The following comments are part of the advice, I wrote to a young person seeking to serve the Lord.- Prophetic people should avoid saying, “I am a Prophet”, as it makes them sound arrogant. If you are a prophet, God will authenticate your ministry by fulfilling your words, as he did with Samuel. It is better to wait and let the people say, “He is a prophet”, because they see your words are witnessed and fulfilled by the Holy Spirit.
- You should not share the words confirming your calling that the Lord has given to you, except with those who are close to your and will understand them. The Lord gave them to encourage you, not to authenticate your ministry.
- Receiving a word from the Lord is the easy part of prophetic ministry. The hardest par is learning how to communicate the word once it has been received. The OT prophets communicated in a variety of ways. Many more communication tools are available to us today. You need to learn how and when to use them in obedience to the Lord. The truth is that if you can receive a word from the Lord, you are capable of receiving guidance about how it should be communicated.
- Be careful about using expressions like “The Tribulation Period”. This expression is not used in the scriptures. Tribulation is normal for Christians in every age, so there is not just one such period. I see the current tribulation teaching as part of the traditions of man, so I would be careful before speaking about it. Stick to what is in the scriptures.
- Most teaching on the prophetic ministry emphasises the isolated aspect of the role too much. You really need to get a group of strong Christians around you who can encourage you and support you. You also need some one close who will challenge you when you make mistakes. Make sure you are surrounded by honest, trustworthy Christian friends.
3 comments:
Interesting....
Let me take a shot at it.
1. Be careful to say, I am a Prophet
When you know it will be apparent to those around you, those who hear you. You will not be welcomed or embraced, particularly by those who know you well. Don't worry. God is the one who ordains. You won't have to put it on the door or on your calling card, there will come a day when your gift will be apparent, then embrace it publicly. It is an essential and valid ministry gift like teacher, pastor, Evangelist or apostle. You won't need others endorsement. You'll just know.
2. See number one. God will endorse, what others say for or against your ministry gift is irrelevant.
3. Learn to be an encourager. When you give a word, think of how this word will give hope and encouragement. And be aware of the Love constraints of 1 Corinthians 13. How you publish your prophetic words is up to you. It's best if you do so one on one for a long time.
4. Every word you bring must line up with and NEVER be contrary to the word of God. So, get the word of God in your heart. Deep. Be careful to not allow your own beliefs and prejudice about issues influence what the Lord is telling you. I struggle with this. But, I'm very careful.
5. Seek counsel. But, don't seek to have what the Lord is telling your validated. I ask for challenges. But, trust what the Lord tells you FIRST. Sometimes ask if what he tells you needs worldly clarification. For instance, in what Ezekiel saw in the Wheel in a Wheel. Maybe in today's vernacular he might have couched it differently.
Last, God's prophets are not democratic. You don't prophesy by consensus. In fact never.
You will most likely find yourself very much in the minority.
Read Ron's good treatise on Prophets and apostles. It will help you understand proper prophetic protocol. It did me.
I had a pastor say to me, "I'm glad I wasn't called of God to be a Prophet, it's a thankless job".
Yes it is, but it is essential, particularly at this time. I blogged on it today. We are needed in this time of change. Prophesy, Prophet.
The problem with a set of rules is that they don't fit your needs- You the reader.
Pastors love to put prophecy into a straight jacket, so by all means say that you are prophet and then attempt speak God's word- that is an excellent way to get thrown out of the church!- Then alone with God (Elijah)you can get on with developing your relationship with God and your gift and call.
The control freak style currently found in the Christian religion will quickly help you to develop different ways of communicating. I found that the front page of the New Zealand Herald was a good place to get a message across,but you can see this is far beyond the comprehension of most Christians and requires a real understanding of what editors print, why and how.
One thing I do agree with is speaking to other prophets to see what they are thinking, as two or three should speak in a (tell me about it!) Normal biblical church. But as you can see the Elijah prophet uses all sorts of 'off the wall' approaches. At the start of 2 Kings there is a prophet waiting at the side of the road for the Kings messenger.Another time the King sends in the Armed Offenders Squad to get Elijah and by the second or third time the Police (sure it will take time for us to get there in New Zealand but the Commissioner Must Go!) have the fear of God having seen what happened to the ones who went before.
So why be a prophet? Being an Apostle is an even faster way to get yourself killed love paul.
Paul
How do you get onto the front page of the Herald?
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