10 Pitfalls of the Prophet's Ministry
The traps and pitfalls that are set along the path of true prophets are both serious and very dangerous. The devil knows how powerful pure and undefiled prophets are!I believe God is raising up a company of prophets in the earth who will operate in purity, humility, and authenticity. We will now look at ten specific pitfalls or traps that will be discovered along the path of the prophet that will contaminate and pervert the gifting God has given them. If the prophets can avoid the following pitfalls and gain victory, incredible damage will be done to the devil’s camp and a revival of purity and cleansing will sweep the contemporary prophetic movement.
1. The Pitfall of Refusing Wilderness Training
The training ground for all called prophets of God is the wilderness. This is the place where God draws His prophets to crucify and crush their ambitions, pride, arrogance, carnality, and anything that will get in the way of them becoming pure vessels for His Spirit to move through. It is in the wilderness where the personal desires of prophets die and the desires of God come alive. Craving platforms, microphones, and a travel itinerary is crucified and crushed in the wilderness.Biblically speaking, there is a calling, consecration, and then a commissioning. Too many believe that because God has called them, they have now been commissioned into prophetic ministry. This is not the truth and forsakes the most important and crucial development of the prophet—consecration. The consecration process, which will be repeated numerous times throughout the life of a prophet, is known as the wilderness.
The training ground for all called prophets of God is the wilderness.
One of the greatest pitfalls of prophetic ministry is when prophets refuse wilderness training. When prophets are not trained in hiddenness, they crave the platform and know nothing of the prayer room. They will chase after the applause of men because they have never heard the Father affirming them in secret. When prophets refuse wilderness training, they will desire fame and fortune over holiness and repentance. Prophets who refuse wilderness training will tear down with their character what their prophetic gifting has built. The wilderness is where God creates a place inside of the prophets for them to carry His heart with pure and undefiled intentions and motives. Prophets who have not been wilderness trained make prophetic ministry all about them, their influence, and their success. Prophets who have been wilderness trained do not fear men; they live for the glory of God and value the secret place over any public space.
2. The Pitfall of Profiling Others
In First Samuel 16, we find Samuel the prophet going to anoint the second king of Israel. On his search for the next king, God gives Samuel incredible prophetic instruction in verse 7 as He says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”One of the most common mistakes that prophets can make is giving someone a prophetic word based upon their outward appearance, stature, or behavior. I call this “prophetic profiling.” Samuel noticed Eliab because of his outward appearance and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him,” but this was not the case. As prophets of God, we must be very careful that we do not become consumed or distracted by looking for outward clues or appearances to help us form the prophecies that we give.
As prophets of God, we must be very careful that we do not become consumed or distracted by looking for outward clues or appearances to help us form the prophecies that we give.
For example, several years ago I ministered at a conference where two men in the front row were dressed completely opposite of one another. One man was wearing a three-piece suit with fine jewelry. The other man was wearing blue jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and dirty looking shoes. God had given me a prophetic word about a season of financial increase coming and specific business deals regarding the oil industry that were being released. As I looked at these two men in the natural, it would have been very easy to stand up the man in the three-piece suit because of his stature or appearance. As I prayed, God showed me that the prophetic word was for the man in the blue jeans, t-shirt, and the tattered shoes. As I released the prophetic word, he was powerfully touched by the Spirit. After the meeting, he came up to me and said he was a multi-million dollar businessman who worked in the oil industry, but rarely wore nice clothing.
We must be very cautious not to profile people based on their outward appearance, race, gender, etc. and hear from the Lord regardless of what they look like on the outside.
3. The Pitfall of Sanctified Psychic Reading
In First Kings 22, the prophet Micaiah stood before king Ahab and king Jehoshaphat and was asked to give them the word of the Lord. Prior to this, the kings had already consulted and received prophetic ministry from the other 400 prophets in the land. The prophets had told Ahab and Jehoshaphat to, “Go up, for the Lord will give it [Ramoth-gilead] into the hand of the king.” When pressed, Micaiah told the kings that God would not give them victory and that Ahab would die. What was the primary difference between the 400 prophets and the lone prophet Micaiah?The 400 prophets read the hearts of the kings back to them, but Micaiah read the heart of God back to the kings. We must be very careful as we prophesy to people that we are not reading their own hearts’ desires back to them. Prophets are feelers and burden bearers. It is very easy to pick up on the emotions, feelings, and even desires that are resting inside the hearts of people. What happens if what people are feeling or desiring to do is not from God? What if they have selfish ambitions, greed, and lust in their hearts and we simply go up and confirm what’s not of God inside of them?
Witches and psychics can prophesy what’s in the heart of man, but only prophets of God can prophesy what’s in the heart of God because they have access to it.
For example, I once ministered with a prophet in Indiana who called a family out of a crowd with several words of knowledge he believed he had. He said he heard, “California,” “millions of dollars,” and “large house and nice cars.” As he spoke this over the family, they fell down weeping and then got up and rejoiced. At the end of the meeting, they wrote him a ten thousand dollar check and he thanked them. From there, the family moved from Indiana to California with the supposed “word of the Lord.” They were supposed to move to California where they were going to make millions of dollars and live in a large house and have nice cars. As the story goes, they lasted two years in California with no open doors, no money coming in, and no nice house or cars. What happened?I would like to suggest that the prophet simply read their own hearts back to them and never discerned what the heart of God was for them. As prophets, we are learning how to distinguish what’s in the heart of man versus what is in the heart of God. Witches and psychics can prophesy what’s in the heart of man, but only prophets of God can prophesy what’s in the heart of God because they have access to it. Prophets must not get involved in sanctified psychic reading.
4. The Pitfall of Mammon
The spirit of witchcraft (manipulation and control) will seek to overtake the prophets of God by using money, promotion, and material possessions to contaminate and pollute what God is actually saying.I see a trend rising in the Church in which prophets are acting like and even being treated as magicians, prostitutes, and pimps. On stages and throughout the Internet, many offer their prophetic services to anyone who can fill their pockets with money, promote their ministry, and fuel book sales. These men and women are acting like modern-day prophetic whores. They find stimulation through stroking the ego and flesh of leaders and people, all at the expense of the purity and fresh anointing that we so desperately need in the prophetic movement.Like Hophni and Phinehas (see 1 Sam. 2), these con artists are engaging in wickedness and sin in the house of God because they treat that which is holy and pure as casual and oftentimes as a joke. The spirit of mammon has devoured these “prophets for hire.” They have been ravaged by a greed for financial gain and a lust to be treated with all the perks and accommodations that a Hollywood actor would be given.
These prophets and leaders have made a demonic covenant with mammon and witchcraft before the prophetic meetings ever begin.
Just as Jeremiah declared in Jeremiah 23:13, many prophets in America are “prophesying by Baal” and leading the body of Christ astray. The Baal spirit has caused the prophets’ focus and concern to be health, wealth, and prosperity, when they should be agonizing over the sin of the nation and travailing over how to bring forth messages of repentance, reformation, and revival. The goal has become to stroke the people to sleep, when God desires to provoke His people to change in this hour.Some very well-known contemporary prophets now even require people to scan their credit card or sow a large seed offering if they want to receive a word from God. It is extremely grieving to the Holy Spirit that people will actually line up by the droves to pay these prophetic prostitutes for these illicit spiritual “favors.”It is impossible for prophets to minister in this kind of atmosphere without partnering with the spirit of witchcraft. Many church leaders who have themselves lost the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit and are now leading failing ministries are inviting prophetic voices into their ministries in an attempt to gather large offerings and bolster their declining attendance. They are Sauls looking for Samuels to prop them up. These prophets and leaders have made a demonic covenant with mammon and witchcraft before the prophetic meetings ever begin. This sick and twisted practice not only scams the people of God, but God is nowhere to be found in the midst of this evil idolatry!
5. The Pitfall of the Lone Ranger
In the Old Testament, the prophets were the singular voice of God to the nation. They came and went as they pleased and prophesied to the kings and the nation. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ has become the mediator between God and man (see 1 Tim 2:5) and now has given all believers the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them into the truth. The role of New Testament prophets is not the same as Old Testament prophets. New Testament prophets have now become a part of the body of Christ. They no longer prophesy as “outsiders” but as those who are in love with the body of Christ and actively serving and accountable to her. Prophets are not islands of revelation unto themselves. They need accountability and community.I want to encourage all prophets to make sure you are actually involved in a real community of believers on a consistent basis and readily submit to some form of accountability. If prophets refuse community and oversight or even become angered by those seeking to find out if they have accountability, they are a potential danger to the body of Christ. “I only answer to God” or “I travel so much I have no time for community” should be an immediate red flag.
New Testament prophets have now become a part of the body of Christ. They no longer prophesy as 'outsiders' but as those who are in love with the body of Christ and actively serving and accountable to her.
6. The Pitfall of Pride
Prophets must remember that they only see in part (see 1 Cor. 13:9). Pride is a swollen estimation of one’s own importance. Prophets must be careful that they don’t become prideful when people praise them for giving an accurate prophetic word or thinking they have more authority than they actually do. The truth is that prophets need the other four ministries of apostles, teachers, pastors, and evangelists (see Eph. 4:11) to help mature and grow their own gifting and calling. Learn more about this issue in my book, Cleansing and Igniting the Prophetic.
7. The Pitfall of Adrenaline and Emotionalism
As prophets of God, we are called to minister from the place of peace, not pressure. We will constantly be placed in environments full of hype, loud music, and the carnal desires of people. The prophet Jeremiah commented on the prophetic movement and leaders in his day and said, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!” ( Jer. 5:30-31, emphasis mine). Jeremiah lived in a day when people actually loved false prophecy. They loved being told what they wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear.
Our polluted prophetic stream too often delivers what we are prepared to hear or what we think about ourselves.
If people are addicted to adrenaline, they will be drawn to what gets their blood pumping and their heart pounding. They will only listen to what gets them stirred up and will gravitate toward prophetic voices who will do that for them. In this process, they will blind themselves to whether these prophetic voices even have a history of accuracy. They will forget to examine whether their prophetic words passed the test of Scriptures and truly advanced the kingdom of God.Our polluted prophetic stream too often delivers what we are prepared to hear or what we think about ourselves. If you have problems with covenant relationships and commitment, you will hear God telling you to move from church to church.
If you carry a root of insecurity and have contracted an infection of ambition or arrogance to cover it, you will hear “from God” all kinds of exalted things about yourself. You will gravitate toward prophetic voices that will flatter that delusory image. You will hear these things and draw them out of people you regard as prophetic voices.
8. The Pitfall of Giving Horoscope Prophecy
There is a modern-day phenomenon taking place within the contemporary prophetic movement that I believe must be confronted and specifically addressed with love and truth. The sensation I speak of regards the increase and explosion of very general and vague prophetic words being posted on social media and released on popular Christian websites that have little to no substance or specifics. And because of the lack of content and specifics within the prophetic words, there is no place for accountability or even judging the accuracy of what is supposedly being said by God. Let me give you some examples of vague and general prophecy that lacks substance, specifics, and even accountability.
There is so much more to the prophetic movement than promising anyone and everyone upgrades, breakthrough, financial blessing, and more glory.
For starters, these prophecies are directed at anyone and everyone. There is no target audience, person, or group of people whom the prophetic word is specifically directed to. In other words, it’s a horoscope prophecy. How it works is that people simply scan the Facebook posts of popular prophetic voices trying to find a status or prophetic video that they can apply to their life or they scan popular Christian websites looking for the latest prophetic word released that again is typically not addressed to a target audience, person, or groups of people and has absolutely no substance or specifics. It’s a bunch of fluff that has someone’s carnal desires and greed at its core. This is horoscope prophecy.
Second, these prophecies do not ask for participation, sacrifice, or requirements for those the word is supposedly for. It’s pretty much a name it and claim it one-stop showboat. All someone has to do is read the word on social media, claim their prize, and bada bing bada boom, your destiny and desires will be fulfilled.The explosion and increase of general and vague prophecy across the Internet world can be likened to going to a Chinese restaurant and getting a free fortune cookie. Pick one, open it up, and there you have your horoscope prophecy.
The heartbreaking part about all of this is that when we turn to the Scriptures to try and find where all this vague and general prophecy is coming from, you can’t find any. You cannot find a single prophet or prophetic word in Scripture that was not prophesying to a specific person, people group, or nation and what they prophesied was not only specific and full of substance, but it also had requirements from those who received it.There is so much more to the prophetic movement than promising anyone and everyone upgrades, breakthrough, financial blessing, more glory, angel feathers, gold dust, property, and more. People can keep scrolling Facebook and popular Christian websites for their monthly prophetic horoscope, but I believe that God is calling many of His people to hit “delete” and unsubscribe from all these shenanigans and tomfoolery.God is raising up a company of prophetic messengers, intercessors, and saints who are hungry for a word of the Lord that has weight, substance, and specifics. They are hungry for revelatory prophecy, not spontaneous prophecy. They must not be ashamed of their appetite for the deeper and weightier matters that are upon God’s heart.May we heed the warning that Jeremiah gave in his day when God said, “I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied” (Jer. 23:21).
9. The Pitfall of Becoming a Vending Machine
Prophetic maturity is not measured by whether we have a prophetic word for every world event or situation, but rather whether we know when to remain silent when we do not have a word from the Lord. I want to encourage prophets not to succumb to the pressure of feeling like you have to put out a “new prophetic word” every day, week, or month. The contemporary prophetic movement has worshiped the giving of personal prophecy to such a degree that now prophets have forsaken their primary calling—to turn the people back to the living God, not read their mail all day.You are not a vending machine. You should not be expected or even feel the need to pop out prophetic words every time someone sows a “seed” into you or stops to look at the “goods” you have inside. I’m convinced that much of what fuels the pressure to put out a prophetic word every day, week, or month is the need to keep fans and followers happy, to get people to keep giving financially, and worst of all to feed a deep inner need inside the prophet for validation through popularity and fortune.
I’m convinced that much of what fuels the pressure to put out a prophetic word every day, week, or month is the need to keep fans and followers happy.
I fear that many prophets on social media have built a following of people who are always itching to hear something new, something sensational, something entertaining, and something pleasing to their flesh. These deceived Christians are like the Athenians in Acts 17:21 who spent their time on nothing else than either telling or listening for some new thing.Prophets! Do not fall for this trap! Stop popping out “new prophetic words” just so you can get more “likes” and “followers” on social media. Stop popping out “new prophetic words” that have no substance or specifics and literally could be applied to anything and everything. Has God really spoken to you or has He not? You must recognize that there are prophets prophesying whom God has not spoken to and prophets traveling and ministering whom God has not sent (see Jer. 23).
I’m praying that God would deliver a generation of prophets from the need to pop out new prophetic words so they can be validated by men, and He will raise up a generation of prophets who will only speak when God speaks, even if it’s just once a year and unpopular.Prophets! Fight the pressure. Do not give in to carnality and popularity contests. Do not allow the people of God to treat you like a vending machine and do not act like one regardless. Have the courage to remain silent when God has not spoken to you and commit to never compromising the word of the Lord no matter what open doors come your way.
10. The Pitfall of Carrying Rejection
To be called as a prophet of the Lord is to share and partake in the sufferings of Christ. One of those sufferings and cups to drink that cannot be passed on is certainly the cup of rejection (see Isa. 53:3). Rejection is extremely painful, especially when it comes from family members, friends, and people in ministry you thought you could trust. I imagine the pain of what Jesus must have experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane or perhaps even at Calvary, being rejected and despised even by those closest to Him.
To be called as a prophet of the Lord is to share and partake in the sufferings of Christ.
It only takes a cursory reading of all the Old Testament prophets to understand that they too were men who were deeply rejected. What about the New Testament? John the Baptist was rejected, Jesus Christ was rejected, and many of the prophets who came after Him continued to be rejected. In fact, Scripture is clear that one of the signs of a false prophet is that everyone loves everything they prophesy ( Jer. 5:31). In the words of Jesus, He said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you” (Luke 6:26).
According to the testimony of both the prophets themselves and Jesus Christ, there is no way around rejection if you are truly called as a prophet of the Lord. You must receive rejection as part of your prophetic training, but choose not to operate in a spirit of rejection. This is where the path of a prophet and the need for healthy and mature development can become very difficult. As a prophet of the Lord, you will be trained by the rejection of men, but it is not healthy, nor is it the will of God, that you walk in a spirit of rejection. When prophets operate out of a spirit of rejection, they are convinced that they are constantly “alone” in their calling and everyone is either against them now or will be in the future.The spirit of rejection operating in a wounded prophet’s life has convinced them that it’s them versus the world and they are out to prove everyone wrong. The motive of the heart behind prophets who operate out of the spirit of rejection is to show the world and religion how bad they missed it with them. These prophets with wounds of rejection have what I call a “told you so” approach to life and ministry. Every open door and potential favor that God gives them, in their eyes, is twisted into proving to their critics how anointed they really were in the first place. These types of attitudes and heart postures are not only signs that a prophet is operating in a spirit of rejection, but they are extremely grieving to God the Father and not a sign of a mature prophetic anointing.