What to do with your Prophetic Words part 5

Prophecy does not end as soon as you have received a prophetic word. It is only the beginning. Prophecy is powerful, and your responsibility as the recipient is to activate it in your life.

Reading through Jeremiah in the Bible recently, I was challenged about my prophetic words, particularly working towards the fulfilment of them.

In Jeremiah 1:12 it says: “The Lord said to me, ‘You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled’.” Sure, that was speaking of a particular time in Israel’s history, but I am sure that God still watches to see what we will do with the prophetic words spoken over our lives.

When we actively pursue that which God has communicated to us, how it must thrill God’s heart. Alternatively, when we are overwhelmed with the enormity and allow that to stagnate us or when we procrastinate in working towards the fulfilment of our prophetic words, I wonder how God feels.

Sometimes those prophecies can seem so vast and impossible that we almost disregard them and thus do not carry out any action towards the fulfilment of them. Other times, we can become side-tracked.

My purpose in explaining the steps in ‘What to do with your prophetic words’ is so you can take delight in becoming who God is calling you to be and impacting the world for that which He created you.

In what area of your life is God watching to see that you fulfil His word in your life?

Over the last four blog posts, I have explained the benefits of having a prophetic word, the first steps to take when you receive a prophetic word, and how to identify your identity words and destiny words from your prophecies and work with them. This blog post addressed the practicalities of implementing your prophetic words into your everyday life.

At the end of the last blog post, I encouraged you to dream with God. To imagine what your future may look like if your prophetic words came true. You were encouraged to:

  • Get your notes from that session and highlight the steps you will need to take to get from where you are to where you will be once you fulfil your prophetic words.
  • List the practical things that you would need to grow in.
  • Look at the first 2-3 steps you would need to take. Write them down. Ask God to impress on you the way forward. You need to take responsibility to action these steps. You can’t expect God to pluck you out of your current circumstances and land you right in your fulfilled prophecy. You may find it helpful to grab another sheet of paper and draw the steps and label them.

List your next 3 steps.

We need to be intentional in who we are becoming and what we are doing. It can be overwhelming when we have too many options. Thus, narrow down your responsibility at this moment by:

  • Writing the first three steps you need to take.
  • Writing a date, beside each step, when you hope to have accomplished this.
  • Highlighting that which is under God’s control in one colour and that which is under your control in another colour.
  • Look at what you need to stop doing in your life to allow you time, finance and energy to accomplish this.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What is the difference between where I am now and where I need to be to fulfil this prophetic word?
  • What obstacles are ahead of me?
  • How do I overcome these obstacles?
  • What are the things under God’s control?
  • What are the things under my control?
  • Do I have enough faith to carry out what God is asking me?
  • How can I increase my faith for this assignment?
  • What practical skills do I need to gain?
  • What areas of my character need growing/changing?
  • How am I going to do that?
  • What provisions/finances do I need to carry this assignment out?
  • What opportunities/invitation do I have to grow in?
  • What area of my relationship with God is He inviting me to grow in?
  • What is my next step?
  • Is there anything I need to stop doing so I have time, finances, and energy to do this next step?
  • Is there anyone I need to connect with for assistance, development, acquiring skills or qualifications?

Accountability:

I have found that the times in my life when I get someone else to hold me accountable for some goals I have set, I achieve those goals. Needing to meet with someone else and knowing they will ask me how I am going in certain areas helps to keep me accountable and ploughing towards where I am hoping to be. I also find that it is helpful if that person is a person of prayer and will support me by praying for me.

If you have a mentor, it is fantastic to give them a copy of your prophetic words and your next steps so they can see where God is calling you and how to assist.

Who are you going to ask to hold you accountable as you work towards fulfilling these first three steps in seeing your prophetic word come to fruition?

Craft a prophetic declaration.

Every time we speak, we are creating an atmosphere and an outcome. Our words can bring life and power. We can use our words to bring a breakthrough into our current situation. We can speak truth into the atmosphere and engage our future with who God says we are becoming and what we will be doing.

The Bible says a lot about our use of words:

  • Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
  • Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
  • Romans 4:17 “…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

What we decree and declare brings life and power. Decreeing and declaring speak of commanding, ordering, bringing into being, agreeing in the spiritual to change the physical. Write a prophetic declaration about who you are becoming and what you will be doing.

I encourage you to keep your declaration short and to the point. When I restrict my declaration to a few sentences, I can easily memorize it and speak it over myself numerous times each day. I also write it out and stick it on the bathroom mirror so that when I look in the mirror, I see my declaration and speak it over myself.

I also encourage you to write your declarations in the first person eg “I am a prayer warrior. I will bring healing to ….”

Look at your sheet of paper and choose the words that speak of your identity and calling. Put those words into a declaration.

I begin like this. “I decree and declare that God sees me as….

My calling and purpose in life is…..

I decree and declare that God wants to be …… for me during this season.”

Once you have written your declaration, I encourage you to find a place where you can say your declaration aloud. Practice saying it aloud several times. Then shout it out. I suggest you also find a place where you can be elevated while you shout out your declaration. This changes the atmosphere and engages your spirit differently. When we do this, we are partnering with God’s intentions for our future and helping Him create it. When we declare our future in the same way, the same tone, the same intentionality, and certainty as God declares it, our spirit engages and comes alive.

Finally, write your summary:

  • My decree and declaration
  • The next three steps I need to take.
  • What I need to stop doing to make time to pursue this.
  • Who I need to hold myself accountable to in this journey.
  • Suggested dates for review.
  • Set aside time in your diary to sit with God and review how it is going, read over your prophetic words again, pray through it all.

Saturate all this with prayer and worship, spending time with God, asking Him to reveal more through this process. Enjoy the journey!!

Prophetic Activations / Exercises to incorporate into your week:

Every week I list 5 prophetic activations/exercises under children/family, group, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The purpose of these exercises is to practice to help us hear God’s voice in a clearer manner. They sharpen our senses to hear and see and sense God and His way of communicating with us. This enables us to grow in our relationship with God and also to impart to others what God tells us for them. Feel free to use as many of these activations each week as you can. The more you practice, the sharper you become at hearing God’s voice. Enjoy! Remember that whenever you give another person a prophetic word or picture etc, please make sure that it is encouraging, edifying (strengthening) and comforting (1 Corinthians 14:3) and that it comes from a place of love.

1. Children / Families Activation:  Bake a batch of biscuits and make icing in several different colours. Gather piping tools for writing with icing. Encourage everyone to sit around the table and decorate a biscuit for various people eg each family member. Ask God to show what word, design, colour to decorate each individual biscuit with that communicates how God sees that person. Then distribute the biscuits to those people. Enjoy eating the biscuits and chatting about how God sees them.

2. Group Activation: Ask everyone to bring a gift beginning with the letter ‘B’. Encourage people to get into pairs. Every person has 1 minute to give their partner the gift plus prophesy over them about how that gift relates to them and how God sees them and their future.

3. Beginner Activation: Open your phone/computer and type ‘song heart’ into search. Ask God to highlight one of the song titles that appear on your screen. Spend time with God unpacking that song title and how applicable it is to your life. As God to reveal His perspective on that to you and His heart for you.

4. Intermediate Activation: Spend time with God seeking Him for His view on your partner or close friend. Ask God to reveal something significant to you about this person and their future. Lean into God and ask Him to flesh it out more for you, together with implications and when you are to share it with this person.

5. Advanced Activation: Spend time with God asking Him for His heart on COVID-19, especially in regard to a vaccine etc. Ask God to download to you more about this and the future of your area in regard to COVID-19. Ask God to show you whether you are meant to share this with anyone and, if so, with whom.