I was immediately prompted to dig into the most obvious passage of scripture for what I had seen: 2 Kings 6: 1-7. It is the story of Elisha making the ax head float. A good example of how revelatory experience is often confirmed in God’s word which it should be.
From 2 Kings 6:1-7, God is saying that in this hour He is bringing forth and to the surface a generation of New Covenant prophets of all ages. I am stirred and encouraged by God’s call for us to be a prophetic people who are led by the voice of the Spirit. In that, He is raising up prophets and prophetic trainers to make us into a people who walk in wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Here’s how this short story in 2 Kings 6:1-7 unfolds:
Elisha is overseeing and mentoring a company of prophets which by all accounts was growing beyond his ability to house them. So, this band of prophets recognized the need to expand and build additional dwellings for their community. Verses 1-2 says, “The place where we meet with you is too small for us. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.”
Elisha agrees and He goes along with his prophets to chop down trees for the new building project. As they begin chopping, one of the prophet’s iron ax heads flies off the handle and lands in the river Jordan. The iron ax head was something of a rarity, not to mention being borrowed according to verse 5 which says, “As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
In response to this prophet’s cry and the lost ax head, Elisha throws a stick into the water.
This prophetic act triggered the miraculous and the iron ax head immediately floated to the surface, causing it to become visible and then re-claimed.
God is saying, “He is throwing the stick into the water and it is time for His prophets to emerge and come forth.”
I believe many of God’s prophets have been sitting in the water of the Holy Spirit for a long time; waiting to be called out and brought forward for service. There is a new level of prophetic revelation God wants to release through His people in this hour. It is a renewed awareness of Jesus, the Spirit of prophecy tabernacling among us.
Pastors and ministry leaders need new eyes to see who the prophets are among them. Pastors don’t realize that they hold the sticks in their hands. They have the ability to recognize and call forth the prophetically gifted in their midst.
Those who are prophetically gifted, but have gone unnoticed, will gravitate toward intercessory prayer and will be found among worship teams.
If prophetic people have no outlet within their churches, they most likely can be found in one of those two ministries. That’s because prayer and worship draw upon the heart of God and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Prophetic people are motivated by the heart-beat of God and the heart of God flows from intercession and worship.
The one who is constantly an irritating voice in the pastor’s ear could very well be the prophet who needs maturing. I was an elementary school teacher and invariably the most difficult children in my classroom were also the most creative and prophetic. They needed a lot of love and direction. I learned very quickly to pull out the gold in them. Most people accused of being false prophets or weird intercessors are simply immature, untrained prophets who need guidance.
The conflict we often see between pastors and prophetic people is sooo not necessary in this kingdom climate.
Today, unlike in the past, there is so much training and equipping in prophecy available to pastors and the body at large. Amazon is filled with books on prophecy and the prophetic.
God is raising up prophetic communities and companies of prophets, for the purpose of purifying the prophetic ministry; raising a standard of love and accountability among prophetic people.
There is a new emphasis in prophetic training being placed upon prophetic people growing in emotional and spiritual health. If pastors can provide quality prophetic education and sound biblical training for their flock, they need not walk in fear of weirdness in their church. Also, creating prophetic communities within a church setting provides tools for cleaning up messes caused by the prophetic.
We need prophets among us!
Prophets are like the ax-head; they are agents of God for the purpose of constructing, building and expanding the hearts and lives of people. New Testament prophets help to re-align the church and God’s people with His purposes.
Although we all have the spirit of God available to us and anyone can hear God’s voice; we still need prophets to confirm and make sense of what the body is hearing God say. Prophets are needed to help shape and mature the church into the likeness of Jesus according to Ephesians 4:11-13. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ … “
The ax heads are floating to the surface and God is re-aligning His people; setting the stage for a prophetic people to come forth.
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