How to Handle Personal Prophecy

Knowing what to do with a personal prophetic word after receiving it can be difficult. Should you make decisions based on it? How do you know it will be fulfilled? Is it up to you to do something regarding the words spoken or are you to continue doing business as usual and leave everything up to God? Knowing some ways you can interact with your personal prophecy can be helpful so that you can be confident that no matter what, the will of God will be done in your life and on earth. It can also help prevent you from taking matters into your own hands and attempting to fulfill a word in your own power, which does not always cancel out the fulfillment of the word, but can delay it and cause other complications. (Ex. Genesis 16 - the birth of Ishmael)

Continually Engage with Your Prophecy

(1 Timothy 4:14-15, HCSB) Do not neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all.

Record, Read, Meditate

  • The human mind will not be able to remember a prophecy word-for-word. If you forget your personal prophecy, it is not much use to you as you can't meditate on it.
  • If you know you are going to receive a prophecy, be prepared to record it on your phone or any device that can hold audio recordings. By recording it, you can go back and listen to it.
  • If your prophecy is recorded, you can begin to transcribe it so that you are able to read it. Having the prophecy written out can help when it comes to meditating on it.
  • A benefit to recording/transcribing your personal prophecy is that after receiving multiple prophecies, they can be compared for agreement. (p. 22)
  • Recording prophetic words also protects the prophet so that their words will not be misquoted/misconstrued.
  • Recording, writing, and meditating on the prophecy reveals that there can be multiple interpretations of the same word. What you think the word means may not be exactly what it means. Go over the recorded word with a trusted pastor/elder who believes in and understands personal prophecy. (Ask God to give you insight into the word.)
  • Recording, writing, and meditating on a prophetic word prevents you from making any major decisions while the word is being given. "At the actual time of receiving a prophetic word, our spirit is best engaged in witnessing actively to the spirit of the person prophesying and the divine inspiration (Holy Spirit) which is motivating him or her, rather than judging and evaluating the prophecy." (p. 26)
(Romans 8:16, ESV) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Witness to your prophecy

  • "In order to properly bear witness to a prophetic word, we must be able to discern between our human soul and our spirit."
    • The spirit realm of a man is where divine love and faith operate.
    • The soul is where emotions, reasoning, imagination, physical senses, and feelings are.
    • The soul can cause doubt, confusion, resentment, rejection, and rebellion against your personal prophecy.
  • When God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit that a personal prophetic word is correct, of God, and according to His divine will and purpose, our spirit reacts with the fruits of the Spirit.
    • Our spirit will be unexplainably at peace and full of joy even if your soul/thoughts are doubtful. Our spirits may even feel a sense of excitement. These positive feelings are the Holy Spirit bearing witness to our spirit that everything is in order.
    • If there is a more neutral feeling in our spirit, wait and see. "The spirit is saying, 'Nothing to get excited about, nothing to get worried about.' Time will tell... if the prophecy is of God, it will all come to pass, and we will fulfill God's will." (p. 30)
  • Prophecy can serve both as new revelation and confirmation
    • God will speak through prophecy to confirm things He has already spoken to you in your own spirit.
    • God will also speak through prophecy to reveal new revelation to you.
    • "Paul received his first insight that he would be an apostle to the Gentiles, not from Jesus on the road to Damascus, not from the inward voice of the Holy Spirit, but rather from Ananias when he prophesied the word of the Lord and ministered healing to him." (p. 32)
    • When new revelation is presented to us in prophecy, stay open, write it out, consider and pray about it. Wait and see, remain open, teachable, and divinely flexible. When God opens the door, we will already have confirmation that He is in it. (p. 33)
(1 Timothy 1:18, NIV) Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well.

War over your prophecy

  • "We can take the spiritual prophecies we have witnessed to and proven and wage spiritual warfare with them... Warfare entails perseverance and personal prophecy gives us the power to persevere." (p. 34-35)
  • Paul was able to endure suffering with joy because he received a prophecy that was God's will for him to suffer for the gospel.
  • You can war over and war with your personal prophecy (praying over it and declaring it) that everything will work according to the will of God.
  • (2 Chronicles 20:20) Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe in His prophets and you will succeed.
Your spirit should bear witness to a prophetic word as it is spoken, and it is best to be prepared to record when you know you are going to receive a word. After receiving it, meditate on it and pray over it, asking the Lord to give you insight. Discuss it with a trusted pastor or mentor. Be open to the prophetic word coming to pass differently than you expected and, ultimately, desire for God's will to be done concerning the word. A prophetic word also needs to be warred over in prayer.

Judge the Prophecy

(1 Corinthians 14:29, HCSB) Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.

Spiritual Leadership

  • Evaluate with someone in spiritual leadership over you the accuracy and biblical nature of your prophecy. Be discerning in who you share with.
    • If you receive a prophetic word, do not immediately share the word with everyone. Pray about who, if anyone, to share it with.
    • Jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and other human emotions could cause people to attack your prophecy verbally.
    • Joseph shared a prophetic dream he had with his brothers and father. They did not receive it well and hearing the dream added to his brothers' envy of him. This envy led them to the mistreatment of him. His dream was ultimately fulfilled despite his brothers' mistreatment, however, it was not wise for Joseph to share his dream.
  • Assess for yourself how the prophecy resonates in your spirit.
    • Your spirit should bear witness to the prophecy and be at peace with what was said.
Having a mentor or someone in leadership as well as having your family or friends witness to a prophetic word can be a good thing. Others can help in judging the accuracy and biblical nature of the prophecy. However, it is not wise to share with everyone and before sharing, ask the Lord to help you discern who to share with. Your spirit also helps in judging the prophetic word. The fruits of the Spirit will manifest in you if the word is accurate and biblically sound.

Prophecies can be Conditional

(1 Corinthians 13:9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part (ESV); now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! (NLT)
  • Personal prophecies are not guaranteed to come to pass. Prophetic words are not scripture and do not have to happen.
  • Earthly prophets, even though inspired by the Holy Spirit, do not prophesy the entire picture. God's word is true, and if a word is from Him, we have to believe it will come to pass in His perfect will. Prophecies can also be fulfilled in ways that you didn't expect.
    • Prophetic words do not have to come to fulfillment in the way you think they should. The perfect will of God will be carried out. When praying over a prophetic word and waiting for it to be accomplished, be open to being flexible. Your prayer should be that God's will be done and his plan be accomplished. 
  • God will never force you to do something. He will allow you to say yes or no. His plan will be fulfilled regardless of your participation or lack thereof.
  • Unrepentant sin can delay or nullify your personal prophecy.
    • (1 Samuel 2:12-36) The sons of Eli were cut off from God's promise because of their sins against Him. They were worthless (v. 12, ESV) and wicked (v. 12, CSB) and did not know or respect the Lord and treated the Lord's offering with contempt (v. 17)
    • (1 Samuel 2:30-31, NLT) Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age."
God's perfect will for the earth will be carried out and that is something we should pray for. Prophetic words are not scripture and should not be treated as such. Earthly prophets do not prophesy the entire picture. Unrepentant sin can delay or nullify a prophecy and if you don't want to participate in seeing your prophecy come to pass (being open to what God wants you to do), you don't have to. You can reject it. The bottom line is: the will of God will be seen out in light of or in spite of any other variables.
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