The Consecration of the Prophet, Priest and King
Part 1 – the Anointing and Consecration of the Prophet
And
from Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, and
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen. Rev 1:5-6
Follow
after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in
an unknown tongue
speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit
he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation,
and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth
edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye
prophesied: for greater is
he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret,
that the church may receive edifying.
1Co 14:1-5
God has designed each and every Believer to be a king
and a priest before Him to the nations. In addition, we are all called to
prophesy in His name. So, in some form at least, we are all called as kings,
priests, and prophets. It may not be that we are all called to operate in the office
of prophet, but we are all called to at least operate in a portion of the
gifting of the prophet at some time or another, as God chooses.
So what does it mean to be a king and a priest before
the Lord? What does it mean to be a prophet? How does one become a king, priest
or prophet? What are the responsibilities of these callings? Are we fulfilling
them? How does a Believer become active in the ministries of king, priest and
prophet? What is required to be anointed and consecrated for these ministries?
We will answer all these questions and more as we study this subject together.
The Anointing of the Prophet
Also
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for
us? Then said I, Here am
I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the
cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land
be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking
in the midst of the land. Isa 6:8-12
Before
I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and
I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold,
I cannot speak: for I am
a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I
shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid
of their faces: for I am
with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand,
and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in
thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to
build, and to plant.
Jer 1:5-10
The first thing that we must understand about the
calling of the prophet is that there is more than one type of prophet. First,
there is the Office Prophet, or five-fold ministry prophet. The Office Prophet
is always operating in the prophet’s gifting. It doesn’t matter where they are
or what they are doing, the gifting of the Prophet will always be upon them.
Usually, the Office Prophet is a person that is called
to be a prophet from before their birth. Even though they may never claim the
full mantle or crown of the office, that doesn’t change the fact that they have
been called to be office prophets. We see many such individuals living in the
world, never having come to Christ. Some of them become very talented sales
people, and always seem to be able to “read” those that they are speaking to.
This gives them quite an advantage in the world of sales. Others become fortune
tellers, actually false prophets that operate through the spirit of the enemy.
In order to be a false prophet, the calling and gifting of the real prophet
must be there.
Others still become false prophets that enter into the
Body of Christ and are mistaken as real office prophets. They are hard to
distinguish by anyone that is not a genuine prophet or apostle, operating in
their calling as God leads.
Then there is another kind of prophet. This is the
occasional prophet. The occasional prophet is not born being gifted as an
office prophet. They operate occasionally in the gift of prophecy through the
nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. This type of operation is not “always on” like
an office prophet, and these individuals may go months or years between
prophetic utterances.
There is a special reward that is given to faithful
occasional prophets. If they are faithful to use what the Lord has given them
in the area of their prophetic gifts, He will give them more. Eventually, they
may, in fact, become office prophets if they continue to be faithful. While
this is rare, it does happen.
There are a couple of traits that all prophets have in
common. First, the prophet must be called to be a prophet by the Lord Himself.
This is not a position that one can earn through promotion in the Church. It is
not a position which one can aspire to through hard work and long hours of
study. Either you are called to be a prophet or you are not.
The second requirement of any type of prophet is that
they must respond willingly to the calling. A prophet that is unwilling to be a
prophet will find themselves walking out of God’s will time and again. However,
if they are completely unwilling to become what God has ordained them to be,
God will respect their wishes. That means a life time of walking in a
dysfunctional lifestyle because they are not fulfilling their purpose, but that
choice is theirs to make.
We must also understand that it is God Himself that
decides when and where a prophet will be ordained and sent forth. Other
prophets may train a young prophet, but it is God Himself that decides when a
young prophet is to be sent forth and used.
And
Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of
Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to
be prophet in thy room. 1Ki 19:16
And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Eph
4:11-12
There are several qualities by which we may identify a
genuine prophet of the Lord. God is very specific about what a prophet’s
ministry must accomplish in order to be valid in His eyes.
One factor by which we may identify a prophet of the
Lord is that they are always at work reproducing their ministry in others. They
will nearly always train the man or woman that is to be their replacement when
they go home to be with the Lord, but it is more than that. They must spend the
life of their ministry training and bringing up other ministers, most of them
prophets.
While many prophets are also called as pastors,
teachers, etc., and may reproduce pastors and teachers, any genuine prophet
will reproduce more prophets than any other type of minister. That is one of
the reasons that God gave prophets to the Body; to equip and train other
prophets for the work of the ministry. Any genuine prophet which is not doing
so is not fulfilling their purpose, and is walking a dysfunctional lifestyle
before the Lord.
Also, any person that claims to be a prophet will be
obedient to the Lord in all things. More than any other class of minister,
prophets must take responsibility for what they hear from the Lord. The message
must be delivered in the timing the Lord gives, and the way He wants it given.
The book of Jonah is all about God teaching a prophet how to be obedient.
Don’t misunderstand me. We all have areas where we
struggle with our flesh. We all have areas of disobedience in our lives. Even
seasoned prophets have these areas. However, when it comes to the messages they
deliver, a genuine, seasoned prophet will do whatever the Lord tells them to
do. As a result, they may look pretty ridiculous from time to time, because the
Spirit of the Lord may have them do some things which look pretty silly to the
natural eye.
When a
prophet starts to do something that we do not understand, we need to just get
out of their way and let them do whatever the Lord is telling them to do. Even
if we don’t understand what they are doing, or why they are doing it, we need
to have enough faith in the Spirit of the Lord within them to get out of their
way and let them do whatever it is they are doing. There are many times when
the Lord will have a prophet do things that have a special significance in the
Spirit, but are not easy to understand with the eyes of the flesh. Regardless,
we need to let them operate as the Lord has instructed them.
And
he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in
that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed
Baalim. Now therefore send, and
gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four
hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at
Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the
prophets together unto mount Carmel. And Elijah came unto all the people, and
said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if
Baal, then follow
him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people,
I, even I only,
remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them
therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves,
and cut it in pieces, and lay it
on wood, and put no fire under:
and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on
the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And
all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the
prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the
name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they
dressed it, and
called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear
us. But there was no
voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for
he is a god; either
he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he
sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after
their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And
it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of
the evening
sacrifice, that there was
neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto
all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And
he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according
to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the
LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an
altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great
as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut
the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and
pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And
they did it the
third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench
also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet
came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known
this day that thou art
God in Israel, and that
I am thy servant,
and that I have done
all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may
know that thou art
the LORD God, and that
thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and
consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and
licked up the water that was
in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. And Elijah
said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they
took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them
there. 1Ki 18:18-40
Another trait of any every genuine prophet is that they are
called to warfare. Always. While every Believer practices warfare on some
level, it is the prophets and apostles that are called to warfare on a large
scale. With prophets, especially, the call to warfare is such a large part of
their ministry that many tend to be loners because a large part of the Body of
Christ is afraid of their gifting and the kind of warfare they engage in. As a
result, many tend to shy away from the prophet due to the fear that God is
going to reveal some awful secret to them, or because they are afraid of the
level of warfare the prophet engages in.
First of all, let me say, as a
prophet, God did not design me to be a loner, separate from the Body of Christ.
But because others fear what I may be hearing from the Lord, I tend to spend
most of my time alone. It is not my desire to do so, but other Christians are
afraid of me. So I tend to affiliate with a very small group of friends that
know better.
I want to say, here, that God is
not going to “clean out your trunk” in a public setting so as to embarrass you.
Even if He does reveal private things
about you to me, He would never allow me to repeat those things in such a way
as to humiliate you in public. That is not the nature of the God I serve, and
to think that He would operate that way is ridiculous.
Second, it is not my heart to see
anyone humiliated. It is my heart to see people set free. If a person that
claims to be a prophet is humiliating people in public, they either need
training, or they need to be shown the door because they are not a genuine
prophet. Generally speaking, only prophets or apostles will be able to make the
distinction. Regardless, a “prophet” that is ministering by calling people on
the carpet in a public setting needs to be stopped before they hurt someone.
The warfare calling of the prophet
is unique amongst all other ministers. While we are all engaged in spiritual
warfare on some level, the prophet’s entire ministry will be a ministry of
warfare. And prophets tend to specialize, just like commandos.
For instance, just like Elijah,
many prophets tend to specialize in warfare against witchcraft. As a result,
the Lord will place them in direct confrontation with Jezebel, Ba’al, Python,
etc. on a regular basis.
Because many in the Body of
Christ are scared to death of the realm of the demonic, they tend to shy away
from such ministers. It’s like they believe that if they get too close, that
one of the demons that the prophet is engaged against will jump on them, or something.
It has never been my experience that this happens. Once a prophet is engaged
against something in warfare, the battle is his and those that choose to come
to his side to assist him. I’ve never seen someone get jumped by a demon just
for being too close to a prophet.
Then we have the other extreme
that I’ve seen in the Body: those that chase prophets, always wanting to hear
from the Lord. I’ve encountered many of these in time in ministry. While there
is nothing wrong with wanting or needing to hear from the Lord about a
particular situation, it becomes wrong when we begin to worship prophets. These
individuals tend to become disillusioned with the minister when the message
they are given is not the one they wanted to hear. They will generally be the
first ones to start screaming “false prophet” when they dislike what they hear.
What these individuals need to understand
is that God speaks to us in many ways, not just through prophets. He will speak
directly to us in our spirits. He will speak to us through the Word, or even
through another Believer. Whenever we do
hear from a prophet, it should just be confirmation of something we’ve heard
before. If it is not, then we need to set it on a shelf until we get
confirmation. Don’t get married to a perfect stranger and move to Zimbabwe
because a prophet tells you to do so unless you are sure it is the will of God
and has been confirmed as such!
And
Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those
days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And
the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it
be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is
written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All
this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto
me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all
shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get
thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set
him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash
thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And
when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out
a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their
synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath
day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the
prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it
was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And
he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Luk
4:1-20
Another trait of the genuine
prophet is that they will always have to defeat a demonic force to pick up
their full ministry. Elijah had to defeat Ba’al. Jesus had to defeat satan,
himself. Prophets are God’s warriors against the demonic, and there will always
be a test to see if they are truly ready to walk in their office. While a
prophet will begin ministering prophetically before claiming their full mantle
for ministry, it is only after this test that they will truly walk in the fullness
of the power of their office.
While this is a controversial
doctrine, it bears witness in the Word and in the experience of the young
prophets I have seen raised up. It certainly bears witness in my own life.
And
Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of
Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to
be prophet in thy room. 1Ki 19:16
In the Old Testament time period,
Israel had schools for prophets. It mentions the students of these schools
numerous times, and calls the pupils “sons of the prophets” (1 Kings 20:35; 2
Kings 4:1, 38, 9:1, etc.). This was a common practice for nations in this time,
and even Daniel was schooled in the Chaldean’s school for prophets when he was
taken captive into Babylon (Dan. 1:4).
Today, there are very few schools
for prophets that are operated by the Body of Christ. In fact, I haven’t seen
any in operation that I would truly consider a school of the prophets. I know
that there must be a few out there, but I haven’t seen them in action.
One thing that God designed
prophets to do is to reproduce their ministry in others. This means
establishing a mentoring relationship with young prophets, pouring your life
into them until they are ready to branch out into their own ministry. It is a
life-long commitment, and should not be undertaken without the leading of the
Holy Spirit.
One joy of becoming a mentor to a
young prophet, is the mentoring process, itself. It is a blessing to be used as
a spiritual father or mother to a young prophet. It can also be extremely
frustrating, as well. This is because all prophets seem to share certain
personality traits. One of these is stubbornness.
In a father-son relationship
between an elder prophet and a young prophet, it is generally the mentor that
will be given the joy of anointing the student for ministry. This is the day of
graduation, when the young prophet is sent forth into their own ministry. This
is not the end of the relationship, but a substantial change in the dynamics of
the relationship.
And
the sons of the prophets that were
at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD
will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath
sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to
Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou
that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered,
Yea, I know it; hold
ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD
hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and
they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the
waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on
dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said
unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.
And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not,
it shall not be so.
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot
of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up
by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel,
and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own
clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that
fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the
mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah?
and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and
Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho
saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to
meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 2Ki 2:3-15
Another privilege that the Lord
grants a spiritual father, is that of handing down their mantle, or portions of
it, to their spiritual children. When we do so under the leading of the Holy
Spirit, we have the privilege of seeing a double portion of our gifting for
ministry manifest in the life and ministry of our spiritual son. As a result,
we are honored by having the opportunity to see everything we have poured into
the life of that person manifest in such a way that their ministry will be bigger
and go further than ours did. That is the greatest honor a spiritual father can
be given. Knowing that our spiritual children will benefit from the battles we
have fought and the lessons we have learned. As a result of the relationship,
their ministry will jump over hurdles that proved to be barriers for us, and
their accomplishments for the kingdom of God will be much greater as a result.
When
we are not raising up spiritual children and handing down our mantle, we are
taking everything that God has poured into us to our grave with us. What a
waste! If every disciple of Christ since He ascended had been raising up
spiritual children and handing down their mantle, imagine what a different
place the earth would be now. The devil wouldn’t have any place he could hide,
because we’d all be walking in the full power of the kingdom!
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. Joh 14:26
When mentors aren’t available for young
prophets, the Spirit of the Lord will train them up. However, they lose the
benefit of having a godly man or woman to speak into their life, and they never
receive the benefit of having a mantle handed down to them.
As a prophet that was raised up
this way, I can tell you that it is a difficult road to walk. It is difficult
enough to become fluent in the prophetic. Without having that umbrella of an
elder prophet to seek shelter under, it is just that much more difficult. And
that is not the way that God designed it to work.
The fact that there are so many
young prophets that are being brought up without spiritual fathers or mothers
is just another indication that the Body of Christ is not doing its job. We
lose many young prophets to the enemy because of this. They get off into some weird
stuff because they don’t have anyone to help them discern between the voice of
the Lord and the voice of the enemy. It is sad to know that this is happening
time and again all over the world, and we are not even trying to put a stop to
it!
The Spirit of the Lord teaches
mentored prophets just as much as unmentored prophets, but the unmentored prophets
lose that human connection in their ministry. Some of them never are able to
find it again, and become full fledged false prophets just because of a lack of
training.
And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth
in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:11-15
The truth is that we are responsible for
the training up of young ministers in the Body. God gave us that responsibility
when He gave us the five-fold ministry. To say that we do not need to do so
because the Spirit of the Lord will teach us all things is just another example
of how lazy and uncaring the Body of Christ has become. Jesus did not depend on
the Spirit of the Lord to raise up twelve disciples. He poured His life into
them. Foe us to be doing anything different is sin.
In short, if a young prophet, or
any other minister, is not being mentored by an elder minister, someone has
dropped the ball, somewhere.
For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may
learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to
the prophets. 1Co 14:31-32
For a young prophet to be
mentored, they must be willing to bring themselves under subjection to an elder
minister. Prophets tend to be strong-willed, so there are many times that this
is the reason that a young prophet is not being mentored by someone.
The
elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither
as being lords over God's
heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you.
To him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1Pe 5:1-11
Just as an elder prophet must be
willing to be a mentor, a young prophet must be willing to submit to being
mentored. And that means that they may
have to accept hearing from another man that the voice they have heard was not
the voice of God.
Without the mentoring process, a
young prophet will find the training process to be very difficult. If they are
unwilling to submit to the elder prophet that God has placed in their life as a
mentor, they will find that before anything else, they will have to conquer
their pride. This is one more additional battle that can take young ministers
years to get past.
Without the mentoring of an elder
prophet, a young prophet will find the going to be very difficult, and they are
bound to get into some bad places. Without the covering of an elder minister,
they will be seriously hindered in their struggle to discern between the voice
of the Lord, the voice of the flesh, and the voice of the enemy. It is unfortunate,
but if a prophet can hear the voice of God, they can hear any voice from the
realm of the Spirit.
Because of the prophetic
personality type, they may also be seriously hampered in their struggle to
understand grace. It is not unusual for an unmentored prophet to bring
condemnation upon everyone they “minister” to. The personality of the prophet
is one that sees everything in black and white, and grace can be a difficult
concept for them to understand.
Most untrained young prophets
will act like Old Testament prophets, because they have a misunderstanding of
how the New Testament prophet is to minister through grace. They will not
understand that the purpose of judgment is to bring repentance, not to inflict
shame and guilt. They will also tend to “call people on the carpet”, believing
that just because they have heard something, or just because they believe
something to be true, that makes it truth.
It is through the mentoring
process that young prophets learn to distinguish all the other voices from the
voice of God. As they learn to discern, they also learn about grace.
Unfortunately, most untrained young prophets will lack the discipline to
restrain their mouths to speaking only that which edifies, exhorts, or brings
comfort.
That
is the key to a well-trained, seasoned prophetic ministry. It is the
understanding that just because you are hearing something does not mean that it
should be blurted out. God restricts Himself to speaking that which exhorts,
edifies and comforts. As His messengers, we are to do the same.
But
he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1Co 14:3
And
I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy
fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship
God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10
If prophecy is the testimony of
Jesus Christ, then it only makes sense that it would be expressed through His
personality, the personality of love and grace. Prophecy will not be used to embarrass
people. It is not used to publicly humiliate people. It is used only to exhort,
edify, and comfort.
We serve a God of love. Because genuine
prophecy comes straight from the mouth of God, it will always come across
lovingly, even when it is used to bring correction and repentance. Always.
I hope this article helps to
clear up some misconceptions about the prophet. Please be on the look-out for
the next article in this series: The Anointing and Consecration of the King.
