At the beginning of this series we identified 5 links in the process of prophecy:

1. We receive a revelation from the Holy Spirit

2. We assess the revelation and how to best communicate it in a prophetic message

3. We then deliver the prophecy to the person or group God is speaking to

4. The recipient(s) of the prophecy assess the message

5. The recipient(s) of the prophecy respond to the prophecy.

In the last two posts we have discussed how to receive a prophetic revelation, as well as how to assess its meaning and determine whether or not it is from the Holy Spirit.

At this stage, you believe you have received a message from God for a person, group or church that you have been praying for. It is time to deliver the prophecy God has given you.

For the purposes of this discussion, I am going to assume that you are delivering the prophecy using words, whether spoken, written or in song.

During delivery, you are framing your revelation from God (picture, word, scripture, impression, or feeling) with words

There are two ways that you can do this:

• Describe the revelation
• Unfold the revelation

1. Describe the Revelation

Describing the revelation is sharing the impression as you receive it, without elaboration. You may choose to simply describe the picture or vision, pass on the word or impression, or share the Bible verse or story that has come to mind.

The advantages of sharing a prophetic revelation just as you received it are:

• It is easier when you are beginning in prophecy
• The revelation runs less danger of being tainted by your own opinion about what it means
• The revelation may have special significance for the person that you are unaware of
• It aids the recipient in remembering the prophecy, especially if the revelation was a picture, verse or Bible story.

Simply describing a revelation also has limitations:

• The person may not have the Biblical knowledge to understand any symbolism in your revelation
• There may be more insight about the revelation that you have received, or could receive, but are not sharing
• This method does not require a high level of faith
• If you always use this method, you will limit your growth in the gift of prophecy.

2. Unfolding the Revelation

Another way you can share a revelation is to use the impression you received to launch into a more detailed prophecy.

When you unfold a revelation, you are bringing an interpretation of the revelation, and enlarging upon it, as the Holy Spirit illuminates it to you. By faith, you are also allowing the Spirit to direct the flow of your expression.

As you grow in prophetic ministry, you will find more revelation comes to mind as you are prophesying, enabling you to share an extended prophecy. You are assessing the new revelation during the process of prophesying.

The advantages of this kind of prophetic ministry are:

• It enables the recipient to receive a greater clarification of the prophetic word
• The impact and impartation of the prophecy increases due to the higher level of faith and boldness required to deliver this kind of prophetic message
• It suits maturing prophetic ministry.

Some cautions about unfolding revelation in this way are:

• At this stage, if not careful, you are prone to filter God’s word with your own ideas, judgements, history and experience (especially if the recipient of the prophecy is known to you)
• If you step into this kind of prophecy when you are not ready, the prophecy can go awry!

I believe that it is usually best—if you feel confident enough to do so—to both describe and unfold the revelation you have received. For example, you may say, ‘I had a picture of… and I believe the Lord is saying…’

This way, the recipient receives the benefits of both the initial revelation and the extension of the prophecy.

I have seen mature prophets deliver prophecies in this way that have had a high impact on the recipient.

When beginning in prophecy it is best to start with simple sharing and work up to stronger prophecy as you grow in experience and wisdom, taking small steps forward at a time. This is where growing your prophetic gift in the safe community of a church is valuable.

Some Other Thoughts About Delivering a Prophecy:

It is vital that we use wisdom as to the means, context, place, manner, and timing of delivering a prophecy. I’ve often heard it said that the church carpark is the wrong place to bring a prophecy!

• Verbalising a prophecy is only one way in which it can be delivered. Other ways you can share a prophecy include in writing, through prophetic song, prophetic art, multi-media and through symbolic action. Ensure that you are gifted in the media that you decide to use!
• Deliver the word clearly. If the message is delivered in an unclear or ambiguous manner, it will obscure its meaning. Also remember that what is clear to you may not be clear to someone else and that you may need to adapt your approach at times;
• Delivery also involves how you bring the message. It includes your style, the tone of your voice and your attitude as you give it (if you write a prophecy, this includes your writing style).Your attitude and manner of speech should reflect the heart of God towards the recipient;
• Be sure to share the prophecy in a way that gives them room to weigh up whether the message is from God, and receive or release the word

In the next post, I will be discussing two very important aspects of delivering a prophecy that creates a safe environment for both giver and receiver.

****************************************************************************************

Would you like to develop your prophetic gift?

Enter your email address in the subscribe box at the right hand side of this page to receive:

• regular blogs and teaching to help you grow in your gift of prophecy
• notifications about online prophetic training opportunities
• news of resources to help develop your prophetic gift

Check here for online prophetic training opportunities in 2010

****************************************************************************************

See also:

How to Exercise Your Prophetic Gift Pt 3: How Can You Tell Your Revelaton Is From God

How to Develop Your Prophetic Gift Pt 1: Where to Begin

How To Share A Prophecy With Someone Who Is Not A Christian

© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing

A prophecy is a message from God, brought through a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-18) The spiritual gift of prophecy is a special ability given to some Spirit-filled Christians to receive and share a message from God that will bring people closer to Jesus and help move them towards His future purpose for them. Prophecy is one of the gifts God uses to help build and grow the church (1 Cor 14:4).

So—if you suspect that you may have a prophetic gift, but are not sure, what are some signs that will help you identify it and move forward? You may not identify with all of the following points, but if you do have a prophetic gift, you will recognise many of them in your life:

1. Desire to Help People Through Prophecy (1 Cor 14:3)

• You have a desire for God to use you to bring a message from Him that will encourage your leaders or church
• If a person is in trouble, needs guidance, or to connect with God, you find yourself wanting to pass on an encouraging message from God

2. You Pray in a Prophetic Way

• After praying for people, they comment that you ‘prayed the right thing,’ or they ask, ‘How did you know that?’
• When praying for a person, group, geographical area, or for your church, you sense that the Holy Spirit is directing your prayers about God’s purpose for the situation.
• You seem to know what Bible verses apply to a situation that you are praying for; symbolic pictures or words may come to mind when you pray.

2. Attraction To Prophetic Ministry (1 Cor 14:1)

• You have a keen interest in prophetic ministry
• You are attracted to prayer meetings or any meetings where prophetic gifts are being used and find yourself drawn to prophetic people.
• You may feel that you have a call from God to prophetic ministry but sometimes experience doubts.

3. Motivation to Learn How to Prophesy (2 Tim 1:6)

• You are motivated to learn about how to use the prophetic gift or further your understanding of personal prophecy.
• You may already be actively seeking out teaching or training through reading books, attending training sessions or learning from people who are experienced in prophecy
• You are reading this blog!

4. Other Signs… That may Indicate you Have a Prophetic Gift

• You may get discouraged when things you believe God has promised don’t come to pass as quickly as you would like
• You may have an affinity with symbolic pictures, stories or actions
• You may have had unusual or supernatural experiences that point you to having a prophetic gift—however note this is not a prerequisite
• You may have a keen sense of justice—however, remember that human personality is not an indicator of whether a person has a prophetic gift from the Holy Spirit.

If you do recognise any of the above signs and would like to grow in your prophetic gift, here are some ideas to help you:

• Find a healthy Christian church where prophetic ministry is encouraged, and where you can grow in your gifts
• Focus on developing your general Bible knowledge; resist the temptation to take verses or Bible stories out of context
• Learn the principles of hearing God’s voice and how to filter out what is not of God
• Practice hearing messages from God to yourself and others in your own times of prayer. Use a journal to keep track of and check what you believe God is saying to you.
• Ask for feedback when you bring a prophetic message and be open to both encouragement and correction
• Choose your mentors carefully. Looks for people who are enthusiastic and supportive members of a church where they are accountable to church leadership
• Find good sources of training and teaching to help you grow in understanding and using the gift of prophecy

*********************************

Related Posts:

‘How To Develop Your Prophetic Gift’

Understanding How Prophetic Ministry Works in the Church Today

Find out about opportunities for online prophetic training in 2010 here.

© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing

Has this ever happened to you?

A couple of weeks ago I was called out during a church meeting and given a personal prophecy—a message from God—by a visiting team from another church. A person who did not know me spoke accurately of my gifts, passion, and future direction. I have since been given an MP3 of the word as well as the typed prophecy.

Receiving a prophecy can be a powerful moment—a reminder that God knows you intimately, cares for you personally and has a mind-blowing purpose for your life. Maybe someone has paused whilst praying for you and given you a word from God, or written an encouraging Bible verse on a card that spoke of great things to come in your life.

It is a trait of prophetic people in particular to collect prophetic words. I have a journal in my drawer overflowing with messages from God for my family and for me. Some of them are years old and have already been fulfilled, some speak of great things yet to come in our lives, others are… well, a mystery.

If you have received but not recorded a personal prophecy in the past, you may have what was said in mind (Luke 2:19). I recommend writing it out, or at least making a note in your journal.

Whether fulfilled or unfulfilled, a personal prophecy can be of a great encouragement to you. Here are 4 things you can do with it:

1. Review your prophecy

Retain encouraging prophecies and review them regularly (Hab 2:2-3). Prophecies that have already come to pass are a reminder of God’s faithfulness. Prophecies that speak of your future can encourage you and strengthen your sense of purpose.

2. Pray about your prophecy

Praying about a prophecy will help you determine whether it is really from God—you will have a sense of peace and confirmation about a true word, even when the thought of it coming to pass is overwhelming!
Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done (Matt 6:10), so it is good to pray for the fulfillment of your prophecy, not just sit back and wait for it to happen.

3. Share your prophecy

Talk to your close friends and leaders—the people who share your spiritual journey—about the prophecy, along with the hopes and dreams you have in relation to it. They will support you, dream with you and pray with you. They will encourage you and help keep you accountable to God’s plans for your life in the tough times.
Be careful not to share your word with someone who will pull you down, or be disbelieving or negative about it (Matt 7:6)

4. Wage spiritual warfare with your prophecy (see 1 Tim 1:18)

Sometimes, before a prophecy is fulfilled, it seems as though the very opposite of what the Lord said is taking place in our lives. The great heroes of the Bible had this experience (check out Abraham, Joseph, David).
Sometimes the enemy can try and steal away the word God has given us (Matt 13:4).
A great thing to do is to anchor your prophecy to scripture and pray and declare God’s truth about your life. This will build your faith and counteract discouragement.

Remember that God is sovereign—no one except we ourselves can stand in the way of a true word from God coming to pass. A prophecy can be a great reminder to keep our response to difficult people and events healthy, letting go of past hurts, as well as to hold our course in the face of opposition.

Some don’ts about personal prophecy:

• It’s OK to desire a prophetic word, but it is not healthy to chase after personal prophecy. We need to pursue God, and use the Bible as our main source of guidance and direction
• Don’t swallow any prophecy whole without carefully considering it against what the Bible says, the nature of God, and whether it sits right with you (1 Thess 5:19-21)
• Don’t change direction quickly in response to a prophecy. A prophetic word should bring confirmation. Remember also that a prophecy can relate to a time in the distant future. If you are considering a change of direction in response to a prophecy, I recommend that you take time to pray and consider it, as well as talk to a church leader and people who know you well about it (Prov 11:14)

Now, I think I will go dust off that journal…

****************************************************************************************

Would you like to develop your prophetic gift?

Enter your email address in the subscribe box at the right hand side of this page to receive:

• regular blogs and teaching to help you grow in your gift of prophecy
• notifications about online prophetic training opportunities
• news of resources to help develop your prophetic gift

Check here for online prophetic training opportunities in 2010

****************************************************************************************

Related Posts:

How to Know a Personal Prophecy or Dream Interpretation is From God

Is It Time to Birth Your Prophetic Word In Prayer?

© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing

There is an old song that goes, ‘Nobody loves me… I’m going to the garden to eat worms…’ My friend Junette has a compost barrel in her garden and inside under the lid is teaming with juicy, wriggling worms, hundreds of them—eeuuw! Eating worms has become something of a metaphor for having a bad day. A message that says, ‘Need worms, quick!’ is code for, ‘I’m having a bad day—need sympathy and prayer!’ On a really bad day, it’s ‘Give me the barrel!’ But what if you are not only having a 1-barrel-of-worms day, but a whole 10-barrel month, or even a 100-barrel year?

I am working on a chapter in my new book on ‘The Testing Season’—or should I say, the chapter is working on me? (It couldn’t get worse than the week a few years back when I was working on a chapter on pride!) At any rate, this whole business of experiencing testing, or wilderness seasons in the growth of our prophetic gifts is pretty relevant, and actually there is GOOD news too, so I thought I’d share some of it with you.

Signs that you may be experiencing a wilderness season in relation to your spiritual gift:

• Feeling that you have been shut down in your God-given abilities. You wonder where your gift has gone and what God is doing

• You may have voluntarily or involuntarily released ministry responsibility to do with your gift and feel displaced as a result

• You long for the honeymoon period when you first discovered your spiritual gift and think of it as ‘the good old days’

• You may have made mistakes and wonder whether you will ever recover

• You experience doubts about your ability and wonder if God really called you

• You find yourself going through character-testing circumstances and coming up short on the character side

• You wonder whether the prophecies once made about you will ever be fulfilled

• You feel as though you are being criticised, blocked or resisted

• You feel battle-worn and weary

• You feel displaced, separated or hidden in relation to your gift and ministry

• The opposite of God’s call and the destiny you believed for seems to be happening to you.

If you can identify with any of these things, there is some very good news for you—there is a REASON for this SEASON and it all has to do with you, God, and fruitfulness! We’ll have a look into this some more in the next few days.

Do you identify with any of the above points now, or have you in the past? I’d love to hear from you, and so would others—leave a comment for me.

In the meantime, I’m going to fast worms and try thanksgiving and praise instead…

The information in this post is excerpted from the e-book, ‘Grow Your Prophetic and Prayer Gifts.’ If this post has ministered to you and you would like further help in the development of your prophetic gifts, click here to review the book.

****************************************************************************************

Would you like to develop your prophetic gift?

Enter your email address in the subscribe box at the right hand side of this page to receive:

• regular blogs and teaching to help you grow in your gift of prophecy
• notifications about online prophetic training opportunities
• news of resources to help develop your prophetic gift

Check here for online prophetic training opportunities in 2010

****************************************************************************************

See also Prophetic People in Testing Times: The Reason For The Season

© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing