Hundredfold Ministries, Int'l

There are many ways God speaks to man. He speaks to us through the Bible, through teaching and preaching, through prayer, through circumstances, through others, and through prophecy. Since prophecy is only one of the ways God speaks to us, what makes prophecy so potentially dangerous? I have listed nine ways prophecy can be misused.

Seeking Prophecy/Abdication of Personal Responsibility

I have seen many Christians go from one “prophet” to another seeking a word from the Lord. I believe this does not please God. Why? Because we are to seek Him. We are not to seek a prophet's word.

Of course it is proper, even essential, for a Christian to seek God's will. But it is wrong to seek prophecy. Why? If we seek after a prophetic word, we are seeking His will solely through a mediator. We must allow God to communicate His will to us through whatever means He chooses.

In prophecy, the hearer is relatively passive. In other means of divine communication such as Bible reading, prayer, teaching, etc., the learner is an active participant. Learning to discern the Lord's voice for ourselves through study and seeking brings the believer closer to the Lord in his daily walk.

If a believer seeks a word from the Lord through prophecy, he or she is thrusting the burden for the word on another, thereby potentially abdicating the personal responsibility of hearing from the Lord for oneself. The Israelites made this mistake early on in their walk with God. When God displayed His awesome power at Mount Sinai the people of Israel were terrified:

The Israelites, by this appeal to Moses, were saying, “Moses, you find out what God wants from us and tell us what we are to do. We don't want the personal responsibility for learning God's will. You do that for us.” The Israelites opted for a human mediator! God wants mature believers who have learned to hear His voice in any way He chooses to communicate with them.

Man Becomes Exalted

Another danger of prophecy is that the focus shifts off God and onto man. There is something in the human mind and soul that wants to exalt self. I believe it is innate in all of us. This tendency can manifest itself in the area of prophecy by shifting the focus onto self, whether you are the one who is receiving the prophetic word or you are giving it. The, “Wow, I'm special!” mentality can creep in. Young Christians particularly are vulnerable to this trap. We would do well to keep in mind Matthew 23:12 “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (NIV).

Pride and Prophecy

Closely tied to the problem of man becoming exalted in the use of the gift of prophecy is the problem of pride. Pride is almost certain to become a problem in the heart of all whom the Lord begins to use in speaking prophetic messages. It takes much time and maturing before God's servants can leave pride behind and speak the Lord's word in true humility.

And pride can affect the hearers of prophecies as well, not just the speakers. I have seen pride completely blind an entire staff of pastors because a “prophet” came to their church. At first the prophecy was soothing, free flowing, and easy on the ears. Then the prophecies began to subtly change. They become much more exclusive in their theme such as, “You are the chosen church. You are the chosen pastor. You are mighty. God has a special anointing on you!” As pride began to deaden spiritual discernment in the church leadership, false prophecies began to flow freely and no one stopped it! Many lives were adversely affected and the church suffered a tarnished reputation in the community . . . all because of this blinding pride stirred up by these “prophecies.”

Prophecy May Mislead

There is another human tendency that can get us into trouble in prophecy . . . that of always hearing only what we want to hear. We are often like the small child who is slow to hear correction but eager to hear something he or she loves. Most of us have the same problem only it is in adult form!

Thus, when God does speak to us prophetically, we place our “colored” interpretation over it. When God says He is going to do thus or so for us, we immediately think now. God spoke to Abram and told him he was going to have a son (Gen 15:4-5). But Abram waited 25 years for that son!

Or we build into the prophecy something God never intended and will not cause to come to pass. Once we have put our own interpretation on it, or at least our own timing, then we try to make it happen. The net result of this process is that we become restless and unhappy when God does cause His word to come to pass and it's not just exactly what we had in mind.

Prophecy As a Means of Control

There are some in the church who try to use prophecy as a means of control. They abuse the gift of prophecy in an attempt to control others. From the outset it must be understood that the Holy Spirit is not the author of this kind of “prophecy.” Usually such a person has willfully moved beyond the Holy Spirit's control and is trying to bring his or her own will to pass.

A few years ago I taught on the subject of prophecy and prophets in Tanzania. After the session a pastor sought me out privately. His church had just been split through the abuse of prophecy. Some of the members allowed themselves to be controlled by the “prophet.” This prophet's quest for total control of the church ultimately led to the church split.

I have even been told of a church where a “prophet” would stand every Sunday morning after the pastor had preached and publicly critique and/or comment on the pastor's sermon!

“The Lord Told Me”

I am a product of the Charismatic Movement which swept America in the 1960's. A very popular phrase during those days was, “the Lord told me.” Yes, I do believe that is a valid statement--when the Lord has told you. However, the misuse of this phase can lead to great abuse. I believe the abuse is birthed in a very subtle pride . . . “God talks to me--regularly.”

This phase sounds so spiritual. Often unseasoned believers tend to begin to think that every thought they have is the Lord speaking. Or they begin to think that they must ask God about everything and, when they do, He will answer them. Have you ever known someone who says things like, “The Lord told me which dress to wear” or, “The Lord told me to cook chicken and rice for dinner tonight” or, “The Lord told me to go to town . . . ” and so forth.

These phrases indicate someone who has a mistaken idea of how, when, and why God uses His Holy Spirit to communicate with us. Now certainly there are occasions when the Holy Spirit will tell you what to wear or what to cook. But, for the most part, God gave us brains and He expects us to use them on an hour by hour basis for such mundane tasks. And when we do, we should not mistake this for God speaking to us. God wants us to be mature to the point that He can freely communicate to us when He chooses concerning His plans for His kingdom.

There is a further problem with saying, “the Lord told me.” It can often be a subtle form of control. If one uses this phrase it is often meant to end the discussion. Or what wife or husband can argue with a spouse who says “God told me we should . . . ”? What congregation can argue with a pastor who says, “God told Me . . . thus and so”?

If in fact God has spoken, that's good. But if God has not spoken and it was your thinking, or your own will, or a demonic deception, then you are in real trouble. First, you are misusing the prophetic gift. Second, no one may feel the liberty to tell you that you are wrong. Or, if someone does, he seems “unspiritual.” For all these reasons, I personally prefer the phrase, “As I understand it, the Lord told me . . . ”

Improper Judging of Prophecy

The Apostle Paul makes it quite clear that prophecy must be judged. He wrote to the Corinthian church:

I do not intend to expound here on how to judge prophecy. That subject is covered in chapter four entitled “Judging Prophecy.” But I will say that the failure to properly judge prophecy is one of the prime reasons people are abused by so-called “prophecy.”

Premature Prophecy

The concept of a premature prophecy is somewhat difficult to grasp. One might think, “If God has a word for me I want to hear it . . . now!” We think that we are able to receive anything from God and act maturely on it. This is not necessarily so. Remember, Jesus told His disciples, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (Jn 16:12 NIV). What Jesus was saying, at least in part, was that His disciples were not ready for more at that point in time. We can be in the same position.

Sometimes the person who has received a prophetic word does not act with the desired spiritual maturity. Let me give you an example. Several years ago I knew a young believer who was a new Christian. He had a remarkable appetite for the things of the Lord. He devoured God's word and committed much Scripture to memory. In a small prayer meeting one evening an unseasoned prophet prophesied over the young man. He said, “My son, the Lord would say unto you that He has called you to the ministry of a prophet. You shall move in the might and in the power of the Spirit of the Lord. Yes, the Lord shall do mighty exploits through you.”

My young friend immediately began trying to be a prophet in his own strength. When he was not recognized and accepted as a “prophet,” he felt rejected and became discouraged. His Christian walk faltered and he drifted away from the church. Ultimately he backslid. Was the prophecy wrong? No, I don't think so. It was just several years premature.

During the development of the gift of prophecy, or the maturing of a prophet, there will be times when the person perceives something by the Spirit that he or she should not speak out loud. This is a normal part of the development of the prophetic gift. (This is also true of every believer as his discernment matures. We all see things that we simply should not say out loud). When these things are said inappropriately they can lead to problems.

“Helping God” Fulfill His Word

We are all prone to “helping God” by trying to cause a prophecy to come to pass. This is especially true if God is a “little slow.” Let's look at an example from Scripture. God promised Abram a son. When a few years passed and there was still no son, what did Abram and Sarai do? They decided to help God's word come to pass.

A son named Ishmael was the result of this “self-help” union. Thirteen years later Sarai bore a son--the son God promised. That son's name was Isaac, the father of Israel. To this day Ishmael, the father of much of the Arabic world, and Israel are at odds. They are still fighting each other!

Any time we decide on our own to help God's word come to pass, we are acting in the flesh . . . the same as Abram and Sarai. God spoke to me in the early 1970's that He was sending me as a teacher of His church among the non-Western nations of the world. It wasn't until 1988 that the Lord said, “Now is the time.” Because I understood this principle, the only action I took when I initially heard this personal prophecy was that I tried to be a diligent student of God's word and His principles. In other words, I tried to learn all I could so I would be prepared to go teach. I left the timing and commissioning to God.

When God gives a promise, through prophecy or otherwise, our part is to 1) believe it, and 2) make the necessary preparations. Then we must let God bring it to pass. Otherwise, we act in the flesh and produce “an Ishmael.”

Inappropriate Reactions to Prophecy

Ideally we should react to every prophecy the same way Mary did when the angel Gabriel came to her with the Lord's word. She said, “I am the Lord's servant. . . May it be to me as you have said.” (Lk 1:38 NIV).

Most of us are thrilled at the prophetic word God sends, especially when the word is comforting and encouraging. When the prophetic word is heavy, goes against our will, or tells us what we don't want to hear, our reactions aren't always so pleasing to the Lord.

The reactions to hard prophecies are as varied as the people who hear them. I once heard a very hard but true prophecy delivered to a church. Sadly, it was rejected. We must learn to discern the word of the Lord . . . and receive it, even when we don't like it.

Remember the way Eli responded when young Samuel gave him the devastating word regarding the Lord's punishment on his household for its sin?

The Answer For These Problems

Our intent in writing this book is to help provide some answers to these problems. The proper biblical approach to this whole issue of prophecy and prophets is to honor those whom God uses to shepherd and nurture us. And certainly mature prophets fall into this category. But we must keep our focus on Jesus. We can, with full confidence, state that the answer to all these problems is to continually focus on the person of Jesus Christ. If He is the prime object of interest in our lives and our churches, the possibility of deception through any means, including prophecy, is much more remote.

Some pastors look at the gift of prophecy, its dangers and woes and make what appears to be a safe decision: NO MORE PROPHECY IN THIS CHURCH! Safe? Yes, but a wrong decision.

The proper response is for those in church leadership to learn all they possibly can about prophecy, train their congregations in prophetic giftings, and allow the Holy Spirit to prophesy freely.

The Lord Jesus Christ specifically left us with the Holy Spirit as our counselor and guide. He will lead us into all truth (Jn 16:13). The benefits of a free flow of the Holy Spirit, including the prophetic word, far outweigh any accompanying dangers.