ARE YOU CALLED AS A PROPHET?
Many people have been told that they are prophets, and they are rejoicing. A lot of people also moving about as prophets. We have many of them here on Facebook. It is all good to be a prophet because the Body of Christ needs them. Yet, not everyone who calls himself a prophet is truly a prophet. So, beware!
My concern however is not about fake prophets who see material things for their followers and nothing else. That alone shows that such people have no idea whatsoever who a prophet is. Therefore, let me say categorically that this post is not about such people. This post will help those who have genuine call into the prophetic ministry.
Like I said, it has been prophesied unto many that God has called them into the prophetic ministry, and like me when I had such prophecy said to me in 1998, they have become very excited. Yet, I never saw any sign of that calling until after 17 years of living a life of failure, rejection, frustration, disappointment, etc.
As the years passed by and nothing supernatural happened in my life, my excitement waned and my joy of being a prophet disappeared. I thought it was over and gave little attention to the Father’s work. All those years, I was a chorister. So, I limited my services to the choral department. The idea of being a prophet was forgotten.
But little did I know that the Lord was preparing me for the work he has called me to do with the difficulties I faced. In those days, I tried and devoted my time to making money. But all the businesses I tried failed. Never did it occur to me that being a prophet is not just about giving words. Any believer can give words, but not all believers are prophets.
My worry however is that not many who have the prophetic call have been told what it means to be called into the office of a prophet. This is one of the challenges facing the Body of Christ today; that is, the lack of genuine leaders who are willing to mentor people with love. I see many people who enjoy being called fathers, yet they do not behave like one to their followers. Many so-called fathers in the Body of Christ would rather suppress the spiritual gifts in their so-called sons and daughters than help them develop them. Remember, all spiritual gifts must be developed and used according to the plan of God. When a spiritual gift begins to manifest in a person who has not been mentored on the proper usage according to the word of God, it is dangerous. Well, let me go back to the substantive issue.
Like I said, being a prophet takes a lot. It is a difficult task and takes years of preparation and training by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if you’re one of those who have been told that you have been called into this high office, please keep the faith, but don’t get excited, because it is not going to happen overnight.
Truthbetold, the prophetic ministry is not just exactly about telling people when they were born and calling their names and telephone numbers and mentioning what will happen to them in the next minute or the next ten years. No, it goes beyond that. Correct and accurate prohesying is no doubt part of the job of a true prophet. But there’s more to it.
You see, before all that looks like glamour and fame in the life of a prophet begins to manifest, God has a lot to do with the one he has called so he can be fit for his use. It is called preparation and training. It is a process that every true prophet of God must pass through.
This is the process of dying to self. Take it or leave it, whoever has been called to the office of the Prophet must first of all be prepared, trained and then released into the work the Lord has called him to do.This training is not done by man, but by the Holy Spirit himself. It is defined as a period of breaking and stripping of all the human traits that stands on the way of the one the Lord has chosen as his prophet.
Truthbetold, this is a period when God will frustrate all your efforts by making sure you fail in everything you do. He will strip you of everything that makes you feel proud in yourself. He will turn your beauty to ugly, your wisdom to foolishness, your ability to inability, your strength to weakness, your success to failure. You will be neglected and rejected; disappointed and frustrated until you learn never to depend on yourself or on anyone for anything; but lean totally on him.
This is God at work. It is not witchcraft or satanic operation. It is God’s own design to make sure that the chosen vessel(his prophet) will never depend on his own ability and does not depend on people to survive when the Lord releases him to speak his word to his people. This is why true prophets of God are not men pleasers. They seek only to please God because they are accountable only to God.
Truthbetold; when I say God will make sure you fail in everything you do, everything, means everything that will make you comfortable in the world must be destroyed in order to keep you focused on his work alone. Many go through this without knowing, so they refuse to give up for the Lord to use them. But the more they try to make it on their own, the more they fail and get frustrated more and more.
Again, this is not witchcraft, it is the Holy Spirit at work. He will not use someone he has not purged to fit his own purpose. Remember, you are his servant. He decides what you will do. Your duty is to obey. So he must purify the vessel he will use as he deems fit. He will do the purging in such a way that you will even seek death because life will lose its flavor. You will wish to die. But you won’t because the master won’t allow it.
Truthbetold; this is a period that the Lord will make you think more of him and less of you. It is a period when he wants you to know that you’re nothing and can do nothing by yourself. It is a period when the Lord wants you to trust totally in him. Like I said earlier, during this period and even after, get ready to be rejected, frustrated, hated, disappointed, accused and many more.
Truthbetold; the prophetic ministry is a heavy cross to carry. Only God can bear it for those he has called through his grace.
Don’t be deceived, prophets are always not happy people as many think. True prophets are lonely and frustrated people. They weep everyday because they see the trouble that many don’t see. They weep everyday because the things God tell them don’t usually happen as early as they want it to vindicate them. Sometimes what the prophet says dont even happen because the people may have repented and God will change his mind. This is a sad situation which might make the prophet appear false. You can ask Prophet Jonah what happened in Nineveh that made him become angry after being in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. It would appear that God rubbished all his efforts by sparing the Ninevehians after they repented of their sins. Read Jonah chapters 3 and 4.
Truthbetold, It is not a glamorous thing to be a prophet. A prophet is a servant who does only the will of the father. This is also frustrating because he can’t exercise his own will even if he wanted to. A prophet must learn to be patient until the master gives him the green light. To be a prophet is to die to self completely. The prophetic call is a call to death. Only those who are called to it have the grace to walk in it.
Truthbetold; You don’t become a prophet by desiring to be one. The Bible says to desire spiritual gifts which includes prophesying. But no one becomes a prophet or any of the ministry gifts by desire. It is by calling. If you desire to become a prophet without being called by God, believe me, you will fall by the way side sooner than you expect.
So, are you sure the Lord has called you into the prophetic? It is good if that is your case. By his grace you will make it. But that is possible only if the Lord Himself has called you, prepared and trained you as his prophet.
Truthbetold; you can call yourself like many have done. You can give yourself names and titles like Major Prophet or Arch Bishop, Apostle General Prophet” this and that and glory in those titles; but make no mistakes, if you are not called of God, you will still fail at last, except the Lord himself called you. This is the truth. God bless you.