The Prophetic People - Part 3

This is my 3rd installation on the topic about the prophetic people in the Philippines. The first post that I shared was giving emphasis on godly character and the principles one must have for those whom the Lord has called for such a ministry (or whatever ministry for that matter) which was taken from Bill Hamon's book "Prophets: Pitfalls and Principles". 

The second post dealt with the idea that no matter how unique our giftings are and even if we came from different backgrounds, there is a need to emphasize a basic standard for us to move in the prophetic. This standard is found in the bible and unless we dive more into the word, accuracy and the fullness of the gift will never be accomplished.

On this 3rd blog post, I wanted to talk more on how the Lord confirmed my prophetic gift and in what way have I used it to help others. Please take note that I would only speak as one person out of the many with the same prophetic gifting.

The Birthing of A Calling

It was around 2002 or 2003 when I accepted the challenge of being a campus minister after listening to messages from our local church and in so many people about fulfilling the great commission. I would really believe that it was not out of emotion that I said "yes" to the Lord.

In the summer of 2003, my brother and I joined some fellow youth as part of the Negros for Jesus campaign as volunteers. Doing everything - from setting up the stage, sound system and doing mimes and dramas for the crusade. 

At the end of the month-long crusade, the organizers decided to have a one day seminar about discipleship and my brother and some of the youth leaders were assigned  to handle the youth.

As I was doing my devotional early in the morning, I asked the Lord what was the right message for the youth as I would love to challenge them on something that was really intended for them. The Lord led me to a specific chapter in Ezekiel about the dry bones and how it relates to the youth in general.

Although I was excited over the idea of sharing something new, I also asked the Lord for a specific word for the season. And the words just flowed as I wrote everything in paper. It was like fire inside my belly that I didn't stop until I wrote the words "and the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy...."

Now, let me tell you that this was not the first time I wrote something like this. My old journal has a lot of writings relating to what God was sharing to me. But this time was different, it was so specific that I asked the Lord for confirmation. 

I just said a simple prayer asking the Lord to confirm what I just wrote and if I heard him right. I even remember asking him to confirm my gift of prophecy so that I can speak what he intends to speak through the youth.

In such an appointed time and season, 20 minutes after our group devotion that Pastor Jill challenged the group to respond on the devotional which was all about the great commission. Brian, Viz and I were the only people who went to the center to answer the challenge.

There were a couple of pastors together with pastor Jill when they laid hands on me and Pastor Jill suddenly shared a prophetic word. It was so specific when he spoke these words:

"I see in my spirit you standing on a cliff. And while there, I saw your ears grow big and you were hearing from the Lord. And the Lord says "Continue to speak in the dark places, continue to speak in the spiritual realms...."

It was at this moment that I felt a very strong anointing that fell on me. And I believed deep in my heart that God was confirming my gift of prophecy. And of course, with the fire of a new experience, I shared what the Lord has placed in my heart for the youth that day.

But the confirmation didn't stop there. 

After the crusade, I took the spiritual gifts assessment test and it showed prophecy, teaching and administration as my strongest gift. Later that year, during a conference in Bais City, God used 2 women from the States who confirmed my gift of prophecy as well. I haven't spoken to these women about my gift and desire to be used by God through this new found gift but still, the Lord confirmed it.

The next year, God sent a Prophet as a speaker in our youth convention in Bais and at the last night of the event challenged me to speak prophetic words to someone in front of 600 youth! And I took the challenge by sharing a short word to Kuya Jonathan, the hubby of Ate Charna, our National Director back then.

It was at this time wherein Deborah, our speaker confirmed the strong gift and anointing God has placed in my life. She specifically mentioned that this gift that I have will make me stand in kings and princes of the world. I would stand and speak boldly like in the days of Daniel and the prophets and if I'm willing will speak to nations and leaders. These same words were spoken by another prophetic voice by the name of Becca Greenwood. 

The words "if you are willing and obedient" was always in the 3 prophetic words given to me in a span of 2 years that until now, I have diligently followed every time I speak.

Where am I getting into this?

I wanted to give a personal example on how God calls someone to move in the prophetic in such a time as this. Giving a clear understanding on how God calls someone is very different from how a believer would speak "prophetically" by faith alone.

When I say by faith alone, I'd like to take consideration that a lot of known prophetic teachers and movers are speaking about everyone being able to speak prophetically without clearly taking in consideration that not everyone can and will be able to speak prophetically by will or by practice alone.

Okay, hear me out before you raise your eyebrows into this one. 

I strongly believe that everyone can directly hear from God - and that he uses people to speak to others as well. These people are no different to those whom the Lord calls to minister differently through other gifts stated in the bible.

But the bible also clearly says that "some..." and not "all..." can prophesy. It speaks of "desiring prophecy..." but clearly gives the distinctiveness of such a calling and gift to a few.

Am I being bias on this? I am not! I would love to see men and women move in the prophetic but I also want to give better and clear understanding on what the word of God says about these things.

I'd like to end this blog post by sharing to you 3 things that can help you personally determine if God has given you such a gift. Here's what you can do:

• Take the spiritual gift test to identify your gifts and ministry
• Ask your pastor and leaders God has placed in your life for confirmation
• Check your experiences and see if you've been into situation wherein God used you to speak to others or had that strong feeling of understanding the situation even when no one shared to you regarding the situation

If you're getting positive results on the 3 bullets mentioned, then I believe we don't have to argue if the Lord has given you the gift or not. Of course, there are a lot of other things to consider before we really get to the bottom of such a discussion but I believe the things mentioned above can help us better understand this issue for now.

On my next blog post, I'll be sharing on how do we determine those who are called in the prophetic office and those called to prophesy to a person, a group or in the whole body of believers.

But more importantly, we will also try to discuss on how a prophetic movement or people differs from a select few who are being called in this office.

In ending, I would like to ask a few questions to you my dear readers:

• Have you ever tried speaking to someone through prophecies?
• If yes, how was it and how many times?
• If not everyone are called to prophesy, who do you think can do it without being biased?