Discerning between prophets of God and false prophets is paramount to your spiritual health. God has called his church to community, to edify and build each other up. And he put gifts like prophecy inside of us to be able to do this.
If we are not operating under the authority of The Holy Spirit, satan will pervert these gifts for his glorification.
With the world’s unlimited access to the internet and the freedom to say anything at any time – awareness of who you allow to speak into your life is more important than ever.
The prophetic calling is a serious office. It is the word of God going forth, and we are not to take it lightly.
Too many people get in front of a mic or camera and call themselves to this office – Never having sat in the counsel of The Lord nor having been sent by him.
An undertrained and over-enthusiastic disciple’s excitement to preach the gospel is not a big concern. A counterfeit planted by the devil to sew deception is!
It is one thing if the motivation behind a person’s zeal is pure excitement to share the word. But if deception is the driving force behind such passion – there is a problem!
Perversion of the prophetic gift.
God is selective about who he sends to speak to his people on his behalf. He has to be able to trust us with his word.
There is a significant amount of training that comes with that calling.
While God does not call the perfect – he does perfect the called! Even Jesus was trained in the wilderness for 40 days before he could walk in the ministry God had called him to!
Today, everyone has a word from God! Every YouTube channel you turn on. Every TikTok video that comes across your for you page. It seems everyone has a prophetic ear to hear – what thus says The Lord.
On the surface – this is a good thing: It looks like revival has broken out, and God is using the age of technology to spread his word to the world.
While this is true – we need to be thorough when Discerning between prophets of God operating by The Holy Spirit and false prophets operating by some other spirit.
We can not judge a spokesperson of God only by what they claim to represent.
We have to judge them by their fruit.
1 John 4:1 says that we should not believe every spirit. But we should test the spirits to see whether they are of God because many false prophets have come into the world.
In these last and evil days, Satan has sent an army of false prophets to deceive the people of God. Their message might sound Holy. They may even speak the name of Jesus. But do not allow the devil to mislead you.
It is harder to discern a lie that has a bit of truth sprinkled on it!
Romans 11:29 says that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
When God imparts a gift, it is eternal.
However, this also means people who choose not to use the gifts for God’s glory are susceptible to that gift becoming corrupted by satan for deception.
For example, When someone is operating in divination or psychic powers, it is not necessarily the case that they are fake, although they very well could be.
It is possible that they do have the gift of prophetic insight and vision, but since they have not offered that gift back to be used by The Lord – satan has taken hold of and perverted it for his deceptive purposes.
Imagine allowing someone controlled by satan to speak prophetically over your life! Of course, you will not know they are of the enemy. The intent is to deceive you into agreeing with his lies. If he can get you to trust the word of his false prophet, it is a guarantee that it will not align with the word of God.
Discerning between prophets of God and false prophets is critical because it can mean the deterioration of your spiritual life.
It may seem harmless initially, but like any other sin, it will ultimately lead to spiritual death.
You can bet that a counterfeit prophet does not come only to give you a false word. Like their father, the devil – they come to steal, kill, and destroy.
One of the ways satan works false prophets into your sphere of influence is via what is called itching ears.
Having itching ears means you gravitate to the messages full of what you want to hear. Counterfeits, or false prophets, are sent by the enemy. So they have insight into your desires. Satan will send this deceiving false prophet at the most opportunistic time.
You will receive their message and believe that, since – it sounds like what you have prayed or talked to God about – it must be from him, for you!
Itching ears are one of the main ways false prophets deceive us because the message will look and sound like God sent it.
But Satan is not called the great deceiver for no reason!
He knows what to use to make your ears perk up. Anything the deceiver says to you will sound believable on the surface. Remember, he counterfeits everything God does.
So his message will come in pretty little deceptive gift wrapping paper with a nice bow. Once he grasps your attention using your desires, he will attack with the sin he has planned for you.
You have to want the will of God more than your own! Desiring the will of God will force you to take what you hear back to him and seek whether it is his word for you. You have to be in a place where you can say; yes, this is what I want, but is it what God wants?
Everyone claiming to be a prophet of God and having a word from The Lord is not Holy Spirit-led.
Some are wolves in sheep’s clothing, false prophets sent to destroy you.
You should always test the spirit.
Pray for help discerning who is sent by God to speak into your life.
How do we discern between a prophet of God and a false prophet?
God will not send a servant whose heart he has not yet cleansed to speak a word to his people. Someone claiming to receive words from The Lord, but the message is full of worldly advice or biblical contradictions is not from God. Or, they are still in training and are not released to deliver that corporate word to you or anyone else.
Matthew 7:5 tells us to remove the beam from our eye. Then we will see clearly to cast out the mote from our brother’s.
Nobody is perfect.
So, we can not expect perfection even from those sent on assignment by The Lord. But understand there is always an internal training process before God sends anyone on his behalf.
There is a standard that God has for his messengers. He does not expect those he sends forth to be flawless, but there is an anointing that God provides when he is behind the messenger’s work. He prepares his disciples to live by his example. The Glory of God should emanate from their message.
Ask yourself this question:
Does their fruit (message) reflect someone who has sat in the counsel of the Almighty God?
The answer to this question will be in their message.
If the word is out of alignment with God’s written word, it is likely not a prophet from The Lord!
How to discern a prophet of God from a false prophet
Does the message align with scripture?
Every word a prophet of God speaks should align with his written word. You should be able to trace every single thing back to the bible. Of course, there will be room for anecdotes for conversational purposes, but the core of the word should remain biblical.
Prophets do not sprinkle opinion in the word they receive from God. A worldly viewpoint is a dead giveaway that this message is not from God.
Does the message point you to The Lord?
Another way of discerning a prophet of God is determining whether the message points you to The throne.
A true prophet of God will not only have a word that God has given them for you, but they will also encourage you to seek him for yourself.
They should tell you the importance of your prayer life and how prayer brings you closer to God.
A counterfeit will never tell you this out of fear that you will learn to hear God for yourself.
They worry that if you realize you can talk to God – you will not need them to do it for you.
Does the message bring Glory to God? Or glamour to the one delivering it?
The number one priority of someone claiming to be a disciple of God should be to make more disciples.
Satan’s counterfeits are all about the glitz and glory. Your salvation is never their concern. They care more about the glamour and the followers than speaking the truth of God.
The words they bring forth will have no substance, only a lot of fillers that mean nothing at their root.
They may quote the bible – Satan knows the word too! But their message will never be scripture-based. It will mostly be a motivational speech full of hallelujahs and amens, but nothing compelling you to dedicate your life to Christ.
The counterfeit’s words will have undertones that compel you to worship them. The compulsion will always be covert, but their objective is to persuade you to believe they have something you can not get anywhere else. They might sell you products like holy oil they claim to have blessed. Or, they will even get you to sign up for subscriptions where they sell you prophetic words.
Disclaimer: You do not need anyone to anoint holy oil for you!
It is as simple as consecrating a bottle of extra virgin olive oil by praying over it or having your pastor pray over it.
Additionally, A true prophet of God will never charge you money to deliver a message God gave them for you!
Does the message compel you to live a Holy lifestyle?
There’s nothing wrong with telling you God said he would give you a new house or car. He very well might have that in his plans for you! He may have even said this at some point. But with this word should also come keys to getting those things.
God is not a genie in a bottle we rub when we want new things. He has a standard for us to live by. If you know you are not walking in his will, you should know that his top priority is getting your soul together, not giving you new assets. A prophet of the living God will have no issue telling you this in love.
The word of The Lord, whether it regards abundance or correction, will always have a standard of holiness attached to it when it is from a prophet of God because God is Holy.
God sends his prophets with words for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
If the message only speaks of prosperity and blessings but nothing about how to live a life acceptable to The Lord, this is a strong indication that you need to discern whether you are dealing with a prophet of God or a false prophet controlled by the enemy.
God can and will speak to all of us
God is not a respecter of persons.
He does not prefer talking to one person over another solely because of who they are.
God will appoint prophets to speak his word to his people, but he does not need someone else to come to him on your behalf.
He would much rather if you came to him yourself!
God is all about establishing a personal relationship with his people. Every disciple he sends is on a divine mission to lay the foundational seed that cultivates that relationship. Any representative of Christ should be assisting you in developing your relationship with him.
Their interest should not be developing schemes and gimmicks to enhance your following of them. You should find a trusted voice that you can glean from.
It is not that God won’t ever send someone to you with a word from him, but when he does, it is so you will bring it back to him so he can commune with you.
God always confirms his word.
If God gives a prophet a word for you, it is likely because you have not received it when he tried to give it to you directly, or it is to confirm something he has already told you.
When he sends someone to give you a word, you will have heard it before or will again shortly.
Prophetic words intend to edify and build up the body of Christ. They are incentives to draw you in close to him so you grow your knowledge of who he is. There is no magic trick that a counterfeit has to develop a relationship with God.
The only prerequisite is spending time with him by studying scripture and getting to know him.
Be Blessed, And Be A Blessing!
– Tamaya
