Wilderness and Prophets

A reader asked the following question.

I know that a prophet is prepared beforehand in the' wilderness'. When he comes out into the public life is he at full power or does God slowly built up his power and his wisdom through the Holy Spirit during his long-life ministry?

My answer is as follows.

Prophets are human. They are free. Their future will depend on how they interact with the Holy Spirit.

God can prepare a prophet anywhere. Daniel was prepared in the King’s palace school. There is nothing magical about being in the wilderness. Prophetic people can easily get bitter and resentful while they are in the wilderness. They can come out no better than they went in. Some end up in the wilderness due to their own mistakes. Being in the wilderness is only good preparation for a prophet, if they let the Holy Spirit expose the stuff that is wrong in their life.

The same applies when the prophet comes out of wilderness. He will only be as good as he has allowed the Holy Spirit to change him. He is still human and can grieve the Holy Spirit at any time.

The power of a prophet resides with the Holy Spirit, not with the prophet. A prophet can only be powerful, if remains in touch with the Holy Spirit. That is true whether he is in or out of the wilderness. The prophet can only speak what the Holy Spirit gives him. He can only speak in power, if the Holy Spirit anoints him.