Are We Using or Abusing the Gift of Prophecy?

I want to begin with a statement. I believe God uses the gift of prophecy today. Now that I have said that, here is something else I need to say. I have a big problem with most of the so-called prophets and the prophecies that are being espoused today. I am also not a fan of the way this gift is being used. The gift of prophecy should be used to encourage, correct, or edify – but most often it is used to manipulate, control, or simply tell people what they want to hear.

I was doing research for a Bible study, and I decided to go to YouTube and search for prophecies. I was amazed at the amount of people who are having prophetic words, dreams, and visions from the Lord. I am not saying God doesn’t use prophetic dreams, words, or visions, because he still does. What I found incredible that is some of these people seem to get a new revelatory word, vision, or dream every single day. Furthermore, what also struck me is how many people view these prophetic words, which tells me people have an interest in the prophetic today.

While there is nothing wrong with the interest, you must navigate these waters properly and biblically, and I want to help you do that.

Is the Gift of Prophecy Being Used or Abused?

As we think about this gift of prophecy, the first question to consider is are we using the gift or abusing the gift? Before I dive into that, let me explain the function of prophecy. Prophecy simply does two things: it foretells and it forthtells.

Prophecy can be used to foretell something that is going to happen, and by this you are speaking into the future. Prophecy can also be used to forthtell which means you are declaring what God is saying in or about a particular situation. Most of the time, even in the Bible, prophecy is used to forthtell. With that, lets look at some issues with how prophecy is used today.

Prophecy Is Treated as a Main Course When It Is Only a Side Dish

I have seen, heard, and been in churches where they treat the prophetic word on the same or higher level than they do God’s written word. If there is a prophetic word given in the service, then God has spoken, and we don’t even need to open our Bibles today. When this happens, people’s confidence shifts from God’s written word to the word of the prophet. This is dangerous and is not a sustainable way for anyone to grow in their faith because the prophet becomes the cornerstone of their growth and maturity. This is not God’s design for the church in the New Testament.

To be perfectly clear, the most consistent way God speaks is through his written word, the Bible. Consider how he has carefully crafted the Bible over the centuries, and when you read the word, you discover how God thinks about a situation and it will guide you through your life. Prophecy can come alongside the word and should be in alignment with the word, but it was never meant to replace the word. In this light you need to treat prophecy like a side dish, not the main course.

As believers you must develop and trust your own relationship with the Lord through studying the word, through worship, and through prayer. This is where you fine tune your heart to hear God’s voice. When you do this, you will know what God is saying to your heart and if you receive a prophetic word, it should confirm what God is already saying in your heart.

The Prophecies Seem to Have Three Central Themes

As I scrolled through the videos, I noticed some themes around these prophecies, and I decided to categorize them into three types of prophets.

Nationalistic prophets
Narcissistic prophets
Materialistic prophets

Nationalistic Prophets – These are the ones who prophesy what God is going to do in the nation. You can find many prophecies about what is going to happen here in America. These types are nothing more than political prophets. The thing that I found interesting in listening to them was their prophetic words always seemed to align with their political affiliations. Many times, they would even mention political candidates by name in their prophecies. If you listen closely, what I observed was the prophecies for those who aligned with their party were always good but the prophecies for those who did not align with their party were always bad.

Narcissistic Prophets – These are ones who receive special revelations from God that only they receive. These can be about all kinds of things. For example, the right time of day to pray to receive your breakthrough, special numbers you need for your life, or the way to pray to release the spirit of delay over your life. Perhaps the best one was a prophetic word on how to make the prophetic words come to pass in your life.

Materialistic Prophets – These are the words that always seem to be declaring God is about to give you some material blessing. Your business is coming, your breakthrough is coming, God is about to birth something in you. You are about to get that house, that car, that job, that promotion – it is always tied to something material.

Most of the time these prophecies were not based on Scripture, but on the person’s personal revelation or their personal desires and wishes. On the other extreme, if they claimed they were based on Scripture, it was usually taken badly out of context. The bigger problem here is the number of people who listen to these words, take them to heart, and then proceed to make decisions for their life based on these words. The sad part is even if what they say doesn’t happen, no one seems to care about that, or hold them accountable and they just keep listening to prophecy after prophecy.

What Do You Do with These Prophetic Words?

What should you do if you hear a prophetic word or if you get a prophetic word spoken over your life? Here are three things to do.

1. Don’t despise them but test them.

“Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).

My goal here is not for you to despise or run from prophecy. My desire is that you would understand what to do with it. You must test every prophecy that someone utters. Many times, the reason why people respond to these prophetic words is because they align with what the people listening to them want. If you are blinded by that, then instead of testing the word you will just accept it because it fits your desires. You should avoid this and test every prophecy according to the word of God, the will of God, and the character of God.

2. Don’t let that be the only basis for your decision.

When God is speaking prophetically, especially if it is a personal prophecy, that prophecy should confirm what God is already speaking in your heart. Also, the final word or decision about what you are going to do should not be at the instruction or end of a prophetic word, unless it is confirming what God has already spoken to you. If it is not, don’t make any decision, especially a life-changing one, until you have more information from the Lord. This will take you back to the word, back to prayer, back to worship, and seeking counsel from godly leadership and people in your life.

3. Don’t think you have to make the prophecy come to pass.

The last thing I want to address is you might hear someone tell you things you must do for you to bring this prophetic word to pass. There is only one thing you must do for a prophetic word to come to pass in your life. You must live in obedience to what God has said in his word. If you obey God, he will bring to pass everything he wants to accomplish in your life. If a prophetic word is from God and he has declared what he is going to do in your life, then it is up to him to make it happen, not you. Focus on obeying what God has said in his word and he will do the rest.

Final Thought

As I wrap this up, I want to add one last thing. You don’t need to seek out prophecies and you don’t need to go looking for someone to speak a prophetic word over your life. What you need to do is seek after Jesus and if you need to hear a prophetic word, he will bring it to you. So chase Jesus and let the prophetic word find you, but don’t chase the prophetic word, because you can find one, but there is no guarantee that it is what God is saying at this moment.

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.