Prophets must reflect
the heart of the Father toward His church.
Eph. 4:9-13 says It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the fullness of Christ.
The prophet is a critical
modern day ministry within the 5 ministries spoken of in this scripture.
In the last post I stated that a key aspect of the New
Covenant prophet is they operate out of love. They have the heart of the Father
toward His people. This love is not necessarily a warm, fuzzy emotional feeling.
It is much more of a deep desire to reveal the fullness of the
Father’s heart toward His people through the prophetic voice. Internationally
renowned apostle and Prophet Rick Joyner said in one of his books ‘no other ministry carries the potential for
either blessing or disaster as does the prophetic’ (The Prophetic Ministry,
Morning Star Publications, 1997).
In order to function as a revelator of the Father’s heart the
modern prophet must walk in quality of character that reflects the transforming
power of grace. If a prophet speaks a word that implies it is a direct word
from the Lord, e.g. ‘thus says the Lord’,
then it must be as pure as possible in reflecting the character of the
Lord. Character development and personal
integrity are prerequisites to walking in the role of prophet. Prophets must be well seasoned in ministry and mentored by
more mature ministers to walk in the fullness of their calling.
Character development includes four key heart attitudes, the first of which is (1) intimacy with
the Father. Intimacy with the Father is
foundational to the prophet’s ministry. A mature prophet’s primary passion and
position is being a friend of God. Jesus said, ‘I no longer call you servants…I have called you friends’ (John 15:15). THIS is their life goal...being
so close to the heart of the Father that they speak only what He speaks.
The Apostle John is a good example of this character quality. Throughout the New
Testament it was John who was so very close to Jesus. It was John’s gospel that
speaks so strongly and clearly about Jesus' relationship with the Father. Through this intimacy with the Father the
prophet gains a heart of love for the people. Without this intimacy a prophet may
prophesy but the words will often come tainted with a harshness and hardness that
does not reflect the grace or love of God. A lack of intimate relationship will
reflect hardness toward God’s people. This does not mean a prophet cannot speak
corrective words to individuals and churches, but he/she will speak such words
encased in the Father’s heart; the nature of Jesus. If a prophet say’s ‘thus says the Lord’ it must be the intimate
heart of the Lord they are reflecting.
Coming in the next post…the second character attribute of
the prophet-humility.
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