The Prophetic Gifting: Hearing and Sharing God’s Heart With His People, Part 2

The Word says in Corinthians 14:3 that a word of prophecy should strengthen, encourage, and comfort those who hear it. So, if someone gives you a “prophetic word” that didn’t strengthen you, was not encouraging, and was not comforting, it was probably not from the Lord. Unfortunately, there may be times in your life where somebody tells you something that is a bit off. Especially with the gift of prophecy, which is elusive and at times mysterious, it can be hard to tell whether or not something is from the Lord.

Sometimes the gift of prophecy is put on a pedestal and idolized.

Prophets can be seen as mystifying, special, mysterious and even powerful. While prophecy certainly can be all of those things, sometimes we really “hype up” certain giftings in a way that actually takes the focus away from God’s glory.

1 Corinthians tells us that the whole purpose of spiritual gifts is to help others. But the moment we get prideful about our gifts, or start trying to follow our own direction, people can get hurt.

How To Know When It’s Not God’s Voice

Believing Christians love to hear what the Lord has to say, and when a prophetic word comes to them, they cherish it.  But they understand that it is God who deserves all the glory, not the person who gave the prophetic word. Unfortunately, some people think that being a prophet makes them special, important, and powerful. They want to be someone of influence, and so they falsely appropriate the role of a “prophet” to coerce and manipulate others. 

These kinds of people are not true prophets; they are false prophets. The key to prophecy is listening to God and amplifying His voice over your own, and it takes humility and being silent before Him to do that. It is not something you can just adopt. 

“To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge… All of these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one just as He determines.” - 1 Corinthians 12:8-11

When I worked as a busser at a restaurant, I met a woman who told me she was a Christian. At first, I was delighted. I thought I was the only one there, and now I had a believing buddy! …or so I thought. After that, she proceeded to tell me that the restaurant was a “portal,” and that she was a “prophet.” She said that God had told her to come work there and that she’d come “under cover,” to “save souls,” and “take back this territory.” That all seemed a little strange to me, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

At first, I was convinced that she was really who she said she was. But the scales fell from my eyes when my mom came to pick me up that night. I watched as this woman gave my mother the same spiel she had spent the whole night giving me. Word for word, the same monologue. This woman was not a prophet… and I had been deceived.

Before this experience, I thought for sure that “false prophets” knew exactly the lies they were telling, and that they were doing it purposefully to get at you. But it’s actually much more nuanced and complicated than that. They are deceived and deceiving others. For this person, I could tell that she wanted to be a prophet because she wanted power. She wanted to be someone of influence. And unfortunately, the enemy was using that to confuse me and lead me astray. I don’t believe that this woman was my enemy. I only have one enemy, and he’s not of flesh and blood. And if anything, the experience helped to teach me what real prophecy is.

How to know when it IS from God

In the times where a pastor or a friend gave me a prophetic word, I always had an overwhelming peace about it, and an assurance that it was true. A word should never leave you confused. The enemy is the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

When someone is truly prophesying to you, there is no hidden agenda. That person has one agenda only: Jesus. Prophecy is selfless. It’s humble. It’s true. You can rest in a Word from the Lord. You can know it’s from God when you have clarity and confidence.

How To Increase in the Prophetic Grace

If you want to grow in this gift, it may be more simple than you think… just ask God! If you want to bless others by being an echo of God’s voice to His people, you can say this prayer to usher in an increase of this grace.

God, I want to hear Your voice clearly and simply. Will you speak to me in visions and dreams? Will you open my ears to hear Your voice? God, I want to know what You have to say. As I continue to seek You, will You lead me so I can prophesy to others and hear Your voice?

 Amen.

-Josephine Yarlott, Worthy Content Writer