How To be Prophetic In a Non-Prophetic Church

Biblical Basis

Preface

When I read Jim and Carolyn's teaching 8 on "Prophecy in the Marketplace," (the Prophetic Ministry, Rightly related to the Body of Christ series, MS 12), the Holy Spirit came on me and told me to write some follow-on lessons about effective prophecy in a "traditional" church or in a church that does not have a structure that encourages prophecy during the service.

The goal of my three part series is to teach people how to be effective prophetic ministers in churches that are not "predisposed" towards the prophetic.

What I have to say is a bit lengthly, so I am dividing it into three lessons. The first (part 1) will explore the bible basis for being an effective prophetic minister in "traditional" or "non-prophetic" church. The second (part 2) will give practical suggestions and the third (part 3) will share examples from my personal experience.

New Testament Basis Of Prophecy

1 Corth 12 and 14 are considered by many to be the defining chapters on new-testament prophecy. We get much of our understanding of how God intends for the prophetic to work in a new testament church. Unfortunately, sometimes we inadvertently "read into" what the bible has to say on the matter based on our own experiences. What I want to do is to look again at these verses and possibly bring a new perspective to them.

1 Corth 14:

1. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
2. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.
3. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.
4. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
5. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
6. Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?
7. Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?
8. Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?

In this passage, we see three important points. First, we see that it is appropriate for us to want to prophecy. Paul encourages this in the very first verse. It is a good thing to desire and God wants you to learn to hear His voice and to speak His words.

Next, we see that God's goal in prophecy is to build up the church or to build up those believers who comprise the church. Verse 3 speaks of "strengthening", "encouragement" and "comfort". Verse 4 says the goal is to edify the church, as does verse 5. Repetition is God's way of emphasizing a point. Since He repeats twice about prophecy being used to edify the church, we can conclude that this is very important to Him. In other words, the main goal of New Testament prophecy to believers is to build up and encourage, not to tear down and condemn. (Isn't it neat that Daddy God wants to encourage His kiddies!!)

Third, God emphasizes the importance communicating clearly in verses 5-8. We see three examples of this in these verses. The gest of this is that it is only helpful to speak/share when you are communicating to others in a manner where they understand what you are trying to share. In communication circles, this is called "effective communication." God desires we be effective when we speak for Him at His direction. I will go more into this later, but for now, suffice it to say that God does not want to communicate to His people in a manner where no one will understand what He is trying to say! In short, God is more interested in His message being received/understood than He is in any single style of presenting that message.

Verses 9 to 17 go on with more explanation about this, and about how the gift of tongues fits into this. Let us pick it up again at verse 18:

18. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
19. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Verses 18 and 19 reaffirm what was already said in verses 5-8, God wants us to be understood when we communicate His words. This repetition emphasizes that it is important to God that we communicate His word to others in a manner where they will understand what He is saying. Verse 20 and 21 gently rebuke them for not knowing these basis.

Paul says something very interesting in the latter half of verse 22:

"prophecy, however is for believers, not for unbelievers."

Then he expands in verses 23 to 25 how prophecy, even though it is intended for ministry to believers, becomes a powerful evangelical tool when unbelievers are present in the meeting. Prophecy demonstrates the reality and the power of God. So we see God is able to doubly glorify His name through correct and effective use of the prophetic.

Then, Paul changes his focus and begins to describe and address a problem in the Corinthian church.. their services are seriously out of order... chaotic with everyone wanting to do their own thing and be heard rather than trying to facilitate with God what He is trying to do in the meeting. In verse 29-32, we see Paul explaining how to address prophecy in the context of this problem (which is a wide scope problem including but not limited to misuse of the prophetic in the service):

29. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
30. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.
31. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.
32. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.
33. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

Misunderstanding of this passage is where some get into trouble. Some read this passage to say that there must be an opportunity in the main church service for at least 2 or 3 to stand up and prophecy. And some, who attend "non-prophetic" churches, have actually gone to their pastors to demand their "rights" as they interpret them from 1 Corth 14. They demand the service format be changed to allow them to prophecy in the main service. (They do not realize that it grieves God's heart when they display that type of attitude.)

Some interpret those verses as saying that we must have a format for prophetic words in our services. But that is NOT what these verses are really saying. Remember the context.. Paul is speaking specificly to the Corinthian church. They have some specific problems. Their services are unrulely and out of order. Everyone was trying to have their own say, to talk over and interrupt each other and there is great disorder and confusion. This church already has the practice of people getting up and prophesying during the service. Unfortunately, they are not doing a very good job in how they implemented this, so Paul made suggestions to bring their services into better order. Why did he do that? He explained in verse 33 where he said, "God is not a God of disorer, but of peace."

What Paul is saying, in essence, is that we are not to insist on doing whatever we desire in the service. Instead, we must exercise self control (verse 32) and conduct ourselves in a manner that facilitates God's agenda for the service. At times God wants us to simply listen and prayerfully evaluate, rather than getting up and sharing. Paul looked at the style or format of their service, and then made adjustments to it so that it is "in order" instead of "in chaos". If I were to loosely paraphrase his intent of verses 29-31, it is "find the way to share God's revelations in a manner that is consistent with the format of your church service." Or paraphrased once again, "Find a way to minister propheticly that fits in with the style of your church and does not disrupt the service."

Main Points Of 1 Corth 14

To summarize, the main points of 1 Corth 14 are:

1. Desire to prophesy, that is something God wants you to want.
2. New Testament prophecy is primarily to build up and encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. It is not to correct/rebuke and tear down, it is to edify and build up.
3. God wants us to communicate His words in a manner that will be understandable and receivable to those He is speaking to.
4. We are to find manners to minister propheticly in our churches that are appropriate to our church's style and format. We are to work with the leadership to facilitate what God is doing rather than trying to force them into a style of ministry that we may personally prefer.

And we really cannot discuss 1 Corth 14 without looking back at the previous chapter. This chapter is known as the "love chapter" because it talks about how our motivation for any sort of ministry needs to be right.. it needs to be based in our love for the Lord and in our love and respect for our brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, 1 Corth 13:2 says explicitly "If I have the gift of prophecy and can phantom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

If our motivation is to build up and encourage in love, we will be able to find ways to minister the word of God that fit in with the style of the church that God has placed us in.

Understanding the Pastor's Perspective

Most pastors are not in it for the money.. because there is not much money in pastoring. Most pastors are not in it for glory or honor or recognition. That is a good thing, because there is very little glory, honor or recognition in pastoring. Most pastors do what they do because they love God and because they genuinely care about the body of believers that God has entrusted into their care. They desire to do what God wants and they do their very best to accomplish that, based on the resources and understanding they have at their disposal.

Some pastors may hold a theology that the gift of prophecy is not for today (e.g, be dispensationalists). But these same pastors usually believe in and encourage the spiritual gift of exhortation (or "edification and encouragements"). Some pastors may object to a member of their congregation claiming to speak "for God." But very few will object to someone caring and praying for a brother/sister and sharing what they believe God has put on their hearts for the person they were praying for.

You do not have to say "Thus sayeth the Lord..." so speak God's words of encouragement strengthening and comfort. If that offends the pastor or the people in your church, don't do it that way. Don't let them get so hung up on whether or not you can speak for God that they cannot hear the message God wants to communicate. Instead you can "share what you believe God put on your heart." Remember point 3, God wants His words to go forth in a manner that can be understood/received. Be creative and be flexible.. find ways to minister God's words that fit in with how your church conducts itself.

Remember that point 4 is to find a way to minister that works with the current structure and facilitates what God is trying to do there. In other words, work with your pastor and build into the work He is building. Be a faithful and sincere supporter, always there to speak God's words of encouragement and life in a manner that helps those in the church be "all that they can be" in Christ. Never tear down. Never fight for "your own style". Open your eyes and look at how things are done in your church.. determine how to fit in with them and facilitate what God is already doing there.

If you can't prophecy into a microphone for the whole service to hear, look for opportunities to get a word of encouragement and share it privately with someone. Perhaps your church has a ministry team and would appreciate helpers with that. If so, get on the ministry team and look to the Holy Spirit to show you how to best facilitate with Him what He wants to minister to the given person at the given ministry session. God may give you an insight or an encouragement that helps them immensely.

Or perhaps the church needs someone to telephone visitors and welcome them to the church.. think how effective you could be in that if God gave you little prophetic encouragements, casually spoken, that brightened their day or gave them a breakthrough. That type of thing demonstrates the love and power of God and makes them want to come back to the Church for more.

Remember, the pastor is looking for workers that he (or she) can trust.. he is looking for people who are motivated to build up the work God is doing in the church and to edify and encourage the people who comprise the congregation. This fits in so perfectly what what God desires to accomplish through New Testament prophecy.. so you have a perfect fit. Don't get caught up in theology debates or style preferences. Instead, demonstrate a heart and desire and ability to encourage and build up. Look for ways to facilitate what God is already doing there and how to work effectively in the existing system.. the Holy Spirit will help you figure out how to do that if your heart is right. And if the anointing of God rests on you, the gifting will make a way for you providing you don't sabotage yourself by fighting the existing system.

Pastors tend to welcome faithful and gifted workers who build up and strengthen the body and who speak encouragement and life. Pastors tend to welcome those who work with them to facilitate what God is doing in their church.

It is amazing how much you can move in the prophetic in a traditionally non-prophetic church if your heart and attitude are right and if you work with the existing structure instead of against it.

I will share more on how to do this in our next lesson.

Practical Suggestions

Review

I am doing a three part writeup on ministering propheticly in traditionally "non-prophetic" churches. In the last lesson (Part 1), we examined 1 Corth 14 to obtain God's viewpoint on New Testament prophecy. To summarize, the main points of 1 Corth 14 are:

1. Desire to prophesy, that is something God wants you to want.
2. New Testament prophecy is primarily to build up and encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. It is not to correct/rebuke and tear down, it is to edify and build up.
3. God wants us to communicate His words in a manner that will be understandable and receivable to those He is speaking to.
4. We are to find manners to minister propheticly in our churches that are appropriate to our church's style and format. We are to work with the leadership to facilitate what God is doing rather than trying to force them into a style of ministry that we may personally prefer.

Plus we must bare in mind the reminder from 1 Corth 13:2 that prophetic gifting without proper character and motivation is "nothing" in God's economy.

My Situation

Most people raise their eyebrows when they hear I belong to a Southern Baptist Church. I am recognized as a prophetic minister and I head an international prophetic ministry. Yet I belong to a church that does not practice prophecy as a regular part of it's Sunday morning service. Some see that as a discrepancy.

The truth of the matter is that I am precisely where God wants me to be, and I absolutely love my church! I love the people there, I respect the leadership immensely and I am excited about being a part of this particular body. I know that I am where God wants me and I am very happy here.

There are many reasons God wants me in this church, due to the nature of God's calls and purposes for this particular church. And part of the reason that God has gone out of His way to plant me in what many would consider a "non-prophetic" church is so that I can be a role model. There are many who God has gifted propheticly and then placed in a church that does not make the prophetic a part of their regular Sunday Morning Worship service. God wants them to know that He can (and will) use them there. But they need to work with Him, rather than against Him, to facilitate the process.

Are there times that I miss the freedom to get up and give a word during the corporate worship? Yes, there are. This has been an adjustment for me.

Am I propheticly squelched at this church? No I am not, not at all. And if you go to a "traditional" or non-prophetic church, you do not need to be squelched either. You simply need to learn to fit in with the Church's style and look for opportunities to facilitate what the Holy Spirit is doing there.

I am going to share several of my personal experiences in the next lesson. But before I do, I would like to share a few helpful principles with you.

How to "Fit" Into A "Non-Prophetic" Church (And Minister Effectively There)

When I say non-prophetic church, I am referring to a wide scope of churches ranging from those who don't believe the prophetic is for today to those who acknowledge the gift but do not practice it as a part of their church service, and everything in-between.

There are a few basic principles to apply.

1. Determine If This Is The Church God Wants You In

   You need to check in with God and find out if you are where He wants you to be. If you are in the wrong place, you need to "fix that" by getting to the place where He has assigned you to be. You do not do anyone (not God, not yourself and not the leadership or members of the Church) any favors if you intentionally are not where God wants you to be.

   If you are where God wants you to be, then you need to make a serious commitment in your mind and spirit to this church, and to working with God to facilitate whatever He wants to do there. You need to examine your heart and attitudes for any critical-ness of leadership or leadership style. And you must cultivate a supportive and encouraging posture to the leaders and members of this church. You must be very slow to complain criticize and be very quick to build up and encourage. It is extremely important to get your heart and attitudes towards the church, and towards it's leadership, lined up with God's.

   One thing that you might find helpful is to ask God to speak to you about the various leaders and members.. their skills, their giftings, their callings, what God likes about them etc. If you see them from God's perspective, this will often make you like and admire them and then it becomes easy to have a proper attitude.

   When I first started going to my church, even before I had decided to join it, God began to speak to me about this church and the people who were there. He pointed out people's giftings and strengths. He talked about the call on their lives. He talked about His plan and destiny for this church. Everything He had to say was positive. Does that mean that these people had no weaknesses, no faults and no areas in their lives that needed improvement? Of course not.. we all have those. But God showed me the good things and the strengths because that is what He wanted me to focus on. He wanted to build attitudes in me of liking and respecting the people there. I did not begin to get revelation about specific weaknesses or struggles until I was in specific ministry situations where I had a "need to know". But God was quick and free to talk about their giftings, their strengths, and the various things He liked about them. I am firmly convinced that God likes to boast about His kids. So ask the Lord to show you what He likes about the various leaders and what He is doing in their lives.

   God wants us to have a good attitude about the church He assigns us to. And He is willing to work with us to help us obtain this.

2. Don't Try To Move In A Gift You Don't Have An Anointing For

   Make sure that God has actually gifted you in the prophetic before trying to use it in a church that is not set up to teach prophetic "beginners" how to prophesy.

   I have met many people who had a word spoken over them at some point in the past that they are a prophet. They have never prophecied to anyone, they have maybe ever given one or two corporate words in their lives and many of them do not even know how to recognize God's voice for themselves. Yet they consider themselves to be in the "office of prophet" because someone "spoke" that over them. These folks don't yet know how to hear God or minister propheticly. They should not be trying to present themselves as prophets until they do know how to prophesy.

   It is good to desire the prophetic, Paul encourages us to do that in 1 Corth 14. But the "wanting" and the "having" are not necessarily the same thing. Do not try to pass yourself off as experienced in the prophetic if you really aren't. It is ok to be a beginner and it is ok to be learning, providing you don't try to appear to be more than you are. But you tend to get in trouble when you pass yourself off as more than you are and then you cannot "deliver the goods."

   Some churches are set up to teach "beginners" to prophesy. If you in one of these, then you are already in a prophetic church and probably don't need this lesson. But if you are not in a prophetic church, don't give up. You can still learn to move in your gifting in unobtrusive ways.

   Corporate intercession, for instance, is a wonderful place to learn to move in the prophetic and to hear God. Most non-prophetic churches have some form of corporate intercession or a small group that meets together to pray for the church. Frequently the intercessors come together and wait on God to hear Him on various prayer issues. This is a great place to start in the prophetic in traditional churches.

   Another place is in the midweek home groups, were you can get to know people and ask God to give you an encouragement for someone, share it with them and actually get feedback for them about what you shared. If the church frowns on formal prophecy, then share it as something God put on your heart for the person to encourage them. That is often a very safe way for a "beginner" to share prophetic words and I have yet to met anyone who gets offended over that gentle style of delivering a word.

   (And, of course, for those of you in the prophetic-school, this is a good place to learn how to move in the prophetic and a safe place to practice.)

   Some of you ask, "how do I know if I am sufficiently developed in the prophetic to minister propheticly in a non-prophetic church?" Here is my general guideline. If you don't know how to hear God's voice well enough to determine what His will is for you on items 1 and 2, you probably are not quite ready to be ministering propheticly in your church. You may need to concentrate on learning to hear His voice more clearly first. Once you know how to discern His voice clearly, then you need to ask Him whether or not He wants you ministering propheticly in your church. If He says "yes," then ask Him to give you specific strategies that will be effective and will facilitate His plans for your church.

3. Understand How Things Work At Your Church

   Open your eyes. Look and observe what God is doing in your church. Notice how things work in the church so that you can work within the system instead of violating it or fighting against it. Determine who the leaders and people in authority are. Understand the decision making process in your church.

   In some churches the pastor makes the decisions. In others, the pastor will have deligated certain areas to certain leaders and those leaders make the decisions. In yet others, there are ruling counsels (usually called elders) that meet and pray together before decisions are made. Understand how things are done in your local body and ask God to begin to show you ways and strategies to be effective within the church's system.

   This is so basic most people miss it, but it is absolutely key to being successful in the church where God has put you. Do not assume that God has sent you to that church to restructure it and change the way they do things. Rather, assume God has called you to be a co-worker with the pastor, under his authority and working to help build the vision and calling God has given him for this church.

   Assume God has called you to be effective for Him within the existing system rather than assuming He has called you to revolutionalize that system. (There are a few exceptions to that guideline, but the people who fall within the exceptions are usually ones who've been in the church for a long time and who are either informally or formally recognized as leaders there, and ones who hear very clearly from God.)

   We have one more area to consider: there are a few abusive churches out there. Again, this is the exception and not the norm. (I know that the term "spiritual abuse" is popular now, but most churches accused of "spiritual abuse" by disgrunted members really are not abusive. They may not be perfect, they may make mistakes from time to time, but they are pursuing with God what He wants them to do as best as they know how.) If you are in a truly abusive church, then you will not be able to work in their system because an abusive church's "system" is be set up to foster abuse, to manipulate and control people and to fight God. If you are in in a church like that, you need to go back and revisit the first principle.

   (If you are in a truly abusive church, then most likely God will want you to leave it rather than try to work with it. Fortunately most churches are not abusive, despite the popularity of that term these days.)

   Most of you are in good churches, even if you don't like the leadership style or the church government. In these cases, you need to learn how the system works so that you can be effective for God from within the system. Don't fight battles God is not calling you to fight. Instead, spend your time and energy speaking His words of encouragement and life, edifying and building up the body.

   One last note: If you are in a church that is truly disfunctional, and if God has called you to stay there, you must to be careful that you do not criticize or bad-mouth the leadership while you are there.

4. Look For Prophetic Alternatives

   Don't assume all prophetic words have to be delivered in a certain manner or style. God is interested in communicating. A good communicator will alter his/her personal communication style to be understood by the listener. God is a good communicator and He is flexible this way too.

   You can give someone a message from God in many different ways. Here are just a few of the prophetic alternatives so that you can minister "non-offensively" to those who are frightened or offended by straightforward prophecies.

   CORPORATE WORDS:

   1. Save the word and share it with the pastor after service. He may ask you to write it down to read to the congregation another time, or he may ask you to speak it the following week. Or he may find another method to distribute it, or he may elect not to distribute it. After you share it with the pastor, it becomes his decision what to do with it.

   2. Deliver the word informally in a small group setting. Some churches do not allow prophecy in the main service, but they do allow it in midweek home group meeting or Sunday school class.

   3. Share it conversationally with your friends and others after the service. In this case, don't present it as a formal prophecy. Rather share that you believe God "showed you something" or "put something on your heart. If it is God's word to the body, they will be ministered to by it, even when presented as "sharing" instead of as a format prophetic word.

   4. Pray the word. Turn the word into a prayer and pray it in some appropriate setting, such as an intercessor's group or a home group meeting.

   PERSONAL WORDS:

   1. Write It Down When You Get It

      When ever I visit a church where I am not known, I always come with a pen and a supply of paper. That is because I know that God is very likely to give me a word for someone. If I am not known in the assembly, I do not walk up to the person and give them a word, because I have not been released to minister there and the person does not know me. Instead I write it down. On the same slip of paper, I put my name, my home phone number and my email address, so that they can get in touch with me for accountability's sake.

      Once I have it written down, I ask God how He wants me to deliver it. Sometimes God has me give it to the pastor and then have the pastor decide whether or not to give it to the person.

      Other times, I give it directly to the person, sharing briefly that God pointed them out to me and this is what I felt He put on my heart for them. Usually it is OK to give it to the person after service is over.

      One time I was visiting a foursquare church and God pointed one lady out to me. He had me write the word instead of doing worship and insisted I give it to her before the sermon started. I had no idea how to accomplish that, as she was clear across the room from me. So I asked Him for help, and He said He'd provide an opportunity and I'd recognize it when the time came.

      Worship ended, and the offering was taken. Then the pastor stood up and said, "I don't usually do this, but I'd like you to take a few minutes right now to get up and go greet someone you don't know." That was my opportunity, and I bee-lined across to auditorium to where she was seated. I explained briefly that I was visiting and God had pointed her out to me and this is what I believed He wanted to say to her. I handed her the paper, which was neatly folded into quarters. She looked at me dubiously and almost did not take the paper. Then she reached out and grabbed it. I smiled and went back to my seat.. mission accomplished. I had delivered it. Now it was not by business to try and get her to read it before the teaching.

      The sermon turned out to match the prophecy, main thought per main thought. It had do do with knowing you are loved and accepted by God even when you don't feel that way. About 2/3 the way through the sermon, she unfolded the word I gave her and read it. She must have re-read it several times. When the service was over, she came to me and thanked me, excited about what God had said to her.

      Another time, I received a word for one of the worship team and I gave the word to the pastor, indicating who the word was for. The pastor asked me a couple of questions about myself and who I was accountable to. Then he read the word while I stood there. He began commenting on the word as he read it, agreeing very strongly with what the Lord had said. The pastor then asked me if I would be willing to share the word verbally with the woman instead of just giving her this note. I said sure. They were having a leadership get-together shortly after service, so he asked me to come to it. When I arrived, he brought the lady over to me and introduced us. Then he told her that I had a word for her that he felt very much was "God". Since he had personally recommended me to her, this gave me instant credibility with her. God moved powerfully through this word and she had a major breakthrough. After that, the pastor came back and asked me to minister to a few others of his leaders. I visited that same church again the next week. Before the service started, the pastor made his way over to me and asked me if I was the lady who had the prophecy the previous week. I said that I was. He told me that he was releasing me to minister in his church.. that I was free to prophecy corporately during the worship or to give personal words to any of his congregation.

      When the anointing is present, God makes a way to minister with leadership's blessings. Writing down a word for someone and running it by the pastor is a great way to demonstrate a submissive spirit and also to demonstrate a clarity and accuracy in the prophetic.

   2. Deliver It Informally To The Person In A Non-Disruptive Manner **

      I was still very new to my church and many people did not know me yet. During worship, the Lord pointed a lady out to me and gave me a word for her. When the took the offering, I simply slid out of my seat and parked myself next to her. I greeted her briefly and shared that I thought God had put something on my heart for her. I asked her if it would be ok if I shared it and prayed briefly for her. She smiled and said that would be fine. So I briefly gave the main points of the word as impressions the Lord had laid on my heart. By her feedback, I could see I was hitting the target. Then I turned the rest of the word into a prayer, praying it over her. She was moved to tears as God touched her heart. We finished just as the special music after the offering finished, and I went quietly back to my seat. She was beaming the rest of the service, a big smile written all over her face. God had met her in that simple delivery.

      Another time, God gave me a word for someone who I knew and told me it must be given before the sermon started. I have found that when God gives me a deadline, there is usually a good reason. So I began to pray for an opportunity and I kept an eye on that person. During worship, she slipped out to visit the lady's room. I quietly followed her out, and gave the word to her in the foyer. Since she knew me and was comfortable with the prophetic, I was able to give it as straightforward prophecy. We slipped back into the service and sure enough, the teaching was a direct confirmation of this word.

   3. Hold the Word Until God Gives You The Opportunity To Deliver It **

      Sometimes the Lord will give you a word for someone and you won't have an obvious opportunity to deliver it. So hold on to the word until God makes that opportunity, or use it as an opportunity to intercede for the person. Here is an example...

      One Sunday I visited a new church and got a word, only to discover my pen would not write. So I asked the Lord to please orchestrate an opportunity to the word if He wanted it given. During the alter call, all the coffee I drank earlier had worked through my system and I felt an urgency to deal with this. So I slipped out of my seat and went to the lady's room. Prophecy was the last thing on my mind at that moment.

      As I was leaving the lady's room, the person I had the word for walked by. She stopped and began talking to me. I asked her some leading questions, from knowledge the Lord had given me (she was very worried about her rebellious teen age daughter who had recently run away from home). I asked her if she had any kids and she said she had a daughter. I asked if the daughter was a teenager by any chance and the whole story eventually came out as I asked subtle questions at key times. So I asked her if I could pray for her regarding this and I prayed the word over her as well as general intercession for the situation.

      After we finished the prayer, the Lord gave me a whole lot more for her personally, not related to her daughter. I asked her if she believed in the prophetic and she said "No!" Then she asked me "Why?" I said that I believed I'd heard something from God for her and wanted to know if she'd like me to share it. She replied, "I don't know about prophecy, but after the way you prayed for me, I do know you hear from God. Please go ahead and share." So I did. I was careful to keep it in third person ("The Lord wants you to know that...") instead of dropping into "Thus sayeth the Lord." The Lord wrought a powerful breakthrough for her and she ended up on the floor in the hallway. She was still on the ground in the middle of the hallway 15 minutes after I finished prophesying to her.

   4. Find Services The Church Needs Volunteers For and Help Out

      One of the ministries I got involved in at my church was visiting and praying for the sick. Typically small teams of 2 or 3 will go to someone's home or the hospital when they are seriously sick and visit and pray with them. I have done this several times. The Lord usually gives me prophetic words for the person we are visiting. This visitation program is a wonderful way to get opportunities to minister words of encouragement and life to people.

      There are many different ministries in most churches that provide this type of opportunity.. from telephoning first time visitors to discipling new believers to being on a ministry that calls back those who fill out prayer request cards to pray with them. Usually the leaders are delighted to have volunteers for these services, particularly if you have a tendency to build up and encourage people as you serve. It is a wonderful place to release the prophetic in a traditional church.

   5. Submit A Word To Leadership Before Delivering It

      Sometimes leadership will allow you to deliver words, or will deliver them for you, if you run the word by the leadership first. This may even be days or a week in advance of when you are allowed to deliver it. Or it may be that you run it by them during the service and they allow you to deliver it at the end of the same service. Typically a leader will be looking for words that agree with and support the direction that the Lord has given them for the service, or that sync up with their teaching/sermon. You may be asked to write it down or you may be asked to verbally give a 2-3 sentence summary of the word.

      One time, in a previous church when I was much newer at the prophetic, the Lord gave me a word and told me to write it down and give it to the pastor before the service began. The pastor was very surprised to get this handwritten note from me, but he was even more surprised when he read it's content. The word followed is sermon outline and tracked very closely with all of his main points and with some of his illustrations. After his sermon was over, he pulled out the piece of paper I'd written the word on and shared it with the congregation. He did not call it a prophecy, but he shared how God had put this on someone's heart before they heard the sermon, and he felt it was a confirmation from God on what he'd just taught on.

      I once visited an Episcipalian church one time. The pastor did not believe in nor want to encourage prophecy, but many of his members were hearing from God for the body. So he instituted an "open sharing" time just after the offering where people could share what God had put on their heart. However, they had to run these words by him prior to the sharing time. During worship, you would see a stream of people making their way to the front row where he sat and chatting briefly with him. These same people were later the ones who shared encouraging corporate words in the "open sharing" time.

      Occasionally you may have a word for someone in a place that only allows certain "recognized/trained" individuals to minister. This happened to me at a renewal meeting in San Jose. The church believed in the prophetic, but did not have a format for prophetic expression in their service. God had given me a word for this one man and a burning intensity to deliver it. So I watched the people with name tags, to determine who seemed to have authority. I identified a person who happened to be a staff pastor, but not the senior pastor. After the service was over, the senior pastor was mobbed with people wanting to talk to him. But the staff pastor was relatively available. So I went up to him and shared that I moved in the prophetic and God had given me a word for this one man. Would he allow me to give it, and maybe come with me to observe it? He said he would. As usual, the power of God came in His word. After I was done ministering, that pastor told me to feel free to come and get him any time that I wanted to give a word. I was not released to simply minister on my own because it violated their house rules, but he was willing to come with me any time I wanted to prophecy, so I could minister as the Holy Spirit led me.

      My experience is that when God releases His anointing, He always makes a way for you to minister it, providing you are flexible and demonstrate a submissive and non-controlling spirit.

   6. Talk To Your Pastor About Opportunities To Minister In Your Church

      After I decided to join my church, I met with the pastor. I shared what God had been doing in my life and how I ministered in the prophetic. I understood that we did not have an open prophecy time during the Sunday Morning worship service, and I wanted to know what to do when I get a word. I also wanted to know if there would be any opportunities for me to minister. He gave me some guidelines for what to do if I got a word during service (at that time it was write it down). He also put me on the altar ministry team so that I could minister one-on-one to individuals. This was a special concession on his part, as usually you have to go through a several month training series first. I was very greatful for that, especially as I had permission to minister propheticly to individuals at the altar, as well as in the woman's group and in home groups.

      Other opportunities opened up as I got established in the church and they got an opportunity to know me and to observe both my gifting and my character. I will talk about them more in the next teaching, which is a case study of my experiences ministering propheticly in a Southern Baptist church.

**Please note

some churches which are set up to have prophetic ministry in the service have a "No Parking-Lot Prophecy" policy. They would consider personal prophecy that is not written down or tape recorded or delivered before a witness as prohibited. Other churches, such as the one I belong to, do not have a format for personal prophetic prophecy in the services, and much of it is done privately in one-on-one situations. That is why it is important to know the policies of the church you are at, so that you don't inadvertently violate them.

A Case Study

Review

The first of the three parts (part 1) was a biblical overview and basis for this, the second (part 2) contained practical suggestions. This is the final section with a case study of my experiences as a prophetic person in a Southern Baptist Church.

Case Study

When I first visited Elmhurst Baptist Church, I discovered it was not a stereotypical Southern Baptist by any means. The worship was predominantly Vineyard songs led by a worship band. About 1/3 of the congregation raised their hands during worship. People were much freer and less formal than I remembered from my Southern Baptist days in the 1970s.

The teaching was the sound bible teaching I have come to love and expect from the Baptist denomination. After the eaching was over, they had a sort of open ended altar call; worship music played, those who desired could come up to pray at the altar or for prayer. Everyone was free to leave when they felt God was done with them. Many left before the first song was over, but some lingered at the altar for quite a while. I could sense the Holy Spirit's presense in the place and the people seemed very committed to God.

I liked the church immediately, but there was one area that was problematic for me. They did not have anything built into their service format to permit prophecy. I visited multiple times and began to make some friends there. The people were friendly and loving and the atmosphere was wonderful. I loved the strong evangelistic emphasis, but I sort of missed the opportunity to give corporate words during worship. I felt it could become problematic for me to head a prophetic ministry and go to a church that did not have the prophetic operating in their services. But as I prayed about it, I became convinced that this was the place where God wanted me to be. Also, the Lord began to point out various leaders and people to me and speak to me about them.. sharing their giftings and callings and various things He liked about each person.

After I was sure that God was calling me to this church, I made an appointment and met with the pastor, Rodney. He was more than welcoming and very helpful. I had originally come as a guest speaker, for the Sunday school class and also for the Woman's Group. Rodney was already a bit familiar with me from my many testimony postings to the new-wine list. He had seen me teach at the Adult Sunday School class. I also shared with Him about what God was doing via the GodSpeak ministry. Rodney was very supportive of what I perceived to be God's call on my life. I was very much in agreement with what he explained was his vision for the church. It seemed like a perfect match, except for the part about the church not being a prophetic church.

I was a bit concerned about the lack of opportunity to give corporate words during the service. But the thing that I saw as my single biggest concern/hindrance was that they did not allow people on their ministry team until they'd been through their rather lengthly training series. This would not start for several monthes and it would be almost a year before it was over. I did not think I could go a year without being allowed to minister to people, and I did not think I could minister without sharing personal prophetic words as the Lord gave them to me. I shared these concerns with Rodney.

Rodney told me that he knew I had a lot of ministry experience, so he would allow me to serve as a prayer counselor (that is what this church calls their ministry team) before I took the church's formal training. That was the final confirmation for me that God wanted me there and would make a way for me, even though this church was not what I considered a "prophetic church."

Early Frustrations and Making Adjustments

There were may wonderful opportunities right from the beginning, but I had my share of frustrations as well. I had to make some adjustments. This was not too hard, since I knew God wanted me here and since the leadership of the Church was so reasonable and so hungry for God's will.

There are been a few times when I thought I was going to die because I could not get up and start prophesying. One time early on during worship, the Lord's presense was so strong and there was a Spirit Of Prophecy over the service. The Lord gave me something for every single person I looked at.. I mean in-depth and powerful words. But there was no format or opportunity to deliver them. When I tried to avoid looking at people by squeezing my eyes shut, I would get corporate words for the whole body. But there was no opportunity to share these in the service. I began to get frustrated. The prophetic felt like it was going to explode out of me, and there was no venue to release it. I did not know how to handle this, so I quietly walked to the back of the sanctuary and stood there. But then kept getting words that I had no opportunity to give.

Finally I went outside and walked around the parking lot, speaking the Lord's blessings over the church and over those represented by the parked cars. There was not anyone to hear what I was saying, but I still believe that some sort of spiritual power was released in the blessings the Lord had me speak. I kept prophesying in the parking lot (not loudly, but speaking audibly) until I did not feel like I was going to explode any more. I stayed outside until the worship portion of the service ended.

Did I feel frustrated that there was no opportunity to prophesy? You bet I did! But when I got back into the service after worship, I was ok and the teaching was excellent. I think I ended up prophesying to about 6 people during the ministry time. When they came to me for prayer, the Lord recalled to my mind what He'd shown me for that person during worship. Later on, after I'd been there a while, I learned what to do when I get words for folks during worship.. and of how to recognize the opportunities God gives me to minister to them during the worship... they will often end up slipping out for a "potty trip" and I can "catch them in the hall" or the person next to them will slip out during the offering and I can slide over and share quietly. Or I can write it down and give it to them later.

Another early frustration had a happy ending. I was sitting in the front row, way on the right side. Rodney, the pastor was sitting on the front row, way on the left side. We had a special event at service that morning. Some of our elders had been in Argentina for revival training and had just returned home. They were doing a presentation for the morning service, a prelude to our launching our "Houses of Prayer" project.

They had brought something back from Argentina for the pastor, and presented it to him during the service. And in the midst of the presentation, the Argentina team gathered around Rodney and his wife, Mary, to pray for them. They intended to impart the anointing they'd received on Rodney and on the whole church. The prayer was fairly lengthly. As they prayed, the Lord gave me a word for the pastor. It was a wonderful word about his faithfulness and how he put God's desires over his own desires, so now God was going to give him the desires of his heart. And there were promises of blessings, power and anointing, including an increase in physical healings over the whole church. The word was practically exploding from me. I wanted, more than anything, to tap the elder on the shoulder who was controlling the prayer time and ask to give the word. But I'd never met him before and knew it might be disruptive to go up front and ask to prophecy. So I sat on the word and felt like I was going to explode.

Finally I could not stand it any more, so I got paper and pencil and wrote the word down. By then the prayer had finished and Rodney was back in his seat. I was tempted to get up and walk across the front and give it to him, but he was in the leftmost seat, and I was in the rightmost seat and there was a center aisle and a long distance between the two of us. There was no unobtrusive way to get to him. So I sat there and held onto the paper I'd written. I wished more than anything that we had a format to prophecy in the service, because I KNEW that God wanted the whole church to hear how pleased He was with the pastor. But the opportunity never presented itself. Finally the service ended and everyone was invited forward if they wanted the "Argentine team" to pray for them. As soon as people began going forward, I bee-lined for Rodney. I gave him the paper and a brief explanation. He thanked me. I tried to to back to my seat by walking along the left wall to the back and then around the back and down the right wall to my seat. But before I'd gone 1/2 the distance, someone grabbed me and asked me to prophecy to them. I went a few feet further and was again grabbed. It must have been about 25 minutes before I actually got back to my seat, and I had done quite a bit of ministry.

A week or so later, Rodney touched bases with me on the word. He appreciated it very much and was encouraged by it. It has some accurate details in it. I shared how badly I'd wanted to give it over the microphone but he said, "I'm glad you wrote it down instead. I value being able to go back and re-read it." I did not know it at the time, but they were not taping this particular service, so if I'd delivered the word over the microphone, there would not have been any permanent record of it. So, it all worked out to God's glory! (I wondered why God let me feel the prophetic intensity practically explode in me instead of simply sharing His plan with me. So far, the Lord has not seen fit to explain that to me .)

There was another time when the youth group went to camp. The sunday after they got back, they were invited up front to share. Each time that one of the young people took the microphone and shared, God gave me a word for that person or spoke to me about them. I knew I was not allowed to get up and give them words, and I did not have any type of contact with the high school and college group. So I simply "sat" on the words and asked God why He was speaking to me about them when there was no opportunity to deliver the words. God said that He'd explain it to me later. (Don't you just hate it when He tells you that?)

It became a matter of prolonged prayer.. I hate having prophetic words and no opportunity to deliver them. Finally God showed me that the only way the youth would be able to receive words from me was if there was some sort of rudimentary relationship in place.. I could not prophecy to them as a total stranger.. they would not hear me. I asked God what He wanted me to do to establish relationship with them. He told me to teach a sunday school series for the youth group. So I went to the youth pastor and told him I'd like to teach a series for the youth. He was more than willing. It took a few monthes before the schedule worked out for both of us. Then I began a 4 week series (that turned into 7 weeks) on Hearing God's Voice. During that time, I had an opportunity to prophecy to about four of them publicly and about another five or six privately. I ended up getting to minister propheticly to all of the ones God had spoken to me about that sunday! It was frustrating for a season, but God worked it out in His usual wonderful way! Again, His plan was better than my plan.

Not all of my stories have happy endings. There was something that could have been very frustrating for me, if I wanted to keep ownership of a word once it had been released. During Father's day service we had baby dedications. Several Hispanic families came up during that to dedicate their babies. As I watched and noticed all the Hispanic people in our church, I commented on it to God. He replied, "Yes, indeed." And then He began to give me a very powerful word for the Hispanic people and how the Lord was proclaiming liberty over them and breaking bondages off of them and empowering them to walk in His freedom. He was going to do this for the people in our church and then He was going to use them to minister this same freedom to other Hispanics in our community. God is eyeing the Hispanic people group in our city (Hayward) and wants to do a mighty work among them. The word was burning so strong in me that I felt like I was going to explode. I planned to talk to Rodney during the start of the ministry time, but he never came down off of the stage where I could talk to him.

So I sat there, feeling frustrated and holding the word and waiting on the Lord for more direction. Suddenly I saw a vision.. in this vision I stood up and spoke the word over the people in our church, and then Lenore (an elder who speaks Spanish) got up and prayed over them in Spanish and a tremendous power of God dropped over the Hispanic people in our midst and they were falling on the ground and shaking and laughing and crying and speaking in tongues as she prayed.. and when they got up they were emotionally healed and filled with the power of God.

I shared this vision with Lenore and she was willing to pray should Rodney give the opportunity. Then I shared it with Rodney, who was very interested as he was going to Cuba in a few weeks for the World Baptist Convention. He agreed it was God and that he'd probably do it sometime. He did not do it the following week, saving it for the Sunday just before he went to Cuba. But instead of following the vision, he had Lenore's husband (also an elder) get up and pray for the Cuba trip and also a blessing over the Hispanic people in our church. This was nice, but did not resemble the word or vision I'd gotten. Rodney mentioned to me the next day that they'd done it. I asked him who prayed.. he said Russel. I said that it was not correct, then, as I'd seen Lenore praying in my vision, so we needed to do it again. I did not say any more. Rodney went to Cuba and returned. The sunday he got back, Lenore prayed for the offering in Spanish. It was a prayer in Spanish by Lenore, but it was NOT covering the empowering and release of the Hispanic people, and God's word for the Hispanic people still had not been released. The leadership felt like they'd covered the vision and word, but I don't believe they came at all close.

Now, I had choices in how I handled this. I could have gotten upset or made a stink and raised a fuss because the word was not delivered and the Hispanic people were not empowered and released. I am saddened that the Hispanic people did not get the ministry I sensed God desired for them. But I choose not to pursue this any further because I wish to exhibit a submissive and honoring attitude to my leadership. I do respect them. I believe they sincerely seek God's will and that they know how to hear God. I delivered the directive word to them, so my part is done (unless and until they ask me to speak it in service over the Hispanic people).

My leadership think they took the word and did what God wanted with it. I disagree, feeling the main point and the main thrust were missed. Does that mean that they are bad leaders.. or that that are resisting God? Of course not! What it means is that I must now leave this in God's hands, allowing Him to speak to their hearts and recall the word to their minds if He wants to pursue it more. So I have "let the word go" and will not mention it again unless God brings it around again. [There are going to be times, whether you are in a prophetic church or a non-prophetic one, where the leaders choose not to follow a word the way the prophet envisions it. Once a directive word has been delivered to the leaders, it is between them and the Lord. And it is not the responsibility of the prophet to try and make them follow the word.]

There have been some frustrations and adjustments on my side. I had more frustrations in the early days than I do now. Part of it was a learning curve... learning how to minister effectively in a "non-prophetic" church, such as learning to be effective with personal words I receive for church members. Occasionally a frustration (like the thing with corporate word for Hispanic people not being delivered) comes up.. of course, this type of things comes up in prophetic churches too.

Overall, there have been many more joys and opportunities to minister than there have been frustrations and/or barriers. I'd like to share just a few of these with you...

Opportunities to Minister Effectively

One time Rodney did this excellent teaching on examining our hearts. It was one of those calls to a commitment to holiness and walking a sanctified life before the Lord, and of how God would empower us to do so. I was one of our "prayer counselors" (altar ministry team), but God whispered to me not to go up and pray for people. So I remained in my seat and waited to see what God was up to.

I expected that there would be a big response at the altar, but not a single person came forward. I asked God what as going on. He told me that the enemy was coming in with accusation and guilt. He explained how many felt condemned and afraid to come before God, when God wanted to break off all condemnation and release an empowerment to walk in His holiness on them.

About the 3rd song into the altar call, I went up to Rodney and shared with him what God had said to me. I presented it a a corporate word. Rodney thanked me and shared how he bore witness to that word. I went back to me seat.. a tad surprised that I had not been invited to share this word with the body.

But after the next song ended, Rodney got up and shared that I'd had a word along these lines and that it matched what God had been speaking to him. He spoke in a manner that tied the word back into the teaching and ended up doing a far better job sharing what God had communicated that if I'd gotten up and given the word myself. I was thrilled and delighted in watching how that unfolded. The word went forth even though I was not the one to give it. God had been speaking something very similar to the pastor's heart and when I shared my "word" with him, that was the confirmation he needed to act on what he'd been hearing. The end result was extremely effective and the whole body was blessed and built up at the way it all unfolded. I was delighted.. even though I had not given the word myself, I did see God's word go forth in a very effective way.

The church has gone out of it's way to make a place for me in the structure that it has in place. Adult Sunday School is very important in Southern Baptist churches. I was invited on several occasions to come and teach on the prophetic (and/or other subjects). This gave me an opportunity to train and impart and occasionally even do a bit of ministry in a corporate setting. I already mentioned how God had put it on my heart to teach the youth so that I could build a relationship from which I could minister to some of them. I got to work the youth group for 7 weeks, and had a free reign in there to minister propheticly or give corporate words while I was teaching the series on hearing God's voice. Overall it was a very positive experience and even though the teaching series was over, I still have opportunities to minister one on one to various members of the youth group.

Another way the church gave me opportunity to minister was on the altar prayer team. I already shared how the pastor allowed me to be on the team before completing the church training requirement. I find the Lord gives me a lot of prophetic insights when I minister on the prayer team. Sometimes I simply pray the insights, other times I share what the Lord is showing me. I am usually very casual with these words, I do not say "Thus sayeth the Lord" and I seldom speak in the first person for God, unless I already know the person and know they are comfortable with the prophetic.

I remember one time a very pretty (and quite pregnant) young woman came up front for prayer. She asked for prayer for various family things, including that her husband and oldest daughter were not getting along as well a she would like. As I prayed for her, the Lord began to give me some insights about her husband, what his motivations and concerns were and a strategy for her to interact with him in a way that would help him immensely. She nodded in agreement as I shared what the Lord had shown me, it matched what she knew about him and made sense to her. She came back to me about a month after the baby was born. She was excited about how God had turned things around in their household situation. She had followed the simply strategies the Lord had suggested, and it had made a big difference in their household. God is smart.

Sometimes I enjoy standing at the back and watching what the Lord is doing over the congregation during worship. I can glace around the room and see Him emotionally healing this person, strengthening that one, encouraging this one, etc. The people in our congregation are quite hungry for God and yielded to Him, so He frequently meets them in beautiful ways. There are times when I am lost in worship, but there are also times where God has me stand back and shows me what He is doing.. and I get tremendously blessed watching Him move on His people.

Some of the prophetic ministry God has me do is one-on-one and very private. The sunday before Christmas, I was in the back area where the dancer's dance. I was dancing and worshipping. Suddenly God spoke to me about one lady, let's call her Debbie (not her real name). He said that Debbie was upset because she did not have any enough money to take care of her family for Christmas and God wanted me to give her $100.00 in His name and tell her He was going to meet her financial needs. He also said that I must do this before worship ended. I said ok, stopped dancing, opened my eyes and began to look for her. She was not in the service.

"Lord," I said, "She's not here."

"Don't worry, she will be."

I kept an eye out for her for the next 15 minutes or so, then I gave up and wend back to dancing. I had only been worship dancing about 2 minutes when I felt impressed to look to my left. There was Debbie standing in the back of the auditorium, talking to someone. I stopped dancing and put on my shoes to go over and talk to her. But she left the auditorium. So I followed her out into the foyer. She was talking to someone else now, her back to me. Worship was about over. How was I going to meet the Lord's mandate to give her the message/gift before the worship ended. I threw up one of those quick "What now, Lord??" prayers.

Suddenly she turned and started walking to me. I asked her if she had a few minutes. She said she had been trying to telephone me during the week regarding a prayer request. God told me to stop her and not let her share her request with me. I told her God had given me a word for her and asked if I could give that before she told me anything. She said, "sure."

The word expanded as I began to deliver it.. God spoke of His great care for her and how He was going to demonstrate His faithfulness in providing for her needs. He was giving her this $100 as a prophetic token of His promise to take care of her. Tears came to her eyes. She shared about how the prayer request she unsuccessfully tried to telephone me mid-week about was financial. I prayed for her and the Holy Spirit showed up. When we got back inside, the sermon had already started. It was on tithing. Now, I had no idea what Rodney was going to teach on, but it suddenly made sense why God wanted this message delivered before the sermon, not after it. During the service, the Lord ministered to her heart regarding tithing. He had demonstrated how He would take care of her. She used to tithe, but finances had gotten so tight she'd stopped. God dealt with her heart on this. Since she knew God was committed to taking care of her, she recommitted to give Him lordship of her finances, including tithing. The following week, God miraculously orchestrated for her to get a new oven and a new furnace. He met her needs in awesome ways.. and I got to be the prophetic voice that launched her on this adventure in giving God Lordship of her finances. But He was the one who orchestrated circumstances and met her in so many wonderful ways.

Here is another story. I normally sit in the front row, but one day God impressed me to sit in the middle of the room. I had no idea why He wanted me to do that, but I know it is always a good idea to obey Him when He tells me to do something. During worship, I happened to glance across the aisle and see a woman, eyes closed and hands uplifted in worship. The Holy Spirit was all over her and she was receiving from God. Suddenly she pulled out of it and look around the room. I could sense the Lord's sadness as she pulled out of worship... because He had more that He desired to minister to her. I began to quietly intercede for her. As I did, the Lord gave me a word for her. But she was not accessible, there were people on both sides of her. So I prayed and watched. Later on, during teaching, I jotted down the word the Lord had given me for her, intending to give her the written word after service.

Near the end of the service, we did a bit more worship and the people near her had moved away. So I slid over next to her to give her the piece of paper with the word. The Holy Spirit whispered in my ear to give it to her verbally first. So I shared how I'd seen the Holy Spirit on her earlier in the service and felt God had laid something on my heart for her. I asked her if I could share it. She said yes. The Lord began to give me a strong word of encouragement for her, of how He was inviting her to a place of increased intimacy and closeness with Him. I could see His strength pouring into her as I shared. After I gave the word verbally, I handed her the paper which also had the word on it, though not quite as detailed. She was deeply ministered to. Just as I finished, her husband came back and sat down next to her. I went back to my seat, mission accomplished.

Not all of the opportunities are "impromptu." Some of them are carefully planned and scheduled. In early October, I felt the Lord prompting me to teach a prophecy class at church.. similar to the Prophetic Training 101 course that the prophetic-school offers. I mentioned this to some leaders and to the pastor. They seemed to think it was a good idea, but it had to be "fit into" the church's active calendar. It took a few monthes to determine the best time frame for the class, day of the week, etc and get it on the church's calendar. The class was reviewed and approved the the executive committee (our governing elders). The class began in January. There was a lot of interest in it, and it started with 25 members. The class lasted for 6 monthes, meeting twice a month. Most of the people in the class now move in the prophetic, some fairly strongly. A few had been considered "prophetic" before the class began, but we found that many of the "non-prophetic" ones began hearing God's voice and moving in the prophetic as well. After the course ended, we set up a prophetic ministry team that offers prophetic ministry on 2nd and 4th Mondays by appointment. We have sign-up forms in the bulletin. The original class members form the ministry team. Typically we have teams of 3-4 minister to 3 or 4 people on a given evening. The Lord had been blessing this ministry and the team members are excited and pleased to see God moving through them. The people who come for ministry have been greatly blessed and encouraged. This Monday night prophetic ministry is fairly new, but it is being well received. Our "non-prophetic" church now formally offers prophetic ministry sessions by a trained prophetic team. Isn't God amazing!

Building The Ministry

Prophetic ministry is starting to happen outside of the stuff I initiate. For instance, a few sundays ago, the bulletin had an insert in it containing three prophetic words from people I'd been training. They were good words. I was surprised and delighted to find them there!

About 6 weeks ago, at a monthly woman's group meeting, I had a sense that God wanted to prophesy to all the women sitting in one certain area of the room. I prophecied to about 1/2 of them and suddenly God told me to stop prophesying. Then our pastor's wife jumped in with a word for one of the women sitting in that area. It matched what God had shown me and it blessed me to see her minister. Then I opened it up for anyone else who thought they had a word for someone to share it. Several of the women began prophesying to one another, and they were all good words. The Holy Spirit came with a great deal of power and anointing. I was so blessed watching them minister that I forgot I was leading the meeting -- in fact, I really wasn't leading the meeting at the time, the Holy Spirit was.

One of the staff members signed up for the Monday night prophetic ministry recently. We had two teams running that night. I was on one team, and she was being ministered to be the other team. She contacted me afterwards and said that she was deeply and powerfully ministered to by the team, and that the prophetic insights were keen and accurate. She felt that the team that ministered to her was very competent and highly qualified and she was excited that they were able to function so effectively without me being there with them. I was pleased and excited to hear the teams are able to function effectively on their own.

Finally, my church and the ministry I lead (GodSpeak International) are co-sponsoring a prophetic conference in September. The conference is entitled "Hearing God's Voice" and the main speaker is John Webster. This conference is targeted at our own church but also at other traditionally "non-prophetic" churches in the area. The goal is to teach believers to can hear God for themselves. We desire to demonstrate that they can make the prophetic a part of their evangelical services without having to embrace pentecostal or charismatic theologies and practices. Pastors and leaders from several local evangelical churches are expected to come. My desire is that the Lord will begin to open up the prophetic in many evangelical churches in my area as a result of this conference.

You Can Do It Too

The reason I have shared my experiences with you is to let you know that you can do it too. You can move with God in the prophetic in your own church... you are not disqualified if you attend a church that does not have the prophetic built into the format of the services.

Ask the Lord to show you what part of the existing structure the Lord would like you to "build into." Make encouragement and support and "building up" your main agenda, as per 1 Corth 14. Look for ways to fit effectively into the existing structures instead of trying to change them.

Invite the Holy Spirit to use you where He has put you, and He will.

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