Prophets pray. Prayer is the lifeblood of prophetic ministry. Where there’s no prayer, prophecy remains weak and untethered to God’s kingdom.
I think one of the greatest dangers to the Church today is the hidden sin of prayerlessness . We’ve become too reliant on self and in the process have allowed self righteousness to invade the Church — the number one sin of the Pharisees, Sadduccees, lawyers, scribes, and Jewish leaders of Jesus’s physical time on earth. It was self righteousness, heavy doses of pride, and a culture of hypocrisy where those leaders were “willing to justify himself [themselves], said [would say] unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” Luke10:29. Those leaders sought loopholes in the law and short cuts in fulfilling the demands of the law they knew they couldn’t keep. Then, “strain[ed] at a gnat, and swallow[ed] a camel”, Matthew 23:24, to “make him [them] twofold more the child of hell than yourselves [themselves]”. Matthew 23:15.
A few years ago, the Lord clearly spoke to me and said, You have too many apostles, and all their sons are bastards”. Wow! Strong language. But doesn’t scripture call us to “examine[] the claims of those who say they are apostles”. Revelation 2:2 NLT. Instead, those who claim they are apostles are idolized. The same thing happens with prophets. Yet, scripture teaches us to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, Berean Standard Bible). Examine. Test. Prove. Those are the words scripture uses in relation to prophets and apostles. We bear the weight of that burden. God gave us that burden to us. We mustn’t confuse what we are and are not responsible for. We have a duty to do what scripture teaches.
At the same time, “the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.” Yikes! But some might say, Jesus was only speaking to that generation. I beg to differ. No! Their generation isn’t the only generation that bears the responsibility of discerning who God sends. No! Every generation carries that burden. We have that burden. But some may say, that’s an impossible task. Yes! Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible. “[B]ut with God all things are possible.” (Mathew 19:26 NIV).
“If we were actually soldiers of Christ, which we are, the charge would be, dereliction of duty.”—Scott Wallis
Words like examine, prove, and test should cause us to seek God. Words like burden, responsibility, and duty should drive us to our knees in prayer. Every believer has the responsibility. Every prophet is responsible for discerning what is and what isn’t of the Lord. That’s our responsibility; it isn’t God’s responsibility. We’ve tried to pawn off on God the responsibility and duty He gave us. Ask, seek, and knock. Yes, responsibility and duty always start with prayer. Always.
Today, we’ve abdicated and shirked our responsibility and duty of asking, seeking, and knocking. Instead, we offer excuses. Nevertheless, if we were actually soldiers of Christ, which we are, the charge would be, dereliction of duty — an extremely grave offense. Do you see where we are? As with the Children of Israel, we are between a rock and hard place, or an army and sea. We mustn’t “treat prophecies [or prophets] with contempt”, (1 Thessalonians 5:20, Berean Standard Bible), scorn, or derision. Rather, we must “examine everything; [and] hold firmly to that which is good”. (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NASB ).
The first thing we should do when we meet a man or woman claiming to be a prophet is listen to how they pray. It’s impossible to fake prayer. We may fake the words, but not the results. I believe in results. Does God answer their prayers? That should be our first question. If God isn’t answering their prayers, then their claimed prophetic ministry is suspect. Notice, I didn’t say examine every area of their life or every word they’ve spoken. After examining whether God answers their prayers, we should ask, What is the fruit of their ministry? If the fruit is bad, the root is invariably bad. I didn’t say that. Jesus did. So did Jesus’s brother, the Apostle James. Good fruit cannot be faked.
From what I’ve seen, those things are never examined. Why is that? Our unscriptural foundation. Our unscriptural beliefs. Our traditions. It could be said of us, as it was said of us, as it was said of the Pharisees, “You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8, Amplified Bible). And I might add, stubbornly. Not scripture, not prayer, not fasting, not fruit, but tradition. Further, our hypocrisy is almost overwhelming. We demand prayer from prophets; yet, we stay away from prayer in droves. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’” (Mark. 7:6, NLT). Isn’t that what Jesus said? Do you think He is saying the same thing today?
I do. He is. If that doesn’t drive you to your knees, I don’t know what will. Yes, prophets, those claiming to be prophets, prophetic believers, and believers, we all should be in prayer. That’s the only safe place when prophets begin to pray. Why is that? God honors the prayers of His prophets. He may or may not honor opinions. But when prophets, real prophets pray, He always honors them. Always. You may plant ungodly seeds of negative opinion, but when prophets pray, fear pervades the hearts and minds of men and women.
As I said, when prophets pray, the heavens can stop giving rain, locusts can eat crops that look abundant, bring down fire from heaven, blind warriors, and more. Prophets, I hear the sound today: it’s time to pray. Set your heart to seek the face of God. Those who have wronged you will be exposed. The time is at hand. Judgment and justice is nigh. Pray! For others, repent! It may be that God will overlook your transgressions. And pray He does so. Amen.
Let us pray!
Posts
Comments
Post a Comment