REDEFINING THE PROPHETIC MINISTRY SERIES

PART 1

By Isaiah-Phillips Akintola

Intention and consideration

We could begin this teaching and dialogue about the prophetic by first exploring the numerous testimonies, many have received in my early days of primarily functioning around some of the mainstream gifts of the spirit, associated with the prophetic department of the five-ascended ministry calling.

I could also do a brief highlight of some of the best materials, whose view on the subject of the prophetic ministry is mainly focused on a particular topic and direction which of course, are needed in the broader perspective of divine agenda. And on the other hand, I could also share with you, countless testimony of some highly-gifted servants of God, whose grace and giftens in the prophetic are known to be on the cutting-edge of current spiritual emphasis amongst their contemporaries.

Within the current mixture and perversion, we’re witnessing today, there are still those among us today who carries an undefiled, authentic prophetic grace, and they speak in a clear, divine order of their mandate, and you will be somewhat captured and enthralled with the great testimonies of these individuals as you hear or read their accounts.

But the truth is, my intention is not to merely get you interested by intrigue, or exited, based on the testimony and manifested gifts related to the charismatic side of the ministry of the prophetic.

 My honest intention is to systematically, in the spirit of simplicity, lead you behind the performing stage of what the prophetic ministry, grace and office is all about.  My desire is for us to explore and precisely locate the spirit and the man behind the gift or calling of the prophetic ministry.

As a new testament prophet, whose primary assignment is to teach, skill and equip the Saints for their own work of ministry, I passionately long to infuse your spirit and your entire being with a passion that will awake what is already locked inside of you through the information, revelation and experience you may have as you journey with me through that which I have received of the father in my days of training and development on the spirit of the prophetic.

My hunger is for your total man to know how to see, hear, understand, accept and relate to this seemly mysterious ministry gift. Therefore, in this note on the prophetic, you will find patterns that give insight into what I call, THE CALLING, THE PREPARATION and THE RELEASE to function.

A FOUNDATION THAT SHAPES THE CALL INTO THE PROPHETIC.

 

4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time, each will receive their praise from God.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 1 Corinthians 4:4-6

This overhead scripture gives the accurate instructive, doctrinal framework that ought to guide our approach to any matter of divine engagement and initiative in life. The Lord in several occasions has used these words to guide, secure, and protect my heart from all forms of strange, ancient, doctrines and extra-biblical notions and philosophies, currently being awakened to challenge and frustrate the present reformation and redemptive agenda of the father for creation.

This is the day were all followers of the Lamb are requested to trim their lamp wick in anticipation of his arrival. Yet, only those whose lamps are filled with oil and are burning with greater intensity of Christ light will be able to survive the battle of falsehood loitering at every corner of our community in this season.

The conscience of our faith in the hope of our calling must be kept pure and in the right direction of divine intention, least our conscience becomes overridden by powerful, ancient demonic interference, designed to sway us off the track of sound spirituality.

Our ability to judge things both natural and spiritual must be guided on the state of our spiritual maturity which reflects an intense sense of discernment. The spiritual man judges all things while he is not judged by no man. Maintaining the scope of divine activity within the framework of biblical tenets and values are highly required in this hour.

The word of God Is the finality of spiritual understanding and the finalization of the standard that define and approves all forms of spiritual calling and experiences. Therefore, to grow within the ever-increasing reality of the word of God gives us the right spiritual foundation and insight into how we are to approach any matter, including that of the ascended ministry gifts.

FOUNDATION AND FRAMEWORK FOR THE CALL

It is highly important that we can precisely trace how we’ve been invited and introduced to the ways and things of the Spirit, including, the numerous ways and manners we received our ministry assignment and mandate.

One of the reasons for this is that it gives a clear picture of the spiritual philosophy that defines or shape the framework of what we term as our mandate assignment. This also helps to correct, adjust and further develop the foundational template required for sound, biblical perspective to life and ministry initiative.

The father will use various means and method to invite us to see his designed purpose for us. However, such means of invitation may not necessarily represent his consistent, reliable pattern and principle for divine assignment.

 A good example of this is, the call of Moses through the burning bush does not make the ‘experience’ of the burning bush a consistent, reliable doctrinal premise of how we must be called or invited to the ministry. I need to make this clarification and distinction, and there are so many other examples in the word of God that we can examine as unique to how the Lord will call individuals.

The mistake many have made in the past, and unfortunately are still making today is the fact they assumed that as long as there’s some form of result in terms of miracle, signs and wonders been produced through their gifts and ministry, the manner they step into such ministry should not matter or bother anyone for that matter.

If there’s no clear biblical footing to how the father invites us to share in his redemptive and restoration agenda, many will continue to use their own yardstick, or so-called spiritual experience somewhere, or through some means to legitimize their position of being given a [prophetic] ministry assignment which in most cases does not represent nor reflect the accurate biblical value standard for divine invitation. If the footing our calling and invitation to ministry is inaccurate, the entire construct of life and ministry will eventually become defected., it’s only a matter of time.

Therefore, the means of how we engage in what is known in the word of God as the way, the truth and [life] experience of Christ defines the footing and orientation to how we step in any form of ministry assignment, but in particular, the prophetic office and its various organs of ministry.

This primary insight of introduction which we shall still further consider will guide and direction our hearts through the spirit of discernment as we seek clarity, context to the precise foundational footing of the spiritual [material] substance that shape the templates that ultimately forms the inner value structure of what we term as ministry or the prophetic, or any ascended ministry grace.

If this perceptional understanding is not well-seated within us, it’s only a matter of before the house of what we term ministry starts to crack from its very foundation.  For if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

MY PERSONAL EXPIRIENCE OF INVITATION INTO THE PROPHETIC

About five years ago, the Lord granted me a rare opportunity within the vastness of his grace to train and interact with few brethren back then with regards to some of the core character components, the nature and function of the prophetic ministry. Somehow, after the training, I was not opportune nor permitted to speak, nor publish the material on my blog which I will usually do with most of my materials for reasons only known to the father.

Not too long ago, I began to sense and feel the urgency in my spirit to revisit the subject, but I must admit that I have somewhat, unduly procrastinated on the matter until late 2015 when I received a message from a very dear brother who wanted my view on the ministry of a prophet. I felt convicted, and instantly recognized that it was the Holy Spirit indirectly prompting me to update and release the material for the spiritual edification of those who might need certain fundamental understanding, or clarification regarding the subject on the prophetic.

I could still remember the very first time I tried putting a comprehensive material together relating to this subject, was about two decades plus ago. This was just before the apostolic reformation stream began to gain popularity in some part of the [Nigerian] West African church community where I have had the opportunity to pioneer a work for the lord for about two decades plus.  Back then in the early 80s when I gave my heart to the Lord, the subject or the ministry of the prophets was at his pick in terms of giftens and manifestation.

The focus then was mainly founded on two premises; 1] the use of the gift for personal [material and emotional] blessing. 2] The use of the gift for eschatological end time events. The intensity of global political realignment caused many to major the prophetic on not just the coming of Christ but also on the manifestation of the anti-Christ-known as the man of Sin.

Back then, I was doing a series of study on the fivefold ministry gifts, and of cause, my major was in the prophetic office and its various organs of ministry, but unfortunately the material got missing in one of the commercial computer centers we were using back then for our ministry stuff.  Those were still in the days of floppy disk storage, and of cause virus infection was quite high back then. The truth was, losing those resourceful materials was quite painful and I could not just summon up courage and motivation to rewrite the material again after the incident.

THE MISSREPRESENTATION

Having operated in the prophetic grace for almost three decades, I have witnessed few extreme streams of the prophetic, and I have been graciously opportune to also see various seasons of prophetic shifts and emphasis function both within the body of Christ and across the nations respectively. And if I may quickly add, I Have also witness lots of gimmicks, weird, unbiblical and satanic stuff imported into the house of God in the name of Christ and the prophetic ministry just as we can see today.

This misrepresentation has caused a huge dysfunctionality and damage to the image of Christ and his Body across the globe that when people today hear that you are a prophet, their immediate reaction is to look at you first with a very suspicious perception, and I truly do not blame them because many have sadly been injured and hurt to the point of almost been destroyed by these impostors who send themselves and represent their own selfish interest in the name of a prophet.

The truth is, there is a lot the body of Christ is yet to know and thoroughly understand in terms of the precise footing and foundation of the character nature and functionality of all the ascended ministry gifts, but in particular, the office and gift of the prophet.

Through this note, my aim is to introduce you to the office and ministry of a prophet from the point of one who is graced with a watchman’s spirit and priestly prophetic teaching foundation, and maybe, you can journey with me on a narrow, ancient route that may possibly recalibrate your heart, sight and hearing capability.

It is indeed my desire that your faith and that of many within the present kingdom advance will gets energized with the capacity to press beyond the boundaries men and religious system has set in both defining and measuring what they assume as the prophetic ministry.

This resource should help in identifying what I call a prophetic spirit, a prophetic gift and the office of prophet. I have through the grace of God used my own personal experience and revelatory insight in the word of God to highlight the office of the prophet, built on a solid foundation of biblical truth and its guiding doctrines.

 I pray and hope that you will open your heart to the truths locked in the material because it has been written through the divine guidance and inspiration of the Spirit. There is nothing of self-glorification or man’s agenda here. My desire is to see that the corporate body of Christ quickly and accurately return to the apostolic pattern given to her at the ascension of our lord.

The prophetic ministry, like the rest of the ascension ministry gifts are the very extension of Christ life and desire for the building up of the saints and the restoration of creation from the bondage of the fallen Adamic nature. Meaning, they are not the idea of some religious groups or denominational system. Neither are they the figment of some intellectual humanistic ideologies that has been allowed to infiltrate and almost replace the function of the ascended ministry gifts today in some church communities. This is Christ very life, expressing himself in some unique dimensions without division or friction of intent. Here are some ways or forms the life and ministry of Christ is expressed through the prophetic spirit: