As God was training me I became sensitive to lessons on how to be a prophet from Scripture. There are a few good lessons not commonly understood.
They will accuse you of being False. Deal with it.
The one thing that EVERYONE who serves in the prophetic ministry will face is being called a False Prophet. This is INEVITABLE! It’s like a word association game, you say ‘prophet’ and they say ‘false.’ Jesus said a prophet is NEVER welcome in his own home. People have an irrational (or maybe justified) fear of a real prophet knowing and exposing their secret sins, and lash out. Even I often have a kind of fear as a first reflex! Fear of exposure!! Why?!?
So yes, people will ALWAYS accuse you of being a false prophet. EVERY prophet of God is called a false prophet on-line, what are we to do? Shrink back? Cry in the bushes? Hide under a bushel? In fact God made this comment to Jeremiah as well.
but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully.
What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD.
29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD,
and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
* * *
32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them.
So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.
The Profit of a Prophet is Repentance
This is a second lesson I found and is very useful. What I learned from the Scriptures that the main difference between a true prophet and a false one is that the True Prophet turns the people from their sin. I’ve read this a few times but I think the best verse is maybe in Jeremiah below.
A false prophet encourages sinners and discourages the righteous, telling people what the popular narrative is which usually just supports the status quo, protecting those in power, deflecting criticisms. A true prophet cleanses the sin–not by saying it no longer exists, but by calling people to repent, to change, to confess and go and sin no more.
Jer 23:17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'”
18 For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
Jer 23:19 Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.
True prophets who share words of correction are usually driven out of town. It has no direct bearing on whether it’s true or not, whether God sent them or not. You can’t judge a word by the reaction in this sense, you must always and ONLY judge by the Spirit. But I am inclined to think the Flesh reacts more strongly against the Spirit–a guy running around insulting people in his own strength is often left alone, ignored, but a prophet speaking God’s word makes unrepentant people ANGRY! But no, we must judge not by what we see, but like Jesus said, by what we hear (God tell us is true).
“My people do not know how to repent”
Our big church had three or sometimes four services every Sunday and one time we had a joint service at a big fancy hotel so everyone could meet at the same time, and on the intercession team I was doing my best to pray for the venue to prepare it for worship. We started singing our best songs, our happiest praise songs, but I felt just a heavy weight in my heart, in my spirit, and so just I pushed through, began rebuking Satan, praying harder, interceding more but if felt less like it was Satan’s presence and more like the Holy Spirit was grieved! Like he wasn’t happy. I couldn’t understand it and also I could not rebuke it away! Finally I just gave up and said, OK, Jesus what’s the matter? And he said, “My people do not know how to repent.”
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD.
Maybe part of this is a modern teaching on Grace that makes it into a license to sin, not knowing Grace is charis, is actually the strength to stop sinning! Jesus explained this to me in depth, that Grace does not mean Forgiveness, and only after several visions and then some research did I really understand what a major problem we have in our churches who teach grace as a license to sin.
Anyway, it’s good to understand what God is doing, what he means when he speaks, to know the bigger picture so to speak, but as a prophet, your job is to be a messenger and don’t over-think everything. Just be faithful, clear, obedient.
And yes, people ALWAYS accuse you of being a false prophet. It comes with the territory. Telling people God loves them is not contentions. Anyone can do that job. You’re always welcome to share! But telling stubborn leaders they are headed for disaster unless they change, even when it’s their ONLY HOPE of avoiding catastrophe it is still ALWAYS contentious, and they will resist, and attack, and accuse, and slander. The job of a prophet could run from either degree, but the real need where we are suffering a labor shortage is the latter.