“Do Not Despise Prophesies”
Why did Paul tell us not to despise prophecy? Easy. Because we would really want to despise prophecy.
In all honesty, I’ve been really tempted to discard the prophetic as a whole. The pastor that I trusted the most, and who also had the most extraordinary prophetic stories, turned out to be a ravenous wolf and, well, a liar. This was disappointing, to say the least.
I grew up hearing all the stories about Paul Cain and Bob Jones: the comet, the drought, the spring snowstorm, etc. As a kid, I thought it was normal to hear such stories, and they made me feel like I was part of something spectacular.
But it turns out a lot of those stories were exaggerated or wholly fabricated. I really don’t know what was true and what wasn’t. But I have decided one thing. I don’t care. For argument sake let’s say that 80% of the prophetic history is true, it doesn’t affect my daily walk with God. My salvation is still by faith alone through Christ alone. Stories about comets don’t really matter.
I am quite content to leave all that in the rearview mirror.
And of course, we know that it wasn’t all true. The famous 418 word has been wholly debunked, a story that Mike relied on a lot.
But I’ve been asking myself the question, “Now what?” I am tired of big, dramatic prophetic words that don’t come true. I am sickened by the “Celebrity Prophets” who pretty much can’t get anything right, even when it’s literally a 50/50 guess.
I don’t want to hear a dramatic call to be radical anymore. The quiet and peaceful life is radical enough. I don’t want to stand in a stadium and lift up my shoes.
But I cannot deny the prophetic either, even when it seems it would be easier right now.
How many times have I been encouraged by a gentle word from a friend? How many times have I heard a song sung that grounded me again in my faith? How many times have I heard a whisper from the Lord meant to encourage a friend?
Friends, the prophetic is real. The Bible shows us that from the countless stories, Paul in his letters, Jesus modeled it, and I have experienced it. It just sucks that it has been corroded, manipulated, and misused for one’s gain.
The prophetic, as Paul demonstrates, is often used to encourage and strengthen. I’ve seen the prophetic used in that way countless times and it has breathed fresh air in my lungs.
And I don’t need to say “Thus Sayeth the Lord” to encourage a friend or someone in my church. I don’t even have to say “I heard this from the Lord”. You can encourage and strengthen people without the drama.
One of the main reasons I cannot throw out the prophetic as a whole, although tempting, is because of a word my family has dubbed “444”.
Years ago my mom had a dream. The short of it was that her alarm went off at 4:44 in the morning and someone told her that it had to do with Dwayne’s (my dad) calling.
She told my dad the word and looked through a few books in the Bible that had at least 44 chapters in them and nothing really made sense. My dad all but discarded it.
Before we moved to Brazil in 2013 we had a prayer time where our friends and family prayed and prophesied over us before leaving. It ended up being about 4 hours long and I honestly don’t remember much of what people said.
Towards the end of the prayer meeting when most people had left, a friend came up and sat next to my parents. He very gently said that he heard 444 from the Lord. It piqued my parent’s interest.
He said it was Zachariah 4, Acts 4, and Ephesians 4. Zachariah 4 is about the rebuilding of the temple, Acts 4 is about signs and wonders and boldness on the gospel, and Ephesians 4 is about equipping the saints to minister. This felt significant, it was what we were going to do in Brazil, build a prayer room, pray for power on the gospel, and equip the church to minister.
Looking back I am also encouraged that it was a word given based on the Bible. It wasn’t someone’s crazy experience, it wasn’t a supposed weather phenomenon, or some grandiose plan to change everything, everywhere, all at once. It was the Bible, plain and simple.
It came to mean something else over the years. It meant God was with us.
444 started to show up everywhere. As we were leaving the IHOP parking lot after saying goodbye to our friends and family on the way to the airport to go to Brazil I looked at my phone and it was 4:44. As we crossed the bridge on our way to Florianópolis (where we were moving) for the first time it was 4:44. When we opened the door to our shipping container when it arrived at our house it was 4:44.
We had to go to the Federal Police to renew our visas at the one-year mark of living in Brazil. We had just found out that our dear friends were returning to the United States after being in Brazil for 9 months. As we waited to be called back for our appointment my mom looked at the clock at 4:43 and said “If our number doesn’t go off at 4:44, I’m going home”. We chuckled but were also kind of serious about it. Half a second later the alarm went off. We looked up at the screen and it said “Elijah Roberts” at 4:44.
God was with us. I cannot deny that.
4:44 encouraged us at the hardest moments in Brazil. It reminded me that I was in Brazil for a reason, I was not alone. It pumped fresh air into my lungs to keep going.
There are honestly more stories and memories of 444 than I can count or ever share. It became not only our number but the number for our entire church and community. It has brought encouragement and strength to more people than just me.
So as I’ve thought about throwing out the prophetic I had to wrestle with 444. If I throw out the prophetic I would throw out 444 and the real encouragement from God I’ve felt. Inconvenient.
I am not throwing out the prophetic, I am throwing out IHOPKC’s prophetic history. I am setting aside the dramatic prophetic words from people with the character of a slug. I am embracing my own discernment and knowledge about God’s nature and character. I am reminding myself that I don’t need someone else to tell me what God thinks about me, God can tell me Himself.
But God is God. And He will use whatever means He wishes to speak. So I am opening myself up just a little bit again to hear and observe what He is doing around me. Whether we like it or not He does use the prophetic to speak 🤷♀️
I will take to heart Paul’s warning though; “Test all things, hold fast to what is good”.
I loved every word of this. This is exactly how I feel. My husband and I did not grow up hearing IHOPKC’s prophetic history. We first listened when we were in our 40’s. But we embraced it, listened to it so much that it became part of us. I was raised Baptist, so when I was first exposed to “spirit filled” church, it was the prophetic that convinced me. I loved the prophetic! I cried real tears watching friends and family getting words of encouragement that hit the bullseye from total strangers. So the reality that we were all manipulated by lies (or at least embellishments) shook me to my core. I’ve lived in an uncomfortable limbo this past year trying to come to a peaceful conclusion about the true prophetic. I really appreciate this article, Chloe. It is very thoughtful and I can relate to the internal journey you’ve been on. It's been quite the wrestle.
Hi Chloe. I too entered a 'prophetic/hyper-charismatic' spiritual detox journey about 6 years ago, being fully engaged in it for 45 years. Prophecy is an entirely different 'animal' than the current 'prophetic movement' which is derived from the Latter Rain movement. Prophecy, we are told not to despise, and to test all things. The 'prophetic movement' has been tested, weighed and found wanting. Prophecy is another story.