“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” (Ephesians 4:11). It is perhaps only a linguistic accident that the words prophecy and profess sound so similar. But the truth is, the Hebrew word Navi, from which the word prophet gets translated into English in the Bible, means spokesperson or mouthpiece. It is the duty and role of a prophet to make themselves pure and holy enough to be a conduit or a vessel for the voice of God. “And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” (D&C 68:4). The Bible is the single most influential and widely read book of all time because it contains the words of the prophets, speaking the will, the mind, the word and the voice of the Lord. These words have real power and have been treasured up in the hearts of countless souls seeking salvation. Words with such power are still being delivered today by living prophets. We have the opportunity to hear through His chosen prophets exactly what the Lord thinks about the challenges and struggles facing us today and what counsel and advice and words of warning and encouragement He would most like to give to us. We give so much attention to the spokespeople of governments and large companies. Ought we not give even more heed to the mouthpiece of the Creator of the Universe? I hope we never lose sight of what a precious gift it is for us to be able to listen to a prophet’s voice.
