“Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:19

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

Prophecy can happen anywhere, in a church gathering, or out there where two or three are gathered in His name. Prophecy marks our progress.  Prophetically, the Lord can show us where we are at and where we need to go. Prophecy reveals people’s hearts

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17

Prophecy often brings conviction.  Conviction doesn’t only convict us of the sin that’s wrong.  It convicts us of the sin that’s right, that we fail to do

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17

Sometimes prophecy predicts.  However, in the Bible, prophecy is often a prediction of life’s choices.  Oftentimes, God says “If you take this path this will be the outcome, but if you take that path that will be your punishment.”  There is a pattern we see, that when prophets stood before the nation of Israel, they often laid out before them “life and death, blessings and curses”

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice, and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19

If you understand the predictive nature of prophecy, you understand that it is often conditional.  It is conditioned upon what you choose.  Jesus talks about this often when He speaks about our rewards in Heaven.

This is the nature of prophecy for the most part.  However, there are times when something is prophesied and it comes to pass soon, and exactly in the way, it was spoken.  There are revelatory prophecies.  Yet many times when we speak the mind of God, it is conditional and based on our response.