Embrace the Prophetic Gift
I am very grateful for the prophetic anointing Jesus gave us in the church. He places His prophetic gifts - which would include prophecy, dreams, visions, discernment, the ability to discern His timing, and more - alongside the apostolic (1 Corinthians 12:28). If we are to effectively represent Christ in His work on earth and follow the leading of Holy Spirit, we must operate in this prophetic anointing.
As with all of Christ’s gifts to the church, these manifestations must function in harmony with His Word. But, they must first function!
First Corinthians 14:40, the great chapter that gives us guidelines for prophecy and the gifts of the Spirit, says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Amen. Yet, I heard a wise man once say, “Before the words ‘decently and in order,’ the verse says, ‘Let all things be done!’” Amen again!
Anytime God “speaks” to us, it falls under the realm of the prophetic gifting. Whether it be a thought He plants in our mind (“the still small voice,” as some call this), a Scripture that comes alive, a prompting or urging to do something, spontaneous thoughts or revelation that come forth from a teacher or preacher, discernment, dreams, visions, words of knowledge, or full-on prophecy; this is all part of the prophetic anointing and gifting. Millions of Christians experience these benefits regularly without thinking of them as being prophetic, but they are.
I am grateful that Holy Spirit has done such a wonderful job of restoring this gift to the church. It’s almost impossible to be in a prayer meeting nowadays and not hear someone say, “I feel led to pray about…” or “The Lord just led me to this Scripture…” and so on. These are just another way of saying “God just spoke to me,” and it is wonderful. The prophetic anointing of Jesus, through Holy Spirit, has indeed been restored to the church.
Interpreting what Holy Spirit gives us requires caution and diligence. As I said, we start with the Scriptures, making certain that what we believe we have heard lines up with the principles of God‘s Word. This cannot always be discerned from a direct statement God made in the Bible, such as Paul’s dream in which he heard, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9) In cases such as this, we judge the prophetic impartation based on whether or not it lines up with the principles and ways of God found in Scripture. We also judge it through the discernment and wisdom of other mature people. This is why we are told a prophet must allow other prophets to judge the words he or she releases (1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).
Understanding and judging prophecy can take time. This can be because God is giving us a word now that is actually for some time in the future, as He often did in Scripture (Abraham, for example). Also, I have discovered that for me, God often gives me words or dreams that require prayer and Biblical study in order to fully understand them. This processing typically brings me further insight and understanding of the subject, and seasons it with wisdom. Most dreams sent to me are more along these lines - an invitation to study a subject in order to hear Holy Spirit, rather than a simple, direct statement. If it is a very significant dream (or prophecy), He often gives me understanding of it in phases, based on the timing of the word. In short, I often have to ponder a word from the Lord over time, just as Mary had to do (see Luke 2:19).
The difficulty and challenge of interpreting prophetic direction can be seen in the 2020 elections. First of all, I did NOT need a word from the Lord telling me who He would prefer to be America’s president. The principles of Scripture were enough. Trump’s policies and agenda lined up more with Scripture. His choices of Supreme Court Justices and stance on abortion alone were adequate for me. God does not want a President in America who favors the killing of babies in the womb. (It was Trump’s appointments of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett that led to the overturning of Roe. Fifty years of prayers were answered, and a national curse over America was broken, in part because of the decisions of our previous president. Now, the Biden administration is the most pro-abortion administration we’ve ever had.) It wasn’t only this issue, however. Generally speaking, Trump’s policies are more in line with what I believe the Bible teaches than are Biden’s. I said over and over in the GH15 posts and the prayer gatherings I led in 2020, that the election was not about a person or a political party, that I was not warring spiritually for Donald Trump. I was warring for the ways and purposes of God to be established in our nation. Those praying and decreeing alongside me said the same thing. Most people in America now realize the devastation of that election’s outcome.
When the controversy came regarding the election, other leaders and I felt the righteous causes at stake were worth warring for in prayer. I believed then (and still believe) that many of the words and dreams released during that season were saying it was possible to turn things around…that if enough of the church prayed, and enough government officials would make a stand, corruption could be reversed.
When asked, however, if the dreams and words were a guarantee that Trump would be president again in 2021, my answer was consistent, “No, they absolutely do not mean this is guaranteed.” I actually met with and told a person very high up in the President’s circle the same thing. The words and dreams were all conditional, as they typically are.
When the election was not reversed by January 21, I realized the prayer strategy for America would have to change. I felt God was saying He would use the prayers we prayed for our nation in other ways. The primary ways I felt He would use them was in exposing the evil that exists in the American government, and waking up the American people, including the church. This was confirmed to me by several prophets whom I trust.
And has this ever occurred!
There are current prophetic voices, and some secular voices, as well, that believe Trump will be placed back in the presidency before 2024. I am not one who believes this. I believe God has chosen to use this season in other ways, primarily to awaken the American people and clean up our nation. The lesson, however, regarding our complacency and lack of discernment in 2020 has become very costly and will get worse. The good news: we are waking up, evil is being exposed, and America shall be saved.
Pray with me:
Father, we thank You for allowing us to hear and know Your voice. We thank You, Jesus, for the gifts You gave to the church. And we thank You, Holy Spirit for releasing and administering those gifts. Thank You for revelation, prophecy, words of knowledge, dreams, visions, discernment, and the other ways You communicate with us. Remind us to listen and teach us to hear more clearly and accurately.
Father, You have spoken to trusted leaders that You are exposing the corruption in our government and delivering us from their control. We continue to ask for this. Your kingdom come, Your will be done in our national government! We bind the demonic influence there and declare that they are forbidden to continue their rule over us. We say with our Founders: we have no king but Jesus! We invite His rule and reign into our land, along with the pouring out of His Spirit, to save millions of Americans.
We also pray for the nations of the earth to receive Your hand of blessing, provision, and salvation. Expose idols, evil leaders, and iniquitous systems. Free people and nations from the strongholds of darkness. We ask for laborers, money, and resources in order to reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We love You, Father. We love You, Jesus. And we love You, Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that we have ears to hear what Holy Spirit is saying to the church!
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
(By the way, I believe Holy Spirit has planted an idea in my heart to bring trusted prophetic prophetic voices on the posts every Friday in order to share with you what God is saying to the church. I know you’ll enjoy these, and it will help all of us grow in our ability to hear what Holy Spirit is saying to us today.)