5 RIGHT WAYS TO RESPOND TO PROPHECY
Intro:
This is the fourth and last post in our PROPHECY SERIES. By God’s grace, we’ve covered the following topics so far in this series:
What Prophecy Is And What It Is Not
5 Guides For Identifying True Prophecy
Do read these posts if you haven’t done so to get the best out of the series.
Today’s topic examines what we should do when we receive a prophecy. Some people disregard every prophecy claiming the so-called prophets are fake and confusing themselves. Some other folks swallow every prophecy they come across. What really is the proper way to react to prophecy? What are the things we should do when we receive one? These are the questions answered in this post by God’s grace.
Do read, comment and share to benefit others. May the Lord enable you to hear His voice constantly and use what He tells you appropriately. You are splendidly blessed in Jesus’ name.
5 Right Ways To Respond To Prophecy
1. Do not despise prophecy:
That false prophecies are rife doesn’t mean true prophecies don’t exist. Don’t treat every prophecy with contempt. And I might add that many prophecies sound ridiculous at first. They seem so out of touch with reality but that doesn’t mean they are not from God and that they won’t happen.
[bctt tweet=”Do not despise prophecies, but test everything …. 1 Thess. 5:20-21 (ESV)” username=”edithohaja1″]
In 2 Kings, chapter 7, it is reported that one day during a long siege and harrowing famine in Israel, Elisha prophesied that there will be plenty the following day and an army commander said it couldn’t happen.
“1. Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” – 2 Kings 7:1-2
If you read further down that chapter, you’ll see that it happened as the prophet said but the man who mocked was trampled at the gate where he was posted to take charge.
So we may not know at face value if a prophecy should be ignored or not. That brings us to the next step.
2. Judge (evaluate) the prophecy:
See if it agrees with Scripture and with the witness of the Holy Spirit within you. The Bible is the revealed word of God. It shows us the character of God and the things He said to His people of old. It is the yardstick by which we must judge every prophecy. If the prophecy violates the word of God, then it is not from God for God and His word are one. Anything contrary is probably from a strange spirit and the Spirit of God that dwells in your heart will be at odds with it.
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” – Psalm 138:2
“When the people instead of trusting God say to you, ‘Consult the mediums who try to talk to the dead and the soothsayers who chirp and whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? Direct those people to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.” – Isaiah 8:19-20 (AMP)
As you’re assessing the prophecy, do the same for the prophet if you can.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” – 1 John 4:1-3
This is necessary because the enemy can speak words that seem right, even quote scripture, to deceive people or obstruct God’s purpose. We saw that when he tempted the Lord Jesus. Bear in mind that the devil isn’t going to announce himself and say, “Hello, I’m the devil. I’m about to tempt you!”
[bctt tweet=”The enemy can speak words that seem right to deceive people or obstruct God’s purpose.” username=”edithohaja1″]
5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him “on a pinnacle of the temple, 6. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” – Matthew 4:5-10
The enemy can speak a little truth as bait to draw in unsuspecting folks and then go for their jugular.
“12. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 13. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” – 2 Corinthians 11:12-15
This is probably why Paul rebuked the girl with a spirit of divination in Acts 16 although she seemed to be saying the right thing about him and his missionary colleagues.
“16. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. – Acts 16:16-18
You will recall if you’ve followed so far that the last post in this series looked at how we can tell true prophecy from false and it explained what to look for both in the words and the speaker.
3. Pray over the prophecy:
Cancel negative prophecies (ask for God’s mercy to avert them), but affirm positive prophecies (ask for God to bring them to pass). Do not reveal prophecies carelessly if they concern intimate matters.
When God told David through Nathan the prophet that he would build him a dynasty, David went into a long prayer concerning it, part of which is captured below.
“23. Therefore now, Lord, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. 24. Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee” – 1 Chronicles 17:23-24.
When God sent Jonah the prophet to pronounce judgment on the city of Nineveh, the people prayed and God annulled the judgment.
“4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” – Jonah 3:4-10
[bctt tweet=”Be sure your prayer to affirm or cancel a prophecy is as led by the Holy Spirit.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Continue to speak the prophecy back to God over time if it’s desirable and not for immediate effect. Declare it even when you’re not in prayer. Declare the cancellation of negative prophecies likewise.
We need to insert a caveat at this point on praying against ‘undesirable’ prophecies. A word may sound negative and our first impulse may be to say, “God forbid!” but we need to confirm what God is saying and pray in that wise. Paul the apostle received a negative prophecy from Agabus and others about his planned trip to Jerusalem but he didn’t pray against it or change his plans. He knew that his calling was to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus and thus spread the gospel far unto the Gentiles. So he didn’t shrink from the negative prophecy (Acts 21:10-15). Sometimes in running away from unpleasant stuff the Lord brings our way to strengthen and make us more fruitful, we complicate our lives and dry up spiritually. Here’s a better point to say, “God forbid!” if you ask me.
We should also be careful who we share our prophecies with. If God tells you something wonderful about your life and you broadcast it prematurely, you may attract avoidable envy and attacks as Joseph did in Genesis 37. Just praying without undue announcement is wisdom.
Furthermore, if we receive negative prophecy about brethren, we should pray against it, not use it against them. Our duty is to help them pray against every evil foretold against them, not avoid and ostracise them on that account, especially when they are faithfully following the Lord.
This is very important for those who conduct deliverance prayers. If a believer comes from an idolatrous background, the powers of their father’s house will be witnessing evil against them because they have renounced those powers to serve the living God. We need to stand with them and tell the devil that only the counsel of God will be performed in their lives, not abandon them because of the evil reports received from the spirit realm. The powers of darkness don’t give up easily but we have overcome them because He that is in us is greater than they (1 John 4:4).
Everyone who has surrendered his or her life to Christ is a new creature with all the rights of heavenly citizenship (2 Corinthians 5:17. None should be treated like second class citizens because of the powers speaking against them. The power of the Lord supersedes all.
[bctt tweet=”Don’t discriminate against faithful believers on the basis of prophecies or revelations.” username=”edithohaja1″]
“13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20. built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” – Ephesians 2:13, 19, 20.
“10. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 11. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.” – Jeremiah 10:10 & 11
4. Take practical steps (if needed) towards the fulfillment of the prophecy or averting it as applicable:
“8. The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He had a council meeting with his officers and said, ‘I will set up my camp in this place.’ 9. Elisha, the man of God, sent a message to the king of Israel, saying, ‘Be careful! Don’t pass that place, because the Arameans are going down there!’ 10. The king of Israel checked the place about which Elisha had warned him. Elisha warned him several times, so the king protected himself there.” (NCV)
If the King of Israel passed those places as usual, he would have fallen to the ambush laid by the Syrians but, alerted by the word of the prophet, he arrived fortified to the dismay of his enemies.
Some people make the mistake of stopping at prayer when they receive a prophecy without making the necessary moves to actualise it. If God says you will be going abroad, you should apply for an international passport if you don’t have one and for a visa to the country he’s sending you to (at the right time) if one is needed. God isn’t going to do those practical things for you. Prayer can bring provision and smoothen your way but you’ve got to get up and do the needful.
[bctt tweet=”Don’t stop at prayer when you get a prophecy. Take the practical steps that are necessary.” username=”edithohaja1″]
However, what you do should be prayerfully determined and handled with wisdom. If, for example, God assures you of provision through someone, while you could make contact with them, it is not advisable to tell them that God says they should give you so and so. For starters, they may feel you’re trying to fleece them under the guise of prophecy. Call or visit and bless the person in question if you’re led to and allow God to work out the details.
I wonder how the woman of Zarephath would have reacted if Elijah the prophet had hit her right away with the prophecy he got that she would feed him during the famine in their time. The prophet applied wisdom. He asked for a little water, then a cake and gave the prophecy as a response to the woman’s explanation of her lack. She more or less saw the prophecy as God’s intervention to save her family and believed (1 Kings 17:7-16).
Besides, the person mentioned in the prophecy may be unwilling to help you even though they know it’s God speaking. Allow them to sort themselves out and give freely if they wish. God has over 7 billion people on earth He can bless you through. Don’t act desperate and belittle yourself.
Whatever happens, don’t fight or threaten anyone because they
don’t believe you or act according to your prophecy. Many of the prophets of old were not believed either. Help people around and under you to grow in faith, they will not only begin to believe and obey your prophecies, they will start prophesying to you as well.
5. (For the spiritually mature) Warn against false prophecy and rebuke false prophets:
This can be done specifically or generally as the Lord leads you. Sometimes, the Lord burdens some of His servants with things that are wrong in His body or external influences that could corrupt and mislead His children. False prophecies and the activities of false prophets squarely fall in this sphere.
We should fight against the enemy and his minions’ attempts to blur the line between light and darkness, between God and the devil, through their work. We should also fight against straying ministers of God bringing a reproach to His name. But this should be done in line with the nature of God and His word, which is essentially love. We should not allow our warnings and rebuke to degenerate to disrespect and vulgar abuse. Our goal should be to restore erring believers and hopefully convert the servants of the devil.
[bctt tweet=”Don’t be rude in rebuking fellow believers or use that as a means to gain cheap popularity.” username=”edithohaja1″]
“9 and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it. 10 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. 11 They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck.” – Titus 1:9-11 (MSG)
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” – Ephesians 5:11
“3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Jude 1:3-4
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” – Galatians 6:1
“… Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” – 1 Corinthians 8:1
This is not something we should do lightly or use as a means to gain cheap popularity. It is something we should do after much prayer and by the leading of the Holy Ghost. It is not something a babe in Christ should undertake either unless he or she has been specifically anointed for this because:
a. New believers may not know enough of the Word of God or the workings of His Spirit to enable them identify and effectively refute false prophecy.
b. New believers may not be able to withstand attacks from the enemy if they arise from such a mission.
c. New believers may not know how to address the errors of fellow believers with such wisdom and discretion that their efforts do not do more harm than good to the Body of Christ.
[bctt tweet=”Know God personally. Do not not run your relationship with Him by proxy.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Conclusion:
In this series, we have seen that we need to know God personally and not run our relationship with Him by proxy. That will enable us to hear directly from Him for each of us is his/her own best prophet. In addition, we have learnt that prophecy is much more than predictions of the future and that it is not our duty as believers to chase prophecies. And what prophecy is and what it is not has been explained to us. We’ve also seen that not all prophecies are fake and we have been acquainted with some guides for distinguishing between true and false prophecies. In addition, we have gleaned the proper ways to respond to prophecy in this post.
I want to end this series by reminding us that God loves us and wants to direct our paths (Psalm 32:8). If we reciprocate His love and walk with Him, He would lead us like the shepherd leads his sheep. We would hear His voice and we would never be deceived by strangers (John 10:14, 2-5). More than that, we would be able to rescue fellow sheep who happen to lose their way.
Let it be so for each of us in Jesus’ name.
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The scriptures used in this post are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible except where otherwise stated.
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I would love to know if there’s anything you’re taking away from this post and do help me share it widely, if you will. You are richly blessed in Jesus’ name.
Used with permission. English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
Used with permission. Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Used with permission. New Century Version (NCV) The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used with permission. THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Wow, that’s wonderful. This post is spiritually edifying. More grace, Ma!
Glory to God and blessings to you, Iheanyi!
There is a lot of wisdom regarding prophecy here!! Thank you for sharing and for pointing everything back to God and His leading. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by, Becky! Abundant blessings on your family and ministry in Jesus’ name.
Rich words, ma. God bless you!
Thanks a lot and God bless you too, Sharon!
Lots of powerful wisdom here. Thank you for your heart to lead women closer to God and His truth for their lives …. ❤
I’m grateful to God for the opportunity, Donna! May God direct our paths always in Jesus’ name.
“Many of the prophets of old were not believed either.” I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that I was wrong because the person didn’t repent, even though God commanded me to give a specific word to them. People think that something has to be effective if God wanted it spoken, but over and over in Scripture, God’s prophets were rejected and killed and didn’t obey the prophet. I need to go back and read your whole series. It looks like you’ve used a lot of Scripture to support this much-needed topic.
Glad to hear from you, Susan. You’re right. Our part is to speak the words God has given us and pray. What happens subsequently is in God’s hands. I hope that through you and other brethren, more people will get to see the series. God bless you and your richly this year in Jesus’ name.
Well said, Ma!!
We should have a good relationship with God.. When such is achieved, dats wen God speaks to us directly which can come in form of dreams, visions, etc.
Correct. God bless you richly, Rita!
Well pointed out, Ma. Any prophecy that violates the word of God is definitely not from God. If it contradicts the ways of God, then it’s from a strange spirit and the Spirit of God that dwells in us will spot it. We should pray about prophecies. Cancel the negative and ask God to avert them but have the positive ones affirmed. So glad to read this post. It enlightened my understanding and admonished me on how to react to prophecies. Thanks and remain blessed, Ma.
Glad to hear that this post blessed you. More favour to you in the new year in Jesus’ name.
Well-done aunty Edith for this wonderful piece. May the good Lord continue to expand you in wisdom. May His word not be scarce in your life. Amen.
Thanks a lot for that prayer. I say a big ‘Amen’ to it. Remaliah blessed in Jesus’ name.
“Do not despise prophecy.” You are right ma but how I wish there are less false prophets and prophecies . Hmm, may God help us!
Thanks for this post ma’am.This has enlighten my wisdom on how to handle prophesy. Any prophesy that does not go in line with the words of God is a negative prophesy and should be condemed.All I pray is that there should be less of false prophesies because it only devour us.i pray God will direct us on how best we should react to prophesies.
Responding to a prophecy requires the grace of God and also the spirit of God which will direct us on how best to react to the prophecy.
Either to pray for it’s fulfilment (positive prophecy) or pray against it(negative prophecy).
That spirit will also help us to either believe what the prophecy is saying or not, this is because not all prophecies are geniune as so many false prophets are wandering looking for souls to devour. Therefore we need to be careful to avoid regrets.
The way false prophets spread now is really alarming……
Thanks alot ma for giving me a clue…….
Prophesy should go in line with the word of God not the other way round…
Thanks ma for this inspiring and eye opening post
We have to create a close relationship with God to be able to understand prophecies and know which one is Fake or real
I can vividly remember when a prophesy was given about me and it was exactly what was happening in my life,I couldn’t believe it but I was able to come to accept it that even though some prophets are not good at conveying their message from God,they still happen whether we believe it or not.
Brilliant post aunty. You have explained everything worth explaining and I can’t tell you how much this post has taught me about how to respond correctly to prophecies. One can’t be too careful these days seeing how numerous false prophets and prophesies are. Thanks aunty
This days people don’t know when a prophecy is true or not all because of fake prophet
Most of my friends when u talk to them about a prophecy or prophet , they wave it aside saying its fake ,but as children of God we ought to have the spirit of God in us to enable us tell between fake and true prophecy.
I’m going to share this guardlines with my friends at least for them to change the notion they have about prophecy .
Negative prophesies shouldn’t make us afraid. Rather, it should give us more zeal to pray to God to avert it. So also, any prophesy told in our favour shouldn’t make us lazy and feel that it would all work elegant that way. Every prophesy is a ground work for us to work towards averting it or making it happen as the case may be. You are blessed for this write-up MA.
May God give us grace to apply these principles(which he has led you to write) as we respond to prophecies. We must always present prophecies to God and seek his guidance. When we pray about the prophecies we get, we tend to know God’s stand about these prophecies and probably practical steps to take towards actualization. I especially value one of the points you mentioned which is secrecy(let’s not tell the whole world about what God intends to do for us). God’s direction and wisdom is what we pray for. Thank you for this series…
God’s word will always come to pass in the lives of his children. All that is required of us is to have an open mind and seek God’s face earnestly.
Well said ma, this reminds me of the bible verse where Paul advised Timothy to war a good fight concerning the prophecies spoken over him in 1 Timothy 1:18.
I believe God doesn’t only speak to our pastors and prophets, God also gives us the spirit of discernment to discern wrong and right prophecy, and it’s always nice to take prophecies serious, the least we could do is to pray on it.
In days like these where we have different religious institutions looking for offerings or better put FUNDS, it is difficult to discern the good from the bad, but in as much as we do not want to give money to fake men of God, we should be careful not to sin against God by slighting or speaking bad of the prophecies or the men of God
No 2 we should always pray to every prophesy we received , most people who are after prophesy don’t always have time to pray over such they only assmilate especially when the prophet says its from God, we should be able to dictate when God is talking to us and when something else is .which can only be achieved through prayer.
Bad things are bound to happen for us to glorify the goodness of the Lord in our lives. When we have a bad prophecy we should pray to God for guidance on how to handle it instead of loosing hope. we
Like the popular Igbo saying goes ” Mechanics don’t allow us to know mad people any longer”. Everything good product must be liable to imitation but the quality of these products(The good and bad) are determined within a test of time. I’m someone that don’t give a full heart to prophecies because I doubt a lot about its sources. Reading these points has shifted mind views and approaches to prophecies and I wish to practice what I learnt as soon as possible.
Ma thanks for giving us these powerful principle of responding to prophecy. We are lost prophecy everywhere, we don’t know who to believe again. May God give us the grace to apply these principles of responding to prophecy to avoid making mistakes.
That is why we need a discerning spirit. It will help us a lot in knowing prophecies that are of God and those that aren’t
Prophecy is a sensitive issue. This is why Christ warned us on many occasions to be careful and mindful of false prophets and teachers. The increasing number of Prophets in our society today is worrying. However, the fact that there are fake drugs does not change the fact that there good ones. I have learnt, from this post, how to appropriately react to prophecies.
Praying over a prophecy as noted in one your points made is very valid,it’s always good to pray about it, be it positive or negative and ask for God’s will to be done
Thank ma for the guidelines listed out here. Prophecy and prophets have always been a sensitive topic to discuss in the public. Most of the times even when we get these prophecy we do not know what to do with them. This post is definitely one need for direction for the young christian
Despising prophecy is the beginning of an unfulfilled prophecy. Prophecy is of God, it shouldn’t be despised.
Thank you ma for the right ways, it is quite helpful. The whole world should see this, it would help shape their mindset.
I am so sharing this
This is a very good guide to receiving prophesies. Christians are always torn between prophesies as sometimes they maybe contradicting. And if we are not careful, it will lead us out of God’s presence. May we not fall by the way IJN.
Wonderful piece ma. People need to see this in order to handle prophecy. Most people neglect prophecy and most people don’t know what to do when they get a prophecy. This is really great.
Thank you ma for this post, it has given me a clearer understanding and knowledge of how to respond to a prophetic message. Especially the aspect of praying when a prophetic message is given to me. Most times I would just doubt it and say: ‘If it’s true, then God will show the prophecy to me as well’ .. I really appreciate this post, and I’ll refrain from the attitude of doubting most prophecies , and spend more time praying over it, and evaluating as well.
thanks ma for the post up until now i actually didnt know how to respond to prophesies , ma may God bless you.
Ma are there other more ways
Prophecy is one difficult thing to understand. Sometimes they happen almost immediately after prophesied and sometimes you have to wait for ages. May God help us to wait and pray patiently
This is my best part of the gift of the spirit. Sometimes I just want to be watch and be fascinated as people go back in time or tell you about the future you’re scared of or my best part when they reveal secrets people wants to hide lol. God is indeed amazing
Before now, I don’t even know my stand on prophecy. But, I have taken a stand now, I have known how to welcome or rebuke it.
I thank God for my successful journey through this topic, and I thank God for you Ma’am who captained this great and worthwhile voyage. So far I can boast of greater knowledge on the issue of prophecy. Very important points listed above. May God continue to strengthen you Ma’am.
Thank you very much ma for the series, I was blessed with increased knowledge about prophesis and the right attitude to it.
Since when I was born I have never received any prophecy before but I strongly believe that this 5 response to a prophecy will work whenever I encounter one because it is from you ma.?
Quite simple, any prophecy that violates the word of God is definitely not from God. If it is not echoing towards the ways of God, then it’s from any abnormal spirit and the Spirit of God that dwells in us will identify it. We Cancel the negative prophecies and ask God to avert them but have the positive ones affirmed. This is really a spectacular post; it enlightened my understanding and admonished me on how to react to prophecies. Remain blessed, Ma.
There is a popular saying in my language that if a seer prophecises for u, u use ur hand to reprophecy for ur self. This proverb is actually pregnant with many meanings. This proverb could mean u Shud claim positive prophecies and rebuke negative ones. It can also mean the need to wisely scrutinize any prophecy be it negative or positive. Generally, every prophecy needs to be prayed about for God’s direction because prophecy has become one of the easiest way to manipulate people.
Prophecies are sometimes revealed in vision, trance or dreams concerning living entities. However this ways of responding to it is essential not to be thrown off balance as a result of bad choice or decision patterning prophecies.one which I would hold onto and never despise is prayer because it can unlock any barrier turn this around, I would never despise any prophecy I would pray earnestly about it.
As prophecies come and go,God plan for every devoted and fervent child is that an expected end awaits them.these five carefully sought out steps open an aural or plethoral of opportunities on insight about prophecies, how to know and follow them and how to stop fake prophet on a rampage.nice post ma.
praying earnestly and faithfully to every prophecy is key is any believer’s life.One should not despise or throw away or pay a deaf ear to any prophecy.this day prophecies are used the wrong way,fake pastor want to extort using this.one should be careful and prayerful in times like this.
Wow….
Amongst all your posts (the ones that talk about spirituality) this is the best…
In everything we should pray,we shouldn’t just get prophecy and relax..
Thanks ma for this eye opener
God is an omniscience creator before any prophecy is brought or revealed he has created a plan for us.it is left for us to follow every sign he has given us. all this steps and stages highlight great steps to follow uo any prophecy.God is love and the end is always favourable for his children.
You are right MA, and your idea here is educating. I have been asking myself the main purpose of prophecy, given the fact that most of time when you pray against it, that is in the case of negative prophecies, it will be averted. But I find out majorly from above scriptures that the main purpose of Prophecy is to prepare ones mind for actions. Is just like giving somebody the picture of what lies ahead, so they can either take appropriate action for or against, or even relax and receive the danger if they feel like. Once again, well-done ma.
In every prophecy there is an expected end. Praying about prophecy is a very good idea cause it will avert the negative prophecy into a positive prophecy.
Thank you ma for pointing out the ways to respond to prophecies and how to know which is fake and real because I once experienced it in the bus while travelling. A man was prophesying to everyone and I was thinking if to take him serious because there are many fake prophets that roam about that try to win people.
Praying over a prophecy is very important
This days people don’t know when a prophecy is true or not all because of fake prophet Most of my friends when u talk to them about a prophecy or prophet , they wave it aside saying its fake ,but as children of God we ought to have the spirit of God in us to enable us tell between fake and true prophecy. I’m going to share this guardlines with my friends at least for them to change the notion they have about prophecy
Prophecies could be false or truth and even if it falls into any of these cagegory we need the help of the holyspirit, the word of God and prayer to discern between the prophecy that is true or false and prayers to avert the false ones and prayers for the true ones to come to fruition.
Interesting! This post is an eye opener to us because there are many false prophets in this world who feed people with false prophecy. We still have Good ones but for us to identify them we need to be prayerful and I believe that once we pray over a prophecy given to us the holysprite will help us…
Am inspired, it is good that after we received prophecy, all we need to do is to pray over it and handover everything to God!
This reminds me of the Bible verse where Paul advised Timothy to war a good fight concerning the prophecies spoken over him in 1 Timothy 1:18.
Most people do not believe in prophecy even when its real they see it as fake.any prophecy that do not follow the principle of God is fake, that is why holy spirit is important
Most importantly, despise not any prophecy. Most persons nowadays being so sceptical tend to take all prophecy with a pinch of salt, but as this blog post ministers, though falsehood exists, despise none.
Well written MA.
Any prophecy or word that does not align with the the scriptures should be done away with.
If the Holy Spirit within you gives no witnessing to it whatsoever,then it should be rejected, God is not a gossip! We all have the Holy Spirit in us.
A prophecy is a message inspired by God, a divine revelation. The Bible says that prophets “spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit.” ( 2 Peter 1:20, 21 ) So a prophet is one who receives God’s message and transmits it to others.— Acts 3:18 . wonder how many of us know what to do when we receive a prophetic word.
In Thessalonians 1, the Apostle Paul gives the church some good advice on how to respond to prophetic words: 1) examine everything carefully; 2) hold fast to what is good; and 3) avoid every form of evil. This instruction wasn’t just for the first century Christians; it’s an injunction for today.
Committing to this three-fold process will ensure we receive what is from God and avoid what is not from God. By examining a prophetic word, we’re not judging the person who gave it, or doubting the veracity of the word, but instead we’re obeying God’s ordained process as revealed in Scripture.
The word is always the guide, the yardstick, the scale for anything.
If the prophecy you’ve received does not align with the scriptures or your inward witness, as influenced by the Holy Spirit you have in you, it should be discarded.
Whatever is prophecied that can not be validated by the word of God and the witnessing of the Holy Spirit is not to be adhered to. I love this teaching on prophecy, it is enriching.
Informative one ma. The 5 ways oulined here, are indeed applicable when one gets a prophecy. I am glad that while growing up, I didn’t violate the 1 that says we should not use a bad prophecy about someone against the person.
This post was really of great help to me on how I should respond to prophecy, thank God for using you ma, I got to know that apart from praying sometimes there is a need to take practical steps even as the spirit of God in us leads
Thanks ma, there are lots of wisdom embedded in this post. We should have a good relationship with God so that he can be able to speak to us directly. Also we should not disgard all prophecies rather we should pray about them.
Trying to decode what plan God has in store for us on our own all the time can sometimes be difficult, individuals may be bestowed with the privilege to minister to us. In all, we should listen to them but with the scripture as the yardstick. God bless you ma
We must always present prophecies to God and seek his guidance. When we pray about the prophecies we get, we tend to know God’s stand about these prophecies and probably practical steps to take towards actualization. I especially value one of the points you mentioned which is secrecy(let’s not tell the whole world about what God intends to do for us). God’s direction and wisdom is what we pray for. The Spirit of God that dwells in us will spot it. We should pray about prophecies. Cancel the negative and ask God to avert them but have the positive ones affirmed.
With the rampant false prophets, there are still true prophets who say the mind of God. All we need do is to have an intimate relationship with God have a good relationship with God.
I read one of the series” You are your best prophet” and I learned alot too from it…
I discovered something, you employed lots of Scripture to support this topic.
These five ways to respond to prophecies are key. But my best part here is Judge every prophesy by the word of God, the Word of GOD, HMMM, be careful not to just receive a word from a so called prophet without evaluating it with what God’s word says.
This is definitely an eye opener. A lot of us especially youngsters don’t really know how to react when we get a prophecy because we have heard a lot of stories on false prophets and prophecies that try to tell us things we don’t what to hear to extort money from us or tell us what we want to hear after collecting money from us. We also need to know we can pray over our own prophecies but we need to have an intimate relationship with God.
All this ways are truly handy in living strongly in our society today.one important way I know is praying hard whether it is a good or bad prophecy, even dreams too.we apply same strategies. We should not despise any revelation in any form.we should seek counsel sometimes but God remains the greatest succour for thing like this.
I heard a man ofGod say once that your spirit has to accept a prophesy before you know its from God. I think we should also confirm with his word, because everything is contained in the word. Insightful one, ma.
Thanks for this post Ma, Truely we ought to be careful of the prophecy we accept .know your bible and Seek God’s face