The ministry of a prophet was considered sosignificant by the Biblical writers, that theiractual moment of commissioning is often re-corded for us.(1) They were love-gifts from God,for even when the message they brought waschallenging, it was still God’s mercy and kind-ness to show people how things really stood.(2)

Elijah is unusual because we know nothing ofhim until the moment God sends him to Ahabto warn the king of the impending drought. Heis still more exceptional in that every time theLord commanded him to do something, heseems to have done it straightaway!

The testimony of Jesus is still the spirit ofprophesy.(3) The Lord not only invites but in-structs His people to be eager to prophesy.(4)

Our nation has long nurtured a relative abun-dance of Bible teachers, but the people of Godare far more effective wherever there is also aprophetic dimension(5) to interpret things,whether about the condition of our hearts orwider matters.(6) If the Church in Antioch in-cluded prophets as well as teachers, in theministry team, then why shouldn’t ours?(7)

The ministry of the prophet in the local churchis normally to bring the Lord’s word to individ-ual people, or to help the church itself to growin the beauty and knowledge of God. In somecases, however, prophets bring insights for thewhole Church, or which concern specific is-sues, and even nations.

In His great task of restoring His bride, andbringing in His Kingdom, Jesus is raising up apeople to make Himself known in our land: a

New Testament equivalent of a propheticnation.(8) But let us not be narrow in our inter-pretation of what the prophetic ministryshould consist of. I believe in watchmen whoare concerned for their professions as well asfor their Churches or their geographical re-gions. For example, the work of the MusiciansNetwork has a prophetic edgehttp://musicians-network.net andhttp://epiphanymusic.org.uk/about/ as theysound the praise of God in ways that peoplecan relate to in their everyday lives.

How can we tell when someone isbeing raised up for the propheticministry?Character and personality are important: Godgave them to us, and He wants to expresssomething of His own heart through them Aprophetic person will nearly always have anabove average ability to feel issues deeply –and then to turn ‘sight into insight’ and feel-ings into prayer. In other words, much of aprophet’s work is done in secret, going to Godon behalf of men, before going to people onbehalf of God.

Then, as John and Paula Sandford make soclear in their outstanding book The Elijah Task,we do well to be aware that prophets are al-most always trained and tested by means ofunusual twists and turns in their life, togetherwith extended periods in the wilderness –what Graham Cook calls PITS – prophets intraining! Such challenges are necessary to de-velop sufficient maturity to enable them to ex-ercise their ministry safely. Corporate

The Prophetic Calling

discernment is needed to determine whetherpeople’s testing experiences really are a sign ofGod’s calling or simply the consequences ofliving in a complicated world.

Testing the VocationIt is no light matter to identify someone as be-ing a prophet. Equally, we must not be hasty todismiss someone who prophesies incorrectlyas a ‘false prophet’. Discernment is the key.Whilst the Old Testament inclines towards theconcept of the Lord speaking in a fixed, author-itative manner, we should not be tempted tothink that prophets today likewise becomemere channels for the voice of God: we are not‘taken over’ by the voice of God, as mediumsare in séances. The best of us make many mis-takes – but we learn from them. If we want toshare what we believe to be on God’s heartwith His people, we do well to examine ourtrack record carefully to see what has hap-pened to the words we have shared previous-ly.

We may find we are strong in some areas butwoefully wide of the mark in others – in whichcase we need to play to our strengths and totriple check anything in the areas where weknow ourselves to be weak.

Pastors and leaders with only a superficialknowledge of the person concerned may con-clude that they are seriously off course, whenin fact this is only the case in certain areas oftheir life. In such cases, gentle restoration isthe key! (Gal. 6:1-5)

Identifying false prophetsHow then do we recognise false prophets? It isvital that we do, because they can wreak greathavoc. One key is to look for the direction ofthe heart. Proud and stubborn attitudes are amajor warning sign. Serious problems are alsoindicated when a person is certain that theyare right, and is unwilling to be challenged con-cerning their viewpoint. This is presumption –wishful thinking pushed too far – and falseprophets are presumptuous!

The false prophet refuses to heed warnings,and continually dreams up new excuses to pro-long his delusion. Typically, these people areloan-rangers who brook no correction, unwise-

ly supposing themselves to be superior tothose who could help to set them straight. It isthe work of superheated flesh and subtle de-mons to lead many godly souls astray in suchways.

We are wise to take note of checks in our spiritwhen someone brings a word from the Lord,especially if our own hesitation is accompaniedby warnings from other mature Christians. Butlet’s be aware that a false sense of loyalty tosomebody (or an instinctive dislike of them forthat matter!) can make it harder for us to per-ceive when a person is in genuine error.

Since it is only with hindsight that we can seehow everything fits together, we should bewary of people who claim to know too much.There is a type of prophecy that is dangerouslyakin to divination in its attempt to predict thefuture. Man has an innate desire for inappro-priate foreknowledge, and it is all too easy todistort ‘prophecy’ to feed this craving. It fitstoo well with the western obsession to know,to plan and to schedule. Authentic prophecy,by contrast, is primarily concerned with reveal-ing the heart of God.

Why, then, do so many make such elaborateattempts to predict the exact sequence of theend-time prophecies? We are simply notmeant to know all the details in advance.Much still waits to be shaped by our prayersand repentance. Trying to work out ahead oftime exactly how matters will develop is usual-ly self-defeating – just as the even the exactsequence of events concerning the Nativity orCalvary could not have been foreseen from thehints given in Old Testament prophecies.

We should never assume that we know how orwhen God will bring what He has promised topass. Hearing from Him is the all-importantstarting point, but then we must continue toseek Him for the unfolding of the details. Jesustaught so much on the need for perseverance,precisely because what God asks of us nearlyalways appears impossible at first sight. Givingbirth to a vision requires great stamina!

Prophecies of blessing need to be prayedthrough to fulfilment, just as warnings need tobe taken seriously in order to be averted. Most

prophecies are best considered as being condi-tional on our response, rather thandeterministic.(9) Jonah’s doomsday wordsagainst Nineveh, for instance, appeared topresent the city with an inescapable ultimatumbut disaster was averted when the peoplerepented.(10)

Stepping outLike Jonah, those called to the prophetic minis-try will usually be asked to step out at a certainmoment on their journey, even to the point ofhaving to stake their all on God’s ability to de-liver. There are times when prophecy requiresdirect action: it is a biblical norm. We mustlearn, at first hand, the absolute faithfulness ofour God. Hesitation weakens our faith andstrengthens the hand of the enemy. As DerekPrince pointed out, God had a harder job per-suading Jonah to fulfil his mission than He didin bringing sinful Nineveh to its knees in re-pentance!

Has He been asking you to step out on in someway recently?

If you are hesitant, remember that there willalways be opportunities to doubt – especiallyduring those periods when everything seemsto be going backwards. Nothing of lasting val-ue is accomplished for the kingdom withoutcourage.

The best of us is only a mixture, but those whopersevere beyond the testings and setbacksreach a greater fullness of the Lord’s wisdom,and are able to function with considerableconfidence in the precious ministry that is atthe heart of the prophetic calling – just as El-ijah and Elisha did.

References(1) Moses in Exodus 3, Amos in Amos 7, Isaiah in Isaiah6, Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 and Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2-3.(2) At times of crisis, it was the word of the Lord throughthe prophets which, again and again, saved the nationfrom its enemies. Eg 2 Kings 3:9-27; 1 Kings 22:7-28; 2Samuel 2:18-25; 2 Chronicles 20; Hosea 12:10,13; Jere-miah 23:28-29; Amos 3:7(3) 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3-5, 19, Revelation 19:10 No-where is it assumed in Scripture that prophecy waspurely for the old dispensation, or for the early days ofthe Church only. The Scriptures were never intended todispense with the need to seek the will of God over spe-

cific issues.(4) John 16:13-15 ‘When He, the Spirit of truth, comes,He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on Hisown; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tellyou what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me bytaking from what is Mine and making it known to you.All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I saidthe Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it knownto you.(5) Cf Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Corinthians 12:28(6) When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, He in-tended to raise up a nation which would be a demon-stration to the world of what a righteous society couldbe like, when it lived under the rule of God. In this plan,the prophets had a vital role.(7) Acts 13:1(8) Cf Exodus 29:5-6(9) That is, automatically bound to happen.(10) Jonah 3:4-10 cf 1 Kings 20:29