The last two weeks I emphasized two crucial disciplines for those who would walk in the prophetic: study and the willingness to do the things you don’t enjoy doing and turning them into worship. We are told to “study to show ourselves approved by God” (see II Timothy 2:15). I know few people have had the lifestyle that enabled them to study as much as I’ve been able to do, but the amount of study is not as important as the quality of study.
I would also contend that I run a large ministry, and when I ran a fairly large business I still found the time to study, so it can be done by anyone who esteems it enough. Anyone can find 30 minutes a day for something they consider important. It may require discipline at first, but so does almost everything that is important. If we will discipline ourselves for just a little while it may then turn into a passion, and then you will find more time.
Almost everyone I know spends several hours a week in a gym or exercising, and though I may need to do more of that and less time sitting and reading, almost everyone I know needs more reading and study in their lives. We are told in Galatians 6:7 that “whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” So do we want to spend more time sowing to our natural bodies or our spiritual “inner man?”
I understand the devotion to “take care of our temples,” which we are told are our bodies. However, the Lord lives on the inside, not the outside. Taking care of the physical temple is not as important as taking care of the inner, spiritual man. Where would we be spiritually if we just spent as much time cleaning our inner man as we do the outer? It is great that so many are devoted to exercising, but we should resolve that we will spend more time on the inner man than the outer.
In I Timothy 4:8 we are told that “bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things” (NKJV). So this is saying that bodily exercise does profit some, but not nearly as much as spiritual discipline for godliness. Regardless of how much time we spend on our bodies, they are going to be replaced. It is the inner man that will live forever.
Now let’s look again at how to pursue the “sons of Issachar” anointing to know the times and have the wisdom to help give guidance about what God’s people should do since it is becoming increasingly crucial for these times. Let’s look once more at what Jacob prophesied over Issachar in Genesis 49:14-15:
“When he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant,
he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, and became a slave at forced labor.”
A donkey is called “a beast of burden.” Fundamental to the prophetic ministry is being willing to take “the burden of the Lord,” as the prophets called it in the Old Testament. Of course, no human could ever carry the whole burden of the Lord, but He shares with us what we can stand so that we can feel what He feels. When we prophesy, He does not want us to do this from a cold and detached place, but as much as possible, conveying His heart. This is what is at least partly meant by Amos 3:7:
The “secret counsel” of the Lord are the deep things on His heart. I shared before how when I was on the West Coast recently I would be overcome for hours at a time with a grief that was at the limit of what I thought I could take. There was no reason in the natural for me to feel this. I was having a great time with great friends, yet when I would get alone to pray, this terrible grief would come upon me. The result has been that I think I would do anything to keep the disasters I was shown from coming to pass on our West Coast. Every day I think about it, pray about it, and ask the Lord to raise up those who will sound the alarm better than I have and to give the people ears to hear.
I know the only way for what I was shown not to happen is through repentance and revival. My intercession for these has not only gone to a new level, but also my resolve to keep sounding the alarm. Just as some are getting angrier with me for not recanting these prophecies, I’m more resolved than ever to get the word out any way that I can. I know this is the Lord’s heart for the people who are about to suffer greatly if there is not a profound repentance and returning to Him. This is not fun, but it is part of being a “strong donkey,” willing to carry burdens, and to be strong in doing it.
People tell me often that I would have had a much larger ministry if I had not taken on so many controversial issues. That may be true, but I’m not here to build a large ministry but to be obedient. I was warned in a visitation on January 16, 1991 about temptations that would enable me to build a much larger ministry and distribute many more books and materials, but that would keep me from doing His will. Falling to that temptation concerns me far more than being controversial.
