Prophecy is a vital ministry in the body of Christ. Every believer can prophesy and some do, but many struggle to discern the voice of the Lord. Many others do not understand simple protocols for prophetic ministry because they have not been rightly trained, despite the Ephesians 4:11 mandate for five-fold prophets to equip the saints for the work for the ministry.

Recently, we launched prophecy rooms at Awakening House of Prayer. Prophecy rooms are a safe place where experienced prophetic ministers can share a word of the Lord to people seeking edification, exhortation and comfort. Our goal with this is two-fold: to train up prophetic people with accountability and to reach out to our community, giving them an alternative to the psychic shops that plague our region.

Listen to Jennifer's podcast for more detail on prophetic protocols.

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, He gave gifts to men. Ephesians 4:11 tells us He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.

One of the primary mandates of a New Testament prophet is to equip the saints to hear from God and to prophesy accurately. Every believer has the capacity to hear from God. Jesus said His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). But many believers do not discern the voice of the Lord, which is one reason there is an unhealthy dependence on prophets.

Indeed, many treat prophets like psychics—or at least cheap gumball machines that take money for prophecies. Many believers, by contrast, put unhealthy pressure on prophetic people to “gimme a word” or get sucked into pay-for-prophecy scams on the internet.

Prophetic words bring warfare, but that's not the only reason people receive legitimate would-be life-changing prophecies that don't come to pass. Although I believe strongly in waging war with prophetic words, you also have to be careful to understand what the Lord is actually saying to war accurately.

Beyond this, you need a certain maturity to walk out the word by faith. You need the spiritual strength to stand against the tribulation and persecution that will surely come against a potentially life-changing prophecy. And you need to keep your mind focused on God's plans despite the barrage of cares and worries the devil brings to your mind.

At the end of the day, it really does boil down to this: There is a war over the prophetic word over your life. Sometimes that war comes from the wicked one. Sometimes that war comes from our own carnal nature that wars against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Either way—and whether in Scripture or via prophecy judged accurate—we must fight the good fight of faith so we can walk in the fullness of God's promises.

The church needs prophets who can rightly discern the moving of the Lord—and the moving of the enemy. We need prophets who will stand in the gap and make up the hedge so the enemy cannot infiltrate.

Anyone with a sensitive spirit can pick up on the rising level of spiritual warfare in this hour. Just look at the attacks on major cities in our nation. Just look at the persecution of Christians. Just look at the number of church leaders who have fallen. Just look at how many churches are closing. Just look. Clearly, darkness is raging against the church.

Spiritual warfare is real, despite some who insist we don't have to fight because the devil is already defeated. Spiritual warfare is biblical, despite those who argue we should ignore the operations of the devil. Spiritual warfare is necessary because principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness (Eph. 6:12) and other forces are raging against all those who call Christ Lord.

When Jesus said false prophets would rise in the last days, He wasn't exaggerating. We're certainly in a season of accelerated false prophet activity.

Check out this message I received:

I've made a mistake. In this season of transition, there have been piles of bills, problematic equations and mountains of new financial challenges that seemed poised to try to overtake me. At times it has overwhelmed me, but never has it interfered with me going before the Lord with your situation(s). This morning, as I was in my prayer chambers meditating on the Word of the Lord for you and countless others, the Lord screamed a mighty scream in the form of a strong wind blowing from the north and commanded me to look up from which cometh my help.

If you feel sorry for Jezebel, she'll not only pull on your heart strings, but she'll play you like the proverbial fiddle. This master manipulator will seduce you into her web of witchcraft using your own compassion as bait.

Remember my sixth point in 15 Ways to Discern Jezebel in Your Midst: “People influenced by a Jezebel spirit play the victim. They want your pity.” The reason this seducing spirit wants your sympathy is strategic: Pity opens the door for this devil. Soulish compassion blocks discernment—but that's no excuse for tolerating Jezebel. In fact, if you tolerate a Jezebel spirit, Jesus has something against you.

In Revelation 2:20, Jesus declared, “But I have a few things against you: You permit that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, but she did not repent.” I talk more about this in my book, Jezebel's Puppets.