(By Chuck Smith) I know there were seasons in my life that I blamed the prophetic call as the cause of a sense of rejection that hung around me.
We as prophetic believers need to come to grips with the fact that God did not mean for the New Testament prophet to be an outsider. Not only is the ministry called to the church, but the Bible teaches that it is foundational to the building of the church (Ephesians 2:20).
Emerging prophets cannot walk around with a sense of rejection looming over them. It is not the season we are living in. In this day of apostolic reformation the prophet is accepted in his or her role, and the grace the prophet carries is readily received by the rest of the members in their five fold circle.
Emerging prophets cannot walk around with a sense of rejection looming over them…
When I was just starting out in the prophetic, there were seasons where after intense ministry to people, I would feel I had to step away for weeks at at a time. I remember questioning my call and ministry for no substantial reason during these times. The church received my ministry and they trusted the words God would give me, but something always seemed to be working against me.
Hindsight tells me this was two forces in operation. The first was my failure to accept the love and fathering of God. I was living as a rejected individual because I had experienced some rejection in my life and never truly let God heal it. This type of rejection will happen to someone who tries to be a prophet first and a son (daughter) second. We must settle the issue of son-ship before God can add effective ministry to our lives.
The second thing at work was a familiar spirit. The devil knows your weak points and will always attack those areas. He would come to me and cause me to have all types of questions and doubts regarding the validity of this ministry in my life. I would then consider myself an “Elijah”; feeling sorry for myself like he did, as though I was the only one whoever went through this type of thing.
I wish there was a quick remedy for the rejection we experience in our youth, or that the battle against demonic forces were easy, but sometimes the process of overcoming takes time. I have been in prophetic ministry for the last 20 years, and realize that it took some time to rise up and overcome these forces. I recently posted to my Facebook page a quote that said “Emerging prophets overcome issues of rejection. If it’s a test they pass it, and it it’s a spirit they squash it!” This is true, though sometimes the testing and overcoming may take years.
One of the true evidences of an authentic prophet is that they will be recognized by the other five fold ministries around them, especially apostles. When an apostle endorses you, it means they have heard heaven about you and your ministry. True apostles don’t take this type of thing lightly. If they lay their hands on you in endorsement it is because they have received revelation from heaven in regards to the validity of your gifting. I don’t believe the modern day prophet is a rejected ministry; it is accepted and endorsed; it is foundational.
One of the true evidences of an authentic prophet is that they will be recognized by the other five fold ministries around them, especially apostles.
Jesus refers to himself as the stone the builders rejected that has now become the chief cornerstone Mt 21:42. He also said in Mt 20:16 that the last would be first. You know you are operating in Kingdom things when everything is in an order different from the one we have become accustomed to as humans. When that which was rejected comes to the forefront, when the last all of the sudden becomes first, and when foolish things begin to confound the wise (1 Cor 1:27), you know that Kingdom dynamics are at work. God is moving the ministries that were once rejected, or at best unclear to the church, to the forefront once again. This is God’s government.
The grace of prophet today is fully accepted in the kingdom. If you find yourself walking in rejection you may either be wrongly evaluating your own gift, or you may be in the wrong church. If you are emerging as a prophetic voice, find mature prophets to be around. The wisdom and grace that is on their life will rub off on you as well and I am convinced that every true five fold minister should be brought up and trained from a father in that ministry. God will connect you to fathers, and a true father’s heart will develop you to maturity.
