I saw a lot of this for awhile at a church I used to attend. There was one group of people that were always "prophesying" over others. It always looked like a circus to me when they did this and always disrupted the service. What was disconcerting to me about it was that it really seemed like these folks loved the Lord and tried to live their faith, but then they'd break out prophesying, and seemed to be able to turn it on at will, whenever they wanted to. I was a fairly new Christian at the time, so didn't know God's Word any where near as well as I know it now, but something just seemed very wrong with it all. These same folks were also very much into "healing" and didn't seem to think there was any reason that anyone should ever be sick. It seemed like a personal affront to them if someone wasn't healed instantly, yet no one ever was.
At first I'd listen to their prophesies very carefully and they were often quite specific. They'd tell people things like: "God is going to see to it that you come into a lot of money very soon so you can start a TV station that will honor Him and bring many into the Kingdom". That one really floored me and I waited expectantly to see it happen. Of course it never did and it's been over 15 years now.
They seemed to know the pastor well and often prophesied over him or his wife. I remember once they told her that God was going to give her her own ministry and how great it was going to be. I knew that the pastors wife was already busier then any two women usually were, so I wondered how He was going to make any more time for her to do something else. That one was difficult to determine if it came true or not. As far as they were concerned it did, but I wasn't so sure. She did later start a women's ministry, or rather she got it going for others anyway. But she'd done that many times in the past and I knew she'd continue to do it in the future, so it wasn't anything new and it certainly wasn't what their entire prophecy had seemed to indicate. That particular ministry fizzled out after a short time anyway.
I noticed that when these people did give a prophesy, it was always something spectacularly good for the person and often involved the person getting money which of course they always said was to be used for something that would bring glory to God. But then according to the things they'd say, anything could bring glory to Him, including just paying your bills. Which is true I suppose, but it just didn't sit right with me.
These folks also spoke in tongues and often preceded their prophecy by speaking in tongues or would prophecy in tongues first and then they'd interpret it for us. What I thought was strange was that no one else could ever interpret anything one of them said in tongues, only the person who spoke it could. Nor was there ever anyone who could or would stand up in agreement or disagreement with anything they prophesied.
There were others besides this core group of course. Over the years there always seemed to be a few folks that were really into this kind of thing.
Of course I asked the Lord about it and He had me study all the times a prophet spoke in the NT and then the OT. What I found interesting was that the vast majority of times, the prophecy wasn't nice, it wasn't something anyone would necessarily want to hear. Like when the prophet told (and demonstrated) how Paul was going to be arrested and put in chains; another common thing for the prophets to prophesy was to tell the person or persons that they were sinning and not doing God's Will. I just couldn't find anywhere where a prophet had spoke words anything like what these folks did regularly.
Having been saved out of the New Age and Occult garbage, I was very aware of psychics and what they did.Just as the article above pointed out, that's exactly what these people reminded me of. Thankfully I've never heard of seen of any of them giving prophetic "readings" around here though. I'm afraid I've have to speak a few words to them if so.
But then the Lord shocked me by giving me what I later came to understand were sometimes called either "words of knowledge" or "words of wisdom". Well, at least that's the closest thing I could come to for what He told me. Don't worry. He never told me things like "so and so's going to come into a lot of money"
But what He would do regularly is ask me to pray for people, sometimes people I didn't even know. So I would, even when I wasn't sure what to pray about for them. Then, one day, He revealed things that He specifically wanted me to pray about for a person. I was acquainted with the person, but not well. Still, I was pretty shocked by what He'd put in my mind to pray about. I was being discipled by one of the elders at my church at the time, so I did ask them about it without telling them who I was praying for or what the Lord had told me to pray about. I just asked if that was "normal" for God They told me it was, and warned me to never tell anyone what the Lord had told me, unless He specifically told me to or gave me permission. I was very grateful for their warning and kept everything He told me close to my heart, and prayed as He directed. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when the Lord would give me information to pray about. Sometimes I'd have to pray not knowing anything at all about "why" I'd been told to pray. Other times I'd be praying as usual, only to be interrupted and given information to pray about something else for them. After a few months, I discovered, much to my surprise, that it was much easier for me to pray for someone I didn't know, then for those I did know. When I knew someone well, I tended to make assumptions about what they needed prayer for and discovered that I was more often wrong then right, because the Lord would interrupt me and tell me what they needed prayer for. 
Anyway, after more then a year, the Lord finally gave me confirmation that showed me for absolute sure that I'd been hearing from Him and been doing His Will. At first various people that I'd been praying for would come up to me and say things in conversation that would confirm that I'd been praying for the right things. It was always a shocker to everyone, even me, even though I'd been praying for them about it. For instance a woman who I had always thought had a wonderful marriage and family, and who'd never given any indication that anything was wrong, announced that she had filed for divorce several months before but was now reconciled with her husband.
After that happened any number of times, I felt amazed that the Lord had allowed me to be a part of all of it. Then after yet more years went by, He went further. A woman registered on FH and sent me a PM before she ever posted. She told me this horror story of all that had happened to her, ending with that they'd been going to take their own life. They felt so alone especially because they didn't even know anyone who they could ask to pray for them. For some reason though, at that moment, they'd suddenly felt the Lord all around them, loving them! It was an amazing testimony! It gave me goosebumps too because some of the particulars they'd told about, were the very same things I'd been praying about for a person I didn't know and had been praying for for over a year. I even knew what night that had happened on because I'd been awakened during the night to pray for them! So I wrote back and asked them if they knew what night it had happened. The replied and confirmed what I already knew in my heart, it was that very same night and the very same time that the Lord had woke me up! Of course I immediately, for the first time, asked the Lord for permission to share that there had in fact been someone praying for them, and He gave it. I still remember writing that reply to them. I had tears streaming down my face. I told them the whole story of how the Lord had asked me to pray for them and how I had been doing so and for how long; and how He'd awakened me that particular night at that time, telling me to pray and pray hard! So I prayed and I kept praying until I felt completely at peace and knew I could stop. Needless to say, they too were astounded at just how much God loved them.
It still astounds me too, as I too had a time in my life when I thought no one cared about me enough to pray for me and I desperately needed prayer. I have no doubt in my mind though, that God made sure I was covered in prayer then, just as He did for this person. I know He does it for all of His children, because He loves us so.
So now you can see that while I don't for a moment believe any of those other people were speaking for God, I do believe that God speaks to us and even gives us insight and wisdom we need to do His Will. It's not something to be used to show off and look important to others, and not to interrupt a service with. Nor is it to tell people that "everything's going to be ok, that they'll get the money they need, their relationships will be repaired, etc. No. It's only to do His Will and help His children and to build up the body of Christ. So please, beware of those who have "words of knowledge or wisdom" for you, or who prophesize over you. Test them against the Word of God, and if it's not there, then the Word isn't from God.
2 Cor 13:1; 1 Cor 14:26–28; 1 Cor 14:29–30; 1 Cor 14:32–33;
LiveJournal Tags: Prophesying,prophetic words,word of knowledge,word of wisdom,bible,god,prophecy,prophet,psychics
