During this COVID-19 pandemic, we are receiving many prophetic words that keep pouring in from around the world.
Maybe you have received a word, or you have heard a word from someone else and are trying to figure out what to do with it next.
We must discern whether or not these words are from the Lord. Jesus warns us: And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, (12) and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. (Matt.24:11-12 NET)
Case Study in Discernment
To help us cultivate the gift of discernment, I want to share a prophecy that I just received. This prophetic word was sent to me by a person we know and trust—Tzofiya Rogers.
She and her husband Avi are part of the Tikkun Global Messiah Family of Ministries with whom PRMI has a partnership. The Holy Spirit greatly anoints Tzofiya, and she previously brought a wonderful word to PRMI about expanding our tent pegs, which is happening!
The word she brought below is consistent with the word we received from Steve Aceto about how God is smashing idols to make space for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
I want to pass this word from Tzofiya on to you because it is an excellent call to prayer. Tzofiya has given us permission to analyze this word.
A Prophetic Word from Tzofiya
March 16th, 2020
This is what I am hearing from the Lord…
He is saying that the time that we find ourselves in is to demonstrate His hand in His ability to redirect mankind, His bride, His co-laborers. In an instant, He is making the plans of man stand still.
This is a wake-up call, a taste of things to come, a beginning of birth pains, a momentary affliction. Out of His graciousness and kindness, He wants people to examine their hearts to see the condition and focus of their faith.
Where are you really at? Is one’s focus merely on self-preservation?
The Lord is saying, “What the world calls adversity, I call opportunity. The opportunity for the body to arise and take its place. The world needs answers, and you/we, His children, can provide them. From healing, to preaching, to sharing abundance, and yes, even to the resurrection of the dead. You carry the power of His Spirit to be the answer! This is not the time to shrink back, but to advance His kingdom.”
If you find that you are weak in faith, it is time to repent and be strengthened. “I ask you… Where is your faith?”
In regard to activity, the comings and goings of man, the plans and busyness, the Lord is saying “STOP! This is your opportunity to be redirected to the priorities of My heart. There is a lot of busyness, for My name’s sake, that I did not ordain – meetings, conferences, topics of conferences, gatherings, and even some recreation.”
He is saying – Be still and know that He Is God. He can stop our activity in a moment. Again, His kindness is poured out to allow you to realign with His heart in order to gain His perspective, not yours/ours. Slow down, listen…
In regard to resources, both in manpower and financial, He is saying that He wants to redirect them for His kingdom purposes. Too much is being wasted on the ideas of man. It is time for His people to hear His directions afresh and reallocate, reorganize, and redirect resources, talents, and gifting for His purposes. Less of man’s kingdom and more of His kingdom.
He is saying that, again, it is His mercy to give us time to slow down, listen, and gain His perspective.
In conclusion, He is saying, this is a wake-up call… not a resounding alarm… but one more moderate. “I came to seek and save the lost. Spread the good news. Get out of your buildings, out of your agenda. It is a time for the church to ARISE! Demonstrate My kingdom, share the message of hope to which you have been called. Seize your moment!!!”
Amen!
Why do we need to discern prophetic words even from those we know and trust?
I can personally confirm that the Holy Spirit anoints Tzofiya for prophetic ministry and we have experienced the Lord speaking through her. But we must always submit all such words to the process of discernment.
That goes for any prophetic words that any one of us may give. And that includes ME!
Everything I put up on Discerning the Times has gone through a process of discernment. And we submit all these words to you for discernment. (This process of discernment is one of the core values of PRMI.)
In this time, when the Holy Spirit moving, there is also the heightened possibility for deception from Satan. Jesus gave us this warning that in the End Times, “many false prophets will appear and deceive many, (12) and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:11-12 NET)
Four Discernment Guidelines
We must discern whether this word is from the Lord or not. We always submit any word like this to the following four discernment guidelines. I suggest you read through this prophecy and see how it holds up under these four guidelines.
(There are other guidelines such as the timing that are more specific for discerning prophecy which we shall get to in another article, but let’s focus on these as the most basic.)
1. Does it give glory to Jesus Christ in the present and in the future?
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. John 16:13-14 (NIV)
2. Is it consistent with the intentions and character of God as revealed in Scripture?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)
3. Do other people who are filled with the Holy Spirit have a confirming witness?
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. I Corinthians 14:29 (NIV)
4. Is there confirmation in objectively verifiable events or facts?
You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?: If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NIV)
Applying the Discernment Questions
Here is a short video teaching where Martin Boardman and I take you through these four guidelines for discernment and apply them to this particular word. We show how we concluded that this word of prophecy from Tzofiya IS from the Lord, but each of us needs to cultivate this art of discernment.
Suggestions for how to Pray, Guided by this Word
We have concluded through applying our four discernment questions that this word given by Tzofiya seems to be a genuine invitation from the Lord to pray in specific directions.
Every time we receive guidance, there is an opportunity for obedience and to pray it into reality. In this case, here are some directions for prayer:
- Pray that congregations would wake up and step boldly into the role the Lord has for the church at this time.
- Ask for forgiveness on behalf of the church for the ways we have not taken the calling of the great commission seriously and for how we have involved ourselves in trivial matters instead of advancing the Kingdom of God.
- Pray that believers would be able to slow down and spend time listening to the Lord.
- Pray that believers would draw close to the Lord so that they can “be still and know the He is God”.
- Pray that the body of Messiah would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).
- Pray that the Lord would soften the hearts of unbelievers and make them hungry and thirsty for him.
- Pray that through all these world events the Holy Spirit would begin to bring renewal to the church and begin a great awakening of the Lost in our nations.
- Pray that believers would be salt and light in the world right now (Matthew 5:13-16) offering hope, comfort and peace in the midst of this pandemic.
- Pray that the Church would Arise!
- Pray that Jesus Christ would be exalted and God the Father glorified through all of this.
This prophetic word allows us to deepen our gifts of discernment and understanding of how the Holy Spirit invites us to work with Him in creating God’s future through the gift of prophecy.
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Thank you for sending the prophecy and the teaching!
It confirms what I have been hearing over the last weeks.
Specifically the Lord gave Scriptures from Lam. 3:33, 41, Matt. 7:24-27, I Sam. 5, and the most recent one was Hosea 10:12
“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and shower his righteousness on you.”
I totally agree with the prayer points listed above. They correspond with my own prayer requests. Thank you for listening for guidance as we all must do.
Thank you for this, especially the video. It helped me more fully understand the fourth discernment question.
Also, I affirm the scripture from Hosea Mary mentioned in her comment. The Lord woke me two nights ago with the word “Hosea”. In reading it then, 10:12 was one of the verses that really resonated.
Thanks a lot. I’m blessed by it.
Thank you so much sharing this prophetic with discernment. It is a confirmation as I have already asked the Lord to help me use this time wisely to learn of Him. Also, to share with others and to participate in an online intercessory prayer group. One of our prayers included waking up the sleeping giants /Luke warm Christians
(Ephesians 5: 14).
Thank you for sharing this prophetic word. Every time I open my bible to read I am asking God to help me understand more of what He want me to do in this season of my life. Blessings from South Africa.
Thank you for sharing me a prophetic Word from God . I share also my experienced when i prayed in the spirit. When i prayed to Him, i speaked a prophetic word of encouragement after a heavenly words or after i speak in other tongues. I thank God for that experiences. I also encourage to everyone to pray in the spirit. Don’t worry the Holy Spirit will guide you always. Thanks a lot, for God’s glory i testify this. Amen!.Shalom!
Thank you for a powerful word. I agree that this is the time to check out hearts. There are idols that God is destroying and want us to get them out of our lives. Thanks also for guide lines for discerning prophecy.