I believe the prophet’s ministry is one of the most misunderstood of any of the five-fold ministry offices Jesus gave to the church. Most of the church is very familiar with the pastor, teacher, and evangelist because these are the three that have had the most exposure.
Yet we do see several examples of the ministry of the prophet in the Word, especially the Old Testament. Some of these prophets were Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, and Jesus. In the Old Testament, the prophet’s ministry was more about communicating to the people what God was saying because the people did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
In the New Testament—the church age we are in—the prophet’s ministry is more about alerting us what the Lord has already spoken and we have not yet aligned ourselves with it. Or it is about focusing us on something the Lord is preparing for us in the future that we can draw on our relationship with the Lord to walk out.
As mentioned previously, a prophet came to our church at least once a year for the twenty-four years I pastored in Decatur, Texas. His name was Ron Smith. I would normally schedule him for three to five days of ministry in the summertime when people did not have school schedules to be concerned with. Each time he came I would take time to prepare the people for Brother Ron’s prophetic ministry. There were always new people I needed to prepare so they would know how to receive him. I encouraged them to be open and expect the gifts of the Spirit to manifest in these services. I encouraged them not to turn him off if he did something a bit unusual. Prophets are known for that.
I let them know he most likely would not be teaching line by line in his ministry of the Word. Instead, he would be dropping Holy Spirit “smart bombs” to destroy the enemy’s plans against them and to blast people out of unbelief. I let them know he would be operating strongly in words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of spirits, gifts of healing, and working of miracles. Once I prepared them, there was a great expectancy in the church. And it never failed; we saw some amazing supernatural things in those meetings.
People were healed, received direction, correction, instruction, restoration of marriage relationships, calling from God, and on and on. We always experienced a powerful move of the Spirit when Prophet Ron Smith came to our church. And the impartation of his ministry began to become part of the DNA of our church.
“He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward…” (Matthew 10:41).
The Bible teaches us there is a specific reward for receiving the prophet’s ministry appropriately. Essentially this means we are open to the prophet and celebrate his ministry rather than just tolerate it.
We are called to receive this ministry—celebrate it, not tolerate it! What our church experienced over those twenty-four years of receiving the prophet’s ministry was nothing short of supernatural. We saw people saved and healed each year. Words of knowledge and words of wisdom gave strength and courage to individuals. When the prophet came to town, our counseling demand from church members was nonexistent. The reason for this is when the gifts are in operation and the prophet is speaking directly to people’s hearts and dealing with root issues in their lives, they begin to seek God and hear from Him on their own.
One example of this can be found in 2 Kings chapter 4. This is the story of the barren woman who built the prophet Elisha a prophet’s quarters so he could have a place to stay when he was in the area. She was rewarded with a son and subsequently, her son was raised from the dead later. That is quite a powerful reward for simply receiving the prophet and celebrating his ministry.
I want to tell you about a very powerful visitation I received regarding the prophet’s ministry several years ago. One time, as I was driving back to North Texas, I passed by the Lyndon Johnson ranch. I pulled over to the side of the road to view this vast ranch of one of our former presidents. While I was looking out the driver’s side window I sensed someone or something got into my car. I looked back to the right at the passenger side of the car and my car was filled with a very bright fog, almost like smoke or haze.
Then I heard a voice come out of that haze saying, “Jesus the Prophet has come to your body but you did not recognize Him. He has come and will come again if you will receive Him. The prophet mantle has come to your body and you have not recognized it. Do not miss your day of visitation. He will come again if you desire that gift, receive Him and don’t settle for the familiar.”
I wasn’t sure at first if it was the Holy Spirit or an angel. I really believe this was an angel because later as I was praying in the Spirit the Holy Spirit began to download to me the revelation of what the prophet’s ministry looks like. It was like the Spirit began to unpack for me what the angel had just spoken to me. I knew exactly what he meant when he said, “Jesus the Prophet has come to your body but you did not recognize Him.”
When he said this, it was like film clips of specific services were re-run in my mind. Each were times when the presence of God was so electric and the revelation of the Word was so powerful, but we just passed them off as normal or familiar. Sometimes it came through Ron Smith the prophet. Other times it came through me or Paul Milligan, a teaching elder in my church.
What I understood through this visitation was when Jesus the Prophet was ministering in our church, the anointing on that ministry was different. In these times He was bringing revelation on a particular truth He wanted us to take time to unpack and teach over a period of time. Or there was something else He wanted us to focus on in a particular ministry or outreach. And He had manifested Himself many more times than we were aware.
I found my briefcase, took out a pen and paper and began to write down the things the Spirit revealed to me about the prophet’s ministry. The following are the traits of the prophet the Spirit made real to me that day. The prophet’s ministry:
7. Adds new dimension to present knowledge.
8. Helps us stay current with what God is saying and doing at this point in time.
9. There is a different anointing on the Word when Jesus the Prophet comes. It is not better necessarily but usually contains a very strong presence of God and the message is clear, simple, and direct that grabs the attention of the people.
10. Prophets do have a ministry of the Word, but not usually line upon line.
I think I learned more about the prophet’s ministry that day than all of the messages I had heard about this office in the past. The prophet will stir up the supernatural in the church. He will also release a flow of the gifts through the body by his or her obedience to manifest the gifts.
Prophets lay the axe to the root. Pastors and teachers have to follow up and clean up. Prophets speak pointedly about the specific direction the Lord wants the church to focus on. Pastors and teachers follow up and provide the principles and tools from the Word to fulfill that direction.
“…Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper” (2 Chronicles 20:20).
There is value and reward to recognizing and receiving the prophet’s ministry.
Adapted from Greg Mohr’s Book, Flowing in the Supernatural
Watch Pastor Greg’s television series on Living a Supernatural Life to learn more.
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