Start Prophesying

By Following these 3 Rules

Have you ever listened to someone who gave a prophecy about some world event? How can you tell if it’s from God? Has anyone prophesied over you? Did it come to pass? Perhaps you received a prophetic word from God and are wondering if that truly came from God, or was it just your imagination?

When I heard my first prophetic word about someone, I immediately discounted it as my imagination. It came upon me as an impression about a stranger in the church. I felt an urge to tell this 30ish man that God was directing him toward a position offering less money than another position that was not sanctioned by God. We met in the lobby of a church, and my palms literally perspired as I resisted telling this man what I thought I had heard. But I summoned the courage to tell him. After hearing this, the man squinted at first, then opened his eyes wide. He said, “Wow. I received two job offers, and the one included lots of money, but the other was working in a charity that really supports what my heart wants.” The man smiled, then shook my hand and said, “Thanks, that’s crazy, how did you know that?” I told him that I didn’t know it, I sensed it like that gut feeling when your feeling turns into a conviction, and you just know that you know.

As I grew in the Word of God, and in Christ, I learned a few things about prophecy. So, let’s look at how you can be sure a prophecy is from God.

Rule #1: Make Sure Peace Follows the Word Given

“Peace confirms a prophecy”; means that a prophesy aligns with God’s Holy Spirit, which brings comfort and clarity. It’s a feeling of being connected with something greater than yourself, and oftentimes not fully understood. This prophecy surely delivers a message meant to uplift or to guide others.

Prophecy should calm the hearer, bringing peace to something that was previously unknown. Far from being a kind of religious manipulation, our peace is rooted in One telling the message, and in God’s ability to bring us to account and to usher forth a greater closeness to God. Think about it. When prophets in the Old Testament gave warnings or foretold of future events, like Isaiah telling of the forthcoming Messiah, it was so that God could give clarity to the future, and a sense of peace in knowing that God cares enough to prepare our hearts. And as God fulfills future prophecies through others or through our own prophetic gifting, it is to calm our spirit in knowing that God is in control. God gives us the hope that He will redeem all that was lost. Can you imagine any better message than to point someone towards God’s will?

Prophecy at its most fundamental definition is “a message from God.” Although foretelling is often associated with prophecy, revealing the future is not a necessary function of prophecy, but since only God knows the future, any correct word about the future is considered a message from God. In a sense prophecy is telling us what God has declared in heaven to be established on earth – “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Every time you’ve prayed that Lord’s Prayer, you’ve essentially asked God to fulfill His prophetic Word and bring about the time when Jesus will be glorified above all. Such prophecy should elicit no fear, but peace.

So, while the world appears to be in chaos and the end seems near, Christians who know God’s Word can remain confident in the end goal. I often say to those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior: “Be of good cheer, because Heaven is in your future.” Warnings about one’s personal future or about what will be happening around the globe should always point toward that promise of Heaven.

All gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the perfecting of Christians, and to build up the Body of Christ, as states in Ephesians 4:12. 1 Corinthians 12:7 states that gifts like prophecy are for the common good of the church body, and that should instill an ever-present sense of peace whenever prophecy is in effect. And if there is any loss of peace concerning a prophecy, then the hope of Jesus Christ is not being properly represented within that prophecy.

Rule #2: Be Sure Your Prophecy Is From God Through Faith and Not Solely From Your Wishes

In the Old Testament, there were prophets who just spoke their divinely inspired messages to a king of to the people (e.g., Elijah, Samuel, and Elisha). Later came the prophets who scribed messages for all of God’s people, such as Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Hosea and Malachi. Today, many who claim to be prophets speak about current events, like elections and forthcoming disasters. While several of these may be true, prophecy should always exalt God, not the prophet, and if the prophecy glorifies the so-called “prophet,” that person’s prophecies can legitimately be challenged.

A person should always be cautious in speaking for God when a revelation is not directly from the Bible, as instructed in 1 Corinthians 14. When we listen to God, we can never be 100% certain that we heard him, or that we got it entirely accurate. In the Old Testament times, false prophecies came with a heavy penalty, including execution of the prophet. That’s because God spoke His Word through the prophets. Today the Bible canon is closed, complete, so every prophecy is a rhema word, meaning “an utterance” that speaks to a relevant matter, whether personal or for people in general. Prophets can make mistakes, and we can make mistakes. Thus, testing the prophecy should be done with confirmation from others and by asking God for a confirmation, such as a deep conviction.

Some prophecies can be absolutely confirmed, as with my approaching the young man who was considering two job offers. But there’s always an element of faith involved. Discerning between imagination and a faith- inspired prophecy can be benchmarked against two standards: Does the prophecy conflict with God’s Word (an absolute test); and, secondly, does it elicit a sense of confidence and peace coupled with an encouragement to glorify Jesus and obey God? Any sign of manipulation, control, or self-aggrandizement should immediately raise red flags.

I served as a leader in a large ministry where someone prophesied that one of the workers was trying to rob the ministry of money, and that this would cause the ministry to fail. After a thorough audit, no fraud was detected. Eventually the prophecy was proved false. Later this same person started growing his social media by stating outlandish predictions that created fear amongst the listening audience. So many of these predictions came from this one person that it proved impossible to test them. But the size of his audience grew. A couple of predictions happened, but these represented less than five percent of the total. Meanwhile, listeners were struck with the fear that masses would die, and natural disasters would all but wipe out humanity. This may sound like the Tribulation, which is a true biblical prophecy, but what sounded the alarm on this individual was that he continually boasted of his social media growth. Fear-mongering without humility, even if true, fails to honor God. 1 Corinthians 14:3 states it this way: “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.”

When we humbly listen with our spiritual ears and see like Elijah’s servant with our spiritual eyes – our faith confirms God’s rhema word. We are putting our trust in God. We always preface the prophecy with God’s promises in His Word, and an assurance that God will give us what we need. Even is the future may prove difficult; faith inspires us to speak of warnings with the promise of eternal salvation through Christ.

When you go out on a limb and test a possible prophecy with someone, hearing “that was on-target!” makes it all worthwhile. And even if you missed it, keep on asking the Holy Spirit to reveal why you misunderstood, or if the prophecy was correct but just not obvious to the other person. This grows your faith to start practicing what you believe to be true and strengthens you to walk more confidently in faith.

Rule #3: Test the Spirits: Make Sure Your Prophecy Aligns with the Core Teachings of Scripture

Jesus warned His followers, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves…Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” That’s a heavy- duty warning from Jesus. Not every prophecy is of God. So how do we make sure that we are in alignment with God’s will?

First and foremost, if a prophesy is in harmony with Scripture, then it passes the first test. Second, the prophecy must align with the sentiment of the Bible’s teachings, meaning that it should always glorify Jesus Christ and adhere to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Third, it should build up and encourage believers to live out their faith boldly, not causing fear and division (1 Corinthians 14:3). Fourthly, the character and motivation of the person delivering the prophecy should reflect Christian values (1 Timothy 3:7).

When you first start to prophesy, you may feel uncomfortable, doubting yourself. The key to gaining confidence is to start listening to God all the time: engaging in a constant conversation with the Holy Spirit. Paul talked about this when he said that we should pray unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That doesn’t mean just going into a “prayer closet,” it means trusting in your “Godly Imagination.” The spiritual imagination relies on truths given to us by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes those rhema words from God start as impressions, and with time they turn into convictions that indeed the Holy Spirit is speaking a truth that is either confirmed by Scripture or at the very least is not contradicted by Scripture. It’s that “knowing that you know” type of feeling that inspires peace, comfort, confidence, and goodness.

Prophecy is a cooperation with the Holy Spirit through a lifestyle of listening to the Spirit of God that resides in us, since we as Christians are His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16). The more comfortable we become listening to that “still small voice” in our skin, through practice, the more we will trust in the subtle promptings of God; and soon, those promptings can turn into conversations with God. As an example, I now have discussions with the Holy Spirit, such as asking Him: “Lord, do you want me to write an article about prophecy.” And indeed, the Holy Spirit answered me before writing this article by saying: “Yes, beloved, I want you to equip my people to hear me routinely with the power I have given them to speak my truth.” When God mentioned “power,” I found that the Greek word “dunamis” describes the power believers get through the Holy Spirit, including spiritual gifts.

Any feeling of unease about a word or prophecy should force us to seek the Spirit’s counsel, and to even ask others if they feel that a word is right, or wrong. We should always feel comfortable to ask the Holy Spirit questions as we have these conversations with God, and to check the answers with the Bible and with others who are mature in the Lord. In general, the more conversations we have with the Holy Spirit, the more inspirations we can receive from Holy Spirit and the more we learn to be precise and more confident in sharing prophetic words.

For me, gaining confidence in my ability to hear from God is an important part of my prophetic gifting that I have now practiced for almost forty years. It’s about moving from a feeling of “I just don’t trust myself,” to thinking from a biblical point of view when Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

By trusting God, we can better trust in His works through us to prophesy truth in both the details of life, and to see the bigger picture of life. Remember always that God wants to use you, and He “has not given (you) a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” You can speak the truth without fear. You can start to prophesy!