Category Archives: Prophesy and the prophetic

Some current prophetic words and some teaching on prophesy, including notes from the Wildwood Church School of Prophesy.

Prophesy and the prophetic

Love your neighbour as Yourself (and more…)

1 Comment

Love your neighbour as you love yourself…

We were considering what we had learned individually during lockdown and the various journeys it has brought, when the Holy Spirit prompted the question “How much do we love ourselves? Because if we don’t love ourselves much, we can’t love our neighbour much either.”

When we asked Him what He meant, I felt He gave an answer. I’ll put it into the First Person, although it wasn’t received as a direct prophesy, more an unfolding revelation of how, and why, we can – and indeed should – love ourselves. God would say something like this (some of it is in psalm 139):

“You can love yourself because I created you in my image, and you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I knew you before you were formed in the womb, and what I saw was beautiful. Although sin and the powers of darkness have damaged you in the flesh, I have lifted you out of the miry clay and you are seated in glory with my Son in the Spirit. Through Him I see the perfection I put into you. I want you to see, and love, what I see: holiness, light, truth, and life. I am not asking you to love what is dead in you, which is your body if sin and death; but what is alive in you: the uniqueness and beauty which I created and which my Son has redeemed. This you can love, and when you do you can reach out to your neighbours with the love for all that I have created and purposed for them as well.”

If we will let the wind of the Spirit blow the ashes off our coals (see “Where is your fire?”), we can see, and love, what God has put into us and what He has created us for, and burst into flame again. Marion reminded us that repentance precedes revival. Let’s repent of letting dead ashes cover our glowing hearts, in the words of the David Ruiz song from the 1994 Toronto revival: “Come, sweet wind, come and blow over me!”

In various ways and through different journeys, we have all felt that God has been drawing us closer to Him so that His character can be more formed in us, and so that we can hear His word more clearly, whenever He wants to speak to us – not just in the parts of the day that we have set aside for Him. Our hearts need to be the good ground where His seed can take root and multiply, as we heard through the preaching recently. But for that to happen, we have to allow the gardener to pull up the weeds that grow all to easily.

A key question is this: what is GOD’s call on our time? If the devil can’t tempt us with worldly distractions, he will try and weigh us down with seemingly good, spiritual ones so that we end up burdened with a lot of fruitless running around and “hard” praying that is not Spirit led and just causes weds to grow in the good soil. We are exhorted not just to pray at all times, but to pray “in the Spirit” at all times. (Eph 6:18)  Muyiwa put it so succinctly: if we aren’t praying in the Spirit we are just “worrying on our knees.”

In this context we talked a little about Elisha and the Shunammite woman: we need to “shut the door” on what is troubling us and seek Jesus; not try and break through the cloud of troubles and fears by praying harder than them! (See John 14:1) Sometimes a fear we need to leave behind is actually the fear of our prayers not being answered. When the presence of the Lord is real, this fear evaporates. But every situation has a different prayer, and this only comes from the presence of God and not from a formula we have learned or a habit we have formed. So to pray in the Spirit at all times, we need to be filled with the Spirit at all times, and walking with Him at all times, not just in our quiet times.

Shalom!

Living by Faith, Prophesy and the prophetic

The mantle of Elisha

Leave a comment

“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”” (2 Kings 2: 11-16)

Elisha was possibly the most complete type of Christ in the Old Testament. His name is a clue: it means “God is salvation.” Among other things, he broke a curse (Jericho 2 Kings 2),
He raised the dead (2 Kings 4: 19-37),
He spoke with authority and healed at a distance (Naaman, 2 Kings 5),
He taught love for enemies – (the Syrian raiders 2 Kings 6 22-2),
He multiplied food (The jars of oil , and also bread, both in 2 Kings 4),
Even His death brought new life (A dead man was raised to life when he touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21).

The Bible is full of transitions: Egypt to Promised land, Judges to Kings, Saul to David, Kingdom to Exile, Exile to Restoration, The Law to Grace, Crucifixion to Resurrection, Flesh to Spirit – Jesus brings Life; life is dynamic, and dynamism means change. We go through many and various transitions in our own lives, until we all come to the final one where we move from the dimension of corruption to the dimension of immortality. We pass through some by choice and some by accident, but the changes to our body as life takes its course in us are inexorable. And so it is, I believe, with the Body of Christ.

The church is in transition. The spirit of Elijah now rests on Elisha. Christians the world over have been taking an unprecedented opportunity to spend more time with the Lord, not letting go of His presence, and following Him to a place separated (by the Jordan) from the commerce of the world (Jericho). Now that season is drawing to a close, and the time is coming for us to bring Jesus and His salvation back to Jericho. But we cannot go back over the Jordan unless we pick up the mantle and strike the water, in faith that the God of Elijah will part them for us. And to wear that new mantle, we need to take off our existing clothes and tear them in two. What we have been in the past will not serve us for the future.

What matters now as we stand before Jericho is that we don’t follow the inclination of the “sons of the prophets” and go up into the mountains to look for Elijah. If we look for our old ways and expect to carry on just as we were we will find that the power and authority – the Spirit of Elijah – has gone; we’ll be stuck on the other side of the Jordan and will have no impact on Jericho. I believe that this transition is as inevitable as the physical changes that take place in the human body on its journey through life. Either we move into Jericho wearing the mantle of the God of Salvation and cloaked in His miracle power, or we waste our time in the mountains looking for what is no longer there.

Elijah (“Jehovah is God”) has a strong association with fire: not only the fire of God that consumed the sacrifice on the mountain and demonstrated that Jehovah, not Baal, was God (1 Kings 18:38); but also the fire that fell twice on the captains and cohort of fifty men that Ahaziah sent to arrest him (2 Kings 1:10). Elijah comes before Elisha. The fire of God comes before the salvation of God. Jesus said “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.” (Matt 17:11-12) As John the Baptist came and prepared the way for the earthly ministry of Jesus, so the fire of God will prepare the way for the Body of Christ to minister again in all the restored fullness of His authority and power.

In the book of Acts it wasn’t just the leading apostles who saw the power of God confirm the preaching of the Word.  “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (Act 11: 19-21) Some of us have felt the fire already, and if we haven’t, we soon will. Because now is time for the whole of the Body of Christ, not just the leaders but also the “men from Cyprus and Cyrene,” to pick up the mantle of Elisha, cross the Jordan, and bring salvation to Jericho.

Be prepared; hold on., Prophesy and the prophetic, Walking in the Spirit

“My Body is not in shape.”

1 Comment

Jake received this word earlier in the week, at about the same time as the Lord was speaking to me about the golden shields. It is worth reading them together.

Jake writes: I saw the Lord weeping. I asked the Lord why He was weeping, and He said this: “I am weeping over My body, for it is not in shape.”

I asked the Lord what He meant by this, and I felt Him say: “Large parts of My body still love sin and only dislike the consequence of sin. I am using this time for a spiritual self -examination, where busyness has hidden the real you.  I will be highlighting motives and thought patterns that are contrary to My way.

I am doing a new thing: I am putting in my people who seek my face an aversion to sin and I will be restoring a JOY to my people that will be far greater than the short lived joy of sin.

My church for far too long has not heeded the warning from the Israelites in the desert, where I supplied them with manna to eat, yet they took their eyes of me and became complacent, took my provision for granted and became greedy. Trying to provide for themselves they forgot I had provided for them.  And hence I caused the food I provided that they had stored up to become inedible, to bring then back to me.”



Holiness: You shall be perfect, Prophesy and the prophetic

The Golden Shields

1 Comment

“It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made.   (1 Kings 14: 25-26)

I felt the Lord spoke to me through this passage. He said: “What golden shields do you have in the temple? There should only be one shield, and that is the shield of faith. All of the others are made from the gold of this world, and belong to the ruler of this world. You need to remove your golden shields from My temple.“

The shields can take many forms. But they all have the same purpose: we look to them for safety and protection, and hiding under them we keep ourselves away from the Lord. We can let them become our security. They can be financial security, emotional security, reputation, religious systems, our traditions – any number of things. But the Lord wants us to clear His temple so that He can come and fill it with His glory.

God gave Solomon wealth and wisdom beyond measure, but in the end his heart went after other gods. He, and He alone, is our strength and our shield; His presence and not the gold He gives is our security. This is our shield of faith. If we wrap ourselves in him and place our trust in Him alone, His glory will eventually come and fill the temple. And then the answer will be “yes!“ to the question that Jesus put in Luke 18:8: “Will the Son of Man find faith on earth when He returns?”

I received this word around the same time that Jake received the prophesy posted as “My body is not in shape.” It is worth reading them together, as they convey a similar message.

Be prepared; hold on., Prophesy and the prophetic

Red Letter Days

Leave a comment

When we were praying in our breakout groups this morning I felt the Lord say that the next few days are “red letter days” on His calendar. The battle in the heavenlies is intensifying (see Jakes post “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”, if you haven’t read it already). On the surface it can seem like there are two groups of people emerging in this lockdown: those who have more time on their hands and therefore seem to be in a better place to respond to the words about “preparation for the next move of God” that are around, and those who are so overwhelmed by the situation that they are now finding themselves in, that just surviving is a victory. But for all of us, whether we have more time for God, or whether we are run off our feet on the front line, 1 Cor 10:31 applies: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” We are never too busy or exhausted for the Holy Spirit to break in with a word for us, so If we can remember this verse during these “red letter days” we can be sure that our hearts are “good soil;” and then if God sows a word into our lives it will bring forth that extravagant fruit that we heard about in the service this morning.

Bob.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, Prophesy and the prophetic

The Battle Belongs to The Lord

2 Comments

This is a series of three visions given to Jake Dominy, a member of our School of Prophesy. Jake also created a picture to represent the first of the three, which you will find at the end of this message.

Part One

Exodus 17: 8-16

I saw in the natural the wind blowing the trees this morning, and the sky dark, with very occasional sunshine.

I felt the Lord saying that there is a real spiritual storm brewing in the heavenlies, a major battle in heavenly places. And as I waited on the Lord I felt him liken this battle to the one against the Amalekites (Exodus 17: 8-16): when Moses was holding up his hands the Israelites were winning, but when his arms tired and he let them drop the Israelites started to lose. He needed support holding his hands up. I felt the Lord was saying that Moses holding his hands up was a symbol of three things. One is prayer and praise, another is that they point to the Lord as a prophetic symbol of victory, and thirdly it means that we must keep our minds and spirits focussed on things above and not on our current situation.

We must pray unceasingly for our leaders in the church and in the nation. We are their support. I saw that the more we prayed, the longer the sun shone, and as our leaders tired and we eased up on praying the darkness and storm clouds with stormy winds came. I felt the Lord say now is the time to pray and praise unceasingly and my name will be known in the land, and my glory will shine forth like the sun across this nation and all nations. I will break down some of the spiritual strongholds in the Earth; I am the Lord and the victory is mine. My name will be known and praised in all the Earth.

The second part of this came later. I saw the Lion of Judah, and standing behind him were defences: these defences were the angels, and behind the angels was God’s human army with full length shields and shining spears between the shields, at least 7 feet high. And behind that was a vast, vast army: some on horseback, and some foot soldiers. As the enemy drew close I heard the Lion roar “Now!” and as He roared the front few lines of the enemy were no more, through the sheer volume of the roar of the Lion.

But I also felt a warning in my spirit: the enemy will try to draw us out of our defensive position, with other spiritual distractions that seem right, but which give the enemy a chance to outflank us. We are to stand in defensive position, in anticipation and braced for the battle to come, not getting caught up in other things, holding up the arms of our leaders in prayer, looking to Heaven and praising God for His greatness and for the victory of the Cross. This is our position until the lion roars “Now!”

Jake Dominy

This picture roughly represents the prophecy I had, as close as I could get it. The circles of roman soldiers at the back are protecting the leaders holding the standards of the Lord. In front of that you have a double height of troops, standing on the shields of the lower soldiers. That would stretch miles and miles back. In front of them is the angel army as I saw them, then the Lion of Judah in front.

Prophesy and the prophetic

The Fruitful seed

Leave a comment

S.O.P 30th May 2020

Much of what we covered in School of Prophesy this week can be found in the article “The Cup and the Baptism“

The bones of the meeting were this: Pentecost brings multiplication and fruitfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit. Fruitfulness comes from the seed that has “fallen to the ground and died” (John 12:24). We cannot expect the Holy Spirit to multiply the life of God through us unless we are dead to our carnal nature, but when we succeed in this – if “succeed” is the right word! – the life that is in us becomes life-giving for others.

We also considered some of the material covered in the article “He loved them to the End” – Jesus removed His outer garment to demonstrate Love to the disciples by washing their feet. Our outer garment represents our self-image, our status – everything that covers our flesh, in fact. We cannot love one another unless we remove it. It’s only when we do love one another that we fulfill the “new commandment” (John 13: 34-34); unless we keep His word we do not stay in the vine; and unless we stay in the vine we do not bear fruit and bring glory to the Father (John 15:8).

After Jesus was arrested He was dressed in a purple robe and given a crown of thorns. Our authority (the purple robe) in Christ comes with a crown of thorns. If we try and exercise authority in the prophetic without the crown of thorns we can become proud and arrogant; if we maintain our humility but forget that we speak “as the oracles of God” (1 Pe 4:11) we deliver the word of the Lord without power.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare, Prophesy and the prophetic

The call to Praise

Leave a comment

SOP 23 May 2020

Exodus 17: 8-16

Jake shared a word from this passage, in which Aaron and Hur held up Moses’s arms while Joshua fought the Amalekites. While they were up, the battle went Israel’s way; while they were down, the Israelites lost ground.

As we move towards the ”Pentecost” that God has prepared, with its coming revival, there will be a great battle in the heavenlies as the enemy tries to prevent it. Storm clouds are gathering in the spirit realms now. This is a season of unceasing prayer to support our leaders, spiritual and temporal, and to call in the revival. The raised arms stand for three things:

  1. Prayer and praise.
  2. They point to the Lord as a prophetic symbol of His victory.
  3. They keep us focussed on the things that are above, not our current situation below.

Moses stood, then sat, on the hill, supported by Aaron and Hur, with his arms raised up until sunset. We need to keep praying for the light to overcome the darkness. As we pray, the light has the supremacy. If we stop praying, the clouds gather.

This is a strategic call to use the weapon of PRAISE. Praise declares the greatness of God. It is different from worship, which expresses our personal devotion to the Lord. Praise lifts us into the heavenly realms, from which we get the understanding that leads us into worship. Pat shared from a testimony how when we praise God for His greatness we get rid of everything that holds us to the earthly realm; as we keep praising we sharpen our focus on Jesus and His victory. Anne pointed out that the Israelites were fighting for their lives here. When we engage in warfare praise we don’t know what enemies we are up against, but we do know who has the victory!

So while worship is a channel for our intimacy with God, It’s praise that is a weapon against the enemy. Psalm 149 vs 5-9 makes this clear:

“Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.”

As we waited on the Lord, I saw a river of fire coming down from heaven, and then then a tree – one of those whose leaves are “for the healing of the nations.”  Elaine saw the fire of our praise going up, then in some way transformed in the Spirit and coming back down to Earth to bring a harvest. David confirmed this from Scripture with Psalm 67 vs 5-6:

“Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us”

So let us commit, as an army, to let our praise ascend to the heavenlies then come down, transformed into God’s Pentecost fire, to bring a harvest of revival to earth. And as we do so, let us support our leaders in prayer, and to reach out to one another for support if we find ourselves getting weak.

“I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Ps 18:3)

Prophesy and the prophetic

Nudges and closeness

Leave a comment

I have picture inspired by my cat while it was circling me and occasionally nudging me whilst I was sitting in the garden. I felt God saying through this:  “At this time I am  protecting you and guarding you all. I will be nudging my people, and this will be different for everyone.  Sometimes it’s a nudge to say it’s ok I’m with you, a comforting nudge; for others it’ll be like a nudge saying “It’s time to move.” 

Also, as He is the Lion  of Judah,  I felt that through the cat image  God was also saying: “Cats don’t need our attention just as God doesn’t need our affection, but also, just like cats that sense when we need them and come close to us, the Holy Spirit does the same with us.”

(From Jake)

We know that scripture says He will never leave us nor forsake us, but what Jake is underlining here is that there are times when we really need to know that in our experience, then He lets us know how close He is.

Prophesy and the prophetic

school of prophesy

Leave a comment

Some people may find the following notes on the prophetic ministry useful. I put this together a few years ago, gleaning it from various sources from various sources: it’s not just my teaching. Apart from these notes, the other posts in this section are from specific school of prophesy sessions that we have held at Wildwood Church.

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.”(I Cor 12 4-5)

The Gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit distributes gifts AS HE WILLS. Anyone in a meeting can bring a prophesy (1 Cor 12:10)
Although a prophesy can refer to the future, a Holy Spirit gift of prophesy usually refers to His heart and desire for the church at the present time.

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12)

When did you last drink of the Spirit? How well do you know Him? 1 Cor 12 vs 7-11 describes the activity of the Holy Spirit in the church. He is like the central nervous system, sending different types of signals round the body. Where the nervous system isn’t working this leads to loss of feeing and paralysis.

A church, or an individual, that is paralysed and lacking in compassion is one that is not open to the signals of the Holy Spirit. So how do we recognise the “signal” that comes as a gift of prophesy?

A person bringing a prophesy is not necessarily a prophet. In the same way someone who cares for another isn’t necessarily a pastor; someone sharing the gospel with their neighbour isn’t necessarily an evangelist. But just as we are all called to love one another and to share the gospel, we can all be expectant of receiving a word from the Holy Spirit that will edify the church.

Paul tells us:
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy… He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” (1 Cor 14 1-4)

To edify means to build up. Jesus said “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). It is the same Greek word as the one Paul uses. Each time we bring a prophesy by a gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is building His church.

Types of “Signals”
Subjective
A “picture”. A mental image, that can be very clear and detailed, or may be more like a simple diagram. A picture is usually symbolic to some degree or another: God may give one person the picture, and somebody else the meaning.
A word, phrase or sentence that just comes into your head. Sometimes it is incomplete: the Holy Spirit gives you the rest of it once you have opened your mouth in obedience.
A Bible verse that just comes to you.
All these “subjective” signals will not follow logically from what is being said. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. When He speaks to us it usually cuts across our train of thoughts. If someone gives “a word from the Lord” that follows logically from something that is being said it is likely to be from their own thinking rather than from the Lord.

Objective
Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to us through our senses. Something we see, or some words of a worship song, just resonates with our Spirits, and God will use it to bring a message to the church. For example – Paul probably saw a Roman soldier, then gave us the message about the Armour of God. The bible is full of symbols and imagery: symbolic language can create a bridge between the spiritual and natural realms. Talk to the Lord about what you see around you, and ask Him to speak to you through it. Eg Amos 8:2 – “What do you see, Amos?” He asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”

Dreams
Be aware that God speaks through dreams. The Bible is full of them.  His dreams are usually particularly vivid and coherent, and linger in the memory a bit longer than others. But you need to write them down, or you will forget. If you have a smartphone keep it by your bed and use either the audio recording or the dictation function to record any dreams as soon as you wake. They are usually full of symbols: talk about it and pray about it with someone else if you feel God is speaking through a dream but you can’t make sense of it yourself. If we ask God for wisdom He promises to give it. The more you pay attention to your dreams the more you are likely to find God speaking to you through them.

Visions
An “open vision” is much more rare. It is likely to have heightened significance for the church, or even beyond the church. A vision can be associated with a time of prayer and fasting, and is often (though not exclusively) given to a more senior minister.  Example – Peter, “Kill and eat!” (Acts 10 :9-16)

All the above must “exhort, edify and comfort”
All must be in keeping with the Word of God
All, even admonishments, must be a clear expression of love.
Weigh everything, especially if it is directional.

The Ministry Gift of the Lord Jesus

Jesus gave ministry gifts to the church : Ephesians 4 :11-16
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers”
A prophet is somebody whom God has raised up to be available to bring His word to the Church with a degree of authority that isn’t usually present in the operation of the Holy Spirit gift of prophesy. For example, a prophet might

Call the church to repentance

Receive words of knowledge and very specific words of encouragement for particular individuals

Bring strategic words to the church or church leadership requiring decisions and action

Expose falsehood and works of the flesh hiding behind a mask of religion

Discern the strategy of the enemy and point it out to the church

Encourage the body into more freedom and depth of worship

Make connections between people and ministries

“Prepare the way of the Lord” – just as John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Jesus of Nazareth, so today’s prophet prepares the way for the returning King.

Equip and be used in raising up other prophets

Bring revelation and encouragement to the church in the operation of the gifts of the Holy spirit, particularly the gift of prophesy

Declare future events, sometimes with attendant confirming signs – Luke 2:12 “ And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

The purpose of the prophet and the goal of the prophetic ministry is always “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”

A prophet will either have a leadership role within a church, or his ministry will be recognised and endorsed by the leaders. An individual cannot operate in the authority of the prophetic ministry without being in submission to leadership. “Everything must be done decently and in order” (1Cor 14:40). An individual cannot be used to build the body of Christ if he or she is broken off from it.

“The gifts and calling of God are without repentance”… however, to function effectively in this calling, a prophet needs to

Know God’s word. Not just read it, but try and memorise sections if the Holy Spirit highlights them.

Spend time in “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings us the words from the Lord. The prophet needs to cultivate His presence, be sensitive to His voice, and seek His company, even more than other people.

Be a worshipper. Worship is crucial to developing intimacy with God.

Spend time in intercession. If God is going to trust us with words for His people, we need to committed to praying for them. This doesn’t mean He will only give us words for the people that we pray for; it means that if we pray for people our love for them will grow, and love is the foundation for all ministry.

Allow God – and people – to work on his character

Have a servant attitude. In the world system the person who leads others, brings wisdom and gives direction is given status and promotion. However in the Kingdom of God we are a) all one body, so no single member has dominance over another; b) servants of one another “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt 23:11), and c) “unprofitable servants” of the King (Luke 17:10) who are doing no more than carrying out our orders. We will receive our reward in Heaven; we are not to expect it on Earth.