Prophetic Parameters

If you’ve stuck with me long enough, by now you have already established that delivering a prophetic word is an act of pure faith. We speak by faith, believing that the message we have received is indeed the word of the Lord and it relates to the recipient’s circumstances. For more on the measure of faith prescribed to operate with authority, you can catch my previous post in accordance with your faith here.

For the fresh faced, glossy eyed baby prophets skipping happily about the place as the incredible world of the prophetic candy store is opened up to them, the measure of caution to be applied tends to be a little less of a question. This is particularly the case when practising prophetic activations amongst a group of prophets with whom one is familiar, all eager to sharpen their skills and go deeper in their ability to prophesy. In the first few months of learning, it is easy to fall into the erroneous perception that any images or words you receive must surely be God speaking to you! This is precisely why it is incredibly important to fan the gift to life amongst reputable, established prophets. Discernment is key and for the spiritually immature prophet, what is meant for the good of the body of Christ could end up causing grave damage under the wrong circumstances.

For the more mature prophets who have walked longer in the realm of the spirit, there is an acknowledgement that one can certainly tap into spiritual realms that are not necessarily of God. In John 14: 16, Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus did not say I am the only way, but I am the way. To put it bluntly, non-believers such as mediums, occultic people, tarot readers, astrologers and the like can all see into spiritual realms and guess what’s even more scary – they can see accurately! A man of God once gave the example of the magi who went to see Jesus when He was born. How did the magi – non-believers for all intents and purposes – know that the King of the Jews had been born before religious leaders could themselves herald the news? They did see His star, granted, but on whose authority? Now I know some question why, if they were not of God, the Lord warned them in a dream not to return to King Herod but to depart to their country by another route. The biblical response to that would be that God does speak to unbelievers too, in fact we have record of Him having done so in dreams (Nebuchadnezzar, anyone? Pharaoh?) This is not to kick start that debate, rather it is to drive the home the point that the ability to access and tap into the realm of the spirit exists for everyone. The question is, what way are you going in? On whose authority and in whose name?   

Just imagine for a second receiving a word, seeing something, and fully believing that you have heard from God - only to deliver a message that is not in fact of God! The thought alone is enough to petrify one into inaction or indeed push you into a state of partnering with fear. You can understand now, can’t you, why the prophetic must be governed by rules and protocol? These measures are put in place not to muzzle the prophet but to safeguard against ugly instances. We already hear far too many tales where the prophetic has damaged churches and indeed people’s lives. For instance, in the area of marriage, many a false prophet has gone on to tie down a single man or woman to a false prophecy with devastating effect! False prophets have also damaged families by labelling certain family members witches, adulterers, and the like.

In the ministry in which I am planted, we are constantly reminded of the importance of prophesying from a place of the love of God. God’s love for all His children runs deeper than we can ever imagine. Within our prophetic training sessions therefore, the message of receiving God’s love for ourselves so we can minister to His children with this same love is ingrained in us, so much so that it has become a part of the fabric within which we prophesy.  A hell fire and brimstone prophet you will not find amongst us. We also operate within certain specified parameters. For example, we are clearly asked not to marry people off, bury them or send them off to other countries. It’s not that God does not wish to speak into all areas of our lives, rather it is a recognition of the fact that certain words require one with more experience, who can temper the message with discernment, weigh the word and then deliver it as God intended. Some words are just so heavy, they can forever change the course of someone’s life. They must therefore be treated carefully. Now, I will issue the caveat here that the admonition not to broach any of these areas governs our prophetic ministry to members of the public or church members coming to receive a word. Within the prophetic families/teams themselves though, I have noticed in a few ministries that the prophets seem content to run amok, happily prophesying marriage to their fellow prophets and threatening to send one another off to faraway lands! I fear our men and women of God would be most upset if they knew what their little proteges got up to behind the scenes! Spiritual sons and daughters, aye?

We must exercise due caution in delivering any prophetic word. For us, the ability to tap into the heavenly realms of God and keep our message pure and unadulterated not only means that we must we strive to live a life free of blemish, but we must also keep our eye gates clean. We must be mindful of the content we watch and listen to so that we have the confidence that we are indeed plugged in to the ultimate source, our Father El Shaddai. We must exercise discernment whenever we receive a message. We must also be accountable to a spiritual father or mother of repute; one to whom God alone has sent us and who cocoons us lovingly within established boundaries set by precedent, for our own good. These rules and protocols are in place to protect the body of Christ as a whole, so let us not rebel but seek to humble ourselves as we continue to do that which our Father is asking of us.   

Stay blessed!