A Passionate, Prophetic, Preparing, Possessing, Persevering, Prevailing, Proclaiming People
A Passionate, Prophetic, Preparing, Possessing, Persevering, Prevailing, Proclaiming People
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Excerpt from Prophetic Etiquette, published by Creation House (2000). Used by permission.
Prophecy and the Centrality of Christ
The Prophetic Is Basic to Normal Christian Experience
One of the goals of this book is to help identify some theological boundaries and practical principles that help to make prophecy more user friendly and useful in building up the body of Christ. Just as there is a common body of knowledge that defines social etiquette in any culture, so there is a growing body of knowledge and experience within the Christian community that is helping many to discern a prophetic etiquette.
If we can discover and embrace such an approach to prophetic ministry, then we will avoid despising prophecy and be enabled to get the great good form this wonderful spiritual gift. However, before we explore the limits and dangers of prophetic ministry, we need to tout the blessings of it. If we don’t perceive its great value to the body of Christ, then we will not have the courage or energy to plow through its difficulties and steward its challenges.
Prophecy and the Centrality of Christ
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19: 10, emphasis added.
New Testament prophecy is centered in the Person of Jesus Christ. There are two helpful ways to think about the possible meaning of the above verse. First is that the essence or “spirit” of prophecy is the testimony – or the spoken words – of the risen Christ Himself to His people. Second is that the “testimony” – or the spoken words – about Jesus through His people is the purpose or “spirit” of prophecy. I believe that both definitions are valid. In either case, prophecy essentially has to do with the unveiling or revealing of the heart, mind and truth of Jesus Christ our Lord. True prophecy will always serve to bring Him glory and honor in the final analysis.
The Prophetic Is Basic to Normal Christian Experience
The power of prophecy was not a decorative ornament upon the church of the New Testament. Rather, it was considered to be a basic tool to be utilized in reaching the lost and building believers up in their faith. The Holy Spirit lives and moves within the personality of every believer, and it is only reasonable to assume that He will, from time to time and according to His good pleasure, manifest His personality through His human temples. The lack of supernatural activity in, through and among Spirit-filled Christians would have been, and should be today, considered as subnormal. So often through the centuries believers have lived below the privileges of our high calling as coheirs with Christ of the riches of God’s kingdom. The prophetic ministry of the Spirit within the church is one of these honors and blessings.
I think of 1 Corinthians 2 as the most profound and most often overlooked chapter in the New Testament related to the prophetic ministry. It validates how Paul considered prophetic power to be essential and basic to Christian life and ministry. We will look at it in tow sections – verses 1-5 and then verses 6-16.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring o you the testimony of god. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with yu in weakness, in fear, and much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
In these first five verses, Paul describes his primary evangelistic strategy. He deliberately chose to focus on the simple and straightforward preaching about the Person of Jesus and the work that He accomplished on the cross in his initial communications with people. His methodology was to preach the “prophetic gospel” – the good news of Jesus Christ foretold in many ways in the Old Testament. He based his communications of the news about God’s new Covenant upon the many fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testaments prophets concerning Messiah Yeshua. His method of evangelism focused upon first reasoning with the Jews and then with the Gentiles, and he proved to them from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. If people were going to reject the message of Christianity, Paul wanted to make certain that they stumbled over the plain truth about Christ – God made flesh – coming to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all humanity upon the cross and being raised from the dead on the third day by the power of the Holy spirit in order to open the way of salvation to all peoples. To reject Christianity for some other reason would be a greater and unnecessary tragedy.
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” Acts 17: 2-3
In the same tradition of speaking “the word of the Lord” with supernatural power like the Old Testament prophets, but now also combined with New Testament apostolic authority, Paul preached passionately about Christ Jesus to all people. The power of the Holy Spirit worked with him to confirm the truth of the message. Elements of prophetic speech and knowledge are often operative in this kind of evangelism. Some have called this method of winning the lost power evangelism.
Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Acts 14:3
In Paul’s ministry, signs and wonders followed the proclamation of the gospel just as Jesus had promised that they would. Moreover, Paul relied upon God’s granting these kinds of miracles so that people’s faith would not rest upon mere ideas and words, but also upon the clear demonstration of God’s supernatural power in their experience. A faith established upon these combined elements would not be easily shaken by the man-made philosophies and religions of this world.
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” …And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16: 17-18, 20
In verses 6-16 of 1 Corinthians 2, Paul describes his primary edification strategy for the body of Christ. Once people understood and believed the simple gospel, he would go on and begin to teach them the deeper truths and realities of our faith. After they were established in the basics, he sought to wean them off “milk” and to nourish them with the “meat” of God’s Word and ways in Christ (1 Cor. 3: 1-2). The truths about God and His kingdom are inexhaustible in regard to their fascinating and transforming beauty and glory. We are called to continually grow in our experiential knowledge of the Trinity. I believe that this growth dynamic will even continue throughout the ages to come.
It is at this point that the prophetic revelation and ministry, which are given to edify the body of Christ, become extremely important (1 Cor. 14: 3). However, when people or movements seek to move into a strong prophetic ministry without keeping the simple gospel at the heart of their message, that expression of the prophetic will become eccentric in one way or another.
During the healing movement, which began in the late 1940s in North America, the message that God endorsed with signs and wonders, miracles and strong prophetic anointing was the “message of the cross” (1 Cor. 1: 17-18). As these acts of power began to manifest, the positive responses of believers and the negative reactions of critics worked together to subtly pull the anointed God-ordained ministers of the movement into teaching about and defending the miracles instead of simply proclaiming the message of the cross of Christ. This opened the door for the flesh to find expression, and the movement lost it initial purity, giving way to competition, jealously, envy, greed, and moral compromise. God lifted His glory off the movement after a couple of years, although it continued to enjoy a measure of blessing and power.
Since then, I believe that God has been waiting to release this degree of spiritual power to a generation of believers and leaders who will learn from the failures of the past in order to escape the satanic temptations and snares that inevitably appear wit the demonstration of God’s power among weak human vessels.
Paul and the other New Testament apostles exhorted us to begin the journey into the “deep things of God” here and now (1 Cor. 2: 10). Such motivating knowledge equips believers to be all that they can be and to become able ambassadors of Christ in this world.
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming nothing. But we speak the wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16
After referring to his power evangelism strategy, the apostle begins to speak about the foreordained “hidden wisdom” of God, which directly relates to the divine beautification of our redeemed human lives – “for our glory” (v. 7). This “wisdom” is all to do with genuine prophetic revelation. The very “mystery” of God (v. 7) is progressively revealed to human beings who are “in Christ.” God has designed the human spirit to thrive on being touched and upon touching the mystery of God.
Too often in the history of the church, Christians have been apologetic for the mysteries of our faith, rather than capitalizing upon the. Now, at least in the western cultures, rationalism and the secular humanism that was spawned by it have stripped from our societies a spiritual consciousness.
At times, the church in the West has been a primary agent of wrongly “demystifying” the gospel in the eyes of multitudes of our citizens. Some of this pressure came from a false dichotomy that are arose between popular scientific theories of the mid-twentieth century and biblical theology. Ironically, the scientific community of today, by means of more powerful microscopes and telescopes and many archeological breakthroughs, is discovering facts that are undermining may of these past notions about he universe. The obviously intelligent, grand and vast design in the universe is making belief in God and His power quite a bit more popular among scientists these days. If the church hadn’t bent herself backward to accommodate popular science in the past, then we would be standing on much better evangelistic ground today. As such, the body of Christ has to regain much lost credibility in order to be taken seriously by many serious-minded people.
The liberal wing of the church of the twentieth century called into question the veracity of the virgin birth, the miracles of Christ, the historicity of Jesus, heaven and hell, Christ’s bodily resurrection and His future bodily return to earth. The fundamentalist wing of the church of the twentieth century, although remaining true to these essential doctrines, denuded the church of spiritual power through cessationism. Both wings tampered with and truncated the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One ironic result of this has been the reemergence of a spiritual hunger in our Western culture. Ultimately, the longing within the human soul to touch transcendent spiritual power cannot be effectively suppressed in the cycles of a society. However, many of these people have turned their hearts and eyes toward Eastern mysticism because the form of Christianity to which they were exposed denied the biblical belief in the miraculous power of God being accessible to us and very relevant to our earthly existence. What the church consciously and willingly sacrificed to create a more sterile and controllable environment for herself and her membership has backfired upon her!
Now we have the dubious task of apologizing to the unbelieving world for our own unbelief – “Well, actually god isn’t dead after all.” Or, “It seems that the Holy Spirit actually is still in the miracle business. Sorry about that!” We should have stuck to the Scriptures in the first place.
I had a somewhat humorous prophetic dream a few years ago that I find simply marvelous. I saw multitudes streaming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to join His church. These people had been caught up in the New Age Movement. But through various means, they had become exposed to the superior power and love of God being demonstrated through the church of Jesus Christ. The inferior powers and shallow interpersonal relationships of the counterfeit kingdom had left them quite empty. They were touched and blessed by the superior power, but it was ultimately the superior love they witnessed among Christians that had sold them on Christianity. There were millions of them. As I was suddenly awakened out of this dream, I heard a voice say, “Tell them that I am the Ghost with the most!”
I knew that this was to be our message to this generation. In the past, the Western church has basically said, “There’s no such thing as ghosts.” When I was a young boy, this was a common saying conveniently used by tired parents to calm their frightened kids. Unfortunately, it simply isn’t true. There is a spirit world, and we should equip our children to deal with it when it manifests – for good or evil.
Those things, which in times past were hidden from humanity, have now been revealed to believers in Christ by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the only Person who knows the depths of the heavenly Father’s heart, but He is not hoarding this insight. He is the very Spirit whom we have freely received. In fact, He is sharing the heart of God richly with us, for this is His primary function in these New Covenant times:
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you tings to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. John 16: 13-15
The apostle goes on to say that this same Spirit of revelation empowers us to speak what He has revealed to us – He provides both inspired thoughts and inspired utterances so that we can communicate divine truth to others via His power working through us (1 Cor. 2: 13). This, of course, is an excellent definition of how prophetic ministry operates.
Paul concludes the chapter by rhetorically inquiring, just as Isaiah did, if anyone has known the mind of the Lord in such a way that they could be His instructor (1 Cor. 2: 16). Naturally, no one in the universe qualifies for such a role.
However, despite this limitation, Paul says that we do “have the mind of Christ.” This is a brilliant way to describe the essence of prophetic ministry. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul covers the bases of the preaching of the prophetic gospel – receiving prophetic revelation, speaking that revelation forth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and possessing the very mind of Christ. This is why I believe this chapter to be the greatest chapter in the Bible regarding prophetic ministry.
Five Primary Blessings of the Prophetic Ministry
1. The prophetic ministry is a source of spiritual life and purpose.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
God’s word is food for the human soul. To live a full human life, we must not eat only natural food for our bodies, but we must also hear and do the word of God. Of course, Holy Scripture has been given to us as the primary source of God’s truth. Every other way in which it comes to us is secondary and to be subordinated to its supreme revelation. However, God can and does speak to us in many ways – dreams, visions, voices, angels, visitations, inspired utterances, inner knowings, sermons, art and literature, natural events, spiritual phenomena and the like. Prophetic experiences are an important means of our hearing from God. Any way in which He chooses ot send His word to us is precious and becomes vital nourishment for our lives. We live by every word that proceeds from His mouth.
It is by the word of God “coming” to us that meaning, dignity and access to the divine kingdom are imparted to us. In the following passage, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the word, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” John 10: 34-36.
Upon a close examination of both texts, several things become clear. First, Jesus is not saying that humans are divine. He is referring to the calling and capacity that God has granted people to share in His rule and dominion – a “god-like” function. Second, He is saying that this connection with divine purpose comes to mere humans by means of “the word of God” coming to them. It is the reception of God’s word that lifts us up form our fallen dustiness and quickens us to interface with the powers of heaven itself. Third, even though the word of God comes to us, it is no guarantee that we will fulfill the potential for which it has been sent. The princes referred to in Psalm 82 failed to heed the word that they received from God and fell under His judgment. Therefore, receiving divine revelation should humble us rather than cause us to boast in ourselves. Prophetic revelation is a divine invitation that requires a faithful human response in order for it to achieve its full intention.
This principle is what the writer of Hebrews alludes to in the passage below:
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but he word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hebrews 4: 1-2
2. Prophetic ministry is a source of conviction and the sense of the immediacy of God.
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. 1 Corinthians 14: 24-25
Often the “secret of the Lord” is imbedded within a genuine prophetic word. When people are confronted with the fact that God knows the details of their lives and thoughts, many times a spiritual chemistry change transpires with that person. I love to ponder the story of Jesus and Nathaniel in John 1: 45-51. Philip had gone to tell Nathaniel that he had discovered the Christ, and Nathaniel expressed his pain and cynicism by replying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” However, when Jesus saw him coming near, He called out, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit.” When Nathaniel asked Jesus how He knew him, Jesus simply answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathaniel then answered, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
At this point, it almost seems that Jesus is somewhat amazed at Nathaniel’s extravagant response of faith. Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
This account causes me to wonder what Nathaniel was doing or saying under that fig tree? Maybe he was praying something like, “God, are You really there? Do You see me under this fig tree? When are You going to send Messiah to our nation? Let me know somehow that You are listening to me.” And although Nathaniel expresses his doubting words to Philip, when Jesus sees him, He sees beyond the doubts to Nathaniel’s heart of integrity that went deeper than the doubts. A simple prophetic “word of knowledge” released Nathaniel’s heart to believe and worship with great passion. Jesus promised that he would see even greater power than this in the days that would follow.
A few years, I was ministering in eastern Canada at a conference. I was dining with several couples who were discussing the prophetic ministry, and at one point they asked me about my experiences I might have had with “prophetic evangelism.” I told them that just a couple of months previously I had had the privilege of leading a lady named JoJo to the Lord during a public service at Immanuel Church in Romford, England. Early that morning I had received a spiritual dream about a piece of ripe fruit falling into my hand, and I intuitively knew that someone was going to come to faith that morning during the service. I asked one of the leaders of the church if there were any non-Christians present in the gathering that morning. He pointed JoJo and another person out to me during the singing part of our worship. As I watched JoJo, I saw the Holy Spirit moving upon her. I interrupted the singing and gently led JoJo to Jesus that morning right in front of the whole congregation. She wept for joy that day as Jesus washed away the guilt of her sins.
Just as I was relating this testimony to the people at my table, I received a vision of our waiter, Eric. I saw the Lord reaching out to him with open arms, and I saw the love in Christ’s eyes for this young man. I knew that God was drawing him near to Himself in this season of his life. Then I said to my friends, “The Lord is going to give us a token on the spot of His promise that we will see more prophetic evangelism in the coming days.”
When Eric came to serve us again, I said to him, “I don’t want to frighten you in any way, but I just received a vision form God’s Holy Spirit about you.”
Before I could say anything else, he blurted out, “My parents are missionaries.”
I kindly replied, “That’s wonderful. Are you walking with the Lord right now?” He said that he had fallen away from his faith in God, so I inquired, “Have you been thinking about coming back to Christ recently?”
“I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot,” he said.
“How about coming back to Jesus right now?” I asked.
“OK,” he replied simply.
I said, “Welcome back. The Lord loves you very much.” I trust that Eric found his way back into Christian fellowship, for I have never seen or heard from him since.
The prophetic word of God has a marvelous ability to penetrate the wrong defenses of the human mind and soul. Many times prophetic utterances are attended with a sense of God’s nearness. True prophecy is a kingdom event – the eternal presence and power of God break in on us here and now in time and space. Such words can serve to connect us to God’s transcendent majesty.
3. Prophetic ministry is a source of courage and insight for our spiritual warfare.
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. 1 Timothy 1: 18
Here in this verse Paul categorically states that prophecies are an important weapon in our arsenal for spiritual warfare in which we are engaged – “by them you may wage a good warfare.” The New Testament presents a picture that a true Christian’s whole earthly life is being played out on a cosmic stage – “for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Cor. 4: 9). God is telling a melodramatic story to angels, demons and all humanity through each of our lives.
Many believers have a too narrow view of spiritual warfare. The scope of the real battlefield is very broad, our resources are powerful and vast and the battle cannot be delayed or ignored. We will either engage the enemy or become prisoners of war – there is no neutral zone. Fortunately, it is a “good fight” (2 Tim. 4: 7). Our spiritual adrenalin kicks in as we run to the battle. And delightfully surprising, we can be waging a mighty war while we are enjoying and living out the ordinary things of daily life for the glory of God: studying, singing, eating, playing, working, sleeping, loving our spouses and children, fellowshipping, praying, sharing our faith, laying our hands on the sick, feeding the poor, laughing, weeping, giving, listening, talking, teaching, encouraging others or simply “just being there” for someone.
Most of the time it doesn’t even seem or feel like war at all. But as we do whatever God ahs called us to do at any given moment through the strength that He provides, we are dealing powerful blows against the hosts of evil and taking territory for our glorious King. Our warfare is not carnal or physically violent – it is a war of love, truth, righteousness, joy and peace making.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3: 17
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6
We cannot live a healthy Christian life or function rightly in the church without adopting a “wartime” mentality. The sacrifices we are called to embrace will seem too great t make if we don’t understand that we are involved in the most awesome war the universe has ever known. It is during wartimes that people understand sacrificial lifestyles simply as necessary, reasonable and wise.
Prophetic revelation can equip us to wage a more effective war. It serves as “secret intelligence” for the battle strategies. It provides “smart bombs” that specifically target the strongholds of evil within or without. It brings with it discernment into the purposes of God, our own motives, the hearts of people and the schemes of Satan. When Jesus faced the devil’s temptations in the wilderness, the spirit of prophecy came upon Him “tailor” the Word of God to the situation.
The evil one quoted, but twisted and misapplied, the Holy Scriptures in his attempt to draw Jesus into disobedience to His Father. However, Jesus was given just the right Scriptures, which He had surely hidden in His heart from the time of His youth, to effectively counter and fight off the deceit of the devil. Paul Cain has said that the Scriptures are the “favorite chariot” within which the Holy Spirit likes to “ride” as He delivers to us the “word of the Lord.” The memorizing of and meditation upon the Scriptures provides the Spirit “material to work with” in order to help s under pressure. After all, the Word of god is the Spirit’s sword.
The warfare we face is significantly invisible, although it regularly manifests in the natural realm. However, we become so accustomed to what we see with our eyes that we often don’t recognize the subtle presence of the demonic at work. We really need the “deeper sight” that prophetic discernment brings to us in order to get to the root of many problems in our lives and in this world. Although Satan does work directly at times, he normally enjoys working indirectly through the more familiar things, structures and events all around us that serve as camouflage for his dark works. The typical arenas of his activity are “the world” and “the flesh.”
From their cosmic strongholds in heavenly places, Satan and his ranks of dark princes work by every means possible, from perpetrating outright evil all the way up to twisting god things, to establishing “strongholds” within individuals, families, congregations of believers and the ungodly cultures around them. In this way, Satan carries on his spiteful war against the powers of heaven and the saints of God.
If Christians will deal courageously with personal, familial, and congregational strongholds and then boldly take a stand in truth, love, and good works against cultural strongholds, then God will send true revival – overthrowing cosmic strongholds through the primary agency of His angelic powers. We cannot expect to effectively change the world or the cosmos unless we cooperate with God in making the changes that are more directly under our personal authority – “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Cor. 10: 5-6, emphasis added). Obedience to God from the heart is the key to effective warfare, and prophetic revelation aids us in knowing God’s will and heart more specifically.
A subtle satanic stronghold was gradually established in my soul as a young minister. In carnal reaction to the pain of some disappointments in my early years of pastoral ministry, I began relying more and more on my learned abilities and natural talents in conducting my ministry. I began to “play it safe” rather than allowing the anointing of the Holy Spirit to work through me as I had allowed at the beginning of my ministry. Many strongholds of evil are erected in our lives by such fleshly reactions to the pains and disappointments of living life in a fallen world and an imperfect church. About ten years ago, the Lord began to deal with the self-reliance that was significantly in control of my service to Him.
One night I had a vivid spiritual dream in which Jesus appeared to me. He was sitting on a great throne. He summoned me to come and kneel before Him. To my astonishment and chagrin, as I did, a stack of transparencies came forth from my belly and landed in my hands. I instantly knew that they were “my plans.” I also knew that He saw right through them as I now could and that they were woefully inadequate. I then watched His face as He clearly said to me, “You have been waiting to obey me until you had comprehensive plans. I want you to obey me without comprehensive plans.”
Through the years, I had come to believe that God expects us to have all of our ministry vision, plans, and strategies clearly laid out in order to hit the right mark. Although I am in favor of people getting a vision for their lives and ministries, in my case I had taken it to an extreme and used my lack of clarity regarding the future as an excuse for not boldly and aggressively serving my Lord. I had allowed uncertainties to paralyze me with carnal fear.
In the dream, I bowed my head and wept. I said, “Lord, I don’t want to be disobedient to You.” After a minute or so I looked up at Him through my tears and saw Him smiling at me. With this, the dream ended. This experience left an indelible imprint upon my soul, and with God’s help, I have been more boldly obeying Him despite the continual presence of many uncertainties. As I have done so, the Lord has continued to increase the release of His spiritual authority through my life. This is the essence of “walking by faith and not by sight.” Some people gravitate to the prophetic because they secretly imagine that it will negate this principle. They couldn’t be farther from the truth! By this prophetic dream and the precise discernment it has provided for me, I have been much better equipped to tear down the stronghold of self-reliance in which I used to find a false refuge.
4. Prophetic ministry is a source of the knowledge of divine timing and guidance.
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed to Cyprus. Acts 13: 2-4
Out of this time of intensely ministering to the Lord and seeking His face with prayer and fasting, the Holy Spirit broke in upon these prophets and teachers and commissioned two men from among their number to go forth as apostles – “sent ones.” This was the right time, and these were the right men. As a result, the course of human history was significantly changed for centuries to come as Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey.
It was through some kind of unstated prophetic experience that the Lord Jesus Christ initiated this mission. These apostles were launched behind the enemy’s lines like guided missiles through the release of a strategic prophetic communication. It is possible that Barnabas and Paul already knew that God had called them to this mission, and the prophetic experience was a confirmation to them. Nevertheless, they were waiting on the Lord’s proper timing for their commissioning. Sometimes the calling and the commission are years apart in the lives of God’s servants.
It is interesting to note that even if this word was not a confirmation to a previously known divine calling, it came in the context of earnest seeking and team ministry. Even after the believers at Antioch received the revelation, they prayed and fasted before laying their hands on Barnabas and Saul to send them out. Great care must be taken in the stewarding of such heavy prophecy. To be guided by prophetic experience is very delicate spiritual art. I will address this more in the next chapter.
One important lesson that we can learn from this narrative in Acts 13 is that we really do need to hear more specifically from God about he nature and timing of our service for Him. From one angle, someone might say, “Well, didn’t Jesus tell us all to ‘go and preach the good news to every creature’? Why not just go anywhere or everywhere at anytime and do it? Why does it matter exactly where we go r when we go?” The prophets and teachers here in Antioch knew about he general commission that Jesus gave to the whole church. Still, they approached this mission very soberly and deliberately.
The point is that we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to “tailor” the generally revealed will of God specifically to our lives, circumstances and ministries. Of course, obeying the generally revealed will of God is the best thing that we can do to position ourselves to receive more specific guidance from the Holy Spirit. At critical junctures in our lives, we can pray and expect god to make His will more specific to us. If this kind of prophetic insight doesn’t come, then we must plow ahead and make the wisest choices possible. However, God will often provide such insight if we learn to look for expect the subjective signals – a dream or a vision, an unshakeable impression, a message through a natural event, an answered prayer, an open door or even a closed door. The Lord will teach us the art of interpreting these kinds of things as we walk closely to Him through the years.
One time when Paul Cain visited a particular gathering of Christians, he aske d the Lord, “Father, what are You doing here in this place?”
Immediately the Spirit of God responded to his question, “Nothing. And don’t you try anything either.”
Paul has been a wonderful example to many who are being raised up into prophetic ministry in this generation. He has learned the discipline of holding prophetic information until such a time as the Holy Spirit might release him to prophesy with authority.
There is a well-known saying in our culture – “Timing is everything.” During a particular interaction with the Lord, I felt that He was adapting this saying to me through the spirit: “Timing isn’t’ everything, but it almost is.” In one of my talks with Paul, he described one of the ways in which the Lord has dealt with him on timing in prophetic ministry. On many occasions the Spirit of God has said to him in relation to a specific issue about which he would be asking the Lord, “Keep your ear close to the door and wait.” Sometime later regarding that issue the Spirit would say, “Not yet.” The at a later point he would hear, “now.” At certain times when for various reasons that opportunity was not capitalized upon, he would hear the Holy Spirit say, “Too late.” Sometimes, by the mercy of God, this cycle would repeat itself regarding the very same situation.
5. Prophetic ministry is a source of supernatural healing power.
And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” and he leaped and walked. Acts 14: 8-10
Both in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, we regularly see prophetic revelations working in tandem with healing power. This dynamic is seen in the above passage. Paul received a prophetic discernment regarding the kind of faith that was operating in this crippled man. Obviously, the Holy Spirit was anointing Paul in this moment, and he simply and prophetically proclaimed this man’s miraculous healing. This is prophetic intercession at it s best!
My colleagues, Don and Julie Steadman, with whom I have served in ministry for over ten years, had a remarkable and life-altering experience with the power of the Holy Spirit. What follows is Don’s account of how prophetic ministry sparked both his own infilling of the Spirit and the miraculous healing of their daughter.
My wife, Julie, and I visited Metro Christian Fellowship (South Kansas City Fellowship at the time) a few times right after it first started in 1982, but quickly left it because its “spiritual culture” just seemed too strange for our liking. The “prophetic ministry” in particular at this fellowship was hard for us to understand. We decided to return to our conservative evangelical church.
In December of 1993, during the eighth month of Julie’s pregnancy wit our second child, our doctor became concerned that the baby wasn’t growing properly and ordered some tests to be run. The tests showed that our baby had a severely enlarged kidney. I remember the medical evaluation of the kidney stated hat it was “two to three times the standard deviation.” The doctor told us that the best we could hope for was that our baby would have Down’s syndrome, a chromosome problem that can be fatal to the child.
Six months earlier, a couple in our Bible study, who had the same doctor as ours, had a child who was born with the same condition. The baby was born with all sorts of complications and passed away in the first week of its life.
As we faced our crisis, we thought about calling Mike Bickle. We needed a miracle, and we knew that the church he pastured believed in prayer. Julie and I wrestled with God in prayer about making this call, and we finally came to a place of peace, even though we still had no theological grid for supernatural healing. We simply felt that the Lord would, through their prayers, give us the grace either to live with the fact of having a handicapped child or courageously face the death of our child. We called Mike and arranged for some friends who belonged to the church already to meet with us and Mike so we could pray together in his office before the Tuesday night service. We arrived there about 6:30 pm (the meeting was at 7), and our time for prayer was very limited.
When we entered the room, Mike introduced tow men who were there, telling us they were prophetic and that we were going to see if the Lord had anything to say to us through their ministry. They sat us in two chairs in the middle of the room, laid hands on us and began to prophesy.
Nothing about the atmosphere felt weird at all. As they share their impressions, Mike would stop them to ask questions. It was a very comfortable, loving environment. One of the men, a short Hispanic man, laid hands on my head. As he did, the power of God went right through my head. The first thing he said was that god had allowed this circumstance to happen for our good. The men’s prophetic words to me were very direct – they were the secrets of my heart. Even though it was direct, and at times almost rebuking (though in a kind way), it was liberating for me. It set me free.
They left the room, and I began speaking uncontrollably in tongues, thought no one had said anything about tongues. As a high school kid years earlier, someone had told me I needed to speak in tongues. So I’d tried. I still don’t know how real that was. But this experience was undeniable – the language just flowed out of me and wouldn’t stop, even to the point that I was somewhat embarrassed about it.
It was six more weeks before Amy was born. The medical tests continued to show that there were problems, but when she was born on January 9, 1984, she came out in perfect health. There were specialists from the children’s hospital in the delivery room, lots of people. When she was born, the doctor looked at her and said, “My, she looks fine. Looks like your prayers were answered.”
A specialist examined her and said virtually the same thing – “She’s perfect.”
Two days later, our pediatrician said, “I have to run tests. The documental prenatal medical reports (of which we have copies) are so conclusive that I have to find out if everything’s OK.” He ran the tests, and sure enough, everything checked out perfectly. We had a healthy baby born, and we were introduced into the prophetic ministry, which in our case God used as a powerful catalyst for a miracle. We have no doubt to this day that a genuine miracle of healing took place in Amy. These events significantly transformed our lives from that day until today. Since the, I have witnessed hundreds of accurate and helpful prophetic words given through Spirit-filled men, women and even children to build up the Body of Christ.
Spiritual vitality, conviction and a sense of God’s nearness, courage and insight for spiritual warfare, divine guidance and healing power – although this is clearly not an exhaustive list, these are five marvelous blessings that flow to redeemed humanity through wisely stewarded prophetic experiences. Again, we need to remember how precious this prophetic anointing and ministry of the Spirit is in order to face perils that also attend its operation among imperfect human vessels.
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