JONI AMES' QUESTION AND ANSWER
ON PROPHETIC PROTOCOL
Dear Friends,
Many times, people write and ask me questions, and it came to me that perhaps we could include these questions and answers in my newsletters. I won't use names and email addresses, unless the person gives prior permission, but wanted to share one question and answer with the list today:
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THE QUESTION
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"I wanted to write you to seek your counsel in a matter. The Lord sent me to t his church last October (five months ago) and it's been very difficult for me since I've been there. There is no acknowledgment from the Pastors that I am called in the office of a Prophet. I've sent emails to them about what the Lord has called me to do and I've been sending prophetic insight since October concerning the church and what the Lord is showing me.
I have no counsel with them and it seems as if I am a disease =( I try very hard not to allow the enemy to magnify things and I know that Prophets are often rejected but Joni does it have to be from the covering? Last night at our prophetic service the Pastor was saying that he believes there is a prophetic anointing on the church because of prayer and an impartation. He doesn't believe there to be any prophets there so I just sat in my seat thinking "Lord if he doesn't believe in me then how am I going to ever proceed in ministry?" Last night I call ed the TBN prayer line and asked for prayer because I'm tired. I don't mind standing against the church or any church's persecution but when the man and woman of God that the Lord has sent me to doesn't even believe in me then how can I continue?
How did I make it this far to just have this problem? At least at the former church I was positioned in a place of influence and the pastors acknowledged a call, even though I was restricted in some areas and they didn't acknowledge the call to be prophetic. If this is truly the promised land the Lord has sent me to why do I feel like I'm still in a pit? This is the third church the Lord has sent me to in 3 years. I just want to be established so I can have the proper prophetic covering and counsel.
The pastor's wife receives a lot of the prophetic words but she always say something like "your ideas are good...or I receive that word from you." I recently told her that they are not my words but from the Lord. I don't know what to do from this point...."
Thanks for listening
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JONI'S REPLY
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Dear Friend,
Dear Friend,
"I trust that since you wrote, you want the truth. So I will do my best to give it to you in love and I pray yo u take it to heart and know that God loves you enough to have the truth spoken to you.
Count it an encouragement that they listen to what you have to say and say things like "your ideas are good...or I receive that word from you." I'm surprised that they even did that, because if you approached any of my pastors insisting on a title of prophet being given to you, they would have some very heavy duty things to tell you.
I never once read in your email where you said you desired to "edify and encourage others," and see them come forth in all God has for them. What I read was that you wanted acknowledgement, an office, and a title. - How would that look to you if you had just recently met someone an d they came to you like that? You may need to do some back tracking and apologize to the pastors for the spirit in which you came there, and humbly ask their forgiveness and ask if they would help to mentor you in the proper way.
Titles don't matter, and won't get you the anointing. Relationship with the Lord matters and will lead to being truly anointed. If anyone insists on a title being given to them - Prophet or whatever - that is immaturity. Joel 2:28 & 29 and Acts 2:17 & 18 says His Spirit will be poured out upon ALL flesh and ALL will prophesy. God is no respector of persons, and we cannot expect that, just because we can prophesy, we attain some sort of special attention in the congregation. I am concerned for you that you are concerned about being "positioned in a place of influence" (that was your words) in the church. That tel ls me that you have some issues in your life and need some healing. Requesting that type of attention is setting yourself up big time to get a big head. And even to walk in a Jezebel spirit. And that will never help anyone. Jesus Christ made Himself to be a servant and of no reputation. And He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Your calling isn't nearly as important as your personal relationship with the Lord, and with His sheep. Your pastors need to be able to see that you are there to SERVE, NOT to BE SEEN and ACKNOWLEDGED. Check your heart on these things. The importance you place on the title and acknowledgement thing tells me that you need to go back to the basics and spend a couple years or so of growing in the Lord, being mentored by your pastors, and serving others, before ever even being put in any sort of leadership cap acity. Even as a leader, your heart should be to teach and mentor others, not be put over them. That's what Jesus was all about.
Be patient and grow in the Lord, and in your calling. If your pastors see that you are faithful in the little, and do not try to put yourself in a spotlight, but instead put JESUS in the spotlight, and you are willing to SERVE others as He did, they will one day acknowledge you in a right way. But you are too new in all of this for acknowledgement into the office of a prophet - that takes years and years and years of proven service and track record - and that title usually isn't put on someone until they are older, experienced and proven - which may mean not until they are in their 70s.
By the way, your track record of a different church every year doesn't give your pastors much to go on that you won't be gone from there within the year as well. They would be wrong to put you in a place of leadership with the attitude that you want to be acknowledged and put into an "office" with that kind of track record.
Bottom line: Seek relationship with Jesus, and humble yourself in the sight of God. Not in some dramatic "performance" way, but in a real way. And don't go SAYING, "I HUMBLE myself." - Humility is an act of the heart and of your ways. SAYING you are being humble doesn't MAKE you humble. When someone has to SAY "I'm humbling myself" that shows that they still don't "get it."
Go to Jesus if you want to truly be His example of His Heart and His Love, and say to Him, "Use me however you want Lord." - Being willing to serve and wash toilets at the church, or hold the hand of a small child, or visit an elderly hospital patient, and love on them and serve them, and prophesy His love and His heart to them. That's true ministry. And He will grow your gifts and calling and expand your territory as you do that. None of us in ministry were thrown there as a baby, but had to grow in like manner, serving others in the church and serving ministers in other ministries.
God loves you, and you DO have gifts and calling in Him. Don't let the world and its influence ruin it by making a show of them. Just love on Jesus and let Him love on you. And let Him love others through you. That is true ministry."
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