The Purpose and Power of a Prophetic Word
Today I want to look at the purpose and power of the prophetic word being spoken in our lives. I want to begin with three Scriptures.
Amos 3:7 NKJV “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.
2 Chronicles 20:20b NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
Proverbs 29:18 TPT “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray. But when you follow the revelation of the word, heaven’s bliss fills your soul.”
It is important to acknowledge the vast depth of prophetic that has come on the scene in the body of Christ and for that I am thankful. It is also important to recognize not every prophetic voice is one for you. There are even times when a prophetic voice that is assigned to your life may give a word that is not for you. each of us is still responsible for knowing the place and season God has us in. The prophetic word is designed to help give us direction in something we have already received, it is confirmation of where we are heading.
In my life the prophets that speak into my life are Kenneth Copeland, Chuck Pierce, Ryan LeStrange and Lana Vawser. There are other prophetic voices that associate with these people but God has not connected me to them, so I do not follow their ministries.
Before we continue, let me make a quick side trip. Unity in the body does not mean you listen to everyone or do ministry with everyone. Unity is my ability to stay in my lane and not criticize the person next to me for doing something differently. The river of God is made up of many streams. We are all in the river of God but we are not all in the same stream, we don’t all flow with the same current, that is the way God designed it.
Each year I get a word or theme from the year that is the umbrella for everything that happens that year. Kenneth Copeland gives a Word each year and I run with that Word, praying and declaring it, expecting it to be fulfilled in my life.
Ryan LeStrange operates in the prophetic by giving Monday Words for the week. There are times when I know a Word is for me and I run with it. Other weeks, it’s not in season for me.
It is important for each of us to have our own relationship with God and to know the season we are in. Every prophetic voice speaks to the larger body of Christ. Even those who flow in a specific stream are still speaking to a large number of people. I can’t say it enough, each of us must know the place and season we are in before we grab hold of a Word.
Chuck Pierce is a Apostle/Prophet who oversees Glory of Zion and Global Spheres. His prophetic words are released on national levels and corporate levels to certain parts of the body of Christ. Sometimes words fit with my season and other times that are for a different segment of the body of Christ.
Lana Vawser releases intimate directive words from the heart of God. They are very encouraging and help give direction and strength to keep going.
I mention the types of words these individuals give because the Lord uses them in different ways in my life. It’s important that you don’t just go “pick a prophet” but you allow Holy Spirit to lead you in connection to the prophetic voices you need to be connected to.
It’s also important to understand God may connect you to someone you may never personally meet or have any interaction with but that does not lessen the connection God has given you in the realm of the Spirit.
One key of spiritual warfare is using prophetic words. 1 Timothy 1:18 NKJV “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,”. Notice the phrase, “prophecies previously made”. Never let go of a prophetic word. God is a God of continuation. If there was a Word given in 2012 about financial increase and you haven’t seen the fullness of it yet, keep declaring it, don’t stop using the weapon of a prophetic word.
Along with that, keep the prophetic words in your thinking, read and re-read them, declare them and make them part of your prayer life. Prophetic words are not to be shelved they are to be believed and received.
Some people have the mindset that prophetic words will fulfill themselves but many times they require action on our part. Prophetic words are like the if/then statements of the Bible; if I do this, then God will do that. Timothy was told to wage a good warfare with the prophetic word, that took action on his part.
Look once again at the latter part of 2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you will prosper.” We could say this is God’s prescription for us to have 20/20 vision. What did Proverbs 29:18 say? “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray.” If you find yourself off of the path God has for you, look at the prophetic words from the prophets God has placed in your life.
The prophetic words in your life are to be coupled with your reading, studying and meditating on The Word. they are to give confirmation to the direction you are going and the things you are pursuing. Believe God first and His prophets. If you’re spending all you time consuming different prophetic words and no time in the Bible, that’s not going to work for you. Chances are you’re confused because you’ve “cross prophesied” in your life and one word contradicts another. Remember, the body of Christ is big, not every prophet, not every teacher, and not every book or conference is for you.
To believe God, you have to know Him and you have to know His Word. Only then will believing the prophet bring prosperity.
The purpose of the prophetic word is vision and encouragement. The power of the prophetic word is it is part of producing your prosperity. Don’t take words lightly and don’t give yourself to every word. A quick comment about personal prophecy, test the spirits to see if they are from God. That is Scriptural. If someone says the Lord said you need to enter the mission field and the Lord has spoken to you about business and things are lining up in that, DON’T OBEY THAT WORD. That would be a false prophecy. At the end of the day you have to know something bares witness with your spirit.
On the other hand if a known prophet gives a word of direction or instruction and it doesn’t witness with you, that doesn’t make them a false prophet, it just means it wasn’t for you. One last thing on prophetic words. If a word of correction or judgement is given and it includes stipulations as to how the word will play out, pay attention to those things. many prophets have been labeled false because people haven’t paid attention to the entire word given.
Be encouraged today. If you aren’t connected with a prophetic voice ask Holy Spirit to connect you to the prophet or prophets that need to speak into your life. If you do have prophets that speak into your lives, don’t just hear the words, act on them. One other key to having access to receiving manifestation is to not just be a consumer of their gift or office but to sow into their ministry into your life. Pray for them on a daily basis. If they speak a word that brings about change in your life, send them an offering. Be active in every way of receiving a prophetic word. Don’t give up if a word takes time, keep warring with it and watch it come to pass.
*The prophets mentioned in this post have no affiliation with me, nor have they endorsed my blog or this specific post.
The last couple of weeks I have been praying/telling allergies to leave me and I have continued to deal with them. This morning the Holy Spirit said, the reason you are still dealing with these allergies is because you address them once a day and you are not in the Word concerning your healing. Needless to say, I paused after hearing this and the verse from James, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much came to mind. I wondered what the words effectual and fervent really meant so I a grabbed my concordance to look them up.
Psalm 119:11 ESV “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart”.
Daniel was a man of prayer, he was thrown into the lion’s den because he would not stop praying. We see a glimpse into the warfare of prayer when Daniel prayed and his answer was delayed because the angel bringing the answer was delayed by the prince of the Persian kingdom for twenty-one days and had to call Michael to come help him.
Matthew 4:17 KJV “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.