Welcome Prophecy, But Test It

There are Christians who hear the word prophecy and immediately become uncomfortable. Others hear it and immediately lean forward.

I have been around Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians long enough to know that prophecy is not a theoretical subject. People have received words that encouraged them during difficult seasons. Some have heard something from a minister that seemed impossible for that person to know. Others have watched a prophetic word unfold in ways that made them wonder whether God had been speaking after all.

Then there are the words that never seem to go anywhere.

Someone is told that a new season is coming, but nothing changes. Another is told that God is calling them into ministry, but the calling never develops. And another receives a prediction about a relationship, a career, healing, finances, a child, or some other thing, and years later they are still trying to understand what they were supposed to do with that prophetic word.

I have seen enough of both sides to think Christians need to slow down and ask a basic question:

What are Christians supposed to do with prophetic words?

The biblical posture is neither suspicion toward every prophetic person nor unquestioning acceptance of every prophetic word.

It is openness under examination.

Scripture Gives Us Both Commands

Paul gives the church an instruction that should shape any discussion about prophecy:

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. But test everything; hold fast what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19–21

Those commands belong together.

Paul does not tell Christians to choose between openness and discernment. He expects both.

A person can become so skeptical that he dismisses anything supernatural before giving it a hearing. Yet the opposite problem is just as real. A Christian can become so impressed by a person’s reputation, spiritual language, apparent accuracy, or emotional atmosphere that he accepts whatever is said without actually examining it.

Paul gives us neither approach.

He tells the church not to despise prophecy, and then he tells the church to test what it hears.

That is openness under examination.

Testing is Part of Receiving Prophecy

Paul does not describe prophecy as something the church receives without evaluation. In 1 Corinthians 14:29, he says that when prophets speak in the gathered church, “the others should evaluate what is said.”

That instruction is important because it tells us something about the position of the prophetic person within the church. The person giving the word is not above evaluation simply because he believes he is speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The prophetic person speaks. The church weighs what has been spoken.

That does not mean the church should approach every prophetic word with suspicion. It means the church recognizes that spiritual gifts operate through human beings, and human beings remain capable of misunderstanding, miscommunicating, or misapplying what they believe they have received.

That is not an attack on prophetic ministry. It is simply an acknowledgment that the gift does not turn the person exercising it into an infallible messenger whose every impression carries the same authority as Scripture.

For that reason, I think Christians should become comfortable with saying:

“I need more clarity on this. I’ll have to pray about it and evaluate it.”

That response is not necessarily an expression of unbelief. It is precisely the kind of response Scripture gives us reason to expect.

A mature prophetic ministry should be able to tolerate it.

Prophecy and Interpretation are Not the Same

This becomes especially important when prophetic ministry involves visions, pictures, impressions, or symbolic language.

Imagine someone prophesying:

“I saw you standing in a field. You felt lost and alone, almost as though you were in a desert. But I believe the Lord is showing me that this season of barrenness is coming to an end. The desert will begin to produce, and people will come to you. What has felt empty will become fruitful in due time.”

There is nothing automatically wrong with that kind of imagery. Scripture contains visions, dreams, symbolic actions, and prophetic language. The question is what happens between the image and the interpretation.

What exactly did the person perceive? What did he believe it meant? What part of the statement is observation, and what part is interpretation? Is the statement describing the person’s present circumstances, predicting the future, encouraging perseverance, or directing the person toward a particular decision? What exactly is the recipient supposed to believe will happen?

Scripture gives us reason to distinguish between what God may reveal, what a prophet believes he has received, what he actually says, and what the hearer concludes from it. Those things should not be treated as though they are the same.

A genuine word can be misunderstood by the hearer. And it can also be misapplied. A person giving a prophetic word can misunderstand what he believes he has perceived. And, of course, something presented as prophetic may simply not have been from God.

Testing is necessary precisely because we need to distinguish among these possibilities.

Not Every Prophetic Word Makes the Same Claim

We also need to distinguish between the kinds of things people call prophetic words.

“I believe God wants to remind you that He has not forgotten you” is one kind of statement.

“God says you are going to marry this person” is another.

“I believe the Lord is encouraging you to continue pursuing what He has already placed before you” is different from “God is calling you into pastoral ministry.”

“I believe God is opening a door for you” is different from “You will receive this particular job within thirty days.”

The more specific the claim becomes, the more carefully it needs to be considered. A statement about someone’s marriage, career, finances, ministry, health, or future can influence decisions that carry consequences for years.

That is why Christians should be especially careful about treating a prophetic word as an instruction. A person should not make a major decision simply because someone told him, “God told me.”

A prophetic word should never become a substitute for Scripture, prayer, wisdom, mature counsel, or responsible decision-making. If someone tells you that God has given them a directive for your life, you still have the responsibility to discern what you have heard.

This becomes especially important when the person giving the word has some personal or institutional interest in what the recipient does with it.

Suppose a teenager is told that God has called him to leadership. That might be an encouraging word worth considering. But suppose the same minister then tells that teenager about a college he is affiliated with. The question is not whether the minister’s motives are necessarily bad. The question is whether the prophetic word and the institution’s interests have become too closely connected to simply assume that everything came from God.

What Do We Do When a Prophetic Word Does Not Make Sense?

Receive it cautiously. Pray about it. Compare it with Scripture. Discuss it with mature Christians. Watch what happens.

There is no biblical requirement that Christians carry every prophetic statement they have ever heard for the rest of their lives.

This is especially important when a prophetic word concerns something that has not happened.

Christians sometimes attempt to preserve the word at all costs. Perhaps the timing changed. Maybe the person lacked faith. Perhaps the recipient misunderstood. Or the fulfillment will happen many years from now.

Any of those explanations might apply in a particular circumstance. They should not become automatic explanations for every prophetic word that fails to materialize. Otherwise, there is no meaningful test.

If a prediction can never be considered mistaken because an explanation can always be found afterward, then the church has stopped testing prophecy and has simply learned how to defend it.

Scripture tells us to test.

Testing requires the willingness to conclude that something did not withstand examination.

Testing Should Become Normal

This is where I think churches can improve their practice of prophecy.

Testing should not be something that happens only after a prophetic word causes trouble. It should be part of the process from the beginning.

Imagine if Christians were taught that receiving a prophetic word normally looks something like this: listen carefully, ask questions, pray about it, compare it with Scripture, talk with mature believers, and give it time. If the word proves useful and consistent with Scripture, hold onto what is good. If it doesn’t, leave it alone.

That practice would protect both the congregation and the prophetic minister. It protects the congregation from readily accepting every word as though it were unquestionably the Word of God. It also protects prophetic ministers from carrying a burden that Scripture does not require them to carry.

A person who says, “I believe this is what I am sensing from the Lord, but please weigh it,” has not diminished the gift. He has acknowledged his own limitations and given the church permission to do what Paul instructed the Corinthians to do. He has not demanded that his perception be treated as infallible.

That kind of humility should be welcome in the church.

There is a Place for Healthy Skepticism

I use the word skepticism carefully. Christians should not develop a cynical attitude toward spiritual gifts. We should also not become so eager to demonstrate faith that we stop exercising discernment. Healthy skepticism simply means that we don’t treat a claim as established merely because it has been presented confidently.

We should be skeptical when someone uses “God told me” to settle an argument or control another person’s decision. We should be skeptical when failed predictions are continually explained away rather than acknowledged. And we should be skeptical when a prophetic ministry creates dependence upon the prophet or institution rather than directing people toward Christ and Scripture.

That kind of skepticism does not require a critical heart. It requires discernment.

The New Testament gives us a picture of a church that expects spiritual gifts while also expecting spiritual maturity. Paul does not tell the church to choose between the two. He tells believers not to quench the Spirit, not to despise prophecy, and to test what they hear. The church is expected to remain receptive to what the Spirit may be doing while refusing to place any human prophetic claim beyond examination.