by Prophets Russ and Kitty Walden

You May All Prophesy:

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists the 9 gifts of the Spirit and states their purpose as being for your profit and benefit:

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues,” 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 (KJV).

In 2 Chronicles 20:20 Jehosaphat declares if we believe the prophets we will prosper:

“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper,” 2 Chronicles 20:20 (KJV).

In Ephesians. 4:11-12 we find Jesus reinstituting the prophetic office in the 5 ascension gifts or office gifts of what we call the 5-fold ministry:

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,” Ephesians 4:11-12 (KJV).

If we already had prophets in the Old Testament why did Jesus reinstitute them as one of the 5 office gifts?

Answer: because there is a difference between an Old Testament prophet and a New Testament prophet.

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw [this], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save [them]. And they went to another village,” Luke 9:51-56 (KJV).

In this passage Jesus is reconfiguring the prophetic ministry from an Old Covenant paradigm of judgment to a New Covenant paradigm of Grace. (Matthew 5 cites no less than four instances where Jesus says, “You’ve heard it has been said but I say unto you”).

In this passage above Jesus wasn’t saying they were in a demonic spirit he was observing they were trying to act in the spirit of Elijah. The spirit of Elijah however was concluded in the ministry of John the Baptist of whom Jesus testified that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist.

So Jesus establishes that the New Covenant prophetic is about SAVING men’s lives (according to a New Covenant dynamic) not DESTROYING men’s lives according to the Old Covenant dynamic.

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” Revelation 19:10 (KJV).

A New Testament prophet is anointed to minister in the Spirit of Christ and not the Spirit of Elijah. To this agrees the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1-3.

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to] edification, and exhortation, and comfort,” 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 (KJV).

The word comfort there means to “comfort: to console, stimulate, give incentive [incentivize]. One of the number one needs that pastors deal with is the lack of motivation and incentive among God’s people with respect to the things of God.

The prophetic is there to help in that area.

We are to edify (not tear down); exhort (not demean); and comfort (not discourage).

To edify, exhort and comfort – not rebuke, repudiate and excoriate one another.

Why? In order to bring about repentance:

“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Romans 2:4.

There are two important things you need to know:

1. God wants you to receive and to give prophecy.
2. God wants you to know who the prophet is in your life.

Who is the prophet in your life? In Ephesians 4:11,12 Jesus gave apostles, prophets, pastors evangelists and teachers to you. You know who your pastor is (at least you should). Who is your prophet?

If you don’t know, it’s because you don’t have one (and how is that working for you)?

Are you prospering?

Are you walking fully in God’s blessing and purpose for your life?

If pastors are not optional in the Christian experience then prophets likewise are not optional in fact we need all of the five-fold ministry gifts so that we can “grow up in the full measure and stature of Christ”.

See a prophet is not an end in himself. He is supposed to be modeling something to you – specifically how to hear from God. (Which brings us to our other important thing you need to know): God wants you to receive and to give prophecy.

A prophet who doesn’t teach you how to hear from God is not doing his job. The purpose is not to rely on God in the prophet but to rely on God in your own life.

“To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,” Colossians 1:27 (KJV).

Christ in me is your brother – Christ in you is your Father. Christ in you is your hope of Glory – Christ in me is not your hope of Glory.

Why is that important? Because Philippians 4:19 says that God meets your needs out of the glory (in you). You need to know that glory, access that glory, press into that glory and experience and release in your life that glory that Jesus died to place as an indwelling resource on the inside of you. That glory is many things but it is also very much a VOICE that God wants to acquaint you with and that is part of the prophet’s job:

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy,” 1 Corinthians 14:1 (KJV).

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy. For ye prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted,” 1 Corinthians 14:1, 31 (KJV).

If all are not capable, trained and activated then needs remain unmet in our midst that God in on hand and willing to address. You can, and should and are encouraged in the bible to receive (1 Thessalonians 5:20) and give (1 Corinthians 14:31) prophetic utterance.

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands,” 2 Timothy 1:6 (KJV).

Paul was known to lay hands on people to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Among other ways gifts can be imparted is through prayer and also through laying on of hands.

The gifts of God inherent in the Holy Spirit on the inside of you can and should be stirred up (by you as an act of obedience).

The word kindle there means to stir up, enflame, bring to life, to vivify, keep alive and cultivate – the gifts of God.

Lastly remember that in our opening passage we listed the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit:

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues,” 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 (KJV).

In our Pentecostal heritage we delineate and set tongues apart in a way that they are not distinguished in the scripture.

What am I saying? What is true of one gift is true of another according to the measure of your faith.

When you started out in Christ you weren’t speaking in tongues but then that gift came. Now you can speak in tongues at will. What is true of one gift is true of another.

If you can speak in tongues when you want, then you can move in prophecy when you want.

Paul asked in one place, “Do all prophesy?” Implying all did not – but then in 1 Corinthians 14:30 that all MAY prophesy and in verse 1 that in fact all should desire and covet to prophesy (unless we choose to exempt ourselves for some unbiblical reason).

Likewise in conclusion God wants you to have prophetic ministry in your life. It is just as essential as pastoral ministry and the other ministries?

Who is the prophet in your life. I believe that if you will approach that question with humility and willingness God will place that gifting in your midst and the result will be prosperity and blessing at a level you have yet to experience though it is in fact your heritage bought by the blood of Jesus.

 

~ Prophet Russell Walden

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Prophet Russel Walden and wife Kitty were founders of Father’s Heart Ministry of Branson, Missouri, traveling internationally and in the USA ministering in the prophetic. Prophet Russ brings a new dimension to the prophetic through activation and impartation of God’s voice in your life. Russ comes from a long history in business world and full time pastoral ministry.

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