I have been involved in Prophetic Ministry for over two decades. Seen the good bad and ugly. Some of it is better than other. One trend I have seen among those who minister prophetically is the machine gun prophecy. That if I talk fast and loud with great emphasis I am more prophetic.
I get flow. I get the idea that God fills our mouth. Sometimes however in machine gun prophecy it's just empty words.
There is also a place for consideration. The way that God delivers a message to his prophets and thru his prophets. That is almost never rapid fire, loud or simple flow. It is the capacity to hear from the Throne and deliver the world of the Lord.
An immature or undeveloped prophet often mistakes intensity for the prophetic. You can be intensely wrong not hearing from God at all. Most often it is these people who have been placed without wisdom. They will often pull the God Trump. GOD TOLD ME. If it doesn't affect others, I let them say God told me this that or the other thing and let it go at that. Deluded prophetic may be both or neither.
Most great prophets I have known take time to hear from God. They many times journal what God is saying. They measure it against scripture. They test the spirits behind the word given. The devil knows how to distort the prophetic word and does so often.
He knows that if he can rile prophets up out of their emotions they can discredit themselves by blurting out what they think they are hearing.. it's not God.
The biggest danger a prophet faces (and I am NOT excluded from this) is the bias we bring to the prophetic, particularly when it has to do with culture, politics, religion and the news of the day. I am never willing to bring a word when I have been a consumer of news or opinion on a grand scale. I need to have my mind renewed and clear. Then when that is the case I can bring what the Lord is saying. One must have ears to hear.
It isn't easy but it is essential. We must have our hearts and minds be the heart and mind of Christ. The measure of true prophetic is the love shown in 1 Corinthians 13. If there is anger or rancor, there is not the prophetic. True mature prophetic only says what God says. Nothing more or less. It is a matter of being directly in the flow of God.
When I think of Great Prophets I have known or heard, few of them are machine gun prophets. They measure the words they use and do so in the fear of the Lord. They know that what they are about to say is going to be tested, first by the Holy Spirit, secondly by other prophets and thirdly by leadership. A prophet must have leaders who can say to them in Love, "My dear Prophet, I regret to tell you that you are full of crap again". I use the word crap is in lieu of what they really mean.
There have been many prophetic voices who are no longer with us who spoke in quiet terms, measured, well strained by the word of God and without. Bob Jones, Kim Clement (who spoke rapidly, but also who used more words than required sometimes).
So if you are a prophetic voice in the kingdom, use your voice for the benefit of the purposes of the Kingdom. You matter. Your reputation is nothing. Find yourself accountable to others who will judge your words and sometimes call you out.
Or you are a dangerous loose cannon.. immature and in need of growth. Sit down for a while.
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