“Why aren’t you writing more words to release?” This has been an unusual season for me as I go long intervals without writing what I sense the Holy Spirit is speaking to me and downloading to me. It is not that I have nothing to say, but rather I find myself not wanting to give in to the impulse to release an utterance for the sake of releasing an utterance.
Several years ago, I received a prophetic word that the words God would give me to release would be like arrows, penetrating with great effect and impact. Yet these words would not be released with the frequency as others seem to release, and these words, these arrows would be fashioned in the secret place and time spent with the Lord. The promise of resistance was also released with that prophetic word, with my refuge being the secret place with God in those times of testing and resistance after releasing a word. I think about that word years later, and I take it seriously even when I stand before individuals to pray for them. When you stamp God’s name on it as the sender, that is a big deal and should not be taken lightly.
I see so many words released into the spiritual ether, and I wonder sometimes if many of us are battling to be relevant instead of reverent. If we are truly prophets, what would we do if someone did as the Bible instructed and judged one another’s prophetic utterances (1 Cor. 14:29)? Would we take offense, or would we welcome inspection? As someone who is navigating the choppy waters of ministry, I want to share a few personal lessons learned as well as those things that deem me a perpetual student of the Word and an eternal lover of His presence.
Resist the Urge to Be Relevant
It is tempting to release a word that appears air tight, but was not Spirit-breathed. What I mean by that is the need to be relevant in a world where notoriety is crowned king instead of Jesus. Many words released sadly minister to our soulish realm. Our emotions engage, but does the Holy Spirit agree with the word? We gauge the power of a word released on the response of the masses instead of the one we represented. Before I really understood what it meant to be a fivefold prophet, I did not understand why the Lord would give me challenging words to release that cut but healed. I would ask God why I could not preach something “nice.” This sounds ignorant to the seasoned, and even now, it sounds ignorant to me, but I did not understand why so many others got to release words that left people shouting and excited while the words entrusted to me left people jolted and in introspection.
For the longest time, I fought wanting to receive the call as a prophet. I knew it carried great weight and responsibility, and even the mention of it made me tremble. There is a holy fear that possesses me, and I do not want to release a word in voice or in writing that is not God breathed and in alignment with His Word. We must resist the urge to be relevant in church circles. We are accountable for the words we release with God’s name co-signed to them. Reverence trumps relevance. Though I honor and respect great men and women of God, their names are not the ladder I want to climb. The way up in the kingdom is down, and sometimes that means denying relevance in exchange for His timing and His ways. If God wants you heard, He will promote you in your faithfulness to the process.
On the flip side, just because someone is heard loud and clear on a platform does not mean that God placed them there. There is a gift of discernment for a reason. Some people do not stand on the shoulders of men and women, but rather on the knives that they stabbed in the backs of those they used to be relevant.
Remain teachable before God and men
In our fight for relevance, there is a danger in becoming prideful and arrogant. The Word tells us that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18). I posed the question earlier of judging one another’s prophetic words as true prophets are instructed to do in the Word. We do not do this because it is understood to be insulting and disrespectful when on the contrary, it is biblical. When we are willing to submit a word for testing and even correction, we are demonstrating who our Father is and that we are teachable.
Resist Prophecy Without Intimacy
As I was thinking about relevance, the one thing that kept coming to me was the danger of prophecy without intimacy. With the fight for relevance, there can be this feeling that we must have a word all the time. There is this drive to prophesy, and if we are not presence-aware, we will prophesy without His presence and without having been with Jesus. It is entirely possible to do this (Matt. 7:22). We cannot afford to settle for words that sound great, but lack the truth of His heart and His ways so that we can be relevant. Real prophetic utterances testify of Jesus Christ. They drip with passion that can only be cultivated in the secret place. We must choose relationship with Christ over relevance with man.
Let me say again, resist the urge to be relevant. Remain teachable and pliable before the Lord. Let us draw others closer to Jesus Christ so He is glorified while we embrace the call to reform and remain reverent. {eoa}
Dawn Hill is a Christ-follower and a freelance writer. She writes a blog called “Lovesick Scribe.”
This article originally appeared at lovesickscribe.com.
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