An old man was relaxing at his hundredth birthday party when a reporter went up to him. "Sir, what is the secret of your long life?" The man considered this for a moment, then replied, "Every day at 9.00pm I have a glass of port. Good for the heart." The reporter replied, "That's ALL?" The man smiled, "That, and cancelling my voyage on the Titanic."
Quite a handy insight! There are times when having inside information is helpful. Prophecy is one of the ways in which we get to hear the inside of God's heart.
I have found the following principles helpful in navigating the waters of testing and responding to prophecy in the local church. These are coming from the perspective of someone who eagerly desires the gift of prophecy, and for that gift to be regularly exercised in our discipleship.
1. The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.
Taken from Revelation 19 v 10, it is always Jesus' life and testimony that is revealed in prophetic ministry, and not the channel of that blessing. John was so impressed with the angelic channel of blessing, he was tempted to worship the messenger rather than the Lord. We are no different. We honour those who serve faithfully in the prophetic, but it is the Lord alone who takes centre stage.
The Testimony of Jesus is one of edification, encouragement, and comfort (1 Cor 14 v 3.) We are now under the New Covenant, and our prophesying should reflect that covenant of grace and truth (Hebrews 1 v's 1-4, 8 v's 7-13.) The emphasis in 1 Corinthians 12 is on gifts demonstrating the Lordship of Jesus, Chapter 13, the Love of Jesus, and Chapter 14, the Life of Jesus. So, for example in Chapter 12, the gift of healing is a demonstration that Jesus is Lord over sickness.
Sadly, gifts can be used outside the remit of love, but 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the Mount Everest of motivational attitudes to aspire to in our use of spiritual gifts. Prophecy is to impart the Lordship, Love, and Life of Jesus. It is not to be used to try and wrongly correct or coerce people onto our wavelength. It is a gift to inspire greater love and worship of Jesus.
2. There will be different ways in which the gift is administered.
There are different gifts, different ways of administrating those gifts, and different effects that those gifts have on people. Some will prophesy with a reflective and cautious tone, others will be very direct, others will offer a scripture, others might write down what they felt God was saying to them in a prayer time, and read it out. There are a variety of different channels reflecting our different backgrounds and temperaments.
We must not reject what the Lord is saying because we don't like the channel through which the prophecy is packaged. We are called to test, weigh and the embrace what the Lord is saying, and many a time the Lord has spoken to me through channels that I would not have chosen. It is a measure of His Lordship and grace that He can and often will use the least likely channel to bring blessing.
3. Resting in the Lord's Presence.
One of the hindrances to hearing the Lord is being over worked and stressed. We need to cultivate rhythms of sabbath rest, where we intentionally seek the Lord in prayer. The Lord can give words in meetings without us having spent time in prayer, but growing in the prophetic is more the fruit of intentional prayer than anything else. Prayer is not simply the place where we speak to the Lord, but also where He speaks to us.
Many of us who pray are probably a lot more prophetic than we think. How often have you heard someone pray and thought that what they were praying was as much a prophetic word from the Lord, as it was a prayer to the Lord? Jesus was intentional about prayer, and we all need to find the life rhythms that best fit our circumstances. Prophetic ministry is speaking out revelation rather than speaking out accumulated information. The Lord loves to speak to us and through us to one another, and a sustainable prayer life is foundational to that end.
4. Where we sit determines what we see.
If you are sitting at level two in a block of flats you will see more than if you are on the ground floor, but less than if you were seated in the penthouse. The Psalmist asks the question, 'Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?' He then answers his own question by listing certain qualities that when established in our lives, enable us to ascend that hill. These qualities are:
Clean Hands
Pure Heart
Not worshipping idols
Not swearing by what is false
Psalm 24 v's 1-4.
As we prioritise values that honour the Lord, we grow in spiritual sight. We begin to see prophetically at a deeper and higher level.
It is also important that prophecy sits under rather than alongside scripture. As we submit prophetic insights, dreams, pictures, words, and visions to scripture we will get greater depth of clarity and insight. The prophetic gift is not in competition with the scriptures. The scriptures will help us get greater clarity in testing and weighing what is said.
That clarity will also come as we sit alongside godly men and women who will help shape our understanding of the prophetic. No one has a monopoly of revelation. We all prophesy in part. Submitting to others what we feel God is saying is a safeguard, and they may add helpful insights to what we have seen (Proverbs 15 v 22, 18 v 17.)
5. Wisdom on timing and application.
When we see or hear something, we need to ask for the Lord's permission to speak. Sometimes what we sense is to be kept in our own heart for further reflection. We sometimes need to know the right timing and context to share something.
If what we are sensing is directional for the church, then we need to leave it with those entrusted with the pastoral oversight to weigh and, if appropriate, to implement. There are also times when we receive a word in one context, but its fulfilment is in the distant future and in a totally different context.
Take the dreams that Joseph had in Genesis 37. He received authentic revelation in Canaan, but it would be over thirteen years later in Egypt that these dreams would come to fulfilment. Joseph had in mind being top dog in his family setting, but the Lord had in mind him being Prime Minister of Egypt.
6. We prophesy in part.
We are panning for gold in prophetic ministry. There will always be packaging from the person that needs separating from the nuggets that are from the Holy Spirit ( Proverbs 25 v 4, 11.) Some of that packaging can be what I would call an old covenant fear factor, a fear that if I get it wrong I have become a false prophet.
We will get things wrong. Preachers and teachers of the Bible will get things wrong as well. Our fear of being wrong needs to be displaced with a love, faith, and conviction that the Lord wants us to eagerly desire the gift of prophecy. We can learn from mistakes, in the safety that if we are following the way of love no real damage will be done.
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