“Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.”

You remember the story. Abram had told King Abimelech that Sarai, so he took her to be his wife and it the Lord intervened. Notice that this is the first time the word “prophet” is used in the Bible — and it’s connected to prayer. We’ll expound on this later as we look at another translation…

I recently received a question from a prophet in a local church in America. The question went something like this:

What do you do when there you are discontent in your local church? Although I am in an apostolic/prophetic church, I still see so much that makes me want to run. In fact, I believe in being a part of a strong local assembly, but have been so badly wounded by people who know better but are themselves struggling to come into that new place. I just feel “STUCK” in this “PLACE” that I now feel I am “man-pleasing” and going through ritualism just to STAY IN CHURCH!!”

While we don’t understand the total situation of this prophet, there are some guidelines for safety that might help us avoid making the wrong decision about leaving a church God intends for us to stay in. Keep Reading »

The pressure was on. Jesus had been arrested and the disciples scattered. Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard of the high priest and time after time people tried to connect him to Jesus. You know the story. Peter denied knowing Him. Keep Reading »

Heart faith is the creative force behind our confession.

The Lord shared this with me this morning while I was studying faith. As I pondered this, I thought of one translation of Hebrews 11:1 that says: “Faith is giving substance to things hoped for.”

Think about it for a minute. Your faith is giving substance to what you are hoping for. In other words, your faith is making it real. Your faith is bringing your hope out of the spiritual realm and into the physical realm.

That’s biblical because Jesus told some, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

Faith makes. Faith gives substance. Faith is evidence, assurance, the title deed. But remember, it’s heart faith, not mental ascent.

Heart faith is the creative force behind our confession.

Jesus listed a number of signs that would follow believers. One of them is this: In His name we shall cast out devils. Of course, we first have to discern which devils need to be cast out. That’s what the Apostle Paul did when he cast out a spirit of divination from a slave girl in Acts 16.

We see a contrast between two women. There was Lydia from Thyatira whose heart the Holy Spirit opened to receive the message of salvation. On the other hand, we see a young slave girl who was prophesying over Paul and his fellow laborers:

“As we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination [claiming to foretell future events and to discover hidden knowledge], and she brought her owners much gain by her fortunetelling.

She kept following Paul and [the rest of] us, shouting loudly, These men are the servants of the Most High God! They announce to you the way of salvation!

And she did this for many days” (Acts 16:16-18 AMP). Keep Reading »

We’ve heard a lot recently about Todd Bentley, an angel named Emma, and revival in Lakeland. When this first emerged, I asked the Holy Spirit about it. He told me to judge the fruit. I’ll continue to weigh this. Some fruit takes longer to grow than others.

But are things going on in Lakeland that disturb my spirit immensely. It doesn’t take a prophet to discern there are some extreme teachings making their way through the Body of Christ these days. As a prophet, I was especially grieved to learn of some of the unbiblical goings on in Lakeland. Keep Reading »

Just like Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, the time is coming when God’s New Testament mouthpieces will confront modern day merchandisers. The true will defy the false. The holy will challenge the unholy. Until that day, spirits of divination, with a little help from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, are working overtime to woo God’s true prophets to the side of err. Keep Reading »

I expect to begin hearing 2008 presidential election prophecies any time now. Some of them will be accurate words from the Spirit of God. Others will be goofy gibberish from the soulish realm.

The Bible says to try the spirits. I believe, and have said before, there are some interesting spirits influencing presidential hopefuls. I am concerned, specifically, about the Democratic ticket and continue to pray for God to raise up leaders who will hear His voice, speak His word and do His will. Keep Reading »

I was reading prophetic “stuff” in the blogosphere as I so often do and came across an interesting post about Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (It’s the Mormon church for those who aren’t familiar.) Keep Reading »

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 7 of my new book, “The Heart of the Prophetic.”

Now bear with me for a moment while we compare love, edification, comfort and exhortation to control, one of the devil’s ways of perverting the purpose of prophetic ministry. To control is to exercise restraining or directing influence over, or to have power over another person. Prophets need to exercise self-control through the power of the Holy Ghost, but have no business seeking to control anyone else. Yet, I’ve seen a few too many prophets’ ministries sidetracked by this spirit, which is commonly called Jezebel. Keep Reading »