Motivations of Prophetic People
Prophetic people are motivated to serve and equip the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Prophetic offices and gifts are given by the Spirit to edify and build up the Body of Christ locally, regionally, nationally, and/or internationally; the function, purpose, and nature of prophetic office, gifts, or ministry is not about exalting a person or even a prophetic gift.
Prophetic people are motivated by God’s desire and focus on family.
Malachi 4:5-6, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Our heavenly Father’s heart is for family; therefore, prophetic people work to see family come together—as a kingdom value this is manifested in the preservation or restoration of healthy natural families and spiritual families; prophetic people carry a mantle and charge to turn hearts of sons back to fathers and fathers to their sons (again, this is both natural and spiritual). Success is measured by a healthy legacy and godly outworking seen in the next generation.
Prophetic people are motivated by the call to be a Friend of the Bridegroom.
John 3:29 KJV - He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 11:2, For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Prophetic people must labor to present the Church as a pure Bride to Christ; to instigate and encourage individuals, groups, church families, and movements to connect (or stay connected) to the Jesus, the Head of the Body of Christ.
Prophetic people are motivated by the fear of the Lord.
Ezekiel 3:16-21, And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
Prophetic people recognize the responsibility to speak truth with a deep sense of the fear of the Lord, while also understanding that the will of God and how people respond to the word of the Lord can significantly determine the outcome in any situation.
In stewarding their office, ministry, or gifts prophetic people must maintain a crucified life of submission and humility, knowing that a pure source to the supernatural only comes through the cross—without such purity, prophecy, prophetic gifts, or prophetic ministry can become tainted.
Insecurity of Prophetic People
John 3:8, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Zechariah 4:6, Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
John 15:5, I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV - Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
1 Samuel 3:1,7, 19-21, And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision….Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him…. And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Prophetic people must reach plateaus of maturity where their personal spiritual identify is settled and has been sorted; they are not seeking for validation, affirmation of men, personal praise, or identity in their prophetic ministry/service to the Body of Christ, but they know who they are in sonship. At the same, prophetic people will remain highly dependent upon God for revelation, direction, insight, and the Word of the Lord—they have an insecurity in function/impact of their gift without the help of the Spirit. Their high dependency upon God can frequently require them to be sensitive and open to discern/discover how the Spirit is moving; this must not be conflated with emotions, emotional responses, or faithless following of feelings.
Rejection of Prophetic People
Acts 7:51-52, Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
1 Samuel 8:4-7, 9-10, 19, Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. … Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. …Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
Prophetic people understand that rejection is simply a part of prophetic ministry at times—they often recognize that it is a rejection of the word of the Lord and learn to “not take it personally”.
Dispensation of Prophetic People
I Samuel 3:20, And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
1 Kings 19:15-16, And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael [to be] king over Syria: (16) And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint [to be] king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint [to be] prophet in thy room.
John 1:19, 21, 23, And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? … And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. … He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Jeremiah 1:1-5, The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Prophets are not just ministry gifts or popular/preferred Bible teachers, but they are servants of God specifically appointed by God to impact a specific group of people, in a specific generation, and in a specific cultural context.