GIFT OF PROPHECY Part 1

 CONTENDING FOR THE FULLNESS OF THE PROPHETIC ANOINTING 

In the prophetic realm, there has been common misuses and abuse of simple prophecy. It is important to keep in the mind the necessary distinction between ‘simple prophecy’ and the office of a prophet. Simple prophecy is limited to edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3), whereas the office of a prophet has the authority to correct and/or give specific direction to a person, ministry, or nation. Everyone can function in simple prophecy. However, only people with a history of accurately prophesying future events can claim to function in the office of a prophet.

In one of the prophecies I have receive in a span of over twenty years, there’s one that stands out. In the year 2015, I received a prophetic redirection for my spiritual life from a visiting man of God. He said that he wanted to pray for me because he saw an elevation that God was bring to my life. I didn’t understand but, I allowed him to pray for me. The same week and in a different Church afternoon prayer meeting, a pastor spoke of a promotion as she prayed over me. Within two weeks and in circumstance I may not relate at this time, I left my local church. That same week, I had a spiritual visitation from Jesus. He appointed me to be His apostle and gave me my apostolic blueprint. Jesus calls, trains and sends His apostles. But it was through prophecy I learnt of my elevation though, no one could be able to put his/her finger on the grace that was coming over me. 

All prophecies must uphold and honor what is written in Scripture. By upholding this one guideline, we will save ourselves much pain and turmoil. We must not give or receive prophecies that violate the spirit and intention of what is written in Scripture. Some who are inexperienced with prophecy are too quick to naïvely obey ‘prophetic’ directives from those who boldly prophesy to them. Through the years, I have seen people receive ‘prophetic’ directions that result in unnecessary pain and confusion. Much of this can be avoided by observing scriptural principles along with some basic common sense. When I was first exposed to personal prophecy, I was very open to receiving prophetic direction in areas of personal prophesies. Some have come to pass while others are still waiting to manifest. However, God wants us relate directly to Him to hear from Him employing His wisdom into our lives. Be responsible for the decisions you make. 

The Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is prophetic in nature and He tells us to pursue prophesy and love… 1 Corinthians 12:31, “But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces)”.  While the power dimension of the faith includes much more than just prophecy, we focus in on the ways of how we can contend to walk in the fullness of the prophetic anointing.

1. Have a clear VISION for the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

What’s the purpose of that which the Holy Spirit brings? We contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing by maintaining a clear vision for it. Many in the body of Christ do not have a spiritual vision. They have a vision for a ‘little bit more’,  but they do not want to contend for the quality of the prophetic anointing that the early apostles walked in. We must fight to have a vision to walk in everything that God will give the human spirit in this generation with a holy pain concerning our powerlessness and spiritual barrenness. 

Jesus tells us in Mark 4:24 to “take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given”. In other words, we must be careful with what we hear or in what we believe is God’s measure of fullness for our lives. We must be careful in determining what we will contend for in our experience in God, as most of us are too easily satisfied with bigger churches or better worship music or a few personal prophecies sprinkled throughout our services when the Lord desires to release so much more.

I believe the Lord has such a radically different vision for the fullness of the prophetic anointing than what we call the prophetic anointing in the Church today. We must align our vision with His vision for the prophetic anointing instead of trying to manipulate Him into our meetings and values. Don’t be frustrated and confused by this. Are we expecting something dramatic to happen? I really am expecting something dramatic to happen. My response could be weird, but I believe it is the biblical response.

The type of approach that God is looking for is to burn our boats, burn our bridges, and have the mentality that refuses to retreat under any circumstances. We must determine in our hearts to press in until we die and meet the Lord or until the Lord visits us with power and prophetic anointing.

2. Cultivate a spirit of gratefulness and faithfulness in smallness.

We contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing by cultivating a spirit of gratefulness and faithfulness for all that the Lord has already released to us, no matter how small it may seem. While we must have a clear vision for the fullness, we must not despise the day of small beginnings… Zechariah 4:10. We must contend for more because we see what we lack, yet we must give thanks for what we do have, no matter how little or insignificant it may feel. As we are faithful in the little, God will release more and more of the prophetic anointing on our lives… Luke 19:17.

3. Live a life of fasting and prayer as the Holy Spirit leads.

We contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing by pressing in with a lifestyle of fasting and prayer [as the Holy Spirit leads]. We must determine to give ourselves in prayer and fasting in such a way that we refuse to back down in any way. We must press into God through prayer and fasting and settle the issue, “Why not me”? If you won’t do it, who will? If it won’t happen in our lifetime, then when?

Right now, the Lord is orchestrating a worldwide movement of prayer and fasting mingled with worship. Prayer and fasting do not earn us more blessings, but position our hearts in such a way to fully cooperate with Him in releasing His blessings to us and our cities. I believe that the Lord is calling us right now to shift out of the common mode of Christian ministry into a spiritually violent lifestyle of fasting and prayer… Matthew 11:12.

To many in the Church today, a lifestyle of prayer and fasting seems counterproductive to seeing the Kingdom of God break into our cities. However, Scripture is clear that we enter into greater realms of prophetic anointing by the simple weakness of prayer, fasting, serving, and bearing up under persecution… 2 Corinthians 11–12. The message of voluntary weakness through prayer and fasting is an offensive message to the Church. The problem is that when we begin to walk down the path of weakness, the power does not always break out immediately. The Lord tests our faith with a divine time delay. After our persistence and not seeing the immediate fruit of our prayers and fasting, we often want to draw back. At that point, we often give into the lie that the pathway to God is not really prayer and fasting and that we can skip this step and do it our own way.

Most ministries end up believing the lie that there is more power found by bypassing the weakness of prayer and fasting and engaging in frenetic activity rather than taking the road less traveled and pouring our time through prayer and fasting into the presence of God. Too often, they measure in the hear and now, but in the big picture of Church history, it is clear that when people have persistently chosen to pray and fast, God has always proved true by releasing a greater dimension of His power. It may take years, sometimes even entire lifetimes, but it happens without exception.

4. Seek to fully obey God without compromise.

We contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing by seeking to fully obey God without compromise. We must choose to walk out lives that reflect the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, living free of any compromise by declaring war against all known sin in our lives. Many times, people who desire to be free from all compromise grow discouraged because there are one or two or a few issues in their life that they do not feel they can get free from. The issue is not whether or not you still struggle with sin in your life, but that you are actively warring against it and seeking to be set free. I have never met a single person who is completely free from all the hidden sins and issues in his or her life, but I believe that if we seek to be free from compromise, we will find freedom in time. This is why we need to change the way we think and appropriate the message of the Kingdom of God. We cannot do this if we keep postponing the message of the Kingdom of God. 

I know of many people who jump into the prayer and worship movement and wear it as a badge of honor, thinking that they have joined some elite group that does not struggle with sin and compromise. They go to prayer meetings thinking they are free from compromise because they attend the prayer meetings, but their private lives do not correspond with what they are saying in the prayer meetings. Prayer and fasting can never serve as a substitute for a lifestyle of obedience in all the other areas of life. In order to receive the fullness of the prophetic anointing, it is imperative that we war against sin in order to live lives free of compromise and full of integrity.

5. Bear the reproach and stigma of the anointing.

Last but not least, we contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing by bearing the reproach that comes with God’s power. This is no small thing. Over the years, the Lord has allowed me to witness and even be a small part of a God-orchestrated stigma and reproach that accompanies the prophetic anointing. We have this false idea that when God releases the prophetic anointing and power, we will have dignity and honor and look ‘cool’ in everyone’s eyes. However, what I have noticed over the years is that when God releases His prophetic anointing on His vessels, they also become targets for both demons and men, sometimes even from good and godly men. 

This is not necessarily a judgment of God against them, but His mercy to keep them humble as He releases greater measures of His unusual supernatural manifestation of power. Even the apostle Paul bore the stigma of the prophetic anointing. He made this clear in 2 Corinthians 12:7 by writing, “Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted”. This stigma can serve to keep us from pride and arrogance as God protects us by hedging us in with such reproach. We must learn to take a stand and bear the repproach before and after God releases His prophetic anointing. God will allow us to look foolish for our own sake, so we must not wait around until it becomes popular to seek God with spiritual violence. Join in with those who are taking a stand, or be the first to stand.

Conclusion

There are many scriptural promises of God releasing His prophetic anointing to this generation in which the Lord will return… I believe that we are in it. We do not contend for the fullness of the prophetic anointing because it merely adds excitement to our meetings, but because the Lord promises that He will release His Spirit and we desire to cooperate and partner with Him in His purpose for this generation.