What Does a Prophet Look Like?

What does a prophet look like? What kind of picture do you have in your mind when you think about prophets? Do you think of the Old Testament prophets?

Do you think of men like Nostradamus who were considered modern day prophets?

Do you think of those who do fortune telling or predict what is going to happen in the future? Or do you perhaps think of Bible prophecy and the Second Coming of Christ?

What Does a Prophet Do?

Can he or she read your mind and tell you what you are thinking or reveal the secrets of your heart? Can he or she tell you God's will for your life? Is a prophet an austere person who preaches fiery sermons and messages of condemnation, and exposes your sin?

Today God is restoring the Prophetic Office to the church in a new way. The prophetic function has always been there, but everyone is becoming more aware of it today. Prophets are springing up everywhere, and people are asking these questions:

1. How will I know if I am called to be a prophet?

2. If I am called to be a prophet, how will it show in me?

3. How will God train me? What kind of preparation do I need?

These are some of the questions asked, and there are many people teaching on this subject now. Those whom God has raised up to the Prophetic Office are sharing what He has taught them. They are teaching what they understand about the functioning of the prophet.

There are many voices speaking and teaching about both the Prophetic Ministry and the Prophetic Office. Many are confused; others are slowly beginning to understand what is going on.

This book is our answer to this great need, and is based squarely on both the Scriptures and our experience in this ministry. We are firmly grounded on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and would like to show you some very important principles concerning the prophet.

Probably the best place for me to start is to share with you some of my own experiences. I will show you how God called me to the Prophetic Office, trained me, and raised me up to function as a prophet in office.

My Testimony

As I share some of these experiences with you, you may identify with some of the things that I went through. You might not identify with all of them.

God may not take you through the same stages that He took me. But I am sure you will see many similarities in your own experience.

God called me to be an apostle, but He took me through the Prophetic Training to bring me to the apostolic.

Not everyone will follow that route, so some of what I share may not apply to you. But I will go through it so that you can see the kind of things that God uses to prepare his prophets.

I will be sharing memories, experiences and things that I learned along the way. I will open my heart to you and share what God taught me; what He showed me, what He did in me, and what He continued to do in me.

Perhaps somewhere along the line a few pennies will begin to drop and you will start to understand better. You will identify how God prepares His prophets.

You will understand how prophets function and how they move into their ministry. I trust that many other questions that you might have about the Prophetic Office will also be answered.

After I have laid this foundation I will show you what the Word teaches concerning the Prophetic Ministry. You will see what God requires of us as prophets and learn everything you need to know about the Prophetic Ministry.

Do Prophets Still Exist?

I remember the first time I ever heard somebody talking about a prophet. They were talking about an old man that would receive revelations.

He would be sitting at the dinner table with people, and he would begin to identify some of the problems that they had. He seemed to know all about them.

As I listened to all of this I must admit I was a bit skeptical. I thought to myself,

"That doesn't sound right. Does God still work that way? I know the Old Testament prophets were like that, but do we still have that in the New Testament?

Surely that has all been done away with now? It sounds a bit spooky to me; almost like New Age or occult."

I felt a bit nervous about this guy. It just did not sound right.

Of course in those days I was somewhat ignorant of the prophetic realm, so I did not understand much of what was happening.

Many people today have that same attitude. Some have grown up as Christians and have been believers for years. They have served God, been in His Word, witnessed for the Lord, and exercised many other ministries. But when you call someone a prophet, they get their backs up and say,

"That is not for today. God doesn't do that anymore. It is not necessary. We have the Bible now. We do not need any special revelation."

I also thought that at first, and it took God a while to change my attitude. I had to see that there was a whole lot more for me, and for the Body of Christ. The Church was certainly not embracing and experiencing this.

The 'Good Old Days'

I grew up in a Pentecostal Christian home. My parents had also grown up in a Christian home and even their parents had been Christians.

I came from several generations of Pentecostal Christians.They dated from the early Pentecostal revival in the days of John G Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, and others who were used so tremendously by the Lord.

I heard all the stories about how God moved back in those days. It was a bit like the Children of Israel who had grown up long after the Exodus.

Their parents would tell them about the wonderful things that God had done when He delivered them from Egypt and performed all the miracles in the wilderness. I am sure the kids must often have thought,

"Wow. Those must have been some days, hey? But they are gone. We don't see that anymore."

That was the kind of situation I grew up in. I heard all about these things, but I did not see them anymore.

I remember when the Lord finally brought me to that experience with Him where He filled me with His Holy Spirit. I began to realize for the first time that there was a realm there that I had not really touched. I had heard plenty about it, but I had not really experienced it.