6 Tips for Testing a Prophetic Word

Have you received a prophetic word and then wondered if it was truly from God? Julian encourages us to test prophetic words and provides six tips to help us navigate the filtering process.

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Transcript

- Hi, my name's Julian Adams. You know, one of the most asked questions that I get is, "How do I know if the prophetic word I've received from a prophet is actually true?" Well, I wanna just give you six tips to discovering whether a prophetic word is true. My first tip is quite simple. The prophetic is always meant to be discovered and discerned in community. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians, chapter two, that we have the mind of Christ. In other words, it is a community dynamic. You need people to speak into the prophetic word. You need those around you to help shape that prophetic word, and you need those around you to help weigh the prophetic word in the context of community. I love what Kris Vallotton says. He says that, "When you find your tribe, you find your destiny." Most often your prophetic word and what God's called you to do is connected to your community. It's so important that you're not isolated when you're trying to discern whether a prophetic word is from God or not. My second tip is, is it biblical? Does the prophetic word that you've received resonate with scripture, resonate with the sense of God speaking throughout the Bible from the beginning to the end? Are there things in that word that seem contrary to the scriptures and what Jesus is doing in the scriptures and how he lives? The Bible is the ultimate form of prophecy, and everything has to weigh up and line up under its authority and under its revelation. My third tip is what do wise leaders say about the prophetic word you've received? Whether it's corporate or whether it's private, what are some leaders doing about that prophetic? How are they weighing that up? How are they talking about it? Invite good, wise people, spiritual fathers and mothers to speak into the prophetic word that you've received, so that you can weigh up against the witness of their spirit. Very often there's wisdom that is found in the counsel of many. My fourth tip is has it been confirmed? When I receive prophetic words, what I wanna do, particularly if it's directional, is I wanna wait. I wanna take a moment. I wanna chew on it. I wanna pray through it. I wanna weigh it up. I wanna wrestle with it until it's confirmed before I take any actions on it. Only once it's confirmed do I step out on those prophetic words. My fifth point is does it lead me to freedom or a sense of control? The prophetic is not fatalistic. It's not meant to keep you in a place of control where you feel afraid. I remember talking to one of my friends who is in ministry, and they said, "I feel hostage by the prophetic words that have been spoken over me." No! That is bad prophecy! Prophecy doesn't lead you to feeling under control. Prophecy leads you to freedom. The prophetic dynamic is an invitation for you to partner with God. So when a prophet prophesies over you, if there's controlling language in it, it's probably not from God. My sixth and final point is does it bring a sense of faith? Does it spark something in you that goes. "Yay, this is God!" "I can do this!" "I wanna do this!" In fact, sometimes you might even be, "I can't do this, but I'm excited to go for it," because it's impossible, and God calls us to live a life of the impossible. Prophecy is meant to spark faith. It's meant to spark a sense of, wow, God's on this. Something significant can happen through this. I want to encourage you, when you use these six tips as a filter for figuring out whether or not the prophet is speaking truth, or whether the prophetic word you have heard is truly from God, it will be like a litmus test. It will be like a plumb line that will help you live out the prophetic and the word that God has spoken over you. If you've got any questions on the prophetic or the content that we're producing, why don't you let us know in the comments below, or message us on one of our social media platforms? [Upbeat Music]

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