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                                     WHY “PERSONAL PROPHECY” DELAYS IN MANIFESTING

                                                                                                   (Part 4)

“And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2: 2-3)

You are welcome to the fourth part of the series, “Why “Personal prophecy” delays in manifesting.”

I hope the past lessons have been helpful. Like I promised, today, we shall discuss another of many  reasons personal prophecies delay in manifesting, or even fail to manifest in some cases. This has to do with the failure of people who receive prophetic words to war against the spiritual attacks which stand on the way of the fulfilment of those prophecies.

Previously, I mentioned how a prominent man of God prophesied to me about the great ministry the Lord has designed for me. I also mentioned how the manifestation of the prophecy delayed in manifesting for many years due to failure to play my role towards its fulfilment.   

Today, I will share another part of the prophecy which I did not mention in our last discussion. Before I go into that, let me say that when someone receives a prophecy, Satan will war against it. His plan is to make sure that what God has said concerning that person does not happen. 

If we don’t want a prophecy to delay, then, we must be ready to do battle with the opposer. This battle is what I would refer to as “spiritual warfare” against prophecies. Unfortunately, many people who have received prophecies are either ignorant of the warfare involved or are not willing to engage in it. When this is the case, certainly, the prophecy they have received will suffer a great set back. The warfare we face as we run with a prophecy is the focus of our discussion today. 

Spiritual warfare against prophecies

When the man of God gave me the prophecy of a great ministry, he also told me about the challenges that I would face before the prophecy would come to pass.

“I see you walking on a narrow path,” started the prophet. “On this path are sharp stones, sharp nails and broken bottles. The Lord has put his truth in your mouth for the liberation of his people. You will bring freedom to many people by revealing the truth to them,” he added.

After that, he paused for a few seconds, as if to see my reaction concerning what he said. At that time, I did not know how I felt. The joy I had when he gave me the first part of the prophecy which said that I will travel across the globe to spread the word of God had completely disappeared. Though the man of God had realized that my posture had changed, it did not stop him from delivering the rest of the message to me. After all, he was only a messenger. A true Prophet of God is never afraid to say what God asks him to say. It does not matter how bitter the word is. 

“My son, the calling on your head is not an easy one. The Lord has anointed you to dismantle the lies of the enemy and set his people free from his shackle,” he added. However, that was not the end of our discussion. As I was trying to make sense of what the Prophet said, he spoke again. This time around, it was a question.

“Do you understand the prophecy I have just given you?” He asked.

“No, sir,” I replied as I shook my head. Actually, I did not understand what the man of God meant by walking on a narrow path with sharp stones, broken bottles and sharp nails. Besides, after hearing that part of the prophecy, I lost interest in everything he said, including the first part which had excited me. 

I must confess that I did not expect any of those things the man of God prophesied to me about. I was there to seek prayer for financial breakthrough. My life was a mess. For many years, nothing I laid my hands on succeeded. When I went to meet him, all I wanted was deliverance from anything that was stopping me from prospering like my friends. But I could see that God had a different reason for my meeting with his servant. Those were the things he prophesied to me. Unfortunately, it did not interest me, especially the last part. 

Though I did not fully understand what he meant, I knew one thing for sure; and that was the fact that walking on a narrow path with sharp stones, broken bottles and sharp nails can never be a walk in the park. In fact, as long as the prophecy did not speak about how I would make money and have a good life like others, I was not interested in it. As a Prophet, I was sure he could sense how I felt at that time. Nonetheless, it did not stop him from telling me what was in his mind.

“My son, the enemy knows about God’s purpose for your life. He knows that your ministry is a great threat to his kingdom. Therefore, he will oppose you,” said the man of God. Then he adjusted a bit and sat up towards me. It was as if to show me how serious the matter was.

“My son, pay attention to what I am saying. When I said that I see you walking on a narrow path full of sharp stones, sharp nails and broken bottles; this is what it means: “The call of God upon you will make life will very difficult for you. You will experience failure in many things. Frustrations and disappointments will be your daily bread. You will be hated and rejected by many, including your own people. This is the plan of the enemy to make you give up on God’s plan for your life. Therefore, be strong and have complete faith in the Lord. If you don’t give up, the Lord will fight for you, and you will come out victorious in the end,” he said. But that was not all.

“If you walk faithfully on the part the Lord has set for you to the end, you will be a great man of God. The enemy knows this. He will oppose you, greatly.  The Lord does not want you to be ignorant of the plans of the enemy against you. He wants you to know the battle before you, so you can prepare for it. Therefore, be strong and don’t give up in the face of the challenges you will encounter,” he advised.  

I will not say that I understood clearly what the man of God said to me that day. However, I did not take the revelations and the advice lightly. Before our meeting, I already knew how much I wanted to get involved in the things of God. I was a very committed chorister in my church. My spirit love the things of God. Again, before my encounter with him, there had been prophecies that the call of God was upon me. So, I was not totally surprised when the man of God said that the Lord had called me. However, he was the first to reveal the mind of God concerning me in that manner.

Though the prophecy did not interest me initially, after listening to his explanation and advice, somehow, my perspective changed. I seriously began to ponder over everything he said. There are other revelations I got during my interaction with the man of God. I will not go into details concerning that.  Suffice it to say that everything the man of God prophesied to me that day is gradually manifesting. The battle is still raging. Each time it gets tougher, and I feel like giving up, I will remember the counsel he gave me and fight on.

Now, what I have shared above is to help you understand that great prophecies come with great challenges. Except we are ready to face those challenges squarely and take them off our path, the enemy will use them against us. He will either delay the manifestation of God’s plan for us which he has made known to us through prophecy or stop them completely. This is not because God cannot silence the enemy on our behalf, surely, he can. However, since we are working in partnership with him, we must play our part to make it happen.

I remember one day, the Lord was speaking to us through one of the prophetesses in our church. One of the things he said that day was that Satan has overcome many believers. That is because they are either weak in prayer or do not pray at all. As he encouraged us to pray, the Lord said, “When you pray, I will answer. If you don’t pray, there is nothing I can do about your situation. I am not the one to pray for you concerning your needs.”

The above statement means that until we pray, God will not do anything that we desire. That does not mean that God does not know our needs, he knows all and is ever willing to help us. However, we have a role to play before God comes to help. That role is to pray. When we pray, the Lord will answer us. It is a partnership venture. Once we do our part, he will do his own. 

When a prophecy comes to us, if we are ignorant of how to partner with God to overcome the enemy who wants to see the prophecy fail, the prophecy will either delay in manifesting or totally fail to manifest. That was what the man of God tried to let me understand after giving me the prophecy that day. Unfortunately, I did not take what he said as seriously as I should have and work towards its manifestation. The negligence of my part of the deal gave the enemy the opportunity to delay what God said concerning me for many years. 

When we fulfil our purpose according to God’s plan, Satan’s kingdom suffers a great deal. This is because as we move on with the work God has assigned to us, souls will be liberated from the kingdom of darkness. This is why the enemy will continue to war against what God wants to do through us. 

Satan’s attack on personal prophecy becomes intense the moment a prophecy is pronounced. He will do all he can to stop the carrier of the prophecy from playing his or her role towards its fulfilment. Except the person is ready to engage the enemy in the warfare he has set up against the prophecy, what been prophesied concerning that person will either suffer a delay or a complete failure. 

When God told Prophet Jeremiah about his calling, the conversation they had that day is a good example of what happens when God calls someone into a great ministry. 

“Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” Jeremiah (1:9–10)

That was a great calling. Right? Yes, it was.

Did Jeremiah fulfil that calling? Yes, he did.

However, it did not come easy. A good examination of Jeremiah’s ministry reveals clearly that Satan opposed him in many ways. Take your time and study the book of Jeremiah, and you will appreciate how much the enemy attacked him.

As the man of God told me in advance that I will face challenges as I run with the prophecy the Lord has spoken over me, Jeremiah was also warned about the battles he would face in ministry.  Again, like me, the warning came before he started the work. 

“For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.” (Jeremiah 1:18 -19)  

From the above scripture, God made it clear to the prophet that the journey was not going to be an easy one. The enemy would make war with the prophecy using human vessels with the view of aborting it. If Jeremiah did not want the prophecy to delay or be totally aborted, he had to stand tall as a soldier and fight against everything that would stop the prophecy from manifesting. That was the warfare he had to deal with concerning his destiny.

Truth be told, many prophecies attract a lot of spiritual warfare, especially prophecies which has to do with ministry work. Satan understands that men of God are front-line soldiers of God. The moment a prophecy is released concerning a ministry, the enemy will rise up and make war against it. He will attack the carrier of the prophecy in many ways; sickness, hardship, rejection, frustration, disappointment, hatred, etc. 

The enemy will do all that is within his power to stop us from focusing on working towards fulfilling that which the Lord has spoken about us through prophecy. The greater the ministry, the bigger the attacks.

All true prophets, Apostles and all true believers in the Bible suffered a great deal in their bid to fulfil their assignment. That’s because Satan did not want what God said about them to fulfil. However, they did not give up. That was because they knew they were involved in a war between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of Light. Giving up meant forfeiting the crown of life which the Lord kept for them.  In the same vein, we too must realize that we are in a battlefield. We are at war with Satan. His plan is to steal our blessings. If we don’t want that to happen, we must be ready for the warfare involved.

One day, things were so hard, I had no strength to pray any more. The warfare had become way too many for me. I almost gave up. The previous night I was very down. I spent the night asking the Lord why I have to go through so much difficulty in serving him. When we went to church the next day, the Lord used someone to encourage me. He reminded me of the prophecy the man of God gave me 23 years ago. I am talking about the same prophecy I have described here.

“When I call someone into ministry, I have called that person into a battle. I told you a long time ago that your life won’t be easy. What you are going through is what is written of you, my son. The enemy wants you to fail because he knows what I am going to do with you. But you must not allow it. I have great reward for you if you endure to the end. Therefore, have faith and fight on, my son. My grace is sufficient for you,” said the Lord to me.

The words of the Lord which came to me that day gave me strength. I encouraged myself in the Lord and moved on. I am still fighting on. Instead of focusing on the attacks of the enemy, I am rather focused on the crown of victory which the Lord would give me on the last day. Therefore, despite what the enemy is doing, I will never give up until everything the Lord has said about me is accomplished to the latter.

Most believers in Christ are not aware that the moment a prophecy about a great calling is announced, the enemy unleashes his attacks to stop it. This is the foundation for a spiritual warfare between the prophecy carrier and the enemy. Those who are ignorant of this secret or know it but are not willing to engage in this warfare will either have the prophecies spoken over them delayed or totally fail to manifest.

We cannot blame God for the delay or failure we experience concerning what was prophesied over us. Rather, the blame is on us. This is because God has already played his role by revealing his plans for us through prophecy. He has anointed us for the work which he has called us to do. Our role is to make sure that we do not allow the enemy to win over us. The question then will be, “How does one engage in a warfare against the enemy who wants to delay or abort the prophecy we have received?”

That is what we will discuss in the last two parts of this series. Until then, never forget that every prophecy attracts a spiritual warfare. Whoever wants to avoid delay or total abortion of a prophecy he or she has received must be ready to play his or her role towards its fulfilment. That includes engaging in what I call “Spiritual warfare against prophecies.” 

Until then, never forget that your attitude towards the prophecy you have received can either make it work, delay or even fail to fulfil. I pray the Lord to help us. I beseech him to give us the grace to overcome the plans of the enemy against us in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Thanks for your time. There is more in part 5.  Kindly click  on the link below for easy access to it. 

 Source:   “Truth be told” series. 

 Author:   Apostle Frank B. Ogbu

                  Head Pastor/Overseer

                  Champion Grace Eternal Ministries

                  Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman 

                  Accra, Ghana

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