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Prophetic preparation is one of the most difficult preparations that any of the ministry offices has to face. It is not a work in the park believe me. It is really tough and if you don’t mean business with the Lord, you will give up right from the start. Prophetic preparation is in fact longer than prophetic training. So the next question is, why prophetic preparation and why does it have to be so tough.
Why Prophetic Preparation?
“11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55
“”7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3
These two verses answer the question for us. When people think about a prophet, they think about revelations and visions and prophecies, predictions etc. it is true that the prophet does all that. But why does the prophet receive revelation in first place? Why can’t God just go ahead and do what He has planned to do. Why does it have to reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets?
The answer is in the first verse. Before God does anything in the earth, He has to speak forth His word just as He did in Genesis. His word has go forth and accomplish that for which it was sent. How does God send forth His word into the earth? What is the mouth of God? The mouth of God is indeed the prophet. The prophet is God’s spokesman in the earth and not a psychic foretelling people’ future.
God reveals His secrets to His prophets before accomplishing them because the prophet as a spokesman needs to speak forth and decree those secrets for them to come to pass. This is the kind of authority that the prophet carries. Prophets make things happen. This is why the main function of the prophet is carried out through intercession.
Now tell me do you go in the street telling anyone your secrets? No, so why should God reveal His secrets to just anyone? Are you beginning to see and understand why prophetic preparation is tough? You can only share and entrust your secrets with someone you trust; likewise the prophet needs to come to a place where God can trust him/her with His secrets.
The second reason for prophetic preparation is that a word spoken wrongly or incorrectly can have a devastating effect on the destiny of God’s people, His plans and purposes in the earth. It is the very authority of creation that God gives the prophet as His spokesman. So God needs to make sure that the Prophet is fit to carry such authority and the solution is prophetic preparation.
What does Prophetic Preparation involve?
There are two words that describe prophetic preparation very well: STRIPPING and BREAKING. It is a time where the Lord has to strip you of anything that prevents you from being a fit and trustworthy vessel. During prophetic preparation, He will break anything that will prevent you from being a fit vessel for Him to use.
So what are the things that the Lord will be breaking and stripping you of?
- He will deal with the taint of the flesh that stand in your way and prevents you from being a pure vessel.
- Have you got fleshly strengths and independence? You can kiss them goodbye; He will take them away. You need to come to the place where you depend 100% on His strength and ability
- Have you got natural strengths such as intellect, natural personality skills? Are you a strong-willed person? Do you rely on your physical strength or your good look? If yes then sorry, there is bad news for you because they will be broken into pieces. I hate bad news, but that is the truth. The Lord can’t use you if you are a stubborn strong-will person who only does what they want.
- You will be stripped of your reliance on family heritage, popularity etc; anything that you rely on.
- I can hear someone say, “I am so glad I am weak and don’t have natural strengths and abilities.” Not so fast! You are not off the hook yet. The Lord will deal with any insecurity, weaknesses and hesitations in you.
- Is fear of man your problem? He will deal with that too.
- Do you seek acceptance and recognition from people? You will have to hand it over to the Lord because only the Lord can meet that need in you.
- Do you have a complex of superiority or inferiority? Have you developed a persecution complex? Have you got a poverty mentality? The Lord will break and strip you of all of them.
There will be no stone unturned in prophetic preparation. You can add your own list; just think of anything that may prevent you from being the vessel of honour that the Lord wants you to be.
Are you beginning to see why prophetic preparation is difficult and longer?
How long does Prophetic Preparation Take?
It varies from person to person. But it can easily take between 10 and 30 years and even more. Are you panicking? No don’t. It depends on when God started and how stubborn or how cooperative you are. It can take 30 years and more if you are stubborn and keep resisting the Lord. But if you have the attitude of Christ on the cross who said, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit”, your preparation will progress faster. You see because Jesus did not fight the cross, He died quicker and so they didn’t have to break His legs. But for the two thieves who were with Him that day it wasn’t the case. They had to have their legs broken before they could die. If you are too stubborn and won’t listen, the Lord might take a drastic action to break you. So how long will your preparation take? It depends partly on you.
When does Prophetic Preparation End?
Your initial preparation ends when your training starts. You will be called to prophetic training when the Lord consider you to have been dealt with enough to have come to an acceptable level of trustworthiness. At this point, the Lord is prepared to trust you with His secrets; He is prepared to put in anointing in you and make you His spokesman. This is when He calls you to prophetic training. If you haven’t been called to prophetic training yet, then your preparation is still ongoing. You are not ready for prophetic training yet. Prophetic Preparation over? Move to prophetic Training now!