Here are a few "rough" notes that I have made about the question of the evaluation of prophetic words. I would l love to hear your thoughts and comments. Just click on the "comments" link at the end of the post...
I have heard many hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of prophetic words given by various people in a wide variety of settings over my lifetime. A small minority of the time, I had a crystal-clear sense that the word was, indeed, from God. A small minority of the time, I felt certain that the word was not from God. To be perfectly honest with you, the rest of the time, I did not have a rock-solid conviction either way, when I first heard what was spoken.
Quite often, my “gut” reaction ranged somewhere from, “Hmm, that sounds and feels a little suspicious…” to, “Hmm, that did not minister anything to me, personally, but, maybe it did to someone else…” to, “Wow! I sure hope that is God! Won’t it be wonderful if it is…!” to, “I don’t have a clue whether or not that was truly inspired of the Holy Spirit.”
I think there are probably several reasons why my “discerner” is not more dogmatic.
1. I am sometimes more spiritually sensitive than at other times. When I heard the word, my heart and spirit may not have been completely focused on the Lord for a whole variety of reasons. Perhaps I had allowed what I had been thinking about on my way to church or the things that had happened earlier in the day or broader concerns that I was carrying in my own life or simply the fact that I was attending a conference where I knew I would not be leading the service or some other thing, to keep me from fully entering into God’s manifest presence through the communion of the Holy Spirit. The more "full" I am of the Spirit at the moment I hear the word, the more likely I am to clearly and accurately discern whether or not any or all of it is of truly from the Lord.
2. Some words that I have heard were addressed to someone else and not for me. Perhaps they were for some individual in the service, but not the congregation collectively. When this happens, I may have a clear sense that the word is for a third party, sometimes I do not know for sure, but think it could be because overall it sounds and feels "right." When you think about this possible scenario, you quickly understand that it is really not all that surprising that God would not always bother to let me know if a word for someone else is authentic or not. After all, if the word is for someone else's life individually, it may be that God doesn't think what He is saying to them is really any of my business. If, for instance, He is dealing with some specific, secret sin in their life that He wants to give them an opportunity to repent of without exposing them openly, then He would quite deliberately not let me know who He is talking to about that particular subject. He might then give me only a general sense of conviction that the word is from Him so that I would allow it to be given in the service if we are following the "gating" or "evaluation" procedure mentioned below, or reassure me of its authenticity if there is something about the time or way that it is given that is less than ideal.
3. In a healthy, New Testament church, for greater safety and security, God sometimes intentionally leads us collectively instead of individually, by giving a clear confirmation through establishing a consensus. When this is happening, God deliberately initiates the process of giving revelation through someone other than the leader. Some pastors have a very hard time believing or accepting this, but God really does reserve the right to speak through other people, even when we are present...! (Smile!)
4. God has clearly said that, on our best days, we only, “…know in part and prophesy in part…” until “…that which is perfect is come…,” i.e., until we stand face to face with Him! It is the height of arrogance for any of us to think that we are above that Scripture and that we will always "fully" know everything about every prophetic word.
In any case, it is not automatic that a Christian always knows the voice of God. Full grown sheep do, but not necessarily little lambs…!
“1 ¶ “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.”” (John 10:1-5 NIV)
Little lambs grow to know their shepherd’s voice by constant, continual exposure to it, that is to say, by hearing it over and over again. We also increases our degree of certainty in distinguishing God’s voice through communing with God in prayer and worship; exposure to healthy New Testament church life with fully functioning prophetic ministry; and exercising our gifts in an environment where we receive clear feedback from other, more spiritually mature individuals when we give words. I remember vividly the first time that I ever delivered a "message" in tongues to a congregation. It was then interpreted according to the Biblical pattern. After the service, a very spiritually mature person that I knew quite well made their way to me privately and said, "Mark, that message was clearly from the Lord!" Their honest affirmation of my gift greatly encouraged me and increased my faith, giving me much more confidence when I felt God leading me to minister in that way.
“11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV)
Here is a mental list of questions that I ask in those “in-between” instances when my "gut" alone does not give me a rock-solid conviction about a word I have just heard:
1. BIBLICAL - “It is Scriptural?”
Obviously, if someone says something that is not biblical, we know that is not of God. However, given the very real presence of the human element in all prophecy, in some instances, there can be someone who feels a genuine, Holy Spirit impulse to minister an exhortation to faith, for example, and tries to quote a Scripture to illustrate the point, but does not remember it perfectly or perhaps takes it out of context. They may use the verse in a way that they heard it used by others, even though upon close examination, their exegesis was faulty. The verse they quoted was misapplied, but the spiritual principle they were setting forth was valid. In this instance, the thought they were trying to convey may well have been given to them by God, but their articulation of it was faulty. The Holy Spirit certainly did not inspire them to misquote Scripture, but, in some instances, there may have been some element of what they said that was, “right on.” (See notes below on "Is it partial?")
2. SPIRITUAL – “Does it seem supernatural?”
The point here is not how “spooky” or “mystical” it is…! Genuine prophecy does not have to be given in some kind of weird voice! It can be given in a very natural way and yet still be very supernatural in origin. The style of the delivery has much more to do with an individual's personality and church background than with the level of inspiration they are experiencing. The issue I am addressing when I ask this question is that true prophecy is not merely the result of human reflection, but of divine inspiration. Words always gets my attention more quickly when I know the person giving the word has no earthly way of knowing why they are saying what they are saying, how relevant their words are to my context, or why they are so timely. This does not mean that God cannot use someone who knows all about what is going on in my life to speak to me. But, it certainly causes me to perk up my ears more when He uses someone who knows nothing about me. On the other hand, just because a word is clearly supernatural does not automatically mean it is of God. The Apostle Paul understood this reality and opened his great discourse on the nature and proper exercise of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 by delineating how one can know if something “spiritual,” i.e., supernatural, is of God and not the devil. John speaks to this same subject in his epistle.
3. CREDIBLE - Does it come from a credible person?
It appears to me that 1 Corinthians 12 & 14 seem to presuppose that credible people should be given the opportunity to share what they feel God has given them in public worship services and that utterances should be judged after they are given utterance is given publicly, not before. “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (vs. 29)” It does not say that their word should necessarily be evaluated before it is spoken publicly. Having said that, I do think it is very wise to have some mechanism or procedure in place so that the gist of words given by people who do not have an established track record in a local church are first weighed by the leadership of that church before they are put out for public consumption. It is far easier to avoid some problems than it is to solve them once they have been created, and a lot of damage can be done to individual lives and that of a church through words that are not of God!
At the same time, verses 30 and 31 seem to indicate that even those who are not already recognized to be prophets should also be given opportunities to share and that those recognized for their gifting should cease prophesying in order for that to happen. “And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”
In practice, this passage sometimes leads me to give credible people a chance to share even if I do not have a strong, specific inner witness that what they are about to say is for sure of God. I do this so that the body can evaluate that word collectively. (I would, of course, never ever allow someone to speak if I had a clear sense that what they were about to say was not of God…!) I would be much less quick to let someone share that is not already known to be credible unless I had a strong sense that what they were wanting to share was definitely from the Lord.
Another very important factor when evaluating someone’s credibility is their relationship and attitude toward spiritual authority and toward our “house.” It is a very serious mistake to let anyone address the congregation publicly under any pretext if they are in rebellion against the spiritual authority of the “house.” Even if their gifting is genuine, it is far too likely that in that context their attitude will color any word that they give.
4. BENEFICIAL / HELPFUL - Was it given with a right spirit? Will it edify? Is it right for this time and context?
This does not necessarily indicate whether or not the inspiration was genuine, but it can dramatically impact whether or not the word will edify the body. In a larger sense, this question is linked to another important question, “Does it edify?”
The reality is that truly inspired utterances are sometimes given with a total lack of spiritual etiquette. This is a lot of what 1 Corinthians 14 is all about. Genuine words can even be given in flagrant violation of some of the commands Paul laid down for the Corinthian church, which was in state of crisis and needed close regulation. When addressing their excesses and imbalances, Paul did not say that the gifts that were functioning in their midst in an unhealthy way were not authentic. He had much more to say about the manner of those gifts than their character or nature. Gifts that functioned outside these paraments, though sometimes genuine, would not result in maximum edification.
This still happens today. I have been in services, for instance, where I was convinced that the fourth word given was truly inspired of the Lord, even though Paul limited such utterances in Corinth to only three. Paul did not say that a fourth word could not be inspired. Rather, he said that a fourth word would be excessive, and not edify the body. In some services, that was exactly what happened - a fourth word came that was genuine, but many people in the audience rejected it out of hand because three other words had already been given. The audience was familiar with Paul's words and were instinctively prejudiced against the fourth one.
This question of, “Does it edify?’ is also very important when considering the potential impact of a particular word on the flow of a particular service. There are times when I do not release certain people to give their words in a particular service, even though I would release them to give that word in another service, simply because that word does not seem to “fit” with what I sense God is doing at that moment in the service or at that juncture in our body.
Some people go so far as to say that all New Testament words must only be positive “…edify, exhort, and comfort… (vs. 3) ” and never be corrective, but I do not believe that is the point of 1 Corinthians 14:3. There is more than one instance in the Book of Acts of individuals speaking prophetically to someone and actually pronouncing God’s judgment upon them (cf. Ananias and Sapphira, the sorcerer who was struck blind, etc.) The point of the passage is simply to underscore the need for interpretation of “messages” in tongues in a public gathering (see preceding verse.) Interestingly, the NIV uses the words, “strengthening, encouragement, and comfort.” Sometimes, godly correction is what is needed in order for a person to be stronger spiritually and thus be edified, literally, “built up.”
5. COMMUNAL - How do other spiritual leaders feel about this word? Is there a consensus regarding this word?
Sometimes, the context itself requires that we “go it alone,” but, those instances are rather rare in a healthy, mature New Testament local church. 1 Corinthians 14 indicates that when we share words from God for a particular body to that body, we can expect the Holy Spirit to bear witness with multiple members of that body, particularly among those that are the most spiritually mature and in positions of leadership.
6. CONTINUAL – How does it relate to the things the Spirit has already said?
Does this word coincide or build upon prior words? Has this same thought been expressed by more than one person in more than one context? Words that come multiple times from different sources carry more weight in my mind than words that come a single time from a single source. Paul seemed to share this view:
“22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:22-24 NIV)
This does not mean that all true words are spoken multiple times, but, when they are received multiple times from multiple sources in multiple places, it adds to the certainty about their authenticity and gives them added power. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that the revelation of God in the New Testament contains some 1,100 references to verses in the Old Testament as the Holy Spirit deliberately linked what He was saying in the New Testament era to what He had already said in the Old Testament era.
7. PARTIAL - Is part of that word inspired, but not all of that word?
It is entirely possible, and in fact, rather common, for someone to begin “in the spirit” and wind up speaking out of their own understanding. This is particularly true if the person giving the word tries to interpret or apply that word…! One of the easiest mistakes to make is to speak forth what God says by the Spirit, and then try to explain what he meant through our own thought processes and deductions. A dear senior spiritual statesman friend of mine once told me, “Every time in my life I have heard the voice of God telling me to do something, the next voice I heard was the voice of the devil telling me how and when to do it!”
Further Observations
· Because I am aware of the very real presence of the human element in all prophecy, I think it is best to try to focus on the “bottom line” of a word instead of every detail or phrase in that word. I normally do not write words down or try to record them with a tape recorder, etc., but simply trust God that anything that is spoken to me that truly is from God will carry a weighty enough anointing that it will easily lodge in my heart and spirit and I will not have any difficulty recalling it later.
· God wants the message to get through and will keep trying if we miss it in a service and unintentionally quench the spirit. This applies to both the speaker and the evaluator. This is a great comfort to me when leading church services. I would never knowingly quench the Spirit, but I am quite sure there are sometimes that I drop the ball and miss a moment the Holy Spirit was trying to set up.
· Not every genuine prophetic word is meant to be shared publicly. Be very slow to share personal words with anyone besides the person they are addressed to.
· We need to create opportunities for people to exercise their gifts in an atmosphere where they can fail and not be severely criticized, but, rather, learn from their failures and move on into mature spiritual gift ministry. This “practice” venue should not be the main worship service!
· Spiritual maturity in a local church includes coming to the place where someone can sincerely miss it in a public worship service, and the body will know it and be able to move one with what God is doing without any serious disruption or trauma.
[Prophecy]
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