Prophetic Confusion

If you are like many believers, you must surely be alarmed at the great number of ‘prophetic voices’ that are proclaiming the ‘word of the Lord’ everywhere, the sad part is that many times these ‘voices’ are in seeming contradiction to each other, leaving many people confused and in some cases turned off the prophetic and its various manifestations.

I have got good news for you my friend, this is not a new phenomenon and it is as old as the bible itself, so don’t be put off by the ‘prophetic noises you are hearing, rather endeavor to rise above the noise to hear the still small voice and yes you can, praise God!

Please understand this, the ministry of the Prophet is a valid biblical ministry today, that ministry does not lie in a name or title but in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the will of God that you receive a full benefit of that ministry in your life and ministry.

Let me share a few thoughts on how you can do this

1. Remember the voice of the prophet is the voice of God through Jesus Christ to you, in fact the bible says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:12), if this so, every true prophet must reflect the nature, heart and character of the one who sent him. The proof of prophetic integrity is beyond accuracy or fulfillment. Please note that I am not discounting accuracy, if the Lord speaks surely He is able to bring His word to pass.

You can see this in the book of Deuteronomy and 2 Cor. 10

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ — which you have not known — ‘and let us serve them,’  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.

Deut 13:1-5 NKJV

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

2 Cor 11:13-15 NKJV

2. Another problem with modern prophecy is that many people who have had prophetic experiences ( and all believers can have them) confuse that with the office of the prophet, God can show a believer stuff occasionally particularly if the person is seeking God and praying, such things are meant to guide us particularly in our prayers, but it does not mean that we have become prophets, once such a believer steps beyond the limits of prophetic experiences, he opens himself/herself up to deception all designed by the enemy to create the environment we see now.

3. God does not send prophets who have no pedigree to people who do not know them, now this statement is not absolute, but the thought is this, Prophets are raised over time and their pedigree is established in that time, you have no reason to accept anyone who comes in the name of the Lord just because he says ‘the Lord said’ and we have precedent for this, the prophets of the OT had pedigree, even in the NT the prophets were recognized and accepted as prophets by the people they were sent to.  An exception to this would be if the prophet is confirming something you had prior witness to in your heart.

This brings me to another point, Prophets are not sent to everybody, there are spheres of assignments and ministries, social media has made some extend beyond the limits of the ministry that God has assigned to them. Once you extend beyond your God given assignment or sphere than you are stepping into enemy theatre.

4. Understand that clouding the prophetic space is satan’s master stroke, he is the expert at disinformation and counter intelligence and this is the goal of prophetic confusion. The ministry of the prophet is absolutely important today, it is God given and foundational. Therefore as a believer you should pray that the Lord will connect you to true prophetic voices that He is raising up today.

5. Beware of ‘Prophets’ who all they do is ‘prophesy’ , the ministry of the prophet comes with a teaching or preaching ministry or both. Many true prophets in order to satisfy the people have crossed into familiar spirit operations.

6. Look for prophetic consistency, when someone prophesies something today and prophesies something else over the same issue at another time is a sign that something is off. The promises of God are not yea and nay but yea and amen in Christ Jesus.

7. Understand that the place of the prophet in the OT is fundamentally different from His place in the NT, in the NT we are led by the Word and Spirit essentially, so always put the word of God first, look to the Spirit of God within you to bear witness to your spirit as to what you are hearing.

8. Learn to submit personal prophecy to the word and the witness test, it is well within your rights to ask the Lord to confirm what you are hearing.

9. Remember that even true prophets don’t know everything, only what the Lord shows them, so learn to seek the Lord, He is the God of the Prophets

10. God does not want you to ‘know’ everything, surprised? People want to know everything, who to marry, where to eat etc that overwhelming desire to know everything for its own sake is what guides the industry of false prophets and puts true prophets under undue pressure to ‘perform’. The word says the just shall live by faith and part of that means that we walk based on the principles and precepts of God’s word trusting the Lord to lead us and direct us as we walk. Of course there are many situations in life where we need to know the mind of the Lord, notice that we are seeking the will of the Lord and not that we are afraid for the future or are consumed with a desire to know the future for its own sake.

11. False prophets will not go away, they will be with us to the end, so learn to ignore their voices, refuse to be put off from true prophetic ministries and embrace all that God is bringing to you through them.