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By Josephine Ayers
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The competition among prophets is something really crazy to see. They can all be so sure they have the last and final word on it. Many wouldn't dare consult one another and few agree to differ or see it from a different angle. Some of that is just the make up of being given a certain word to deliver. But sometimes some of the headiness of it swells heads.
I've seen young ones who act like prophesying started with them! They mention the past like they lived in it. They didn't. But here is the truth, if they are really called, they are called to live THEIR lives and minister to whom they are called to minister. It's their space in time. If it is enduring, it will live on.
It is NOT a competition (if they are real). It can be entertaining though, if not dangerous, to watch those who have to be sure they are the last word. Some could sell popcorn and charge admission.
Only God can really judge them, because it's not all proven here. There is more to come and be proven out. We are a BODY of people living over the time of MANY years, even generations!
Bible prophets have good words and bad or hard words. Sometimes it's not proven out until years later, sometime after their passing!
Know the Goal
Know the GOAL of your prophesying. It should be in obedience to God's command AND to edify (build up) the BODY of Christ - not just a "certain" group or certain chosen gatherings. God does the choosing! They are a part of the five-fold ministry. (See Ephesians 4.)
Sometimes the messages are warnings, sometimes it's exhortations, and some will build up or tear down accordingly, but it's all meant to glorify God for Who HE is. It can take Him several generations at times to make His point!
Your prophesying will never match in weight Who He is, so it all should be done respectfully. It should always be done in awe of Him. Human will does not make it "God." But it could represent Him! In Acts 2:17 it says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy..."
God did not give a precise model of one certain kind of person and call them "the prophet." But He did give Bible examples to show how the different individual ones built up the Body. The knowledge of the gift follows after them more than precedes them.
Obviously it is easy to idolize them - or any other gift of the Spirit. But if we really know Him, we will see how it all fits - or doesn't. It should benefit and build up in Love! That means loving function!
Only God Holds the Future
We can get exasperated when we don't understand, even if we are prophets, because only God holds the future in His Hands. He did not represent Himself as a human person or entrust Himself fully in man, except through Jesus, the supernatural only begotten Son of God (which means HE came in the flesh). That Human witness represented much that He wanted to say and communicate. It's why the Bible is a holy Book! He is looking still for witnesses who become skilled in their witnessing!
If a person can speak correctly for God or about God, they can be called a prophet, but there are some, that He has given specific assignments to and they don't answer to men for that. The greatest often seem to be the least.
The same can be said for all the five-fold ministry - or any other calling - they are called to obey a directive they were given and still be the person who they are. Some put their lives on the line, and even still do today.
In the end, is God pleased? He's not taking votes; He is looking for His will expressed. He created us for fellowship - with Him.
How much do any of us give our lives to Him? We read about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham obeyed a life long calling. Obedience was a key factor. God gave him joy in Isaac and in seeing the land.
Issac is a quieter figure in Scripture, but Isaac gave his life on Mount Moriah and that pleased God. He submitted to being bound and killed as a sacrifice at God's directive. He may have lived a while longer, but it was at that point he gave his life before God in obedience. A ram was then found in the thicket, because God decides.
God saw Isaac's sacrifice and honored that and outside of normal living respect, he passed his test early on. He raised Jacob who became Israel, one who prevailed with God. But they were all just people who lived great before God because of their faith. Jacob had 12 sons that were a handful, but they believed in God and carried His Name.
I could pick many characters and do details but what matters is how they responded to God, not man. Men judge, but God decides.
Pam Clark
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