There have been many enjoyable aspects to prophetic ministry since my first experience with it in the late 1990s.
I have enjoyed teaching the prophetic to all ages. I especially love teaching children to trust God and His voice. They believe so easily and hear very sharply. That has been a highlight!
Over the years, I have been so blessed to have hung out and ministered with people who have strong prophetic giftings. God has shown me so much along the way; including that strong prophetic gifting doesn’t necessarily make you a prophet. There is much that goes into it.
First off, God did not speak to my mother and tell her she was carrying a prophet in her womb. Nor was there some supernatural prophecy given to her about me before I was born.
However, my parents were prophetic people. My dad was a prophetic intercessor, and he shared with me that once while he was praying, a bright light entered his room and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
That event lasted several minutes and my dad was super changed. He talked to God often and prayed daily, especially toward the end of his life. I guess you could say that I was kind of born into it, but I have been on the slow boat from gifting to calling and then to mantling over the past 15-20 years.
For the life of me, I do not know why anyone would seek out to be a prophet.
God is looking for something particular in the hearts of His prophets. That something is character; humility, compassion and obedience. He will chip away at those things that hinder you from understanding your identity is 100% in Him; which is a difficult and painful process.
Some of the heart issues that I have had to walk through over the years have been; fear, insecurity, jealousy, competition, submission to authority and the overall management of my gift. Brokenness is necessary and humility is needed. These struggles to become a pure, clear vessel for God to speak through can take many years.
I am grateful that God has helped me to overcome and mature in the face of many obstacles; such as, leaders who do not understand the prophetic and who are perhaps threatened by it. Many, not knowing how to father prophetic people within their churches.
Church leaders are understandably fearful of the mess the prophetic can bring. Believe me I have seen the damage caused by uneducated, immature prophets. That is why we need prophetic training and equipping in the church. Once I knew I was called to prophetic ministry, I set out to gain as much biblical and practical education as I could; in order to be effective in ministering the heart of God to His people through His voice.
Don’t get me wrong, the process is well worth it, but there has been a price.
Jesus said, “A prophet is without honor amongst his own people.” That is true! Those closest to you don’t always see what’s in you; you can’t call forth what you don’t see. So, rejection and relational pain can go with the assignment.
However, a true prophet will lay down a life of comfortability and pick up a life of brokenness long before the gift, calling and mantling comes. A prophet will go without honor; learning humility, setting aside pride and ego. This must be worked out in and through them over a period of time.
In otherwords, the process of becoming a mature prophetic vessel is often long and difficult. But, God is a good Father and teacher.
A prophet is a gift to the body, and their identity is in being that gift.
You can’t become a prophet through the laying on of hands like you can receive a spiritual gift; it is in the DNA you are born with. In that, I’d like to say, “the prophet’s identity is still in being a son or a daughter” (prophet-son/prophet-daughter).
One mis-understanding is that if you operate in a high level of prophetic gifting and anointing you are a prophet. That is not true. There are people with more encounters, higher word of knowledge gifts etc. who are not called to the office.
There are so many different kinds of prophets-but all are agents of God with a heart to see the body mature and grow; whether Market Place, Intercession or a calling to the local church, they build and equip.
It is so on my heart to see the church recognize and seek training for prophets and prophetically gifted people to walk in healing and wholeness. The churches and our city marketplaces need the prophetic ministry today more than ever. Prophets, when properly identified and made healthy, can and do help to grow (build-up) God’s people toward unity and Christ-likeness according to Ephesians 4:11.
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