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When Elisha was called to be a prophet, he was out plowing a field.

When you think about it, he must have been an unusual man. He was out there with 12 yoke of oxen - 24 massive animals - all under his control, the reins in his hands. Elisha was no sissy! He must have been a pretty big guy to handle all of them at once.

Elisha knew he was called because Elijah walked up to him, put his mantle around him and then walked away.

I can imagine Elisha crying, "What have you done to me?!"

And Elijah replying, "I have done nothing to you. This is the Lord's doing."

Several years later, after Elijah was taken into Heaven, Elisha received the mantle a second time. He used it to perform a miracle, asking, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" That began the double-anointing message Elisha was able to bring. He did exactly double the miracles, double the signs, double everything Elijah did. He asked God for that double portion, and the Lord gave it to him.

And it began out in a field, when a mantle was tossed around his shoulders.

Signs of Your Calling

If you are called to be a prophet, one of the first things you need to understand is that the calling makes you absolutely, positively nothing special. It makes you a potential failure - but it doesn't make you anything special, because "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). That statement is very true in the prophetic realm.

What are some of the potential signs you've been called by God to be a prophet? You might experience supernatural events such as trances, visitations of angels or being taken into the heavenlies, as Paul was.

People might begin to tell you that you have a "different spirit" about you. When I was very young, people would tell me that I had a different spirit. I didn't know what they were talking about. I thought, it's because I've got dark hair and they are blonde or something. In college, people told me they were afraid of me, because my eyes seemed to look right through them.

"Well, I can't look right through you!" I answered. I had no idea. I didn't correlate any of those things with having a prophetic ministry.

As Samuel experienced, the Lord might appear to you. Not only did the Lord speak to Samuel, calling him by name, but 1 Samuel 3 says that the Lord appeared to Samuel "again" or "often" there at Shiloh.

The people around you might inadvertently begin to hint at your calling. They might suggest you're strange. They might say, "How did you know that? That must have been God!"

Then leaders will begin to recognize your gift. But remember the truth of Proverbs 18:16: If you have a gift, it will make room for itself. God will open the door to you. He is the One who called you - He can bring His call to fruition in your life. 

Keep in Mind

The first portion of your training as a prophet is the "called" portion. It is the seemingly ambiguous time of walking around and doing strange things, parents not understanding you, friends not understanding you, spouses not understanding you. Sometimes, depending on your choices, you become a better person during this initial "shakeup"; sometimes you become worse. In 1980 when I had my first visitation, I became a better man, and my wife was so happy! She knew something had happened because I wasn't the same yucky guy I had been before it happened. Everything began to get better: our jobs, our businesses, our marriage, our finances. Something cataclysmic and good had happened to me, and it changed our lives.

Being called to the prophetic office is not an easy thing. There is "prophetic blood" you spill that nobody knows about. There are tears you shed in private, and at the time you shed them, it seems that nobody understands them.

But here's the key: God is the One who called you, and He is the One who can bring that call to fruition in your life. The Bible says He actually stores your tears. Why would He do that if they didn't matter to Him? Not one of them is lost. So if you're dealing with any of the difficulties we talked about in this article, take heart. God is your support, and He can cause all things to work out for your good.

John Paul Jackson

www.streamsministries.com