Eph. 4:11-13 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 mature prophet has discretion and discernment. They know
when, where and what to share
as revelation to a person, church or nation. Some in ministry would say that if
God gives a revelation or word of instruction the prophet MUST share it……must
release it… immediately. This is the spontaneous view of the prophetic,
i.e. a momentary immediate response to God based upon input from the Holy
Spirit. Often this occurs in charismatic churches during worship in music or
corporate times of prayer. Spontaneous prophetic words are the first level of
learning the prophetic and a common way the gift of prophecy functions in a
church gathering. It is part of developing the gift of prophecy whether a
person is a prophet or simply endued with a prophetic word in accord with 1
Cor. 14:1.
However, the role
of prophet in the church is much more than a spontaneous word during prayer or
worship. The prophet often gets prophetic revelation, especially for
ministry leaders, churches and ministries outside of regular corporate worship
times. The mature prophet then considers
the content, the target and the timing to share revelation. The Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth
that ‘the spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace’. (1
Cor. 14:32)
Herein lays a great demarcation between the character of the
mature and immature prophet; discretion
and discernment of time and temperature for the prophetic. To be ‘discreet’ is to ‘be wise in avoiding errors or in
selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose’.
I have ministered with and received ministry from several
prophets. I have also been in church services and ministry events with much
prophecy from aspiring prophets. On several
occasions the time and temperature for a word was off. The lack of discretion
and discernment led the immature person to give a prophetic word at a time and
place that was neither wise nor best to accomplish God’s purpose. At such times the word becomes background
noise amidst many sounds and voices, and is not received with due
weight.
The mature prophet is
not driven by the emotion of the moment or the ticking of the clock to
operate outside God’s wisdom for timing and temperature to accomplish His
purpose. The mature prophet often keeps much to him or herself simply because
it is neither timely nor necessary to cast it abroad. Because they know
specifically with whom and when to share, when they do bring forth revelation or
a word at the right time with the right spiritual atmosphere, people listen. The time and
temperature are right.
Whether you are a prophet or someone who operates in the
gift of prophecy pray and learn the character of waiting upon and discerning
God’s timing for His purposes.
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