HANDLING PROPHECIES IN RELIGIOUS BODIES

Guidelines for all leaders in charge

-Please do not despise prophecy. I understand that if the prophetic is not managed properly, it can destroy a lot of things but then let's not forget that is probably one of the most important gifts of the Lord for the building/growth of your church/body and the people the Lord has given to you.

Do not treat prophecies with contempt
1 Thessalonians 5:20 NIV

- As you accept the prophetic in anybody or gathering that you head, don't allow anything go within your congregation or the people you lead.

I'm the assistant to my pastor in church but I never give prophecies in Church even when I'm the one leading or preaching. I write it down and submit to the head pastor. I still got something for the church during service today, I wrote and gave to her. The pastor doesn't announce immediately also, I've noticed. She probably takes time to examine what was sent to her

Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:19‭-‬22

There has to be training and order within the body of Christ. If we do not guide the process of the prophetic carefully, things can get pretty flaky.

So yes, embrace the prophetic but make sure there is proper guidance, training and order put in place to avoid anyone being led by the flesh corrupting the church in the name of prophecy

- Create a friendly Prophetic environment for the people under you.
- Make sure to align your group/body and yourself with mature Prophetic voices to aid growth

They might not be your members but you should have mentors too. Same way we have Pastors we are accountable to, it's important to have people that have been walking in the Prophetic for long amongst us. They will help us in cases where we don't understand certain things. The Lord will also use them to correct us when we are going wrong.

As you grow, a time will come when you will start getting messages for your mentors.

All of my mentors in the Prophetic (both active and passive), in the past one year, I've seen God actually pass very important messages to them through me. Another thing I noticed is, recently, they've all started allowing my gifts and this is because they've watched it grow. Though they still watch and check what I'm doing but I'm more free to deliver messages to people.

Infact, they bring names of people for me to pray for or direct anyone that comes to them for prayers to me. This is funny because, I had to run everything by them as at a time.

For those of us that are in a hurry to give words, I know the spirit is speaking to you but please do not despise the leading of those in charge.

Don't go and be doing your own thing

The time will come when they will leave you to speak directly to the congregation without telling them first, until then go through them.

Do not be quick to give private messages to members of your body also or church without running with the pastor.

Because in the past people have given wrong messages for various reasons that shook the body of Christ and this is one of the reasons most churches stay away from the prophetic.

Now that we see it is building up slowly around us, don't spoil it by not being accountable. Especially for corrective and directive messages. You should NEVER reach out to your church member on your own for this.

Prophetic Protocols in The Church and any Spiritual Gathering

Protocol simply means a guideline of how things should occur. There are rules as far as prophecy is concerned in the body of Christ. Majority of the rules will be determined by the leaders of course but I think they are mostly same in most bodies.

So from all we have learnt, we will all be answering concerning the rules.

1. Should words be given during a service or first be judged by leadership

2. Should we have a Prophetic free for all or all words should pass through trained leaders?

3. What types of words do you think should be given in a service?

4. Should corrective words for an individual in the church be given before the congregation?

5. How about Directive?

6. What is your reaction as a member when Prophetic words are given?

7. Should everyone be allowed to prophesy in the main services?


Things to note as you develop a Prophetic Lifestyle

Basic Life Character

1. Have integrity as a person. How people see you largely determines how they process the message you give.

2. Be kind and let love be the order for you.
It's hard for someone that knows you don't like them to take you serious when you deliver a message.
Also, it is hard for you to hear clearly about someone when you are having hateful thoughts towards them.

3. Don't be spooky.
You can operate in the Prophetic and act normal.
Don't let people feel uneasy around you.


Authority and Accountability
- You must submit to authority. This is a must. If you don't want to, leave the prophetic alone. The church doesn't need more chaos

- As you grow and your leaders allow you to express more freely, accountability is still not removed.

-Help others to grow in their Prophetic giftings also

You can pick a Prophetic partner or partners. Pray with them regularly over other people. Write down the things you receive and share with those you are accountable to

The word

The word is your go to, you must be grounded in it.
A large percentage of prophecy comes directly from scripture.
The remaining percentage that is not explicitly stated can be traced here also.
The word of God is our map in this journey

Be a clean Prophetic Vessel
Our lives and backgrounds are the filters the word must go through usually. Insecurity, bitterness, rejection, pride, control, selfish ambitions etc are dangerous filters for a direct word from God. It is easy to misinterpret the message or share our own view as God's view.

We can't afford to be defiled Prophetic voices. There are a whole lot of these out there.
People who are defiled by the lack of right living (they can't even share certain things cos of the state of their lives or they pervert God's words to make themselves feel good), wrong motives, greed (some people will lie to you that God said and collect money), desire for personal gains (God said we should marry 🙄), recognition or power

All of these things taint and defile our voices. We need to be watchful with them

Also, a whole lot of us are tingled by prophets. We like looking for prophets up and down. Please be careful, be very careful. I have numerous bad experiences that I have seen. Stop looking for what is not missing up and down

Someone traveled all the way from a city to another to visit a prophet, when she got there, she lost her memory and became Prophet's wife for years. She had children and husband. She was visiting the prophet concerning her husband.

Test all spirits and put your bumbum in one place. The end is here already. There are a whole lot of false prophets. If you don't know what you are doing, you will become casualty data for the evil they do.

I know this prophet, e do miracle, e raise the dead

The person that is giving you the gist, who are they? Are they grounded I the spirit? Can they discern if the prophet is false or not?

Don't follow anybody to anywhere without praying about it please. What you want to hear, God can use people around you to tell you. He can tell you directly.

My very close friend was charmed by a prophet shortly before her marriage. They canceled wedding and everything just scattered. He saw her on the road and gave an accurate description of her life and happenings. She believed only the spirit of God could reveal to him. He sha told her she needed to do some things. She visited him for counseling in his house. We don't know what happened there but when she got back, she and her husband to be started fighting over everything.

I was home in 2017 and met her, I practically came home for wedding now you say it's not happening again. I knew something was wrong the way she was talking. I started praying with her and linked her with my aunt to also pray for her.

During the prayers, she confessed the pastor abi prophet gave her something to put in the house so that God will reveal. That was when trouble started. In fact the week we were praying with her, she still visited the prophet, he asked her to go naked so he could pray for her but thank God she was getting sane small small

My point in all of these, if she could discern herself, she'd have known something was wrong. If she had been exercising her hearing ears and spiritual eyes, she'd have gotten something sha

This is one of the greatest lessons I learned from my late spiritual mom

First, you are your own prophet.

You need to take charge of your life. Don't be a victim of evil circumstances.
God will send people to you but God will also speak to you to. He will let you know who He sent and who He didn't sent

Lovers of God have been given eyes to see with spiritual discernment and ears to hear from God.
Proverbs 20:12 TPT

If you forget anything you learn in this group, don't forget this scripture. Don't!

You can hear! You can see!

Ears that hear and eyes that see— we get our basic equipment from God !
Proverbs 20:12 MSG

Seeeeeeee. Basic equipment for spiritual living. Hold on to it.

Intimacy with Jesus is the Highest Key to the prophetic

Remember we took the intimacy series before this, that wasn't coincidental

“You show that you are my intimate friends when you obey all that I command you.  I have never called you ‘servants,’ because a master doesn’t confide in his servants, and servants don’t always understand what the master is doing. But I call you my most intimate friends, for I reveal to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father.
John 15:14‭-‬15 TPT

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives
Galatians 5:25‭MSG

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit!

I pray we all live as we've been called, that we put these things into practice and we enter a new life of living in the Prophetic, that we subject ourselves to the leading of the Spirit at all times. And when the times when we need to put in use something from this teaching, the spirit brings it to our remembrance.

Amen

Thank you so much everyone.

We've come to an end of the Divine Communication Series

RECEIVING A PROPHETIC WORD FROM SOMEONE ELSE

So last time we talked about giving prophecies and things to note for the person giving, today we will be talking about the receiver and how to receive prophecies.

We need to understand that not every Prophetic word given to us will be from God - we are humans. So when we receive a word, the first thing to do is examine it.

Examine the word

And don’t be one who scorns prophecies, but be faithful to examine them by putting them to the test, and afterward hold tightly to what has proven to be right.
1 Thessalonians 5:20‭-‬21 TPT

A lot of people out of fear despise prophecy. We've already established that prophecy is not a bad thing, it is not wrong.

When someone gives you a word, thank them and take the word. Now when I say take, I do not mean accept all. Just collect the word somewhere (probably write down or save)

Then go back and examine what is said carefully.

Now here is the thing, this process of examining should be done regardless of who gave the word.

Even if it is Apostle Paul that appears and give you a Prophetic word, you must examine it.

If you get it directly from the spirit, you must examine it still.

If it is from someone you don't like or someone that has given a prophecy to you before that turned out false, still examine it.

We already discussed how to authentify that a prophecy is from God, so check the notes there for this part.

After examining, what is said might not be against the word of God but it doesn't look right for you or look like it is yours, just write it down and pray over it.

If it is yours, when the time you will need it comes, you will be reminded.

I've seen cases where I tell someone something and they are like, I can't relate, it is not for me.

Then after a long time, they come back to say, ehnehn Remi, that thing you said that time, it is happening now o. Please, can you tell me the remaining thing you said that day? I've forgotten

Most likely, I've forgotten too cos my memory is yet to carry all of my own personal prophecies before we talk of yours.

If you are given a word and you can't relate at that time or you don't understand, please write it down.
Examine and still pray over it. In due time, everything will make sense.

Sometimes someone will tell you something, some part will be scriptural and the other part wrong, this doesn't mean you should throw everything said away.

Pray over everything.
Ask God the unscriptural part, if the person misinterpreted from their own knowledge of what was shared and what part of the prophecy belongs to you.

So the basics when you get a prophecy are:

1. Thank the person

2. Don't be rude to them even if you can't relate

3. Go and examine on your own

4. If you have access, give feedback to the person that gave the prophecy (might not include all details). This is to also encourage them and help them trust the spirit revealing to them even when things don't make sense

If the prophecy is false, ignore it. Don't brand the person false prophet all around town

It could be you giving a prophecy that is not correct tomorrow, this doesn't make you a false prophet.

So just assume that was an error on their side except the Lord reveals otherwise

In religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends

How to Examine The word

- Is it scriptural?

-Did it edify, exhort or comfort me?

-What was the spirit the word came in? Is it consistent with the nature of Christ?

-is all of the prophecy or just a part of it from God?

-How does it affect my life, family, job, commitments, etc?

-Does this word destroy or bring life?

-Is it condemning or convicting?

-Does it glorify Jesus


After examining, next 2 steps is

-What is the Interpretation?

-Do I need to take action immediately or apply something now?

For interpretation, most times we like to rely on the person that gave the word but I've found that it is not every time they get interpretation for the word they give.

Sometimes, they are just here to give a word and go. Don't force an interpretation out of them to avoid wrong interpretations.

If they don't know the interpretation, it is fine. It is your prophecy. Go and ask the Spirit to interpret

The minute we receive a word, we enter a Prophetic process in our lives. We must do something with the word received. We have to allow the spirit to lead us here, to know when to take action and what action to take.

Three steps in the Prophetic process

For prophecy to be fulfilled in our lives, there are steps we should follow.
So many times we get a word and nothing happens after. We know the word was truly for us but somehow it didn't come to pass.

Usually, prophecy doesn't give us the inevitable, what it gives us is potential. Prophecy is God speaking forth His mind/will/plan for a particular situation

What we do with it and how we respond to God's will that has been made known most times determines if and when it comes to pass.

1. The revelation

This is the stage of the prophetic word or message received. God's will send/relay to us.

2. The Interpretation

Now that we have received the word, it is important to know the meaning. Gain more insight into what you've heard/received. Know what God is trying to say exactly, His timing and what the prophecy means for you.

3. Application
Now that we know/understand the meaning of the message, what do we do?

Our response to prophecies most times determines what happens next.

E.g
Like 100 people get a Prophetic word for me that I'm going to be a billionaire in 2020. Of course, I will jump at this and be happy.

I start singing up and down I'm gonna be a billionaire, billionaire ye yee 🎶

I don't ask God if I should look for work or if it's the Holy Spirit inspiring me to do something that will bring billions my way. Or probably He is directing me to certain people

I sleep away 2020 while waiting to be a billionaire (my enemy please, not me 🙄)

100% certain that this my enemy here is not ready to be a billionaire. And might not become a billionaire that year.

So it's very important to ask God what next after getting to know His will.
Ask Him what is expected of you for this to be fulfilled.
Do we need training or preparation?
What changes do we need to make?
What area of our lives should we apply the word?
What time should we apply what is revealed?
( Timing is key also)

It's important to stay in prayer and follow God's lead into His will that He revealed.

Other keys include:
-Being accountable and let your authorities work with you.
If you get a word that you will become a king, it doesn't mean you should start disrespecting the present King or acting anyhow. Submit to those above you even if you feel the plan God has revealed for you is bigger than them.

- Timing as I said earlier is very important

- Always hold up your word and your course of action to scripture.

- Never stop praying

THE PROPHETIC 3 - Receiving And Giving Prophecy

We receive prophecy from God for people in several ways. I will just list some here for us.

1. Prophetic words:

This comes as a clear stream of words to our mind/heart. Like a clear knowing, that comes from within us.

2. Rhema
Revelations or word that we get for others or even ourselves through scripture

3. Word of Knowledge and Word of Wisdom

Word of knowledge is the Holy Spirit transmitting His specific knowledge to us about something or someone, that we could never have known.

For example, me probably praying for someone or speaking with you and I begin to share exact details about you/something you are going through and no one told me this.

E.g Jesus and the woman at the well

Word of Wisdom is getting a divinely/supernaturally inspired answer to someone's problem or situation. Something that the human mind could never think up on its own.

These 2 are actually very important in counselling and when praying for other people.
I've had cases where we are praying about something and looking for direction, then the word of wisdom comes on what to do.

I remember praying for my family one time and I got a word about an aunt, everything going on in her life and the role my great grandmother had to play in it.

When my parents asked my grandfather, it turned out it was true. He kept asking how they knew his mother did that. God so good, He also gave a word of Wisdom for that situation. If you have a ministry in healing and deliverance, I believe these are important.

4. Dreams
This is another way we can receive prophecy for people. Prophetic dreams usually have interpretation.


5. Visions
-Inner Visions: These are pictures we see that happen on the page of the mind.
 I actually receive a lot this way... I'm praying, meditating or walking and it's like someone is playing a movie inside my mind and I'm to watch.

-Open/outer Visions:
We see things displayed to a person that they are actually seeing with their physical eyes.

The first time I experienced this was in July 2015. Twice the same day. I was waiting for someone and my spiritual mother who was then in the hospital appeared to me and was discussing.
I thought I was hallucinating but it happened minutes after again

Before then I used to think, you need to sit down quietly or be praying or be a "super Christian" before you receive visions 🤦🏿‍♀

For most people, visions are generalized. Like It's just vision but I'm breaking it down here for us so we can see where we relate with and know it is actually God speaking to us.

A whole lot of people get inner visions but do not know

6. Physical sensations

Sometimes in receiving a word for people, we experience physical sensations. Like our body reacts in a way we are not used to and we sense God speaking to us about someone at that time.


7. Tongues (Of course accompanied with his sister, interpretation)

We receive Prophetic words through interpreted tongues.
This is not seen often as most believers do not embrace the prophetic.
If you've been to White garment churches, it's very possible you have seen this.

The good thing is, things are changing. I've seen and been in meetings where believers operate in the Prophetic without restrictions. Tongues being given and interpreted randomly by 2 people who don't even know each other and it is usually correct (from the ones I've seen)

8. Prophetic Songs (or worship)

This could be spontaneous music, dance or any other form of art as a means in bringing forth a word from God.

It is not the spontaneity that makes it Prophetic, but the words or art form shared.

Sometimes, it is drawings. Someone just picks up a pen spontaneously and begins to draw or illustrate things as messages from God. Songs are the most common for me, personally.

Practical points when giving a Prophetic word

1. No need to be mystical or hyper-spiritual:
You don't have to roll on the floor and hit yourself or do some special dramatic stuff before you give a word. This doesn't mean anyone that does this is faking it o, I'm only saying you don't have to do it 🙄
It is not a prerequisite

2. Speak clearly and naturally

You don't have to use King James version to deliver the word or add Thus saith the Lord for effect.
If the word is from God, the spirit will confirm it.

Again, note that the spirit can use these words directly when speaking through you. This doesn't mean you have to add it yourself always.

Being dramatic actually puts pressure on both you and the person you are giving a message to

3. Know when to speak and when to just pray

Sometimes God shows us certain things for us to pray about it, not speak on it. Sometimes we are to speak, but not immediately or it is to be done privately. So when you get a word, don't be in a rush or hurry. Ask God

4. Give the word in the right spirit
This is very important. A lot of us Christians give prophecies and even share the word wrongly.

Sometimes we give the word from a place of control and manipulation, anger, judgment, bitterness or resentment.

Sometimes we give it from a place of I'm right and you are wrong. Like
" you better listen to God's prophet or else"

Or else what?

The motive of every word should be to display love, compassion and God's desire for His people.

Even hard, corrective words must come in the spirit of love

5. Avoid prophesying your pet doctrine
 When we give a word from God, we should put aside our favourite opinions or prejudice.

There are so many people putting out their own opinions as to the word from God. This makes it difficult for people to trust prophets. Be sure it is not your feeling you are sharing

6. Refrain from Scolding

Don't lecture people through prophecy. Share whatever God asked you to and move (Except you have a leadership position over them and are directly involved in the message received, even at this the lecture doesn't have to be immediately. Allow the word do its thing)

No condemnation while giving the word. Condemnation doesn't come from the spirit of Christ

I remember once praying for someone and I heard it that the person is light spiritually. In that instant, I knew to say that will come out as condemnation to the person so I just kept on praying. And much later I explained to the person the importance of fellowship with God. Why he needs to study the Bible and pray.

Also, it could have instilled fear. And fear is also not of God

7. Avoid publicly correcting leaders through prophecy

This is for us newbies and it is very important. I know God is using us and speaking to us o, but please honour those in leadership, please.

Even if it is not prophecy, avoid unnecessary public criticism of those that have been here before us.

This one, I'm actually begging cos there is a whole lot of this in our world today.

If you get a corrective prophecy for a leader, it's best to run it with another leader while praying for them. Or reach out directly if you are led.

8. Timing is important
Know when to speak.

9. Don't go about gossiping with classified info
If God shares something with you about someone, don't gossip about it with others especially when it is a detail not so good. The Lord trusted you with that information to help His child at that time.
Do not abuse this gift

10. Do not speak if there is a bit of confusion
If you are confused about a message you get, pray over it. Don't be in a rush to speak.
Rushing could lead to you relaying a message to the wrong person

11. Purge negative emotions
If you have an issue or misunderstanding with someone and you start getting a strong/hard corrective message for them, it is most likely your emotions doing the work.

Sometimes, we bring our personal issues in and brand it as prophecy. I know this can be done unknowingly which is why it is important to pray before sharing to someone you've had a misunderstanding with or have something against.

Ask the Holy Spirit to purge all negative emotions that might want to speak through you in guise of your Prophetic gift. If you have issues with someone and you get a prophecy that is negative, it's best to be an intercessor except there is a clear instruction to reach out.
If there is, run it by a leader


12 Major Principle is edification

Does it edify? Does it build? If the message pulls down more than it builds, pray about it and Refrain from sharing

13. Deliver the word and leave it alone

Most times, we overanalyse prophecy. This happens with me a lot. I've had to be very conscious of it.

God: Go and tell person a that I see their suffering and I'm stepping in already.

Me: Ehn... Person A that I saw enjoying yesterday, over enjoyment is worrying them sef. Which kind suffer. I'm not going o. If it's mistake na, I will now look like a false prophet 😭😭😭

After stubbornness, I oblige and go then person A confirms that the word is true and I'm there looking at myself like 🙄

Also, sometimes the word is not for you to understand. There are cases where the prophecy only makes sense to the person you are sent to. Just share

Another thing, when you deliver a word to someone and they don't say anything. Don't try to over-expand with your understanding. Just deliver and leave it alone.

The spirit inside of you is not false. I used to worry about this at some point too but with time I realized months later these people will come and be like, ehnehn Remi that thing you told me that day (I've forgotten btw), it clicked yesterday o. Something happened bla bla

So just deliver and leave it alone


13b Deliver and leave it alone:

After giving a word, don't try to force action or quicken the word or make it happen. Your job is to give the word and you've done it. It is God's work to keep His word

Eg. I see a vision that someone is giving Joshua 10million naira this week.

The week is ending and 10m is not here, then I proceed to give Joshua that 10m in Fulfilment of the prophecy.

This is not my business. Don't try to force action on a Prophetic word given through you


14. Prophesy life

There are some people that the only thing they see is bad, every time.

While it is possible that we can see negative things before they happen, I believe the Lord reveals to redeem, so ask for what God will have us do in that situation.

Don't come and gloat that you saw Nigeria burn down. It's not God's will that such should happen. Stay in prayer. Cry to God. Stand as an intercessor

There is no special medal in being a prophet of doom

15. Be governed by Love

Always, let love be the aim.

There are so many things to note when giving prophecies. Shared most of these from my own experience.

THE PROPHETIC 2: Types of Prophecy

The first thing we will be doing today is examine words of the old testament describing Prophetic giftings.

These Hebrew words used for Prophets show us how different people receive from the Lord. We see the different ways God may use Prophetic ministry.

1. NABI:
This means to bubble up. God's word just seem to bubble up out of the inner part of this this gift. The word NABI describes one who is stirred up in spirit.
Like it just simply comes up within you out of your heart, into your mind.


2. ROEH:
This means to see or perceive. The seer sees things more than he hears prophetic words. Could be pictures, visions, illustrations etc.

For seers, usually we have to break down or interpret what is seen. Another Hebrew word used close to ROEH is Hozeh. It also means seer but dynamics are a bit different. We can check 1 Chronicles 29:29 for the usage of these words.

3. HAZON:
This means watchman.
I believe this gift is that of a Prophetic intercessor. One who stands before the Lord, sees and hears for the purpose of praying powerful Prophetic prayers to be a watchman of the Flock.


4. PROPHETS:
This is a Greek word that simply means One who speaks for God. (Pronounced Profaytace)

Basic description of the prophetes :
Foretell: tells things in the future. Gives directives on upcoming events or workings of God with men.

ForthTell: gives the wisdom, counsel and understanding of God into a life or situation or group.

5. NATAPH
This simply means to Preach, to drop from heaven

FOUR LEVELS OF PROPHETIC MINISTRY

As we all start Horning our Prophetic gifts, it is important we learn how prophecy exists on different levels and how we grow into consistent Prophetic ministry.

Everyone tends to begin with a general hearing of God's voice, as the year goes by, the prophetic gifts deepen.

So here is a generalisation of our growth process in the Prophetic. It is broken down into 4

1. The Spirit of Prophecy:
This depicts a revelational life in God; that is revelation in the word and prayer.
Basically, a general sense of hearing from God and seeing what He is doing. Could be for yourself, friends or family members.
Every believer/child of God is actually expected to operate on this level. We should be living in fellowship with Christ and hearing His voice.

Amplified Bible. Revelation 19:10
[10]Then I fell prostrate at his feet to worship (to pay divine honors) to him, but he [restrained me] and said, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] another servant with you and your brethren who have [accepted and hold] the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God! For the substance (essence) of the truth revealed by Jesus is the spirit of all prophecy [the vital breath, the inspiration of all inspired preaching and interpretation of the divine will and purpose, including both mine and yours].


The essence of the truth revealed is the spirit of Prophecy. My version says the testimony of Christ is the spirit of Prophecy. Here, we see Christ; His divine will and purpose, unveiled to us

2. The Gift Of Prophecy
This involves getting a specific message for someone and relaying it to them.
If you find yourself occasionally seeing things about people (in any way mentioned earlier), it is most likely you have the gift of Prophecy and it needs to be developed.

Of course, you start praying and desire to walk in the fullness of this. It is not a bad thing to desire to prophesy, Paul made this clear in 1 Cor 14. Most important thing is to make sure our desire of it is not about us. One thing about gifts is this, they are not about us, they are majorly about others, the body of Christ.

So whatever gift we desire, it is simply us desiring to serve. To serve others in the body of Christ

If you find yourself in this second level, it is best to stick to Edification, exhortation and comfort (as explained in the last teaching). Stay away from corrective/directive prophecy.

If you get any of those, meet those you submit to their leadership and tell them first before telling the person. This is because at this stage your gifts are not well developed and it allows for error.
Corrective and directive prophecies do not give error allowances. It's either you are right or you are right.

3. The ministry of Prophecy:
This is for those that find themselves being used often by God to give Prophetic utterances or messages to people.

Here are signs to look out for to know if you have a ministry in the Prophetic :
* You find yourself developing a clear giftedness and consistency in this path.

* You find that this is one of the dominant ways God uses you.

* People can testify that they've been blessed through you and built

* This gift you have is bearing fruit in others, visible fruits.

If every of this sign is present and full, it is most likely you've been called to the prophetic ministry (Same way some are called as teachers, evangelists etc)

4. The Office of A Prophet:

The person who holds this office has years of consistent and accurate Prophetic ministry where not just this person but many others (especially leaders around) can testify and recognize that this is your office in the work of God. There is a long, proven track record here. An accurate one.

Submission to the place of prayer and discipline is one thing we will see about such person.

So this is basically all the four levels of the prophetic that I know of.

Let me use a simple illustration to sum it up.

Everyone should be able to explain when they read (How are you going to help your kids with assignments 😂?)

But not everyone will be very good with explanation.
Some will be good with explanation but will need to read more to become better.

Some can actually teach well but they are not teachers yet (Because teaching is not all that is to teachers)

Then the last level is for the teachers themselves. They've been accredited to teach, this is from years of Learning or taking exams to certify them as qualified enough to teach.

So we see that knowing how to teach does not equal being a teacher

Seeing things about people does not automatically make us prophets. There is a whole lot of in betweens to get there. And all of it requires discipline/commitment to the secret place.

All of these processes I laid down also makes it easier to ensure accuracy of prophecies.

This way, people get less weary of prophets. We have less people saying I don't believe in prophets xyz bla bla.

I have questions for us

1. From the Old testament words describing Prophecy, which ones do you find yourself operating in?

2. From the Four levels of Prophecy, what level do you think you are on? Or you are yet to start any level?

Sumi - 1 an gradually growing In 2

Tebs - For the levels of the Prophetic I think I operate in 1&2


We all should pay attention to ourselves also and patterns. It is important. This will help us grow

Remi - 1. I experience all 5. I'm trying to see which one is more dominant but I can't categorically say which yet. I'm still taking notes sha.
Will also check my book again (I write down when I get anything from God), will use this to track which way I hear more

2. Growing in Level 3.

The PROPHETIC 1: The Prophetic is Prophecy

PROPHECY

This is one part a lot of believers shy away from.
Some of us fear it or its usage
Some of us are scared of the truths in prophecy (we don't know what part God will decide to show)
It is mysterious to some
For some Christians, it doesn't exist

One thing I've found is that Prophecy is often neglected by believers

I will like to ask, what is your attitude towards Prophets and Prophecy?

(Be honest please)

I'm asking that question because it is important you know where you stand.

If it is a ministry you are against (knowingly or unknowingly), you might have issues operating fully in it

Fola - I used to think it was exclusive to the white garment churches

Toye - It's for a confirmation of that which God is(/has been) saying

Keneth - To me i believe its a blessing to hv genuine prophet in our generation,
Though many hv tanished the image of the prophetic in many ways,
To me genuine Prophets and prophecy am for..cuz it an awesome blessx

Sumi - At first I never rlly loved prophets because the majority I saw always predicted onli good things like they never said only very positive things an it seemed like hard or difficult moments won't ever come. But it is different now

First, what is Prophecy?

It is a hearing, seeing or somehow knowing what God is presently saying or doing and expressing that to others by some means.

So when we prophesy, what we are doing is speaking for the mind and heart of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Do you know how beautiful it is to speak God's mind?

How did we get to the point where we see this as evil?

This is such a beautiful thing. To not just know the mind of God but to be able to express it towards others. Wow

(let's keep in mind that in hearing God, it is not everything we hear that we speak. Directions usually come with what is shared. Sometimes we are meant to just pray about it). How long has Prophecy been?

Amplified Bible. Acts 3:21
[21]Whom heaven must receive [and retain] until the time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past [from the most ancient time in the memory of man].

God has spoken by the mouth of the prophets since the world began

Here it says from the most ancient time in the memory of man.

The gift of prophecy has been in use since the most ancient time in the memory of man.

What is being prophesied?
What God has spoken.

How?
Through Prophets

Since when?
The beginning of the world.

Amplified Bible. 1 Corinthians 14:1
[1]EAGERLY PURSUE and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).

Here we see Apostle Paul admonishing us to desire prophecy.

To desire something is to be on fire to get ahold of, to covet it.

God through Apostle Paul tells us to be on fire to obtain and use these powerful gifts made available by the Holy Spirit but especially the gift of prophecy.

Now, if we read the letters to the corinthians, I think from chapter 12, we will get the background properly.

The church in Corinth at that point had placed  emphasis on some gifts more than the other; speaking in tongues

They "over-emphasised" speaking in tongues (praying) and under-emphasised Prophecy. Does this sound familiar?

Majority of churches in the body of Christ today are the Corinth Church o.

If you don't know how to speak in tongues, you will nearly be excommunicated in some churches or be made to feel less.

But we meet people that prophesy and we shut them up.

The only prophecy a lot of us believers agree with is "inspired preaching/teaching"

In this particular chapter, we see that Paul wasn't talking about teaching here. The Greek word for preaching (which he had used before) is not what he used in this letter so we cannot translate it to mean inspired teaching.

Now, this does not mean speaking in tongues is wrong or should be desired less. No.

Apostle Paul said in verse 5 that He wishes we all spoke with tongues.
He valued the gift of tongues.

He was only asking that we regard the place of Prophecy is our midst also

When we choose to ignore the prophetic for whatever reason, we become unbiblical Christians

If you have any thing against prophecy, it is unbiblical of us

Every fold of ministerial gift is important. We don't remove one because we've met insincere prophets.

I believe the enemy works hard in this area.

The Prophetic is a very powerful fold of ministry, requires extra training and watching over those that officiate in it too.

The Prophetic is not exclusive to a particular church or DNA.

The reason we see it more common in the white garment churches is because they embraced it while most Christians shut it out.

They help their ministers grow in this gift

History of Prophecy in Scriptures

Out of all the five fold ministerial gift in Ephesians 4, we see that it is only Prophecy that transcends all era.

From the beginning of time, we had prophets. Let's look at those who operated in the Prophetic in the Old testament. We have Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Miriam, Deborah etc.
(you can add more if you remember)

Now let's note one thing (cos we will come to it a we Continue this series), not all of these people officiated directly as prophets but they all prophesied or moved in the prophetic.

For those of us that think prophecy ended with the old covenant, let's look at after the new covenant and those that operated in the Prophetic.

1. Agabus and the prophets from Jerusalem.

Acts 11:27


2. 2. The church in Antioch.

Acts 13:1-2
 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. - Bible Offline

We see from this scripture that there were Prophets in Antioch and it was through them God spoke that Barnabas and Saul (Paul) be sent out.

Paul's call came and was established through the mouths of Prophets. Other believers might not have minded him should it not have been confirmed from these ones who officiate in the prophetic ministry

3. Judas and Silas
Acts 15:32

4. The daughters of Evangelist Phillip
Acts 21: 8-9

The promise of the spirit and Prophecy

Let's read Acts 2: 16 - 18

[16]But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
[17]And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.
[18]Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom].

Here we see the promise of the spirit.

When the spirit comes, four different times scripture records that He comes to make us a Prophetic people.

This is the dominant work of the spirit in our lives, He causes us to come alive and gives us a Prophetic nature.

Every person born of the spirit (and filled with the spirit) is expected to be a Prophetic person

We are a Prophetic nation, everyone of us that carry the spirit.

We prophesy (doesn't mean we officiate as prophets), we see visions, we dream, we speak God's mind and heart; All of these, upon the outpour of the spirit

So if we have fight with prophets or the prophetic ministry, now is the right time to dead it cos we need to start operating in line with the outpour of the spirit.

This is why we had to start with Hearing God (for ourselves first). If you can hear God, it is hard to doubt that another can hear God. It is also easy to examine whatever is being prophesied.

Let's also note that the basics and foundation from Hearing God remains in the Prophetic part of this series

Have you ever received a Prophetic word from anyone? How did you respond to it? Did you believe or discard?

Tebs - Someone stopped me and said don't travel for the next three months you will have an accident🙀.. Who does that? It planted fear for some days but I prayed it off and got better

Sumi - A prophet told me I will travel that time since I didn't rlly blive in prophets I was just like travel where to but deep  inside me didn't blive. Because I've never seen maself traveling.

Purposes and Functions of Prophecy

1. To equip the saints for ministry and mature the body of Christ.

And he gave some, apostles; and some,q 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:
Ephesians 4:11‭-‬12 KJV

The first purpose of  Prophecy as with other folds of ministerial gifts is to help the body of Christ grow and equip us for service.

2. Edification, exhortation and comfort

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:3 KJV
To edify is to build up, erect and strengthen.
To exhort is to urge, spur on or encourage into action
To comfort is to bring peace, healing or a message of mercy to a wounded part of a heart.

So we see from point 2 that prophecies encourage us into action. We move in accordance with it.
Probably we've been down, sometimes God sends a word through others and it just strengthens or heals us.

Note: Almost all prophecy within the body of Christ i.e church should stay in this level, especially if we do not operate directly in the office of the prophetic.

When we get Prophetic words, we should check them with the above. Does it encourage the person? Does it heal them?

Should we notice that the prophecy we got is not in any of these categories, we should meet without church leadership and relay to them first.

This way no one is saying anything unchecked or in a manner that defies the purpose of prophecy.

3. Corrective Prophecy

This is a word that speaks to a wrong area of our life or ministry. Probably we've been doing certain things wrongly, of course God will communicate this to us cos He loves us.
This part brings correction, rebuke or a change.

I think most Christians don't like this part.

We'd rather God tells us this part directly instead of telling other people.

Well, if we were listening to God in the first place, we wouldn't be following a wrong path and need correction/rebuke.

So if we are in a position where we are being corrected or rebuked by God through certain persons, we should know it is from a place of love and if we were listening or following in the first place, the rebuke won't be coming.

Corrective Prophecy though open to every believer should be managed by leaders in the church and be done in love.

Don't go and gossip about the person God gave you a message for.

4. Directive Prophecy

This is a type of prophecy that gives clear direction, a course of direction that we must/should take.

I believe this part should be left for those who have been ascertained to be trustworthy in the Prophetic ministry, not just believers or those who officiate as prophets.

We cannot be playing ludo with people's lives. We've seen situations where prophets say don't marry person A or don't take that job, don't collect the money, move to America etc.

A wrong interpretation of what God spoke or giving the message to a wrong person or not relaying the timing of the message can actually destroy the lives of those involved.

Important
As believers, we do not give prophecies to others relating to points 2 and 3 unless we first submit it to and through our leadership.

I know we've been seeing things since birth but please these areas of the prophetic need to be weighed and judged first.

They are best reserved for the seasoned and mature Prophetic voices.

If it comes through those of us still growing, we meet our leaders about it. Also, seeing things does not automatically make you a prophet. I will explain this probably in the next teaching

5. Prophecies function as a weapon of war in the fight of faith

One of the aim of the enemy is to cause us to move out of faith and give up on the promises of God. Prophecy is a powerful weapon in this case, as a person or church. We know God has spoken, so we hold on to it.

Timothy, you are like a son to me. What I am telling you to do agrees with the prophecies that were told about you in the past. I want you to remember those prophecies and fight the good fight of faith.
1 Timothy 1:18 ERV

This is why it is important to write them down. We go back to them on days when things are not going the way we expect and we hold on to God's words as a weapon

6 God wants it to function in our prayers

To just pray what we think or what we see is not enough, God wants to speak with us, He wants us to know what is on His mind/heart, so when we pray, we pray what Christ our great intercessor prays.

Prophetic prayer births result because we are basically praying the mind of Christ

Let us pray

Lord, we thank you for your word, for flooding us with your light and opening our hearts to your truth.

Should there be anything that we find difficult to understand, spirit of God do break it down for us.

Help us to move in the Prophetic just as the Lord wishes, especially in times as this.

We pray for other believers around the world, that you open theirs eyes also to this truth and your will concerning it.

We pray that you expose those who exploit your children through the prophetic, that every false prophet in the body of Christ be brought to repentance.

Help us to grow in these gifts and manage them properly.
Help us to not get puffed up or proud as we begin to operate in this move.

Amen

DEVELOPING EARS THAT HEAR

So far in this series, we've learnt that God speaks and we can hear.

Lovers of God have been given eyes to see with spiritual discernment and ears to hear from God.
Proverbs 20:12 TPT

As long as you are a part of the body of Christ, the bride He is coming for, you've been inbuilt with eyes that see beyond the physical. You discern things spiritually

You've been built with ears that hear not only what people around you are saying but what God is saying to you

And I keep hammering on us believing this part first.

If you doubt that it is not for you, you will not be able to function in that area

Your sight is hindered by your belief

God speaks to us ✅✅✅

Now that we know and are certain we have a hearing ear, how do we develop it?

First, let's see How God speaks to us

We've talked about this a lot of times but for the sake of this teaching, I will list all briefly

Ways God speaks in the bible

1. The scriptures
This is the first, primary and safest hearing of God for our lives. We find God speaking in the bible through scriptures written before then. God's word is true always, it stands forever. Even after looking at other ways God speaks, we must come back to that which is written.

2. Impulses and Urges

The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness,
Mark 1:12 NLT

Jesus was compelled, He had a strong urge/impulse to go to the wilderness.

God communicates with us this way. We just feel a strong urge to do something. Recently I was in a down phase. I couldn't pray that week and I was just begging the Holy Spirit, please give me strength to pray. Help me

That same week, a couple of people reached out to me. "Hi Remi, good evening. I just wanted to let you know I'm praying for you"

"Hello mama. How are you doing? I've been feeling this strong urge to pray for you"

"Fine girl. Hope you know I'm praying for you?"


"Good morning ma. God has been impressing it on my heart to pray for you since this week began. I also felt a strong urge to reach out and let you know that an altar of prayer is being raised on your behalf"

Note that I did not speak to any of these people about anything. In fact one of them, last time I spoke to her was last year.

This was God communicating with them by laying Urges upon these people to pray.

Sometimes, certain people/things just keep popping up in our hearts and we just feel the urge to pray for them. It is important that we do not neglect this urge.

Usually, it is God speaking to us and using us to meet a need.

Also God communicating with these people on my behalf was Him communicating with me too.
After they all reached out, I suddenly found strength and started praying.

My personal prayer usually has nothing personal in it except my alone moment with God, it's filled with intercession. When I was down, I felt bad that I am always praying for people and now I can't pray for myself.

But God reaching out to these people was a reminder to me that as I'm interceding on behalf of others, even people I don't know are interceding on my behalf.

Immediately, I picked up and was strengthened.

If we get Urges and we are not sure what to do, ask God.

" Lord, I keep feeling this strong impulse concerning this person/thing. I'm not sure what I'm being asked to do. Lord please, help me hear you clearly concerning this"

He will reveal further surely. Never neglect the urge.

3. Our Conscience

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
1 Timothy 1:5 NLT


Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.
1 Timothy 1:19 NLT

Sometimes, we make certain decisions and our conscience starts telling us it is wrong or how better we should do it.

Now, while God might speak this way, it is tricky. Our Conscience must constantly be renewed by the spirit and the word.

That's why when people do certain things, we say they don't have conscience.

They actually do have. Conscience is a person's moral sense of right and wrong.
sense of right and wrong vary according to individuals and the morals they uphold.

So it is important that the morals upheld is in accordance with the word and guidance by the spirit

Question - Remii oo what if after asking u get an answer "No " and the urge still what should we do?

God will not give you an urge to pray for someone and give a NO as an answer.

If you get a no, probably the direction of your question.
Maybe you are asking what to pray for the person and God is saying give the person money 😊.


All still points back to a hearing problem in communication. Ask God


4. The voice of the Holy Spirit

Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.
Acts of the Apostles 10:19 NLT

The spirit is so often the voice of God to us. He speaks and it comes into our soul where we discern what is said.

5. Your natural thought Process.
Sometimes the voice of the spirit doesn't come as a voice unto our thoughts, it comes as part of our thoughts. Like we just think something and we know this is not from us

6. Other People
God speaks to us through other people. We need to be open, listening and spiritually alert at all times.
He uses prophecy to speak to us through other people.

Sometimes it's in the messages we listen to, the movies we watch. Don't know if we've ever seen a movie and it feels like God is addressing you directly

Sometimes I'm just on YouTube and a random message pops us and I know it is God that made that message pop up

Sometimes it is on social media. Someone posts something on their own o, without attaching any meaning to it but you see it and know it is you God is speaking to.

Sometimes it's in passing conversations. You are walking or doing your thing and people are gisting their own, but the message is for you.

7. Visions, Dreams, Pictures
God speaks prophetically through all of these. Some people go into a trance while some of us have these experiences with God while awake, very consciously. The latter takes a lot of spiritual alertness usually, from my experience.

8. Angelic Visitations
God speaks to us through angels. We can see this in the book of acts. I personally have had this experience a couple times. Infact, I rushed to write everything down that day.
I slept off and it continued as a dream. His angels are ministering spirits

9. Nature, Animals, Object
All of creation constantly declare the glory of God and His works. This means one thing, they speak. God speaks to us through them. He used a donkey to speak to Balaam and objects to bring messages to others. To see and hear God in all of these things and ways, our spirits must be awake and listening

10. Situations
Certain things happen around us or in our lives but they come with a message from God.
When things happen (good or bad in the physical), it is important to ask God.
"Are you saying something to me Lord?"
"Is there a message in this for me?"

11. Peace
Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 TPT

God's peace is a guide, it directs us in the way we should go.

I believe this is also like our conscience. We must first subject our minds to renewal by the word and spirit.

Some wicked people have peace 😭

God will speak through whatever He wishes, the sick, the poor, the rich, the hale and hearty. He can use anyone.

Before we move on, can we share other ways we hear God that have not been mentioned

Sumi - Through songs,one on one,through someone,scripture ,situations (good and bad)
The night before I cut ma fingers in the grinding machine. That evening I had a strong urge to worship an pray. I remember I told God to use me as a way of showing his glory wherever I find myself and that may  his goodness an love be seen through me always

The next day bam I cut ma fingers and in normal situations pples fingers never come out as a whole and in other circumstances their hand or arm is cut off. BT he showed his glory through me once again. I was in awe

Uju - Through relationship
You may have thought you have found the right person,then something happens..you lose the person you thought you love,you ask for forgiveness... Then you remember this is how you are to GOD ,you claim you love HIM yet you fall astray to sin and you get back up and ask HIM for forgiveness,HE is trying to tell us we can do better,Amen

Remi - I should share mine

While I have experienced all the ways listed above, not all of them are constant or primary.

It's not everyday I have angels visiting and talking.
I hardly get messages through animals, I don't even look at animals for long.
I run when I see dogs 😂😂
So if God tries to speak through a dog, ah trouble.

God knows I won't hear anything if He speaks through animals directly
(except in a vision, pictures or as objects)

If they have to open their mouth to speak, I doubt my hearing ears will be in close proximity to hear anything. Cos I'd have ran since

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Because God wants us to really hear Him, He is mindful of us too.
He reaches out to us through ways He is certain we can hear and know it is Him.

If the way we hear is limiting, He starts from there still. As we continue to listen to Him, He strengthens us and sharpens our ears to hear through other means too.

Imagine that it is only dream God can speak through. If you don't sleep, you won't hear anything

How do we know it is God and not other voices?

We spoke about the other voices that we might hear along the way.

Now we talk on how to discern and know when it is God speaking

1. Scripture
Like I keep saying, this is number one guide.
God's word is His honor, character and integrity. He cannot speak against His word.
If what you hear is not in accordance with His word, then it is not Him. Discard.

2. Nature of the voice we hear

But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form
James (Jacob) 3:17 TPT

It is pure, has no mischief to it. Attest to the character of God.

Peace: when God speaks He calms our soul. He doesn't compound our problems. We are at peace on the inside.

The nature of the voice of God is conderate, gentle.
He is not harsh towards us.

His voice comes to us teachable. It doesn't manipulate us. His voice is full of mercy. It doesn't condemn or Judge. It never displays prejudice. It is unwavering, the same always. Consistent in character. No hypocrisy in it.

Finally His voice is full of good fruit.
God will never ask us to do anything that is of the flesh.
Check the fruit that will be brought forth from what you hear or receive, does it align with the character of God?

If your spirit abi mind keeps telling you to quarrel with someone, you know that's not of God.
If you dreamt that you saw money in your office, took it and became the richest man in africa, then the next day you actually see that exact amount of money

It is Not God.

You don't take the money

Don't carry office money home and say God already told you in the dream o. It is stealing. That is not a fruit of the spirit.

3. Surround yourself with trusted people
It is important that we have men who are devoted to God around us. In learning to discern, we should surround ourselves with such people.
If we are finding it difficult to ascertain or discern what is being said, we should reach out to them.

Eli knew it was God speaking cos He was used to hearing so He could direct Samuel

Also note that sometimes these people might not see anything concerning that situation when you meet them.
Doesn't mean they are bad or less spiritual.

So go back to God and listen

Developing Hearing ears

Now that we know how He speaks and ways to know it is Him, how do we develop a lifestyle of Hearing Him often and coming to a knowledge of His voice

1. Believe that you can hear
I've been hammering on this cos it is important.
All that we are in Christ is edged on belief.
If we do not believe that we can, then we won't.
It doesn't matter if you've tried listening before and you did not.
We walk by faith not by sight.
Put whatever your experience is away.
Scripture already says you can hear, is your experience greater than the word of God?

2. Value Hearing God
 We see during the transfiguration, God's voice instructing the 3 (Peter, James and John) and in extension us, this is my beloved son, Listen to Him, Hear Him. We must take this word as it is for us.
We are to yearn for God's voice and be eager to hear what He has to say

To develop our ears, we must be intentional. It doesn't happen by mistake

Knowing God's voice is something we should be deliberate about and this will mean us taking necessary steps and being more attentive spiritually

Make room. Away from the business, set a time ti just listen to God daily.

Do it even if it doesn't work the first time or it didn't before. Keep going

Value God's voice.

If you do not see a need to hear God, you will not see a need to wait when you don't hear at first

3. Consistent Time in God's Presence
Make sure to spend uninterrupted time with God. Not one today then next time is next year.
As we consistently stay in His presence, we become more sensitive to His voice.
If you do not hear today, continue tomorrow, don't stop.
It will get to a point, your mind will quiet.
It will get used to you being still and stop roaming.

4. Spend time Feeding in the word
As we focus on the word more and more, we give Him more room to speak. We open our ears more.
I'm not talking about you reading what we post on Word Alive while watching Big brother at the same time.

We taking time to meditate on the word. Alone with the word, alone with God

As you read, don't be fast or in a hurry.

Learn to quiet your soul and listen inwardly.

Take note of where His presence is resting as you read.

Are you being led to focus on a particular word?

Pray as you read, ponder and listen.

Also know that alone with the word is alone with God.
in The beginning was the word...... And the word was God

Know that you are with God. Be conscious of this fact. This is not novel or story book you are reading.

4. Learn to listen through the day
God doesn't just speak when we open the bible. He speaks while we are at work and during other activities. Stay connected inwardly. He will speak to us outside of church and prayer time, in different ways and about different things

This is what Brother Paul called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
2 Corinthians 13:14 AMPC

What are you sharing together with the spirit? The thoughts of God

He speaks God's thoughts to us actively.
He shares ancient mysteries.
He reveals secrets

First, we listen

5. Obedience

Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!
James (Jacob) 1:22 TPT

When all we set to do is hear for hearing sake, we deceive ourselves. We might as well not listen.
To obey is first to listen but with full/total submission and proceed to do.

Those who really love me are the ones who not only know my commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make myself known to them.”
John 14:21 ERV


It doesn't just stop at hearing, we should obey. Obedience produces greater intimacy.

It also works vice versa. The more we fellowship (truly), the more obedient we become.

The more we are obedient to what we hear, increase in fellowship occurs

We also hear Him more clearly

We will see that most people discard the voice of God through prophets or even prophecy because the people who bring it do not walk in accordance with God's commandment.

Also, if we want to continue living a certain lifestyle and God's word that we hear speaks against it, we might unconsciously shut our ears from hearing since it's not saying what we want

Let us pray

Thank you Father for your word and all we've learnt tonight.

Help us to pay attention to you as we step into this week. Open our ears to hear all you have to say.
We are spiritually alert and we obey all we hear.
This week, We hear you even in ways we did not know you could speak before.
We pray that we are obedient to you Lord, we do not crave the benefits of living with you while discarding the commitments that produce these benefits/fruit.


Amen

HEARING GOD'S VOICE

As we walk this Christ walk, one of our greatest needs is to learn to consistently hear God's voice.
Jesus has not left and left us an incredible Job to do on our own. He does speak, He does lead, He does guide us into His perfect will and work in many ways.

We have access to both His spoken word and His Speaking voice

And like I've been hammering since we started, we have to believe this first.

Today's part of the series is focused on opening up our hearts and minds to know how God speaks to us and Specifically how He speaks to YOU

Also to understand that His speaking is in no way limited

Matthew 17: 1-5 ( The Transfiguration)

In this chapter, we see an amazing story of 3 of the disciples of Christ up on a mountain with Him. He is transfigured before them and they see Him in all of His glory, Moses and Elijah are in this cut too.

What an amazing experience it was for these men.

While they were taking all these in, the cloud of the father's glory begins to overshadow them and the father Himself speaks.

He could have said anything about His glory r Himself as the men present were so much in awe of what they saw and overshadowed by God's Glory.

But what did God say?

" This is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!"

This was God's big statement at such a time.

Listen to Him

It was a charge, a command, a necessity

Now we cannot listen except we hear first.

You can not follow/obey what you did not hear

A lot of us have left this part to ministers alone. We've come to a place of believing it is spiritual leaders and pastors that have this access, that have been given this decree. I mean, God said that to the disciples not the general public

I am strongly convinced that it is still the primary responsibility and need today for all of us in this Christ walk (Ministers and non ministers alike)

A lot of leaders and ministers do so out of their own understanding and their own minds

A lot of us followers of Christ are led by our own desires and self instead of just being our description, Following

This call to Listen is directed at every one of us.

To be led, we must first hear then follow

Four Extremes on Hearing God's voice

1. God wrote a book and lost His voice

A lot of people believe that after the Bible was completed, God stopped speaking to us directly and only speaks through scriptures.

This is not true.
God's speaking is not limited to just the Bible. He speaks through other means (Though every spoken word/means do not go against the written word)

2. Moses' Syndrome

Just like the Isrealites:
"Oh Holy man, go up on the mountain with God and let Him speak to you and tell us what He said"

A lot of us are sitting comfortably here.
We want to be spoonfed
Waiting for someone to always bring what God is saying to us.

This set of people actually do acknowledge that God still speaks, but there is an error, they acknowledge/believe that only certain people have access to hear God speak.

So they wait for the certain/special people to always bring what God is saying to them

3. I want to hear Him but I CAN'T

A whole lot of us are here too.
We know God speaks but we just feel He speaks to others and not us.
We do not blame it on anything. It's just "we can't hear" and this is not a problem.
We've never even thought of it before, if it is something we should look forward to. I mean, we have the Spoken word and it's done so well for us

I'd like to remind us that have ears that hear for a reason. If God can speak then we can hear.
It's really this simple.

If you believe God can speak to your pastor and it is not a lie then God can speak to you too and you CAN hear

4. God speaks to me all the time about everything through His voice ONLY

This is false and extreme
If you've not dramatically heard the voice of God over a situation, this does not mean God is not speaking through other means.
The only way God speaks is not His voice.

He speaks through diverse means. "God did not tell me directly (with His voice) not to do xyz, so I'm going to do xyz"

Is xyz in accordance with scripture?

If no, why are you waiting for Him to speak again over what He has spoken before just so you can believe.

This is an extreme we must also do away with

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10:3 NLT

We've been given assurance that surely He will speak to us who follow Him. He will consistently speak to us actually as there are different turns in this walk where He leads.

This is for us to know, that we can also learn to hear Him and know His voice.

I don't know if anyone has pets here and you had to train the pet from scratch.

You practically have to teach the pet (let's say dog) to know your voice, who to not bite in the house.

Infact, I've seen people introduce their guests to dogs

Like they will take you to where the dog is and be friendly with you then do introduction, just so it recognises you next time you come alone. We all can also learn to know the voice of God and hear Him

After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
John 10:4‭-‬5 NLT

Now here is the bad part, for as many of us that do not know the voice of God, it is very possible that we will follow other voices

The Other Voices (Strangers: John 10vs5)

As we walk this Christ walk, we will encounter many other voices. Jesus called these the voice of the stranger.
These voices are bent on leading us astray. These voices could also be from well meaning people who don't know any better, which is why it is important that we hear for ourselves.

The key is to learn to differentiate between His voice and these others (Strangers)

1. The voice of the world

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 NLT

The first voice we need to learn to deal with is the voice of the world. All over nations of the earth, the spirit of the world has shaped cultures, a whole lot of things we hold dear and valuable.

In all of these cultures and valuables, there are things that of course will not hinder our walk with Christ and us following Him

There are also a whole lot of thing that will stand in His way and oppose as we learn to follow Him

There is a reason Apostle Paul emphasised that we should no longer be conformed to the culture/pattern of the world.
 Our culture often shapes our lifestyle and even faith in God.
It plays a huge role.

There are so many things we do and believe in the church that are NOT Christ or kingdom minded.
They drifted in from our culture

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 2:15‭-‬17 NLT

The voice of the world is the first thing we should shut out, first thing.

If not we will be doing "Traditional/Cultural Christianity". Which in itself is not Christ like

And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
Mark 7:13 NLT

Traditions and cultures that we are used to are very dangerous if we do not understand that most of them are of the world. And because we've been brought up with them, we've learnt to listen to this voice, we are used to it. We have to be very intentional with shutting it out.

2. The voice of the Religious Spirit

“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:6 NLT

These ones are very powerful also and dangerous as they tend to masquerade as the voice of God.
They come to seekers of God and infiltrate our ability to hear God and follow Him in a living relationship replacing the life and work of the spirit for outward spiritual activities.

Satan in this place disguises himself as an angel of light. We've explained who the Pharisees are,
Those who focus all of their lives on external religious activities, duties and all but no real life in the spirit with God.

The Sadducees sought God but didn't believe in the supernatural activity of God in our lives. We have to be very careful of these religious spirits. We can't afford to have any of them as their voices stray us.

How do Religious Voices Operate?

* This voice constantly drives us to do more religious works to attain higher spirituality, get closer to God or hear God.

* This voice pushes us to be more interested/focused on outward religious works and duties.

* This voice focuses on us always using our logical mind instead of relating to God in a supernatural way by His spirit

If you hear Let's put God aside first, na dem o.

Put God aside where? 🙄🙄 There is no reason outside of God.

* The religious voice longs to replace the voice of the spirit with our own mental reasoning or outer works. If we find ourselves guilty of any of these, it is one of the reasons why we find it difficult hearing God

3. The Voice of Other people

See, sometimes people will mean well for you and try to advice you and stuff but it will not be according to God's will.
They are not misleading you on purpose. They might even have a  relationship with God sef and fellowship often with Him but still give wrong advice.

I learnt one thing from my late spiritual mum that first, I am my own prophet

I'd go to church those days and next thing she's asking me to go to the altar area and pray. Sometimes I will sleep off o, she will ask me what did God say.
In my mind, what did which God say 😂😂😂

Like just talk abeg, stop stressing me

It felt like it was punishment then. Infact, I  used that exact word. Mummy gave me punishment, to pray for hours or come to church and pray for days or add fast

Like why not just go straight to the point instead of stressing me 😭😭😭

Today, I tell you this is one of my fondest memories of her. I won't forget.
It is one lesson I really needed in this walk.

Those close to me off this group can testify, you cannot come and dump your prayer request on my head o, especially if we are close and I notice it is becoming habit.

I could be the one misleading you tomorrow (God forbid). But it is very important that we all know God for ourselves and stop constantly relying on other people to hear God for us

It is not bad for people to actually bring message from God. I get messages through other people a lot. But we should not rely on others for it.

You have your own hearing ear too

If you see yourself constantly waiting on someone else to speak to you or tell you what God said, there is a problem and you are making it difficult for your own ears to pick anything

4. The voice of our soul

This is the loudest I believe as it forms our core part. So many times I've heard people say, "I'm not so sure it is God speaking or me"

Everything passes through our souls. It is the filter for everything we hear so we must learn to discern what is coming from us and what is from the Lord. We must also learn to filter what we take in as it has a huge influence on what comes out

The spirit lives inside of us already and that is where He speaks to us. But as our spirit man receives the word, it must then be passed through our soul (which consists of our mind, emotions and will).
Our soul is largely influenced by us.

First, what is the origin of all that flows into your soul?

Your emotions, what have they been connecting with the most?

Your mind, what has it been pondering on the most? Note that your mind also takes in all that your body does (Your senses, from your seeing to feeling, to touching etc)

Your will, what are you strong-willed about?

One of major problems I've found in this part when it comes to hearing God is Unhealed hearts/Emotions and Unrenewed minds. If these are present, there  is need for a clean filter for the voice to pass through.

This is the answer, here is the solution :

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT

It starts with the word tbh. His word is powerful enough to do the cleansing, it will do the deep work in us. It pierces deep within us and exposes us to the division between the spirit and soul

It makes us aware of what is of the spirit and what comes from our soul.
It lays us bare. It strips us naked

Note that it is not judging or condemning us. As I've been typing, the spirit has also been laying bare certain things from my end too. That is what the word does, it open us up.

This is one step we all can't afford to miss.
If the word does not come in, our minds can't be renewed, we can't be transformed.

We will always be playing a guess game when it comes to hearing God's voice. Maybe it's God, maybe not.

It really doesn't stop at hearing God's voice, we also have to know it.

It is a great key to following Him

My sheep KNOW my voice

I pray that all we've learnt today really helps us in this walk and that we all come to a place of knowing God's voice. Amen

THE "SPEAKING VOICE" AND THE "SPOKEN WORD"

A lot of Christians actually believe God is a speaking God but there is a restriction kind of.

We believe God spoke many years ago, it's been recorded (Scripture) and He has ceased to speak in such clear and definitive manner.

I remember when a video was posted on Social media about Lynxx. He was talking on his salvation story.

According to him, God appeared in his TV and spoke to him.

Like his whole curtain was shaking and stuff

(Someone can check on IG and post the link here please. Tag it "Lynxx" )


I saw a lot of Christians come for him. He was lying bla bla bla. Sounded like Nollywood

Now here's the thing, have we not read more "Nollywoodier" stuff in the bible? Do we not believe it was God?

Abi is it not in the bible people were doing "Bogun ofe", disappearing  from a place and appearing in another?

Here is the problem, we've limited God speaking to just Scripture.

And this is where we make a distinction between the speaking voice of God and the spoken word of God

The bible is the written word of God.

As Christians we must learn to differentiate between His voice and His word. We must also come to a place of belief that we have access to both.

We are not just limited to the Written word

The Spoken word of God is eternal and alive and we need to believe it.

Even God's written word in the bible takes on God's life and power as He speaks them into our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit.

It is the present voice that makes the written word all-powerful

When we engage the written word and God speaks to us from scriptures, the word takes on all of the life of God and His power, for the living God has once again spoken.

God has not gone silent

We must first believe this.

If not, He will tell you "Don't go to xyz place" but because it is not in the bible and you do not believe His voice exists, you will not follow that instruction.

Let's read Psalm 33: 9.

God is a speaking God

Psalm 33:9

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

God has a voice. He speaks, He is not dumb

We must first believe this

Psalm 68:33
to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,
    who thunders with mighty voice.

God created with His voice, rules with His voice, judges with His voice, gives life with His voice.
He is ever speaking
He is still the God who speaks!

His voice has not been silent  since the dawn of creation.

God is Here, with us, among us, IN US and He is speaking!

These truths are the foundations of all other truths in the scripture. Without them, we will never know God the way we should.

God did not write a book, give to us with expectations that we understand divine revelations with our natural minds.

He spoke forth a book and lives in His spoken word but He also lives today to constantly speak to us in many areas of our lives.

(Note that His spoken voice never acts against His written word. That'd mean God speaking against Himself)

Rhema and Logos
As we study different words for "Word" in the NT Greek, we come across these words. They give a fair understanding of the Spoken word and speaking voice.

Logos - Word spoken and understood second hand. That is a word we do not hear directly from the mouth/voice of the speaker.

Rhema - Spoken and heard directly first hand from the mouth and through the voice of the speaker.

So when I read John 3:16, it is Logos

Up until the spirit breathes life into it and speak to us on it, It becomes Rhema.

Last week we talked about the Hearing Ear, that we all have it. He created us with ears that hear.

God is always ever speaking, revealing Himself and His plan to men and He has created us to hear Him and interact with Him.


God gave us five senses to interact with the natural world so we can take in all of the created world around us.

Same way, scripture makes us to understand that He has given us spiritual sense in much the same way to interact with Him.

You have a hearing ear and it is not for fancy. It is to hear God in all of His speaking

John.10.27 - The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

Psalm 34:8 MSG: Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.

Heb.11.27 - [Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible AMP

Hebrews 11:27, NIV: "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible."

1 John 1:1 TPT : We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him, the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God.

What do we see in all of these scriptures?


Senses of interaction

Probably they are only metaphorical, but we see the bible speak of tasting of the Lord, hearing Him, seeing Him and touching Him .

I believe they go beyond metaphors.
Sometimes, I'm having intimates moment with Abba and it feels like I'm touching Him. I've personally experienced His hug a lot of times.

I believe God has given us all spiritual senses, to interact with our sweet unseen father, friend and lover

All of our senses is to interact with this great speaking God for... the hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both (for this purpose) +

Why does man find divine communication difficult? Why is it only accessible to some Christians?

Matthew 13:13-16 TPT

That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they never discover it. Although they will listen to me, they never fully perceive the message I speak.  The prophecy of Isaiah describes them perfectly: Although they listen carefully to everything I speak, they don’t understand a thing I say. They look and pretend to see, but the eyes of their hearts are closed. Their minds are dull and slow to perceive, their ears are plugged and are hard of hearing, and they have deliberately shut their eyes to the truth. Otherwise they would open their eyes to see, and open their ears to hear, and open their minds to understand. Then they would turn to me and let me instantly heal them. “But your eyes are privileged, for they see. Delighted are your ears, for they are open to hear all these things.

Jesus, who is The word lived amonged men and here is what He saw. Some people don't want to hear and are not just listening. Some of us have trained our ears not to hear. When Abba spoke to Jesus from the cloud, everyone heard the voice but what was recorded from the people? ".. It thundered"

Their hearts were so dulled to desiring/knowing Him that that was the only explanation they could give to His voice. Most people cannot hear because the hearts of their eyes are closed.

The people here enter another group Christ spoke about. The one who CAN'T hear.

It's not because they will not love to hear o but their spiritual senses are dull. The only thing they hearing ear has been trained to hear is them self and the world around them.

Jesus said Their hearts are dull and slow to perceive. Their ears are plugged but hard of hearing

A lot of us Christians are on this Can't part.


We want to hear but cannot hear because our spiritual senses are dull.

Now, does this mean we were not created with the hearing ear?

How did we lose our natural God given ability to hear?

Romans 1:20-21, 23-25 TPT

Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance , because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse. Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles! This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— all because they traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him forever and ever! Amen!

First, Jesus tells us it's the condition of men's heart that determines their ability to hear.


Now Apostle Paul continues from there. He said men's heart have become darkened/misguided ( I like the word misguided. It's like a change in direction). He said men's thoughts have become futile, corrupt and foolish because they turn away from God and serve the world and the things of man

The reason some of us can't hear is because we are focused so much on the created than the creator.

We worship things without knowing.

We have time for our jobs, big brother, movies, relaxation time, family, friends, everything except God! Do married people forget to have intercourse with their spouse? Like they forget for weeks

I believe the answer is No. (Mary, Maryann, Titi, Bola, please call me out if u lied)

But then we forget to go to God and listen.

We remember to take those courses online. Shut our door and study but most times we don't have much time for God

The reason you are not hearing is because you don't really rate God and your hearing ear is very much aware of that 😊

Our spiritual senses are dulled because our hearts are not centered on the things of the spirit

Whoever will listen......

Will hear the speaking God. These really are not the days when men want to listen truly.
We'd rather the noise, activity, chase and quest for money at the expense of hearing Him.

There is really so much happening in our world today, like so much activity.

You have to be very deliberate with your fellowship with God.

Jesus did not have phone He was checking every minute In the wilderness to see who messaged him.

5 minutes prayer, most of us are already pressing phone.


There is really so much distraction around us

In all of this noise, God is saying we be still.

In learning to still our hearts and know Him, we will get the greatest surprise of God - His Speaking Voice.

It will almost look like Nollywood movie.

For some, it might not be as "dramatic" as others.
For most of us, it might come first like a distant sound of one walking in the garden.
But if we don't quit in those early days, it will grow upon us a  voice, a little more intelligible but still far and not so clear.

Then the happy days dawn as He illuminates the scriptures and speak clearly to our hearts.

He is so near, warm and intimate.
We know immediately it is God
We do not doubt.
We have heard the voice of our beloved clearly, lovingly and with power.

Now we do not just hear once and run away

No, we continue to stay still
Our ability to hear and pick His voice increases quickly.
Before we know it, all other senses are activated.

We hear Him
See Him
Touch Him
Taste Him

We will come to know that the voice of God is friendly and sweet
We will hear it not just in prayer or while studying, we will hear in on the road, while gisting with friends, in the toilet, everywhere, anytime and we will know that it is Him!

Action points for the week

1. Take out time daily to just listen. No talks.

2. Confess your reality as many times as you can daily, you have ears that can hear.


3. Have conversations with God everywhere and anytime. Don't be scared it might be one sided. Remember you have ears built to hear.

E.g
Father, I'm with my colleagues gisting today and I know you can hear me. Because you truly can hear me and you've made me in your image, then speak, my hearing ears are listening


Will be expecting feedbacks from our action points.


For those that have been hearing God before, you are also included. It's an upgrade for everyone.
New season.

Prepare!

This week's assignment added to last week's own

Important
1. Cut off from your social media time or any other thing that takes your time. Use the cut off time to just be still and quiet before God.

2. Go on a date with the Holy Spirit (Eat for 2)
Be open and free. Tell God everything you feel. Don't think He knows so no need, speak it.
He is a hearing God too.

3. Write down all you hear, no matter how little or faint. Document it


4. Confess it throughout this week that you have ears that hear. Turn it to song. Wake up with it. Go to sleep with it.

5. Intentionally write down the things that you think take your focus away from God.

LET US PRAY
Lord we thank you for tonight.
We thank you because you are a God that speaks.
We thank you for our spiritual senses
We thank you for our ears, because they can hear.
Lord, teach us to listen.
We know the times are noisy and our ears have gone weary with the blaring sounds from the world.
Help us to say like Samuel: Speak Lord, for your child listens.
Help us to believe truly that we can hear you.
Help us get used to the sound of your voice. we are familiar with your tone, so much that even in the noise the world brings, the only sound we hear is the music of your speaking voice.

Again, let's not forget

The speaking Voice Will NEVER speak against the Word. God doesn't contradict Himself.