Jumping into the Deeper Levels of the Prophetic: The Gift of Prophecy and Prophets
Jumping Into The Deeper Levels of the Prophetic:
The Gift of Prophecy and Prophets
(Jumping into the deeper levels of the prophetic
can be challenging but also very rewarding.)
The Gift of Prophecy
The Gift of prophecy is one of the
nine gifts of the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul describes in 1 Corinthians
12:4-11. Those who discover that they have a gift of prophecy do not need
special circumstances to prophesy, but can use this gift nearly anywhere and
everywhere by faith (hopefully using wisdom and tact as well).
Romans
12:6 in the Living Bible explains this principle so: "...if God has
given you the ability to prophesy, then prophesy whenever you can -- as often
as your faith is strong enough to receive a message from God."
When
I first started growing in prophetic in 2010, I asked a prophetess in Tulsa how
to do prophetic evangelism. I asked her, "Do I ask for a clue? Do I go
treasure hunting?"
To
which she responded, "No you just have the guts to walk up to someone
and tell them what God wants to tell them."
That
night I went to a drug store and two gas stations where I walked up to
strangers and told them what God wanted to tell them. It was and still remains
something that is very intimidating, but a huge rush when I get to deliver an
accurate word of knowledge, a healing or a prophetic word to an absolute
stranger. (I will write another post telling of stories of success and failures doing this).
Everyone who is prophesying from the shallower
levels of the prophetic swimming pool (Spirit of Prophecy and the Gift of Prophecy)
should limit themselves to the areas of "strengthening,
encouragement and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3). Their words should mostly be
non-corrective and non-directional aiming at lifting people up and making the love
of God tangible.
When training people, I tell people to
avoid prophesies about births, marriages, healings or deaths. A lot of the
horror stories that are told about prophetic ministry are about people misusing
a "word from God" to manipulate others. God can and does speak to
people about these areas, but there is a huge amount of responsibility that
comes when someone says that God says, "You
are going to have a baby, or God says you are going to marry him or even worse,
you are going to marry me."
These are areas that should be
carefully and wisely avoided by beginners and treated with caution even by the
most experienced of prophets. Everyone can make a mistake when
prophesying and prophets as well as local church leaders need to use wisdom
when testing, interpreting, and applying prophetic words. (I will write another post about this subject).
The
Office of the Prophet
(Prophets Bruce and Dee Ann Foster have been a huge blessing
to our church as well as to other churches in Holland.)
"Surely
the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the
prophets. (Amos 3:7-8 NKJV).
The office of the prophet is one of
the five ministry gifts that Christ has given to the church in order to equip
all believers to do the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-14). Prophets
work together with apostles, pastors, evangelists and teachers and should never
remain isolated.
Prophets are "not limited to strengthening,
encouragement and comfort, but may also operate in giving guidance, rebuke,
judgement, correction and revelation."[1]
"The ministry and authority of a
proven prophet must be voluntarily recognized by the host church. Local
leadership must judge a prophet’s ministry and he or she must willingly submit
to local authority. The accuracy of words of a prophet are not the most
important, but the character, integrity, and fruit of his or her life must
equally be weighed. Everyone can prophesy, but not everyone is a prophet."
Some activities that prophets can
potentially do are:
-Interpret dreams and visions.
-Activate and train believers to
operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
-Help bring spiritual breakthrough and
creative miracles to a church, city or nation.
-Speak the very words and thoughts of
God over a situation and reveal spiritual activity.
-Sing prophetic songs.
The first time I consciously met a
prophet was when I was eleven-years- old. A prophet told me simply, "God really loves you so much."
For the next twenty-four hours I felt like I was inside the hand of God and I
also began seeing more pictures (visions) during prayer and worship.
As a teenager, I watched how prophets
brought significant breakthroughs in the Spanish speaking churches we helped start
in the US. The few prophets who we knew, had a significant impact on our lives
and ministries.
In 2009 I started looking for prophets
in Holland. My journey led me to Prophetess Arleen Westerhof in Amsterdam and
eventually Prophet Bruce Foster in Chicago. That was the beginning of my journey
in the prophetic. Now I find myself teaching and training people to operate in
the prophetic.
One of my greatest pleasures has been
identifying and mentoring prophets. When they are released to prophesy, they
find great joy and freedom to serve the body of Christ. We need prophets.
Prophets are a powerful and necessary gift to the body of Christ.
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