A prophet is always called to a specific people and locale. No prophet apart from Jesus has a universal ministry. In giving gifts to his church Jesus clearly sets out the gifts to the body in order to establish a fully functioning church. The apostle plants and establishes the ministry while the prophets confirms the spiritual direction and keeps the fellowship in the touch with the original plan of God. Prophets were placed in strategic positions since it is in these specific locations that satan weaves his spirit if deception to cause confusion and derail God’s plan for that locality or region. Prophets who were placed in ‘high places’ were placed there to give direction and correction to the kings they ministered to. People like Isaiah who was placed in the palace of kings to speak the word of God to them, whereas Amos was placed among the ordinary people to speak directly to them. Neither of these propjets was more important than the other, they had a job to do and had to do it to the best of their ability. Whenever God places you in an area and gives you the prophetic anointing it is for a particular purpose with a desired outcome in the long run. The whole intention of God is to restore his order that was destroyed because of the sin of disobedience. The apostle Paul says this; “for since death came through one man, the resurrection of the dead has also come through one man. For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ”, (1cor 15:21-22). Disobedience brought the curse of death to humanity. Adam had a prophetic mandate and was enticed away from it by the lure of food. Similarly the prophets of the Lord were lured away from speaking the word from the Lord by eating at Jezebel’s table. Today prophets are being lured away by satan appealing to their egos. Let all who are called to speak the word from God to a particular area do so with humility and without compromise, in spite of the table you have been invited to sit around. Read Jonah 1
as we moderate our diet of the word
as we redefine the prophetic anointing
Your anointing can be circumvented by the sin of disobedience. We must remember that a prophet is called to bring 
clarity and revelation to their community. However, acting in a selfish manner will nullify the anointing of God in your life. This was indeed the case with Jonah. He was anointed and appointed by God to call his community to repent and to return to the Lord. He disobeyed the command and went on a journey in the opposite direction to which he was sent. Disobedience activates the curses outlined by God in your life (see Deut. 28:15ff). Although in our modern world some folks dismiss the notion of curses, it is there in scripture for all to see. Disobedience activate the curses whereas obedience actives blessings.
For Jonah the curse was to spend three nights and days dead in the belly of a whale. For us as modern day prophets we may not be so fortunate, so guard your anointing and learn to obey the voice of the Lord and his prophetic word that comes to you.
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and 15-45.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Aural, disobedience, Hearing, Listening, Obedience, Sin
as our God execute judgement on our behalf since we don’t know what to do!
As a prophet of God one of the main thing one need to watch out for are those who want to kill your gifting and stunt 
your growth. These are people who operate under the spirit of Jezebel. Jezebel was the main opponent to Elijah so much so that because of her he nearly had a nervous breakdown. However the way to defeat the Jezebelic spirit is to confront it. Running and hiding is not an option. The spirit of Jezebel will try to mock what you do and will try to divert the plan of God for your life. The mocking spirit was also apparent in the life of Elisha, he confronted it and God acted against the mockers (2kings 2:23). Today the mocking spirit will rise up against you to try to divert you from the plans that God has for you. Like Elijah and Elisha after him, conform that mocking spirit and pray to God the father to deal with it. The prophets of Baal who ate at Jezebel’s table were humiliated and destroyed. The boys who mocked Elisha were destroyed. Those who mocked you will also be destroyed in Jesus’ name.
We are in a season of intense warfare now and we need to be prepared for the onslaught of the enemy. As we open our spiritual eyes we will see the mockers, the liars and the haters who are sent to cause confusion in our lives. Be assured that they will not succeed as the Holy Spirit alerts us and goes ahead of us to subdue all the mockers.
Read 2Chronicles 20:12
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Intimacy with God, Jezebelic spirit, Opposition, Spiritual Warefare
as we associate with those who can minister into the areas where we are lacking
Every prophet must remember that their gifting is not their own benefit but for those they serve. From the biblical 
characters we have been studying, we see that the benefits of association far outweigh those of working in isolation. Once Elisha took the mantle from Elijah he gathered to himself people who were teachable and who could develop their gifting to serve their respective communities. However being a part of the company of prophets does not exempt you from poor decision making. Essentially, having the gift in one area of your life does not cover all the bases. One of Elisha’s charges had this problem. He ran up a huge debt for his family and then he died, possibly from his own efforts of trying to make ends meet (2Kings 4:1). You can be successful in one area of your life but a total failure in another. As the leader of the company of prophets, it was to Elisha that the prophet’s widow went. When she met up with Elisha she held nothing back. She told him everything because of the threat of her children being taken and sold into slavery. The miracle of the oil that seems to be the focus of the story is the result of the prophetic word not the point that the redactor is making. Getting into unmanageable debt is a problem for everyone, dealing with debt is a serious problem today particularly in the current financial climate. However, as you associate with the Holy Spirit and a company of people who have the mind of God the oil of gladness in our lives will flow continuously and give us the necessary tools to manage the areas of our lives where we have lack. Read 2Kings 4:1-7.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Association, Bad Decisions, Company, gifting, Judgement, Miracles, Threat
as we make the gift subject to us rather than define who we are!
Prophets, Priests and Kings are subject to God’s laws, no one is exempt. Often an experienced operator can rely on 
their experience and forget about the grace of God. This is when pride and the other vices associated with pride raises its head. To develop and hone the prophetic anointing the individual must spend copious time in prayer, fasting and careful study of the word. However there must be a mentor or someone to challenge our perception. Since someone with the prophetic anointing can easily become puffed up and arrogant. Elijah modelled for us the downside of challenging the unholy alliance (1Kings 19). As we expose ourselves more and more to God so we also expose ourselves more and more the attack from demonic forces. The prophet must be one who seeks out and reveal the plans of the enemy to God for him to destroy them. Because we have authority on the Earth we have a say in who operates here. And so as followers of Jesus who live in the kingdom of light, we must dispel the darkness so that the light of the gospel may come to all. A skewed worldview will cause someone with the prophetic anointing to subvert God’s plan for a particular location. Consider Daniel and how he operated. He was a prophet of his time, and although he was in exile he did not defile himself or compromise his understanding of who God is, like many of his contemporaries. He took the hard decision to listen to God and reveal what he said with a spirit of humility. Today all those with the gift must remember that it is for the benefit of others and not a trophy to display. Read Daniel 2 and then pray like Daniel.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Defintion, discipline, Gift, Giver, Prayer, Respect
as we test our associations
As we develop our prophetic gifting we will be faced with others who have been in the business a long time and 
supposedly know what to do in all and every circumstances. These people who have heard from God in the past have become fat and fastidious and typically rely on the exploits of the past. The mandate for us today is to hear our own word and fulfil our own vision. When God puts something in your heart, know that it is God and keep in step with his Spirit. There was a young prophet in scripture whom God used to speak to king Jeroboam about setting himself up as priest and making unholy offerings on the altar before God and the nation. The unnamed prophet came at the very moment he was about to offer up his sacrifice (1Kingd 13:1). The prophet discharged the word from the Lord about a future king (Josiah) who would be born some three hundred years later and who would remove those who defiled the name of the Lord from his presence. On hearing the news, the king stretched out his hand and declared that he should be seized. However, because it was God who spoke to the prophet, the king could not retract the hand and asked the man of God to pray for him. After the hand was restored the king offered to reward the prophet. The Lord spoke to him and told him not to eat or drink from anyone but to return to Judah (12:10). On his way back an old prophet was told about the prophetic word that he delivered and went in search for him. When he caught up with him he invited him back to his place for a meal and to hear all what God had done. The young prophet told him that he was mandated to go straight back to Judah by God. The old prophet told him that an angel appeared to him and said it was alright to return with him, which was a blatant lie. After eating and drinking at the older prophet’s home, the Lord spoke through the same older prophet to tell the man of God that because of his disobedience his life was required of him. His destiny was cut short because he equated age with integrity. Today remember this, when God speaks to you, if you are in doubt go back to him again and again, and then do as he says. Read the full story in 1 Kings 13:1-25.
as we locate another principle of association
After receiving the mantle from Elijah, Elisha’s propensity to perform miracles not only increased it was also very visible. He was committed to walking in Elijah’s footsteps so much so that he relinquished his past employment and made up his mind to follow the Lord whatever the outcome would be. He was now the successor of Elijah and the mouth-piece for God in the locality. Elisha lived under an ‘open heaven’. This is a place where the membrane between Earth and Heaven is so thin that the weight of God’s glory can be felt and experienced and also angelic activity is a common everyday occurrence. If a prophet of God is living in this vicinity, then speaking evil about them can be as calamitous as touching them. This was the case in our text 2kings 2:23-25: as he went from Bethel on route to Mount Carmel. He was confronted by 42 small boys who didn’t know who he was nor did they understand the anointing on his life. They proceeded to tease him and call him names, they were very particular about his baldness. He cursed them in the name of the Lord then two bears mauled them. Although this is a particularly gruesome example, it is there in the bible to show us that when we are ignorant of the anointing on an individual’s life, leave them and their destiny to God. The word from the prophet can cause blessings or curses to come upon those in his circle of influence. The open heaven scenario determines that the place where the prophet lives is a thin place. It is also a place of miracles and angelic activity. Today if we want to see and experience the power and glory of God, let us live at one of these thin places under an open heaven. Read Psalm 27:1-4.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Angelic activity, Anointing, Blessings, Curses, Influence, Miracles, Open Heaven, Thin Places
as we investigate the principles of association
When Elisha received the mantle from Elijah the rest of the prophetic company knew this. They recognised that there was something different about Elisha. Having been in the company of the great man the anointing and the double portion was now resting on him. Probably Elisha did not feel any different from he did the day before, however his colleagues recognised the anointing on his life and declared “the spirit of Elijah rest on Elisha” 2kings 2:15. Our associations dictate the anointing that rests on us. We may not be able to recognise it but others will. We are reminded that bad company corrupts good manners (1Cor 15:33). So today let us be very careful who we associate with and seek God before taking on the mantle of others.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Anointing, Associations, Character, Manners, Mantle
as we earth our gifts in the soil of integrity, honesty and trustworthyness
“If I have faith so that I can move a mountain and have not love I am like a tinkling cymbal.” Paul the Apostle A.D. 50’s ish
The importance of integrity in cannot be overemphasised for one who exhibits the prophetic anointing. Honesty, Integrity and trust are the hallmarks of a person who has the gift of a prophet and who discharges that gift with sensitivity and love. It is one thing to discharge a prophetic word and another to be there to mop up any fall-out that follows. Like many of the OT prophets the delivery of the word that have the power to give life and to exact death must be done with sensitivity. Nathan gave King David the word about his wrong doing as a story about a man who, although he had many sheep took the only sheep that a poorer neighbour of his had. When David realised that the story was really about him, he repented and wrote psalm 51. The prophet must be trustworthy. That is, they must be people whose words are true and are laden with integrity. The idea is not to be a portent of bad news but to deliver messages that will bring people back to the father, after all this is at the heart of the father that his creation returns to the protection of his glory. Elisha followed Elijah relentlessly until he received his cloak/mantle/covering and was able to become a prophet of integrity. After delivering what seemed to be a ridiculous word to captain Naaman he refused his goods and money. His trainee however had no such integrity and took the goods and money offered by the captain. Elisha saw in the spirit what took place and prophesied that his servant and his descendants would suffer from the disease of leprosy that captain Naaman was healed of. Honesty, integrity and trust are traits that should be imbedded in all aspiring prophets. Read 2Kings 5:19-27.
as we hone the prophetic voice and get ready for the shifting!!
Having described the roles and responsibilities of the prophet we must now decide if we are called to this office. Once 
we realise that we have the gift and calling to be a prophetic voice to our community, there is one salient thing that we must develop, and that is ‘Character’. Having the gift is one thing, knowing how to use is for the advancement of God’s kingdom and not our own device is another. Currently there are many gifted people around who are aware of what God is doing at this particular time in history. However, like the prophets who were guests at Jezebel’s table, they are prophesying for reward. I know that there are those who are prepared to speak out against the god of this world and against his devises and pervasive push into the heart of the church of Jesus. Today there is a shifting occurring in the spiritual realm, in that across the world the body of Christ recognises that the battle will not be won by preaching and motivation, but by prayer, fasting and above all love. If you have a desire to see God’s kingdom come and his will be done in your locality, then you must set the tone. Repent, confess your faults and forgive those who have hurt you and those you have duped. Fast and pray and above all exhibited the love of Jesus to all to bring about restoration, reconciliation and healing. I want to see the glory of God manifested in my locality and so I must forgive those who have hurt me, repent for keeping bitterness in my heart about them, honour and bless them and pray for total healing and reconciliation.
The prophetic voice must come from a position of humility, but let it be known that this humility is more powerful than a two edged sword as it pierces the very conscience of those who encounter it.
Read 2kings 2:1-13.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: following God, Hearing, Integrity, Knowing, Listening, spiritual realm
