The Gift of Prophecy - Am I False if I am Wrong

I want to teach a little on prophecy.  Specifically, what does it mean for a prophet to be a false prophet.  I recently encountered a young preacher who had come out of a tradition that was not use to personal prophecy.  He called me a false prophet because he said not all the words that I had spoken had come to pass.  He spoke against me to his community where I was asked to come minister.  Unfortunately for him it resulted in his dismissal because the Pastor of that community was a mature man of God who understood that inaccuracy does not necessarily mean falseness.  You can be wrong at times and still be a true prophetic voice.  He was let go because even when he was corrected he continued with his angry rhetoric. 

Many do not believe that the gifts of the spirit are for today.  Personally, I have not believed this at any time in my life.  My family was raised in the power of God, and we saw miracles occur in the lives of many of our family members before and after I was born.  Even as a child I had encounters with the angelic and I had dreams and visions, so for me I never had a problem with the gifts of the spirit or anything supernatural.  Yet, there are many that are taught that the gifts ended with the original church.  I don’t believe this and that is all I will say on that. 

Power of Prophecy in Corinth

I remember once I was traveling to Corinth, Greece to minister.  Yes, this was the same town that the apostle Paul wrote the two letters to in the bible.  I was excited.  I kept saying to the Lord I am going to Corinth, not as a Christian tourist but to see miracles like Paul saw miracles.  I wanted to have encounters with God, and I wanted others to experience the supernatural power of Jesus.

I was invited to minister in two churches, and I saw many miracles.  I saw demons cast out and the power of prophecy was astounding.  I had a similar encounter to what Jesus had with the woman at the well.  I prophesied so accurately over two older ladies that they came to Jesus and then most of their family came to the Lord and many others.  Ironically, the night before I met believers in the other church in Corinth who did not accept that there was a gift of prophecy. 

I was stunned to learn this and said to my friend who was an Apostle from Athens, “So you are telling me that in the town that Paul wrote the letter to regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit, there are believers that don’t believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  He said, “Yes, that is the case, but prophesy over them anyway and tell them you just have an encouraging word for them.”  I did and they were touched by the power of God even though they did not believe.

You May not Always be Right but that does not mean you are false.

The minister from the church who accused me of falseness was taught that all people who operate in the gifts of the spirit are false.  That is a hard place to begin your journey into the supernatural.  If you have a stronghold over your mind that says God can’t do today what he did 2000 years ago there will be a lot of fear when you start seeing people demonstrating the gifts of the spirit.

Accuracy in the prophetic is the ideal.  Every time I stand in front of a person and prophesy my prayer is God show me something about this person that will let them know that you know who they are.  I will pray, “Jesus touch them in a most powerful way.”  I don’t care if they remember my name.  You can believe that or not believe it, but God knows this is true.  My heart for these people is that they encounter God.  If they can feel his presence and know that He knows them, their lives will never be the same.  I am after souls.

Are there times that I am inaccurate.  I wouldn’t be human if I did not get things wrong from time to time.  There are many reasons a true prophetic person might get a word wrong.  Even when prophetic people do get it right a prophetic word can be highly subjective and can be interpreted in many ways or in wrong ways.  Sometimes the person who is receiving the word interprets incorrectly, and as a result declares that a prophet is false, when in fact it was them that got it wrong, but I don’t want to focus too much on this.

Every prophetic person comes from a unique background and point of view.  My understanding of language and prophetic symbols comes from the unique background that I have lived.  I am a highly educated individual and worked in high levels in the government and that means I will see things in a certain way, and by saying this, I am not saying that my way is any better, but the education that I received gives me a lens for looking at the world around me that differs from the lens that others may have.  We all see in part and therefore what I see is just one aspect of what God is doing.  It takes many prophetic people, and even angels and even dreams and visions to help you gain clarity about what God has in store for your life.

I can be wrong because I may have personal biases.  I may not operate in love for the person in front of me.  There are times I worry when prophesying because I want to capture not just an accurate image for people, but I want to feel God’s heart for that person also.  When I am tired, or I am impatient there are times that after praying for them I have felt that I did not do a good job. 

Lack of Comprehension or Understanding can result in Inaccuracy

There are times when you will not understand the images that God is showing you.  The lord often speaks in a pictorial language.  You will get visions for the people, but you may not understand completely what they mean.  Both Joseph and Daniel in the Old Testament were dream interpreters and both acknowledged that God is the one who gives wisdom and understanding about what is said in a dream.  I may see something in a vision but not understand the interpretation.  I may lack clarity and understanding.  I may not understand how that vision applies to the person in front of me.  I may say something thinking that I am correct in the interpretation but then find that I was completely wrong.  This was not because I am false but simply human and prone to error.

I remember I was at a restaurant years ago and I felt strongly that the Lord had a word for the waitress that was working our table.  I was having breakfast with my mother.  My ministry was just beginning in those days, and I had been praying prophetically for people for about one year.  I noticed that there was a spirit of grief operating in this woman’s life.  As I looked at her, in my mind’s eye, I saw another woman that I knew.  Sometimes God will show you characteristics of another person that is like the person you are prophesying over.  By faith I speak what I see in the other person over the one that I am ministering too. 

In this case the other woman that I knew had two abortions.  I remember watching her often get drunk and then she would be sad and filled with grief as she spoke about what those two children would have been like if they were alive.  At that point when I knew her, she was getting older and thought that perhaps she would never have children so the grief was more pronounced.

When I looked at the waitress and saw the similarity, I said God should I ask her if she had an abortion.  I felt that this was not the right approach so I said God what should I say.  I have learned to always ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.  He knows all things and if you have faith, you will hear his voice.  It was as if He said, “She is dealing with grief, and I am the God of all comfort so tell her that.”  “Ah,” I thought, “He wants to bring comfort to her heart.”

So, at the end of the meal, I just began to chat with the woman.  I said, “You know I believe that God has words for people, and I really feel to tell you that Jesus wants you to know that He is the God of all comfort.”  She instantly burst into tears and shared the story of how her grandfather had died the day before.  My mother hugged her and prayed for her.  It was an amazing moment to be a part of.

You must process what God is saying.  I could have been wrong if I asked her if she had an abortion.  And there have been times when I have assumed the wrong thing.  In this case the similarity was the grief or sadness.  When I told her what God said she was ministered to.  There have been many times when I said the wrong thing because I didn’t understand my vision.  I am glad for the times that I have gotten this right.  God is a good and wants to touch His people.  I simply pray to be a conduit that helps them to connect to Him. 

Miscommunication

There are several facets to miscommunication.  Sometimes people may be offended by what you said which could result in them not appreciating what God is trying to say.  An image that seems normal to you could cause an offence in the one that hears it.  This has happened to me.  I remember one time I felt like the Lord was teaching me about the impregnating word of the Lord.  I probably should have kept it to myself, but I was in a meeting and said, “The word of the Lord moves forth like a sperm and can enter many different eggs, and then begins something new that will grow strongly.  There were other elements to this image that I don’t completely remember.  I was trying to say that the same word can impregnate many souls. 

The pastor lost it when I said this.  Apparently, I was ministering in a community where there were many single mothers, and the young men were promiscuous.  The pastor completely misunderstood me and rebuked me in front of the congregation.  It took a while for me to explain the intent of what I meant.  I was in no way saying that one man should impregnate many women, but this is the way he took it.  Let’s just say I never used that illustration again and I was never invited back to that church again either, even though he realised he was wrong in his interpretation of what I said.

Another time I was in Texas.  It was my first trip there and I began prophesying over the people.  I don’t remember the things that I prophesied at all.  I prayed for individuals but also released some words over Texas.  I came back one or two years later and one of the young men that was in that meeting came up to be excitedly.  He said, “Darren I was so excited the last time you were here because you prophesied that Texas would become its own nation.”  I was shocked that he said this because I didn’t say anything like that.  He was convinced that I had.  I don’t know what I said, but I knew I didn’t say that.  I wonder how many people have thought they heard me say something and then believed it, but I didn’t say it at all.  This is mishearing and miscommunication.

Timing

Just because a prophetic word has not yet come to pass in your life does not mean it will not come to pass.  You may think a prophet is false because the thing has not yet happened.  This is not justification on my part.  I can be wrong and something may never happen, but sometimes the thing takes longer to occur.    Abraham waited 25 years from the time he heard about the promised son to the time that Isaac was born.  Joseph waited about 20 years before his family saw the leadership anointing on his life that he dreamt about when he was a teenager.  Moses waited a lifetime and was 80 years old before the fulfillment of the word over his life came to pass.

You may have to wait some time.  In my own life there were words given to me 20 years ago that I am only starting to see come to pass now.  There were dreams that I have had 15 years ago that still have not come to pass.  Many dreams have come to pass so I have developed patience in the waiting.  I am convinced that God shows us pictures that are for the entirety of our lives.  The vision encompasses your entire time on earth and so some elements of what you saw are for the present and some are for times later in the future.  Don’t stop believing.

Prophecies can be Conditional

You cannot separate yourself from the prophecy.  Just because something was spoke does not mean that person will enter it.  There is the word and then there is the path toward the word.  Things that I heard in the spirit many years ago have come to pass as I have asked the Lord to guide me into what he wants me to do.  I have waited on the Lord and He has shown me the plans that he has for me.  When I enter them by faith, I begin to see the fulfillment of the destiny that he has for me.

I believe there are other things that I have missed.  I have had two words that came as dreams that I should have done something about but didn’t.  As a result I wonder sometimes if I missed the mark on that.  I know God is gracious and forgiving.  I pray that I get another opportunity to be obedient to the things I saw. 

I wonder sometimes if people don’t understand that seeking God is a part of the fulfillment of prophecy.  We must continue to ask him for strategy to help us accomplish the things that he shows to do.  There is a fine line here because I am not suggesting that we should try to make things happen, but I do believe that we must pursue him relentlessly.  He can show us what to do to enter the fulness of what He has in store for our lives.