Prophetic ministry will become more prominent and widespread. Both through existing prophetic ministries, but also new prophetic ministries and streams.
This is inevitable in a time of national and international crisis. People turn to the prophets when they want to understand what is happening in the world, and especially when they are afraid.
God does nothing without first revealing it to his prophets.
FOUR FUNCTIONS OF PROPHECY TODAY
- Revelation (Amos 3:7-8)
- Encouragement (Ezra 5:1-2)
- Direction (2 Chronicles 20:20)
- Intercession (Isaiah 62:6-7)
PROPHETIC INTEGRITY
The popularity of the prophetic will attract some who are less sincere and not sent by the Lord. Some will be motivated by a love for fame and a desire for notoriety. This will push them towards extravagant claims and sensational public pronouncements which will attract big audiences but are not actually true.
The genuine prophetic ministry is marked by love and respect for the Word of Scripture as well as the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
There will be accuracy in predictions, genuine repentance and hunger for righteousness. There will be many personal encounters with Christ and angelic messengers. Many will begin to experience spiritual encounters, open visions and prophetic dreams for the first time.
But the enemy will also increase his efforts to deceive, to lead astray and discredit genuine prophecy by sowing confusion. The need for the discernment of the Word and the Spirit will be greater than ever.
Among some, there will be unhealthy preoccupation with apocalyptic messaging coming from deceptive manifestations of dreams, visions, angels and miracles. Speculation will be presented as fact and spurious notions will be reported as divine revelation. This will have the unfortunate effect of distracting attention from the genuine supernatural revelation that God is giving to the true prophets among us.
There will be increasingly alarmist conspiracy reports as well as sensational claims about Antichrist, the mark of the Beast and the Second Coming of Christ. Many will adopt dogmatic or extreme teaching about the Last Days to gain a following and make a name for themselves, but this will lead people astray and distract them from the real tasks of our generation – prayer, evangelism, church fellowship, pursuit of truth, love and good works.
There will be a tendency to prophesy hastily about revival and signs and wonders without laying the groundwork of repentance and prayer. But there will be examples of sudden and unexpected pockets of ‘revival-type’ blessing in various places. These will emphasise salvation, signs and wonders, and small-group discipleship.
God is calling us to set our prophetic house in order.
Discipline and accountability in prophetic utterances must be restored as well as a ‘back to basics’ approach to biblical teaching about the prophetic gift and its function in the church and in society.
There needs to be a greater coming together of all the ministries in teams, networks and collaborative connections. Apostles and Prophets, as well as Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists, must work more closely together, respecting and understanding one another’s ministries.