In times like these, it is good for groups of all sizes to seek to hear the voice of God for the group. In my tribe (North American Pentecostals) we all too often wait on God to speak with a too generous openness to self appointed prophets.

There is an implicit passiveness in this pattern that is connected to a desire for a prophetic event more than a hunger for a word from God. An event provides assurance God is aware of us while allowing us to ignore what God is actually wanting us to know.

A desire for prophecy must always flow out of a sincere hunger to know and do the will of God. Without that deep desire, prophecy tends to become a form of idolatrous entertainment. We must discipline ourselves to desire only true prophetic words from God.

And that desire must be accompanied by a willingness both to be the prophet and to share in the discernment of the word that is given.