Clear Voice in a Crisis

The absence of a prophetic voice in a city creates uncertainty about the cause of crises. Most of the commentary on the traumatic events comes from pastors whose focus is on providing pastoral care to people who had lost homes or family members. Their main goal is to put guilt and guidance out of scope, so they leave God’s purposes out of the situation. Unfortunately, many other Christians find this explanation inadequate and are uncertain about how they should respond to these events. They see Jesus applying spiritual significance to physical disasters (Luke 13:1-5) and want the same for their time.

Without a clear trumpet call, the people go and look for own answers. They get muddled and grab what they can. The dreams and voices that circulate from the fringes of the church where people have gone for insight, but they produced only fear and confusion.

Revelations that God has given to intercessors often circulate as prophecies about the future. This is creates confusion, because the revelations contain no guidance to Christians about how to respond. There is no call to repentance for the people of the world or condition that must be met to avert the disaster. This is not surprising, because that was not their purpose.

The intercessors should focus on doing their job by standing in prayer against the plans of the enemy that God has revealed to them. If the intercessors and are fulfilling their calling, these events will not take place. God has revealed these things to the intercessors, because he does not want them to happen.

The thirst for revelation that emerges during a crisis cannot be quenched by the revelations received by intercessors.

Where there is no revelation, the people are left naked (Prov 29:18).

Unfortunately, scraps from tables of the intercessors will not satisfy this hunger for revelation.

The problem is lack of revelation. We should be praying that God will release a clear prophetic voice that we may have better understanding of God’s purposes. If God is giving warnings about events that are going to happen, the prophets should be listening and seeking guidance about his plans for his people and asking what changes must take place to avert the disaster.

More at Prophets and Intercessors.

Prophets and Intercessors (3) - Confusion in Christchurch

In Christchurch, we have a problem. A number of revelations of a third massive earthquake that God has given to intercessors are circulating as prophecies about the future. This is creating confusion, because they contain no guidance to Christians about how to respond. There is no call to repentance for the people of the world or condition that must be met to avert the disaster. This is not surprising, because that was not their purpose.

I hope the intercessors are doing their job and standing in prayer against the plans of the enemy that God has revealed to them. If the intercessors and are fulfilling their calling, these events will not take place. God has revealed these things to the intercessors, because he does not want them to happen.

If God is giving warnings about events that are going to happen, I hope the prophets are listening and seeking guidance about his plans for his people and asking what changes must take place to avert the disaster.

Clear Voice
One reason we have this problem is the dearth of the prophetic voice in Christchurch. The result is that most Christians are uncertain about the cause of the earthquakes and whether they have any spiritual significance.

Most of the commentary on the earthquakes has come from pastors, and their most common interpretation has been that the earthquakes were just the earth doing what the earth does from time to time. They were just natural events without any spiritual significance. This view worked well for providing pastoral care to people who had lost homes or family members, as it puts issues of guilt and guidance out of scope. Unfortunately, many other Christians find this explanation inadequate and are uncertain about how they should respond to these events. They see Jesus applying spiritual significance to physical disasters (Luke 13:1-5) and want the same for their time (See Causes of the Christchurch Earthquake for my crack at this).

The situation has been further confused by other voices, mostly from outside the city, declaring that the earthquakes are God’s judgment against Christchurch. These people claim that God hates the sin in the city and is going to keep on bashing it until the people repent. Most Christians here are uneasy about this view, because the people of Christchurch do not seem to be any worse than thousands of other cities around the world that have not been struck down by God. They are slightly embarrassed when God is portrayed as a vindictive people whacker.

These things have produced a thirst for revelation that has not been quenched by what has been offered so far.

Where there is no revelation, the people are left naked (Prov 29:18).

Unfortunately, scraps from tables of the intercessors will not satisfy this hunger for revelation. Our problem is lack of revelation. We should be praying that God will release a clear prophetic voice in this city and that we may have better understanding of God’s purposes for the city.

Prophets and Intercessors (2) - Revelation to Intercessors

God often reveals the plans of the enemy to intercessors, so they can stand against them in the Spirit and prevent the evil from occurring.

• God is showing them something that will not happen, if they are doing their job.

• These revelations can be scary, so intercession is not for the fainthearted.

• Intercessors should guard their revelations carefully and not hand them around casually (Matt 7:6).

• Intercessors should share and test their revelations with other intercessors who are strong enough to handle the revelation.

• When these revelations are circulated widely among Christians, they create confusion within the church. Even if the intercessors do their job and prevent the event from taking place, the enemy uses it for evil by inspiring fear.

• A revelation given to inspire intercession has several characteristics that can be confusing to other Christians.

  • They usually do not take place, so Christians assume the revelation was wrong, without understanding that it was not fulfilled, because the intercessors did their job.

  • They are sometimes symbolic. Ezekiel saw the sun, moon and stars going dark. This was not fulfilled literally, but was a description of Egypt’s Pharaohs being defeated by the Emperor of Babylon (Ezekiel 32:7). Intercessors need to be skilled in interpreting these symbolic messages.

  • Intercessors are often called to pray against evil attacks that God does not want to happen. In this situation, the revelation they receive, will not include a call to repentance, or specify conditions that must be met to prevent its fulfilment, as that is is not the purpose it was given.

  • God does not give guidance about how to live through the evil events he reveals to intercessors, because he does not intend them to happen. When these revelations get into the hands of other Christians, they get confused, because they do not know what to do. The revelation is there with nothing around it.

  • Most of the revelations received by intercessors will be things that God’s wants to do. They will happen if the intercessors pray seriously. Intercessors will need to be skilled in discerning between things that God wants to accomplish and the plans of the enemy that he wants thwarted.

Merged Roles
The role of prophet and intercessor sometimes merges in one person. When this happens, the person should be very careful to be clear about what they are doing. When they receive a revelation about the future, they should seek guidance from God about whether is for the prayer closet or the prophetic platform. They should also sort out if it is something God wants to do or a plan of the enemy that he wants to foil.

Prophets and Intercessors (1) - Revelation to Prophets

Intercessors pray:

• They release the Holy Spirit and the angels to do the Fathers will on earth.

• They stand together to resist the attacks of the enemy on behalf of a church, a city or a nation.

Prophets speak:

• They explain God’s purpose for churches, cities and nations to his people.

• Some warn God’s people of danger and explain how they should respond to it.

• A few speak to the world and warn of judgment and describe how it can be averted (Jonah and Nineveh).

Intercessors and Prophets will sometimes receive a revelation of coming disasters, but the purpose will be different.

Revelation to Prophets
Prophets will sometimes receive a revelation of a future disaster.

• They are called to speak to God’s people and explain how God wants them to respond during the crisis. Following this guidance will lead to blessing.
  

  • In some situations, they might need to flee to survive.

  • In other situations, God will want them to stand their ground and suffer in the face of evil.

• A few prophets will be called to speak to a city or nation and warn of a danger that is coming as a consequence of sin. When they do this, they should also call the city or nation to repentance. They should also give guidance to God’s people about how they should respond.

• The revelations received by prophets will mostly be conditional. If the city or nation responds, appropriately, the event will be held back. The conditions for this should be clearly specified.

• Prophets should not be speaking out words about the future, just to show that God is clever. He does not play that game.

• Prophets speak with purpose. Without guidance, conditions or a challenge, a prophet is just a clanging gong.

• When prophets receive a revelation of trouble in the future, they should not speak immediately, but test the word with other people that they trust.

• The prophet should also pray about when, how and to whom the word should be spoken. They should pray about what God wants his people to do and how he wants the city or nation to respond. Without these things, the prophetic word is not complete.

• God shows prophets things that will happen and explains what the people should do.

• For prophets, explaining what people must do is as important as warning of what will happen.