The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. All prophecies have their source in Christ; from Christ and point to Christ. Anytime our focus changes from our exalted Lord; we miss the river that flows from Him and prophecy gets into the fleshly realm and if it stays there long enough, it leads into the demonic! This is the same for any another ministry; Christ is its source of life and whenever we start to lose focus on the exalted Lord or move away from our submission to Him, we eventually become devoid of the life that flows from Him. We then end up in the flesh; with all natural means and gimmicks that are cheap and false substitutes. There is no striving when the river of life is flowing, and we don’t need to strive to find it; just yield!
In the years 2007-2009. I had written extensively on some of the things needed in the prophetic movement but in recent times have felt the need to address it again revisiting some of the things of the past.
Firstly, I am very grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be under the prophetic movement. I learnt a lot of truths during my time there, which has been helpful in my spiritual journey over the years. I was challenged and stretched in many ways and for that am grateful as it built in me a greater capacity for God and His workings.
I sincerely love and honor those in the prophetic movement; especially those who were instrumental in the restoration and renewal of the truths on prophecy within the church. They had to break through many barriers; relay many broken foundations and blaze through trails which had been lost for centuries. They weren’t perfect but it does not change the truth that they were anointed for times as those.
Even so, we should be thankful for every leader who has been in the forefront of the renewal of many of the truths which were lost earlier but are now common knowledge today, starting from the times of Luther. We stand on the foundations laid by them. If we are to move forward and even set right their mistakes; it can be done only from a place of honor and love first.
Now, since we will be looking into the areas the prophetic needs to change in; I will be the first to admit I have made mistakes in prophesying and in handling situations of conflict. I am grateful for the Lord’s continual light, correction and guidance in my life. As we read these articles; my prayer is that the Spirit will lead us into all truth. None of us are perfect and we will continue to grow till we leave this habitation and in eternity we will continue to grow according to the measures of glory that we witness. From glory to glory on this side and even more on the other side!
Now what I may share may not apply directly to some who haven’t been part of the movement, but it will surely present us with a great opportunity to learn and the spiritual principles behind them can be applied in other situations also.
We all see in part and prophesy in part and not just that not everything that is said here should be taken as Spirit inspired but tested. My desire is to see the prophetic ministry restored once again to its rightful place in the body. We need the prophets to see accurately; we need the body to become prophetic. If not, how will we ever face or be prepared for the turbulent times we will be entering into?
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Whenever a movement is birthed or a renewal happens or there is a refreshing from the presence of the Lord, it is because God intends to restore a truth(s) that the church needs. God wants His church to grow and eventually be established in that(ose) truth (s). Just as a child grows through imperfections to maturity and we show tolerance during that time, God gives us great grace to grow into maturity in the truths He is birthing through us. If we fail to listen to his corrections consistently intended on our growth or don’t prioritize the truths He is birthing in those moments of power, His grace will lift from us eventually and we will be left with only a form, devoid of any substance or power. These truths can be applied to any movement birthed by the powerful working of the Spirit for discerning its progress.
Over the years the restoration of the prophetic ministry has benefited many in the body of Christ. It continues to do so to some extent. However, if we make an honest assessment today, especially in recent times, it has caused a lot of disillusionment, confusion and reproach to the Lord’s name.
If we look at the prophetic movement today; we fall way short of the Biblical standards for prophets and prophecies. We have missed it so many times and even when we claim to have prophesied accurately, which is rare, it is mostly quite vague and open to interpretation. From the time of failed prophesies on “wealth transfer from the wicked to the church”, to a certain minister’s ordination; to not having a clue of foresight on the Covid pandemic and continuous failed prophecies on when it will end; to the failed Trump presidency prophecies… the list goes on and on. Now, this is not to say that no one heard the Lord regarding these events but then only the voices of many who were influential were heard and propagated and they were wrong for the most part.
If there are people who are calling us false (which is not true), we are the ones to blame as we have given them many reasons to do the same.
The prophets foresaw with great accuracy in the Old Testament. They predicted and spoke forth things with great clarity and accuracy. Their words did not fall to the ground at all. If they did that under the law, shouldn’t we be doing even better than them under Grace?
Now, it is true that the Spirit of the Lord was behind the renewal and the restoration of the prophetic movement. It is true that what was birthed was supernatural and so were the many encounters that the prophets had during that time. It is also true that truths on the prophetic and its gifts were renewed during that time. However, as mentioned earlier; the question to ask is where we open to the Lord’s correction intended for our further growth and maturity? If we make an honest analysis today, we have even fallen back from where we were earlier (in the early days of the movement). Could it be because we consistently disregarded the voices of concern from within and without the movement?
