I thought about it, but I did not feel the Spirit moving on it. If He had, I would’ve responded. Did I miss out on a prophetic word for my destiny?

I have often thought about that experience. I could have made the leader look brilliant. Instead, his word fell to the ground. I could have helped him out of his misery. Who knows? Maybe his word would have changed my life.

By Ralph Veenstra