Frustration can easily move us into prophesying what we see or understand in the natural. A lot of prophetic people make the mistake of looking for clues from people, trying to pick something up from how someone looks (happy or sad), body language, or other traits.
This is a very soulish act and produces prophecy on a soulish level. If we are going to move on and prophecy, God is the one person we must be looking at and listening to. We must not try to pick up clues from people or circumstances. It never works and usually goes wrong. It leads us into the realm of the soul (the mind, will and emotions) where we can give Satan the opportunity to add to what is going on. What we get may sound spiritual but it’s information, not revelation.
Even the greatest Bible prophets had to learn this lesson. In first Samuel we read how Samuel had to reject all physical and cultural clues before he could anoint the next king of Israel:
1 Samuel 16: 6- when they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; For God’s sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Then Jesse called Aminadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, the Lord has not chosen this one either. Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, the Lord has not chosen this one either. Then Jesse made seven of us sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. And Samuel said to Jesse, are these all your children? And he said, there remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep. Then Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him: for we will not sit down until he comes here. So, he sent and brought him in.
Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him; For this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
In a Middle Eastern culture like Israel, all family rights belong to the oldest son. Obviously, Eliab was a strong, handsome young man with some levels of authority, as Samuel immediately thought he was called to be the king. But God wanted Samuel to look beyond the physical world and see into the hearts of these young men. God knew which brother had a heart like his, and which one would be able to stand the trials and tribulations to come.
Ignoring physical clues takes an incredible amount of spiritual discipline. Relying on clues just isn’t an option for those who want to prophecy maturely. In a meeting once, the Lord gave my mentor a word for a man at the rear of the auditorium. He was dressed like a vagrant, an absolute down and outer.
God began to give my mentor a word that this man would have hundreds of thousands of dollars to sow into the church, that through his work he was going to lead key businesspeople to the Lord, and that he would finance various projects in the community and the nation. He looked hard at him and he looked like he needed a hand out. Adding to his dilemma was the fact that right behind him sat a man in a business suit, looking like a multi-millionaire. The individual behind the vagrant looked like he was the executive of a multinational corporation. He pondered over it in his spirit. His first instinct had been to give the word to what looked like the poor man, but the clues screamed a different story. Had he mixed the two up? He couldn’t get any peace about it, so he wandered away and gave a few words to others in the congregation. He came back to the vagrant and the businessman.
I’m gonna have to go for it he said to himself. Ignore the clues and trust the Spirit. Sometimes, prophecy is just about being brave and launching out. He asked the vagrant to stand up and started prophesying to him. No one in the room seemed to know him, and he was convinced the whole crowd was thinking the same thing that he missed it. It’s the guy behind him. The man wasn’t giving him any help whatsoever; he stared at him, Stony face. There wasn’t a flicker of emotion or recognition to be had.
Some people don’t give us any help, often because they don’t know how to behave. They have never received the prophetic word before. They don’t quite know what to do with themselves, and they are as we are. Sometimes people’s faces are very mobile, and they give a lot of help and encouragement, building our confidence. At other times, people are really trying to psych out the prophet. A word can be absolutely on target, but you would never know it by looking at the face of the recipient. My mentor has even prophesied over people who have stared back at him with an insolent, let’s see how good you are look on their faces. Prophets cannot trust people’s faces for confirmation. Our own peace and rest in the Lord should be significant encouragement. He prophesied over the vagrant and discovered later that he was an extremely wealthy individual, who liked dressing down. He had heard about the conference and decided to check it out. After he had given him the word, he sat down and he carried on with the meeting.
A few minutes later, he received a word for the man in the suit behind the vagrant, the job you have just interviewed for is yours, he heard in his spirit. This added to his unsure feelings. On the surface, it seemed that the wealth word was for the suit, and the job was for the vagrant.
As you can imagine, the enemy was stirring up as much confusion in him as possible. Everything on the inside of him was screaming, you fool! You idiot! You got it wrong! He tried to look cool on the platform, but he was full of anxiety in his soul. He could do only one thing: humble himself before God. Lord, he prayed silently, I will face this situation honorably if I’ve missed it; I’ll repent and put things right with people. I will publicly apologize and make sure no one is damaged by any mistake he made.
The enemy hates humility because he cannot penetrate it. Humility opens the door for God to touch our lives. As he quietly humbled himself on the platform, he experienced peace and rest in the Lord. He gave the man in the suit his word and watch with gladness as he and his family we’re extremely delighted. Later, he learned that he had been employed for two years and had his first job interview in months that afternoon. A week later, he was offered the job.
He was relieved and very grateful to the Lord. Prophetic ministry is never straightforward. It is ridiculously easy to make mistakes even after years of practice. People apply impossible standards to the prophetic office that they don’t assign to any other ministry. I believe that if we relaxed the standards and allow for more grace, we would actually have fewer prophetic mistakes and a lot more honesty and integrity in the gifting. Pressure is a great enemy of prophets; we’re under immense pressure to perform and be super spiritual. Christians sensationalized the gifting and create a hype and mystique around personalities that is dangerous. We are called to be ourselves in the Lord, within our scope of function.
You do not have to be under pressure to be a prophet. You have to be yourself in Jesus. And people can either cope with that or not. Is almost inevitable that we will thrill some people and disappoint others, depending on what is happening when we go to particular places.
Prophets must never move out in what they see naturally. We cannot lean on our own understanding. Instead, we have to draw out what God has already put in place. Sometimes, prophetic ministry stands with one foot in the past any the other in the future. We bring both of those extremes into the present to help people make sense of where they are right now. In first Samuel we see how easy it is for a prophet to get something wrong.
1 Samuel 1: 12- now it came about, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So, Eli thought she was drunk. Then Eli said to her, how long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you. But Hannah replied, no, my Lord, I’m a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord. Do you not consider your maid servant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.
Then Eli answered and said, go in peace; And may the God of Israel grant your position that you have asked of him. She said, let your maid servant find favor in your sight. So, the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
Eli was not practicing his sensitivity to God; he was looking for clues. Hannah was sad and desperate. Her heart was broken. She was probably swaying in her grief and moaning in spirit.
She was also passionately interceding before God along the lines of revival. Eli heard none of that. He looked in the natural and then made a judgment on what he thought was her behavior. He thought she was drunk! It is so vital, beloved that we take our thoughts to a place of captivity in Christ likeness.
2 Corinthians 10: 5- we are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ, so also are we.
We prophecy out of our own vision, understanding and testimony of God. What we think about him is the most important thing in the world. (revelation 19: 10).