Posted: 09/01/2010 at 5:00pm | IP Logged

Has anyone been here before, or still in this process? Below is a very good teaching on this subject and one that I truly believer every prophet needs to know more about as they go through the arduous training process. I believe that it's a continual thing of dying to our fleshly nature as we are transformed from image unto image into Christ's likeness.

Thanks,

Stephen Hanson

Prophetic Preparation for Office of Prophet

Les D. Crause

What the Office of Prophet Is

The prophet is one who hears from God and speaks forth His Word into the earth. When he speaks it forth, it is sent as a creative word as described by Isaiah the prophet

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall succeed [in the thing] for which I sent it.

When the prophet of God makes a declaration he does not simply predict or indicate the will of God, but he literally speaks forth a decree into the earth. And that word is sent forth in power to make things happen. So it is very important therefore that the prophet hears correctly before he opens his mouth. And that takes a bit of training and development. He must distinguish his own burden and prejudices from the pure word of God.

So God puts the prophet through a prophetic preparation that causes him to come to a place where he cannot rely on his natural abilities. Even his ability to hear the voice of God must be put in question, that he may never boast in himself.

Prophetic Preparation for the Office of Prophet

Let’s look then at prophetic preparation. One of the best passages that describes this is found in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 4: 8 [We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death works in us, but life in you.
I am going to look at some of the verses from this passage and discuss each aspect as it relates to the preparation of the prophet.

For many who are called to the Office of Prophet there is an excitement at the prospect of becoming one who speaks for God and stands forth as one elevated to such an office. You expect God to grant great and wonderful revelations, and as you speak them forth people will stand in awe and wonder and wish they had the privilege you have been given.

But for most who receive this call, there comes a sudden shock when they find themselves being rejected, despised and ostracized because of their ministry. This process is called prophetic preparation.

Prophetic Preparation Stage 1: Everything goes wrong

[We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed;

You are starting to enter into the prophetic preparation phase for the office of prophet. And the first sign of this is when everything in your life starts to go wrong. You know what it is like when you get up in the morning and it is one of those days when you wish you had stayed in bed. Everything you touch turns sour. Your family members all seem to be against you. Your spouse starts to fight with you. And when you arrive at work the boss and your fellow workers seem to pick up on it. You go to church hoping for some relief and the Pastor and other church members seem to have caught the vision too, and feel they have been called to put you in your place.

But the Scripture tells you that you do not need to be distressed. When all this starts to happen you don’t have to throw your hands up in despair and give up. You realize that the Lord is in a most wonderful way, starting to make you into a vessel that is fit for His use.

Prophetic Preparation Stage 2: The Prophet's emotions are challenged.

[we are] perplexed, but not in despair

Once your emotions have been put out of action, the next thing that God has to deal with is your ability to figure your way out of things. One of the things that often stands in the way of the prophet clearly hearing the voice of God is the voice of his own mind. Your mind has a habit of subjecting everything you receive from the spirit to its own close scrutiny and analysis. You try to reason out what God is saying and why He is saying it, and try to make sense of the Word He has given you. But this tendency, especially in those who are prone to the analytical temperamental traits, can become a great hindrance to the pure flow of prophetic revelation.

But once again, you do not have to end up in despair. All that is happening is that the Lord is trying to get your attention. He is trying to tell you that you cannot rely on your natural mental capabilities. He wants you to realize that your ability to be a prophet has nothing to do with your keen mind.

Prophetic Preparation Stage 3: Prophets in Training are Persecuted

Persecuted, but not forsaken

As if all of that is not bad enough, the next thing you find appearing in your life is opposition from people who you thought would support you. Of course you expected opposition from the world. You probably even expected it from those who are not walking closely with the Lord. But that is not where this stage of prophetic preparation comes from. It comes from those who are the closest to you, and from whom you expected the greatest support and understanding.

And do you know what happens when people start to persecute you? They force you to do what they think is right, and they prevent you from doing what you want to do. In other words, your free will is put out of action. The first two things we spoke of put your emotions and your mind out of action. Now this one puts your will out of action. That means that emotions, mind and will are all put on hold. These are the three functions of the soul, and when they are all blocked, your soul life is put out of action and brought to a condition of death. Welcome to prophetic preparation!

Prophetic Preparation Stage 4: Need for Recognition brought to Death

cast down, but not destroyed

Well you might think that all we have looked at so far is about as much as any person can take, but I have some bad news for you. Prophetic Preparation is not over. Because you see, the self-life that is in you is still alive and well. And although you might be forced to walk humbly before the Lord, there still remains that deep inner need for recognition. It is the one thing that drives us all to achieve in this life. We push ourselves beyond our limits at times, so that we can somehow succeed and receive the rewards of our success – recognition from man.

Is this pride? Not necessarily. It is just the way we are. It is the deep cry for recognition from others. And the acclaim that comes with being praised for your efforts makes it worth all the time and labor you spent getting there. Without this motivation few would ever succeed in anything in life. But for the prophet, this motivation must bow to the call of God and the faithful proclamation of the Word.

Whichever form it takes, be sure that this phase of prophetic preparation will happen to you. Why? So that your ministry can never depend on or be influenced by your need for recognition. The Lord does not want to take away this thing from you. In fact He delights in giving you all the recognition you deserve. But like all other things, it must first be brought to the cross.

Ready to be a Prophet Now? Prophetic Preparation Continues

Am I ready to be a prophet now? Well almost, but not quite. You see although the soulish life is the greatest hindrance to hearing clearly from the Spirit of God that dwells in your spirit, it is not simply the soul that is the problem. It is the tendency of the soul to submit to the body instead of the spirit. This is what the Bible calls ‘walking in the flesh.’

When the natural bodily desires of nourishment, reproduction and self-preservation come to dominate our lives, they give rise to covetousness, lust and bitterness. So the body must also be brought into subjection. It is likely that you will be led into a situation that could cause your body to come under attack. And you will find yourself facing situations where you cannot eat the food that you desire. Where you cannot fulfill the passions even in marriage, and where you are unable to defend yourself. You end up like the Scriptures describe Jesus, a sheep dumb before its shearers, a lamb being led to the slaughter. Prophetic Preparation will bring your body to complete submission to the spirit.

The Prophetic Preparation Walk: Death to the Flesh

When Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary He faced terrific physical pain, but He also faced much more than that. He faced rejection by His own people. He faced the torture and humiliation of the Roman soldiers. He was deserted by those who loved Him. And then He was publicly humiliated as they stripped Him nearly naked and took away even the very clothes that He wore. But the height of His suffering was as He hung there on the cross and turned towards the only One who really cared for Him and on whom He could rely – His heavenly Father. And that was when He faced the most painful part of His death. Because even the Father turned His back and looked the other way.

Learning to Die in Prophetic Preparation

But our Savior showed us how to die. He cried out with a loud voice. "It is finished." And then He handed himself over to the Father and gave up His spirit. People didn’t usually die this way on the cross. They would hang and suffer there until they became exhausted from struggling to stay alive. They would continually push themselves up on the cross by their feet so that they could still breathe. Only when exhaustion set in and they had no more energy left would they stop doing this, and then they would suffocate to death. That is why the Romans decided to break the legs of the prisoners when Jesus was crucified, so that they would die more quickly. In Prophetic Preparation you will learn how to "Die Already."

Now I want to show you what the Lord taught me from death by crucifixion. Paul said in Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ."

He was speaking about us becoming identified with Jesus in His death. And although our old nature was nailed to the cross with Jesus, and we by faith now reach out and take that death and apply it to ourselves, it takes an experimental application of the cross to our lives to cause sin to be dealt with in the flesh.

Prophetic Preparation Means Identifying with the Death of Christ

No one can experience the death of the cross alone. You cannot commit suicide by crucifixion in prophetic preparation. You can only hold up your hands and invite someone to nail you to the cross. And if you wish to go through the preparation and the death that it entails, then you have to commit yourself to the Lord and invite Him to prepare you. And when you do this, you can expect to feel some nails being driven in. You can expect to have someone spit in your face, and push a crown of thorns on your head. And you can expect those who are closest to you to desert you.

Prophetic Preparation Death: Letting Go

But the final death can only come when you make a choice to let go. While you push up on the cross and struggle to stay alive, the pain will only continue. But when you can with the Lord Jesus declare, "It is finished," and yield up your spirit in death, then it will end. And there will come a season in the grave followed by the victorious resurrection of your ministry in the fullness of power. If you don’t allow this to happen, then you become a candidate for leg breaking in your prophetic preparation. And the Lord has to take drastic measures to bring you fully to the end of yourself.

Is your Prophetic Office Calling Real?

You are reading this study as one who has been called by God to the Office of Prophet. And if this was a true calling, you know and acknowledge that what I have said is true. And you have been going through the mill in your prophetic preparation. The pressure has been on, probably for a long period of time already. The chances are you are totally confused by all of this and do not understand what has been happening. It is called Prophetic Preparation. And I want to assure you now that it is not necessary for the pain to continue. You can end it all very quickly by recognizing what God is telling you and coming to the end.

You must stop struggling and yield to what has been happening. When you are falsely accused you must not try to defend yourself and seek justification or vindication. But you must submit yourself humbly and die. And when you do this, all the turmoil will cease. The noise will disappear. And there will come a calm such as you have never known in a long time. And there will come a deep stirring inside you that you will not be able to understand. Now is the time to let go of all effort and ministry. In fact you would probably do better to avoid any kind of spiritual activity at all. Just get involved in something secular. And leave the Lord to do His work in secret, because the body is now placed in the tomb.

Jesus spent three full days in the tomb, and during that period He accomplished our redemption from the powers of darkness. They thought they had defeated Him, but on the third day He arose triumphant, with power and authority, having the keys of death and Hades. He was given the Name above every other name. And He took His place in heaven, sending forth the power of the Holy Spirit upon the church and interceding at the right hand of the Father.

Prophetic Preparation Time in the Grave

So once you have gone through death, there will come a waiting period, where you will remain in the grave. And nothing will seem to be happening. Do not let it concern you, because things are happening that you cannot see. Just wait for the resurrection, for it will surely come. And when it comes, there will come a new power and a new authority. And suddenly your ministry will spring forth in power and authority. And you will rise up to take your place as a fully-fledged Prophet of God.

Of course that is not the end. There will be further times of training and further deaths to go through. Each new stage in your development will follow a very similar trend. But each one will also bring a greater depth of understanding and involvement in the Body of Christ.

Prophetic Preparation is Real!

You might ask me, "How do you know prophetic preparation is real? How can you be sure that this is the way God works in preparing His prophets?" Well I have shown you from the Scriptures, but you can rest assured that this servant of God has been there many times. And I have worked with and helped to train many of God’s prophets. And I have seen the process repeated in each one that has gone on for God and moved into a place of authority in the Kingdom of God. If you desire to move into that office my brother or sister, then there is no easy way around. Just as Jesus had to go the way of the cross, so you and I will have to walk that way with Him if we aspire to the office of one who would speak forth the Words of Almighty God into the earth.

Posted: 09/05/2010 at 6:57pm | IP Logged

Thank you so much for this posting. It has been a tremendous help to me. This position is very lonely and sometimes confusing, but this information brings more understanding and a settling in ones spirit. Thank you for being obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading. Bless you. And to all that read this post...,Remain faithful.