As we have covered in part, young prophetic ministries often become confused because they do not understand that many things they feel are not their own problems, but they are picking up on other people’s problems. For example, you might go into a store and suddenly start feeling lust. The immature often start repenting for this when what they are feeling may be the problem of a person nearby, or even something that is gaining entry into the store, or being imparted at the store. We do not need to repent of this, but we are being given this knowledge to help set someone free or to expose a “gate of hell.” This is often how the gift of discernment works, and it takes maturity to distinguish what really is in our own heart or what we are picking up on that is outside of us.
This leads us to an important understanding about prophetic revelation. There are basically three aspects to properly handling revelation. The first is to get the revelation. The second is to interpret it correctly, and then the third is the application.
In the situation above, once we understand that we are discerning a spirit of lust and that it is not a personal problem, the next step is to get the interpretation. Is this coming from a person, or is it the store? For this we must inquire of the Lord and let Him lead us to the right conclusion.
Then let’s say that in this case He shows us that this is a problem with a specific person nearby. What do we do with that knowledge? That is the application, and there can be many answers to this. You probably do not want to walk up to that person and tell them they have a spirit of lust. The answer for now may be just to start praying for them. You may know about a book or teaching that could help them. You might want to take them out for coffee and gently lead the conversation into how you have been helped with this problem, not telling them that you know about their problem. Our goal never should be to show off our prophetic gifts, but rather to help God’s people, and according to Galatians 6:1, do it as gently as possible.
I almost never go to cities or churches without picking up on things they’re dealing with. Sometimes I come with very clear and high-level revelation, but I rarely tell them unless I get a clear indication that this is the right thing to do. I ask the Lord how I should address it, always keeping in mind that this is His bride I’m ministering to, and you always treat the King’s bride, the queen, with the utmost respect. The answer I am usually given for how to address issues I may see is for me to direct my teachings to confront problems because it is the truth that sets people free and light that casts out the darkness.
Before I would ever disclose a problem to the congregation, I would take it to the leadership. Often they want me to tell the congregation how I received the revelation, but since they are the shepherds responsible, I let them make this call. I have learned that good fruit almost never comes from violating basic spiritual protocol, which is why we have very clear biblical warnings not to do this.
It is usually immaturity that compels one to charge out with their prophetic revelation. This can cause many problems, being one of the reasons why so many in the church are still hesitant to receive prophetic ministries. One of the primary steps to prophetic maturity is to get beyond the need of demonstrating or trying to prove our prophetic gifts.
One of the great examples of prophetic grace is the way that the Lord so gently used His revelation of the woman at the well. He could have just blurted out to her as she walked up that she had had five husbands and was at that time living in sin. Instead, He gently led her in the conversation and then let her know that He knew about her condition. The result was a city learning about Him and them coming out to have their own experience with Him.
When we’re young and just beginning to get revelation, it is hard to contain it at times. Immature prophetic people will be immature, and we need to give them grace, too. If you want a mature prophetic ministry, you will have to work with them to help them mature, and that can be messy at times. Even so, it will always be worth it. In the times that are now unfolding, we simply will not make it without much greater prophetic revelation than what we are walking in at this time. This prophetic revelation is not just for the prophets, but it is for the whole body of Christ.
