“When Paul told us to prophesy according to our Faith, he revealed why so many negative prophetic words are released!”
Bill Johnson — 2005

This quotation really challenged me when I first read it.

As a Watchman, quite a few of my Words are Warnings; a bit dour; somewhat Jeremiah-like in tone.

So I riled up when I first read the quote from Bill Johnson….

Basically I took offence! Not a good start was it?

Then The LORD started to deal with me. Oh dear; whoops; sorry LORD! Repent, repent, repent!

Time to leave for the prayer meeting before morning service. About 15 of us were there.

Not sure how it got round to this, but I suddenly found myself praising God and simply worshiping Him.

Offence lifted almost immediately, and I found my mood lifting. No –– it was soaring.

My Faith moved up about three notches as I worshiped Him. I found myself giving encouraging Words to people around me. I started laughing.

There I was in the pre-Sunday-service Prayer Meeting, chuckling and giggling, sometimes aloud, but mostly quietly.

At first I put this down to the Pastor who habitually at these meetings, laid hands on everyone with the not infrequent result of much laughter.

But this was different –– my whole mood had lifted. My Faith was brimming over and my worshiping matched my mood.

Then, much later in the day, I could sit quietly and ‘examine’ why this all happened, and why. I think the first thing to note is that the words “prophesy according to our faith” got incorporated into the Word and in doing so gained their cutting edge to ‘divide bone from marrow’.

The challenge was not to my pride, although that is where it ended up, it was to my Faith – and my Faith wasn’t up to the challenge!

I have every Faith that the words of prophecy I give out MAY come true but, some days, not necessarily that they WILL come true. It’s an interesting and grey dividing line.

Pride, of course, became the root of offence once my faith decided it was being challenged.

I have had to repent and give myself anew to The LORD’s Will and not my will.

It’s a chastening exercise, dying to self is, and it’s a salutary lesson in refusing to take offence when challenged.

Firstly, it really isn’t worth the effort of getting all defensive in the face of a challenge.

Secondly, it’s well worth checking the challenge out. Who challenged whom?

If you discover it was The Holy Spirit challenging you, then there is a very good reason for it and you need to ask, ‘why?’.

Then you need to sort it out prayerfully and with repentance if needed.

Pride and offence robs us of so much that The LORD wants for us to receive from Him if only we would let Him.

It nearly robbed me of my peace –– don’t let it do that to you.

 

~ Chris G. Bennett

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Chris Bennett came to salvation in 1962 but didn’t begin ministry until 2007 — a late-comer! Now mandated by The LORD to prophesy and open old wells of revival in the U.K., but especially in Wales. He has also operated Healing Rooms, and worked with deliverance teams, all with his wife, Linda. Happily now doing whatever The LORD asks of them! Founder, with wife Linda, of their ministry The Upper Room Encounter.

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