HOW TO TEST PROPHECY

Testing Prophecy

God can bring you into a place of revelation, insight and peace about how to test prophecy. This will result in the Christian being secure in their own walk with the Lord about testing prophecy.
The believer should, on a daily basis, cast all their cares onto the Lord, and tell God all their anxieties, worries, problems, questions, and let God answer.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Pet 5:6,7)

The true believe will always be open to the Lord to instruct them, teach them, rebuke them and bless them. Without true flexibility and reachability you can never truly grow as the Lord wants for you to.

Test 1: Is the prophecy scriptural ?
Does it line up with scripture. If it doesn’t, is your interpretation of scripture correct? If it is true prophecy, and the Christian uses scripture to refute it, then this teaching and warning from Jesus must be understood.

“If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt 6:23)

Also if you are using scripture to reject prophecy, have you understood the intent and the heart of scripture, or have you simply read according to the letter:

“for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor 3:6)

Jesus rebuked many of the Pharisees who quoted from the Word of God, but they quoted out of context.

If the prophecy is not scriptural (according to the right interpretation of scripture) it should be rejected.

Test 2: Prayer

Communication with the Lord is essential in testing prophecy. Things to ask God in prayer:
Is this person speaking from their own heart or are they truly listening to the Lord ?
Are they walking in their own ambitions, or are they truly seeking the heart of God ?
When praying you must ask yourself, are you making quality time for prayer, do you ask God to help you to listen to the answer?
You must ask God to overrule you for any reason if you are rejecting true prophecy.
You must ask God for boldness to reject anything that is not from God, but you must fear God to reject a true prophet.

Test 3: Peace

Do you have peace ? This is one of the greatest reasons for Christians rejecting prophecy. Many believers don’t want to receive some prophecies, so this will naturally cause them to be conflicted which will result in them not having the peace they should have, and they get deceived.

Then say they don’t have peace, therefore the prophecy mustn’t be from the Lord, when what is needed is for them to humble themselves and ask God for peace if the prophecy is from God. When God gives you a sense of no peace, it will be different to when it is not of God.

Once you have been through all your motives, and if you are true to God you will know whether the peace you have is from God or whether the peace you don’t have is from God.

Test 4: Confirmation

Is this something other prophets are prophesying that God is speaking to you ?
For example - prophecies about world situations: many prophets in this time are prophesying the same prophecies about economic disasters, wars etc. On a personal level, God will speak to you through the Holy Spirit, through scripture and also through other Christians. God does not always have to confirm prophecy, as the Lord has spoken everything you need to know through scripture – the problem is when the saints do not listen to scripture.
Therefore a prophet can prophesy anything to you, that you have not necessarily been prepared for by the Lord already (although scripture prepares you for all things!)
Saying “God hasn’t spoken to me, therefore I reject the prophecy” is a great error.
God can speak in any way, or any time, or by any means He wishes, whether the Christian is prepared or not.

Test 5: What is the fruit of prophecy ?

Does the prophecy inspire you whether through the fear of God, or through the love of God, to be holy, to walk in love, to seek God at a deeper level, to evangelize, to walk in mercy etc..?

Walking in the prophetic will mean that your whole mindset, understanding, reasoning must be changed to be brought into alignment with the Word of God. This will result in power and Gods authority over your life.

Without true flexibility and reachability you can never truly grow as the Lord wants for you to.

Also if you are using scripture to reject prophecy, have you understood the intent and the heart of scripture, or have you simply read according to the letter:

If the prophecy is not scriptural (according to the right interpretation of scripture) it should be rejected.

Do you see what a trap this is? Because if you hear a prophecy and reject it then ,aha!, you just aren't spiritual enough, you just don't have the right level of understanding, you're not humble enough, you're not flexible enough, so you're trapped.

This is altogether the wrong starting point for such a discussion of false prophecy. There is one true test of the prophet, is his prophecy accurate?

In Christ,

Ron

Hi,
The true test of Prophet is if it comes to pass he is a prophet.I Would aggree with Ron that if it is accurate.It cant be anything else,it would be too difficult for us to intrepret otherwise.Even if the prophet brings the prophesy in the wrong way the prophet is still a true prophet.Lets say for instance a prophesy is given that turns out to be true and someone says well you didnt bring it at the right time or that it wasnt given in spirit of love then the prophet is still correct only because the prophesy is true and accurate.Their is no excuse not to heed the prophesy.
Lets not make this any more complicated than it is,Staff

Personally at the moment I don't seek for prophesies to guide me or other people for daily walk or future plans.

The wisdom that will be granted to us as we walk humbly and faithfully over time will bring us the trusting and quiet spirit that will help us survive the trying moments.

This wisdom as a result of our faithful walk with the Lord is more peaceable and reliable than the many prophesies that we hear or read today. Saying that, I do not ignore or despise prophesying in the church.

But then to be obsessed by them to the point of creating an association of prophets , school of prophets, seminars for prophets, prophetic ministries, well_ I think prophesies coming from these people are just not safe. Beware.

Angela_888,

Q: Why did God give some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers?
A: To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13).

Accordingly, this must be the central focus of the prophet and of the prophecy: Jesus Christ. To bring all attention unto Christ. To bring glory to Jesus Christ. To bring everyone into submission to Christ. To bring greater devotion to Jesus Christ. To build the body of Christ.

After all, the Holy Spirit does not speak of His own, but He testifies about Jesus Christ. Notice how Jesus described the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 15:26 and John 16:13-14.

Anyone who deviates from this essence should be warned. Any spirit who makes you deviate from this essence cannot be of God.

IntheLight wrote:
This is altogether the wrong starting point for such a discussion of false prophecy. There is one true test of the prophet, is his prophecy accurate?

Patience and longsuffering comes into play here mightily! I had a prophecy given to me and it took almost 10 years to come to pass in my life but the Lord brought it to pass.

Everyone who has the gift of prophesy is not a prophet but yet all prophets prophesy! And we prophesy according to the proportion of our faith. Those who are new in the operation of the gift of prophesy may not prophesy like one who has operated in the gift for 10 or 20 or more years. Again, patience for those learning to follow the Spirit is a must along with guidance as well.

God bless and thank you for considering my two-cents!

Lisa

Whether it be the gifts or the offices, the same purpose remains.

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:3-7).

Everyone who has the gift of prophesy is not a prophet but yet all prophets prophesy! And we prophesy according to the proportion of our faith. Those who are new in the operation of the gift of prophesy may not prophesy like one who has operated in the gift for 10 or 20 or more years. Again, patience for those learning to follow the Spirit is a must along with guidance as well.

You're right Lisa, thank you for your reply. Much patience and love are required, I'm not sure I showed much of either in my first post, I apologize.

I do believe that personal revelation from the Holy Spirit for the purpose of edification, exhortation, and encouragement is a blessed gift yet not free from the possibility of mixture of human error therefore it must be tested on the basis of Biblical teaching and mature spiritual wisdom.

In Christ,

Ron

InTheLight wrote: "Much patience and love are required, I'm not sure I showed much of either in my first post, I apologize"

I did not mean to imply that you were not patient; I’m sorry if that came across to you! My apologies.

A question for you.... How do you test prophecy? If it cannot be tested by Scripture, is it tossed aside? I’ve just wondered how other people handle prophecy. Thank you.

PS: I like your quote by Art Katz!

God bless,
Lisa

Scripture is to be rightly divided, not subtracted from added to or even multiplied.

prof-ate-yoo'-o

to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office: - prophesy.

prof-ay'-tace
a foreteller (“prophet”); by analogy an inspired speaker; by extension a poet: - prophet.

Prophet is one who foretells of future events and / or is an inspired speaker

Prophets: Daniel , jerimiah etc

Inspired Speaks: David, solomon etc

I would disagree that prophesy is strictly about Jesus. We can see in Acts where the Holy Spirit enabled individuals to prophesy about future events that would happen to other individuals

example
Acts 21:11
Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

the prophesy in the above text was not about Jesus it was about a future event that was going to happen to Paul. What is also interesting is that Paul did not receive this prophesy directly himself. Often we assume that because we have the holy spirit we should not receive of other christians. This is pride. If peter a man who saw Jesus and walked on water could be rebuked/corrected by paul (admittedly chief of all sinners) and accept correction why do we feel we should not receive correction if it comes from another is this not pride?.

As it has been said already God uses a variety of ways to talk to us. If we wont listen to a still voice he can make a donkey talk to us so we get the message.

Inspired speaking tends to be about and leading to Jesus.

Conclusion
The prophetic mantle includes both the foretelling of future events or things God is going to do or things that will happen. Also prophesying can be inspired speech which tends to lead to Christ. In this day and age we need both.

Good point RainMan!

I do believe that you can hold Acts 21:11 in tension with Revelation 19:10, where it is said that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. I do have a question, however. How do you all interpret Revelation 19:10 in context, and does it stand alone as a definition of prophecy?

I do love the wisdom of this place.

Bless you all.

Revelation 19:10 (Amplified Bible)

10Then I fell prostrate at his feet to worship (to pay divine honors) to him, but he [restrained me] and said, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] another servant with you and your brethren who have [accepted and hold] the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God! For the substance (essence) of the truth revealed by Jesus is the spirit of all prophecy [the vital breath, the inspiration of all inspired preaching and interpretation of the divine will and purpose, including both mine and yours].

in context the prophesy alluded to in this scripture is an allegorical-type eshatological logos. We can infer from the above that prophesy in this context is holy spirit inspired logos that may or may not be about future events.Holy spirit inspired truth and revelation should be taken primarily and referenced with the bible. The book of Daniel is another type of such prophesy. But the gift of prophesy as outlined in the new testament church is not limited to eschatology.

To surmise prophesy its the inspired word and council of God through the holy spirit that has always been behind prophesy. Prophesy can be the inspired council of God warning a rebellious people of the Consequence of actions, the inspired word regarding the unfolding of eschatological events, inspired specific instruction for a individual or church. The common denominator is that the animation is of the spirit of christ aka the holy spirit i think the english used in 19:10 doesnt do the text justice and can mislead one to assume the text is saying that all prophesy is about Jesus which it is clearly not.

Another example is when paul says that with tears he had warned night and day about wolves that would enter the fold. His teachings about later day false teachers was simply holy spirit inspired logos. Pauls prophetic writings has certainly kept me on the straight and narrow yet his subject was not Christ but future events that the church should be aware of.

"Let he who has an ear hear what the spirit is saying to the churches"
my question then would be. If the spirit is still speaking specifically to the churches in our day what is the scriptural presidence of how he does so?

God bless

thats my 2ct

Hi

Yes a test of a true prophet is if the prophecy comes to pass, but you must understand that its coming to pass is subject to God's terms and timing not yours.

I pose the following question to you:

Say you were living at the time of Adam and Eve when the prophecy found in Genesis 3:15 was given

"And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

This prophecy was fulfilled about 4,000 years later, and if you lived at the time when this prophecy was given, would you say that this prophecy isn't true and therefore reject it just because you wouldn't have lived long enough to see the fulfillment of it?

God gives prophecy for different reasons which are also subject to other reasons, meaning you do not reject a prophecy just because it doesn't conform to your understanding or just because you yourself haven't seen its fulfillment.

Angela

Prophesies can only be either true or false. The more important thing to consider is the prophet, beware of the path he is leading to.

The fact that a prophecy has come to pass does not prove that it was true and that the person prophesying is from God. Prophecy needs to be tested against the Word whether it comes to pass or it doesnt. My point is, there are many sources of prophecies and predictions whose prophecies come to pass but are not from God. For example Napoleon Bonaparte and the John Hogue(not Hagee) predict events using mysterious codes and yet he is totally Antichrist.Another example is the horoscope or the star guide which have no basis from the word of God at all. Christ said the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth shall lead us into all truth and when one gets filled with truth, deception has no vacant space in him.
We never have to slow down when it comes to prayer because it is through prayer that we are refleshed with wisdom and truth from God.
The more we pray and study the word of God the more we know the truth and have an ability to differentiate truth from error and the more we are protected against false prophets. God is honoured in the true prophecy and the prophet and in false prophecy the prophet gets the honour. True prophecy will never be contrary to the word of God, in fact the word of God is a trusted foundation for prophecy.

Piece of advice, donot trust the spirits before testing them, rather, test and trust and dont trust before testing.

passerby wrote:
Prophesies can only be either true or false. The more important thing to consider is the prophet, beware of the path he is leading to.

His point was, don’t fall in love with the one who brings you the word of the Lord (your pastor) and even “thus says the Lord,” to you through prophecy! Many people put their pastor or the person prophesies on a pedestal.

I thought it was a story that made a valid point.

God bless,
Lisa

(edited for clarity)

I heard R.C. Sproul's testimony about his prior involvement in the charismatic movement. He said that he was particularly alarmed by all the heresies that came by way of "tongues" and their interpretations. However, what struck him the most was when he was trying to figure out where God wanted him to go next for his career. Five of his charismatic friends came, one after the other, and gave him a prophecy concerning his career. They each had received a "word from the Lord", and told R.C. Sproul that God wanted him to go to a particular city, and take a particular job. The problem is that they told him to go to five different cities, and told him to take five different jobs. He said "I may be iniquitous but I'm not ubiquitous, and I can’t be at five different cities at the same time" (http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=928101832307).

Hello everyone, this is a great topic! Lets remember Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on the mount. How many false prophets were there? The king of Israel believed the prophets of Baal or he wouldn't have had them working for him. The true prophet is always in the minority and only does what God commands. Who was that? Elijah. Scripture ref 1 Kings 18:19-39
My studies on this subject have led me to 7 main biblical tests to prove whether a prophet is true or false.
#1 Isaiah 8:19-20 Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. In other words if a prophet is in disagreement with the Law of God and the testimony of Jesus, he is false.
#2 Jer 28:9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. Here we see that the prophets' prediction must happen.
#3 Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Here our Lord tells us that by their fruits you will know them. Do they live according to God's will or in their private life do they do their own thing?
#4 1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
#5 Num 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Clearly the Lord will be known by the prophet, hence will obey. Jesus said to us " I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
#6 Dan 10:15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
Dan 10:16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
Dan 10:17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
Here we can see Daniel fell to the ground, had no strength, and had no breath yet he could still speak. This is a very unusual feat.
#7 Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. Clearly if the prophecy does not come true the prophet is a fake.
In summnation, a true prophet must speak and live according to the Word of the Lord, his prophecy must come true, no strength retained, speak without breathing, What are his fruits?
There are more tests, 11 in all, biblically speaking. Furthermore, if the prophet fails even one test, he is not a true prophet of God.
On one other post, it was stated that David was not a prophet. I give you Act 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Thankyou
Notice Jesus calls David a prophet.

Thankyou for your response. Yes, I agree Deut 13 is most certainly relevant. Also, Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? I understand that not only the fruits of their outward actions are relevant but also their inward thoughts. It is possible to act a christian in the eyes of man without a complete surrender to Christ. God will know his condition, but it is harder for us to see it. This individual will be much more difficult to identify as a false prophet. I believe that's why God gave us more than one test. As you pointed out, "If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." God assures us with the little word "if" that it isn't possible, provided we are one of His sheep. Why is this a fact? In Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. Again, there is an "if". We must do His will, then we will know. What is His will? Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. I understand this to mean the ten commandments that God calls perfect. Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Thankyou for reading.

Good thoughts. After much wrestling with this topic over the years, I believe the best test of prophecy is this: does this word sound like something Jesus would say if Jesus were here to say it. Does the word reflect the heart and mind of Christ?

There is therefore no degree of delusion higher than that which is evidenced by those who profess to teach from the divinely inspired Scriptures that the immediate, continual illumination and working of the Spirit in men’s hearts ceased when the canon of Scripture was complete.

To deny the present prophetic gift in the Church is to deny also that very manifestation of Christ today to His own which the Scriptures teach is the only means to the reality of gospel Christianity. Is this not a denial of the very heart and power of the Christian faith? The fulfillment of Christ’s promise, “I will manifest myself to you” (John 14.21), brought the power of His presence through the Holy Spirit into the early church.

“And with great power the apostles gave witness of the resurrection... and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 4.33, 5.14). Christ was surely living His life through these early members of the church who were aptly described as “these who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17.6). We need faith to expect as real a fulfillment of Christ’s promise for today!

All the above was written by William Law, "An Humble, Earnest and Affectionate Address to the Clergy" (1761), and was renamed "The Power of the Spirit" by Andrew Murray; the quote is from page 69.