HOW TO JUDGE A PROPHETIC WORD

Many believers, in particular of the Charismatic faith are familiar with the terms Prophet and Prophetic Ministry.  Like any family, no one is perfect and the family of God is not exempt! Despite the profound truth from the word of God to guide us, the prophetic community of God continues to exhibit problematic behavior from a mismanagement of their spiritual gifts.  Some of these misfortunes have cost the family of God greatly resulting in a theatrical expectation of the move of God, sincere believers have become spiritually wounded and left disillusioned about God and organized religion, and others are actually questioning if the word of God is true.  I guess the saying, “A few bad apples can spoil the barrel” is not merely a tall tale.

 

What is important to clarify in all this is that in general, these errors do not suggest that God does not move supernaturally, in fact, the truth is, he most certainly does.  However, the issue has more to do with the “small box” that the prophetic community has uniformly put God into in order to define what the move of God looks like and how some approaches to ministry have been shaped by these standards.  While much more can be said about the matter, I have reserved this article to shed some light specifically on the topic “HOW TO JUDGE A PROPHETIC WORD.”

 

I count my vast exposure to ministry as an instrumental learning curve that I now treasure today.  It began first as a child raised under a conservative Southern Baptist doctrine, a Pentecostal during young adult years and currently, a Prophetic/Nondenominational as an adult.  Looking back, I can see now how my journey has afforded me a variety of rich opportunities which has allowed me to experience A LOT within the family of God.  These experiences have been instrumental in shaping my life work in ministry today.

 

Prophetic ministry, like prayer, is greatly underused, highly misunderstood and underappreciated for its valuable role in the life of the believer and to the universal Church.  Truth is, as long as the Holy Spirit is in the earth, the power and work of prophetic ministry will remain endless in its potential to do mighty works through the power God.  So, the question remains, how can we truly enjoy the forest with all the trees?  Well, like anything overgrown, there needs to be some trimming away in order to realize its hidden beauty.  Therefore, I have provided below, 5 points to consider when judging a prophetic word.

 

1. Consider the SOURCE: There is something about our human nature that desire to be in control and sometimes over other people’s lives.  It is important to realize that not every prophetic word is YOUR WORD. It doesn’t matter how many prayer lines or prophetic services you attend, your true word…the one that’s for you will very simply “bear witness of it in your spirit.”  Have you ever attended a service and it seems like the preacher was speaking directly to you?  That was a “Prophetic Word!”  I can imagine you may have thought it was more mystical and exclusive than that, well it really isn’t.  So, consider the source from where you are receiving.  Consider your own spiritual alignment to avoid deception.  Consider the integrity of the ministry and character of the prophet or minister. Do your own research if you need to. Just remember the prophetic word you receive is not so much about the person as it is about God wanting to reach you. That being the case, God can and will use anyone at any given time to convey His loving word to you.  In Num. 22:28 God used a donkey!  Has God used some donkeys in your life to get a word to you? Lol!  So, if you focus more on God and not the prophet, you will find that God’s prophetic word is constant and ever present.

 

2. FILTER IT through the Word of God: Much like a water filter, water is purified from all the dirt and contaminants when it passes through the filter. The word of God is just that way for us.  It is the tool to judge everything in life to determine TRUTH. If the prophetic word you received is contrary or contradicts God principles and biblical doctrine, BEWARE.  In biblical days there were both true and false prophets.  A true prophetic word from God was judged simply by it coming to pass Deut. 18:22.  A false prophet or Sorcerer always measured up inferior in contrast to a true prophet of God Acts 8:9-24.  So, if all else fails then just WAIT for it.  If it is true, it will come to pass, aligning you to the truth of God’s word.  If it leads you to any other doctrine or practice, or an enforced devotion to a prophet or his/her word before you have a clear conviction of truth, there is a reason to consider it a FALSE prophetic word.

 

3. The prophetic word should GIVE LIGHT: A prophetic word should give LIGHT & STRENGTH to what you ALREADY know or sense in your spirit.  Too often zealous believers have chased after a prophetic word in an effort to fulfill it and with the false burden of “obeying God.”  The foundation of a prophetic word that Paul and Jesus instructed that should operate among the Body of Christ is a loving and encouraging one John 13:4, 1 Cor. 13:2, Heb. 3:13, 1 Cor.14:3.  As a prophetic word resonates in your spirit you will not only identify with it, it will also stir up faith and hope and a renewed love for the Father.  This is the power of an encouraging word that mobilizes people instead of inciting fear and tearing them down.  Even a correction can be seasoned with LOVE. Eph. 4:29  So, the next time a word is given to you check the spiritual fruit born of that word.  Even if you didn’t like it, the love of a TRUE prophetic word has a way of penetrating the hard ground of resistance and rebellion and will bear witness to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that speaks within to transform the heart, mind, and spirit.  A false word originating from the will of man will produce just the opposite.  A false prophet can be flattering, manipulating, and/or controlling and will become highly offended if their word is not honored. Truly, a real prophetic word is not hard to discern.  There is a very clear distinction, just as Light is to Darkness.

 

4. Have the prophetic word JUDGED by those knowledgeable in prophetic ministry whom you respect their wisdom and counsel: If you are among the few fortunate ones who are surrounded by individuals with prophetic integrity whom you trust their walk of faith and personal wisdom, count your blessings!  These are individuals you might partner with in discipleship and/or receive spiritual parenting from.  These are the individuals that would be good candidates to share your prophetic word, dreams and the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life.  These are individuals who will likely provide you with “prayerful counsel,” meaning, they will genuinely seek God on your behalf and spiritually discern the matters in your life without being influenced by the circumstances.  This is safe ground and it provides an atmosphere for you to rightly judge what you have received. 1:3, 1 Cor. 14:1-40

 

5. The prophetic word will foretell the future through DIVINE SIGNS: Unlike spiritualist and fortune tellers, a prophecy from God does not predict the future about random events, talk to the dead or use objects to get a word from God.  No, a true prophetic word from God will stand on its own using SIGNS that affirm what God has already said in His word, using a revelatory word from the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, and the signs will continue to affirm God’s present move in your life.  Consider the biblical kings had dreams of which they called upon the prophet to interpret, the promise of the Messiah had the Law & the Prophets to identify God’s presence in the earth and the Second Coming of Christ has the signs of the End-times so that the Body of Christ would recognize the end-time generation and get ready!  There is no doubt, God moves with SIGN & WONDERS and He provided them so we would not mistake His movement for the counterfeit of another. 1 Thess. 5:21

 

A Final Note:

The Law & Prophets were very instrumental in shaping our biblical history.  Prophets served alongside kings and their word always held people accountable to the written law so people could discern the plan and present move of God.  Well, today it is no different.  The written law (Holy Bible) and the prophets continue to affirm one another.  Think about it?  How can a book that was written over 2000 years ago be so exact in foretelling the social, technological, economic and governmental events of our day?   You would think someone would effort to do things differently just to prove the bible is wrong. Lol!  Ironically, this generation is playing out the greatest performance of their LIFE!  Even further, guess who is instrumental in discerning and announcing to the world these forthcoming events as they unfold?  You guessed it! The PROPHETIC PEOPLE OF GOD!  Are you one of them?

 

What is even more important to understand is that if you are a believer, then you should know that the prophetic gift lives inside of YOU.  The Holy Spirit is a “Prophetic Spirit” Joel 2:28-32, Rom. 8:11-13, so you too can know the will of God and foretell the future through the Word of God by merely being watchful and looking at the SIGNS Mark 13:4, John 2:11.  Now, the distinction between the believer as a “Prophetic Being” and the Prophet as a ministry leader is really very simple, it’s called, SERVICE.

 

The Prophet as a servant of God does just that, he/she SERVES.  They generally serve someone and somewhere.  They are aligned to a specific mandate (spiritual assignment) with a clear mission.  This could be a church, ministry or marketplace ministry (Christian business).  The Prophet serves alongside a person or organization with an apostleship anointing (leadership gift) reaching a local, national or international audiences through which his/her mandate is defined.  So, an audience is relative to a prophet’s Apostolic alignment (place of service) John 10:30, 1 Cor. 11:1, John 5:19, Eph. 4:11-16.

 

Ideally, the Prophet as a servant leader serves the Body of Christ in partnership with an apostolic leader whereby together they lead a charge (work) of God in the earth.  There are many types of prophets, many platforms upon which they serve and a variety of ways in which God’s word is manifested through their lives.  However, what is far more important for you to remember is not how to find a true prophet but how to identify a true prophetic word, how to judge it and how to receive from it, through whomever God chooses with confidence and where the power and truth of God might once again be realized in your life.

 

Well, THAT’S IT!  So how do you judge a prophetic word?  How about you start by just being a good JUDGE.