There is hardly anything more destructive that can happen to prophetic ministry than applying marketing methods to it, especially during this time of instant messaging via social media, coupled with a delusive idea that every prophetic word and spiritual experience should be shared with everyone.
It is common to see prophetic ministers to share dreams they have seen only the night before. That doesn't give much time to process them in prayer. Recently, a prophetic minister repeated word for word what, according to him, a demon had told him about the devil’s strategies just a few hours earlier – when further reflection should have revealed that you should never believe what you hear from an ambassador of the father of lies!
In our marketing-driven world there are clear financial incentives for sharing any spiritual experiences. You might not be able to sell the prophecy or spiritual experience itself, but it is possible to make money out of the ancillary products – books, teaching series, training courses etc.
In this process of merchandising many seem to make a doctrine out of a singular spiritual experience. This is the origin of many Charismatic heresies – making a general principle out of one experience, so that it becomes an ironclad doctrine, leading millions astray.
Perhaps there was once a singular Jezebel spirit, but if the first prophetic minister who encountered it did his or her job, that singular spirit should have been cast out to hell long time ago, and there would be no need for a whole industry of books and videos about this one demonic spirit!
It is another issue altogether if there might be billions of demonic spirits operating in a similar way than the alleged Jezebel spirit as part of their arsenal against us, but that wouldn’t make as good a book title.
And the marketing principle of differentiation goes on with Absalom spirits, squid spirits and all sorts of other spirits taking over the mind of a Charismatic prophet and releasing a wave of new heresies. The trouble is that even if some of these ideas would be based on a valid spiritual experience, teaching about them could be harmful simply because the recipients of that teaching might not have the spiritual maturity to combat these spirits.
Jude 8-10 teaches that those who talk about demonic spirits without the necessary spiritual maturity will end up destroying themselves:
Likewise, also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
I learnt early on that talking about my spiritual journey is not necessarily beneficial to everyone. God gave me so many prophetic words and visions regarding the way I would meet my wife. We have now been married for over twenty-four years. But even with all these visions and prophetic words, I still prayed for three months intensively before I asked her out to ensure that it was God’s will. Someone else heard the story, and she got excited. She got married and they divorced in three months! It took her the same time to get to the point of divorce than it took me to pray in preparation for asking my wife out!
Thus, we can see that mere excitement about these matters isn’t enough. There are many spiritual secrets that can only be shared with those who are spiritually mature.
And some spiritual experiences you might not be allowed to share with anyone. Ever.
In my experience, prophetic secrets can be extremely powerful in life and ministry. They retain their power only because you don’t share them. Of course, there are many prophetic words and visions that we must share after proper scrutiny with that scrutiny often taking a lot of time. At other times, you must be able to share them immediately. The only way to know what to do is to retain an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit and to keep studying the Word.
By and large, Jesus’s command to shout what we have heard from Him in secret from the rooftops isn’t applicable to the prophetic ministry.
I want to take you to a short journey through the Bible regarding different situations where it might be necessary to stay silent about what we have experienced.
Daniel and the devil’s dark secrets
Daniel 1:17 says, “As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
As this is Babylon, this wisdom would have included all sorts of books on the occult and witchcraft. Yet, we don’t hear anything about their content. But it is likely that having to read through all that stuff would have helped Daniel to develop a very sharp gift of discerning spirits, so that he would have been able to separate what was useful in governing Babylon from the destructive demonic doctrines, because in the Babylonian culture it would all have been mixed.
Only God knows how much Daniel’s mind would have been attacked by demonic beings in this process; but because he had the Holy Spirit as his helper, it helped him to discern between God-given, soulish and demonic dreams and visions.
In the Book of Daniel, we learn very little about his internal struggles in an environment that was deeply infected with witchcraft. Daniel would have encountered it daily, but it didn’t seem useful to him to share the knowledge they had accumulated regarding the demonic culture.
And the same applies to Moses and Joseph who were both deeply aware of the witchcraft of Egypt. They all seemed focused on telling us about God’s work instead.
There are many spiritual experiences with the demonic realm I will never share with anyone. There are others that I will only share with people who desperately need advice on something they are already encountering. For other people, hearing about them could be destructive, as perhaps, they might try to apply methodically what can only be applied by with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Jeremiah’s reluctant judgements
Jeremiah 20:9 says,
Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.
The prophet Jeremiah was reluctant to utter the judgements over Jerusalem. He hoped that they could somehow be averted. But in the end, the presence of God over him became so heavy that the only way to be released from the pressure was to release the words.
And that’s the way it should be with most words of judgement. The words should never leave our lips too easily. There have been many situations where the Holy Spirit has given me words that could have been interpreted as judgement. In nearly all cases, I have taken them as something to intercede against, much as when Moses interceded against God’s anger against Israel. I tend to take these kinds of words mostly as God testing my heart, much as He tested the heart of Moses.
Paul’s trip to third heaven
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
It seems clear that Paul was writing about himself. Why didn’t he tell us more about his experiences in the third heaven and Paradise? That book would surely have been a bestseller in the experiences-hungry Corinth!
He must have known that no matter how valid his experiences in the third heaven, they would have become the source material for perhaps the greatest heresy of them all – started by Paul himself!
The truth is that his spiritual experiences would have benefited us very little. It happened to Paul himself only once, after all. Why write extensively about something like that? So that the experiences-driven Christians of Corinth would try to replicate that experience! But that would have been useful to no one. But that’s what many prophetic leaders do. They market as a method a singular, perhaps amazing spiritual experience that has been granted to them only by the grace of God.
It is not useful to sell as a method what is a unique miracle.
Peter’s all-concealing love
1 Peter 4:8 says,
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
There can’t be mature prophetic ministry unless you are willing to conceal many things that God has revealed to you about other people. Part of the prophetic ministry is to keep covering other Christians with prayers because God will reveal to us their hidden weaknesses. God doesn’t reveal them to us so that we would tell them to everybody; instead He reveals them to us so that we would cover these people with intercession, so that those weaknesses won’t destroy them.
John’s additional instructions
Revelation 10:4 says,
Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
We can’t know exactly what this additional revelation God gave John might have been. But, often, the Holy Spirit can give us additional instructions that are not meant to be shared but help us interpret what God is telling us. They help us to deliver the prophetic words that we are meant to deliver in the right way and with precision and care. They can give us the confidence to share the prophetic words. They can give us detail which is not useful to be shared. Often, that detail might sound more impressive than the prophecy that we are allowed to share!
Amos 3:7 says,
Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
This might be the case, but it doesn’t mean that the prophets should always reveal all these secrets to everyone else. Sometimes, it is enough that only one member of humanity knows.
Often, the revelation God has given me will help me to navigate a difficult situation in real life. It was never meant to be shared to others, but it was meant to be for my guidance.
Concealing a God-given strategy
2 Samuel 5:22-25 says,
Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
If God gives you a strategy, it doesn’t mean that you should reveal it to everybody. I have found that concealing the God-given strategies is of vital importance in mission work. There are many countries we work where revealing your strategies, no matter how exciting and effective they might be, could get your friends killed. Often, you share these kinds of God-given strategies with trusted friends only.
A prophetic secret can protect us from the enemy, save our friends and even help us reach nations for Jesus.
Jesus says in John 16:12, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now."
There are things we can bear that perhaps others are unable to bear. And these kinds of things were given to the disciples later on by the Holy Spirit.
That doesn't make Christianity a mystery religion. In fact it keeps the Charismatic movement from becoming a mystery religion, as mystery religions always developed methods for receiving greater knowledge.
Revelation 2:17 says,
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
There is part of our identity that might be hidden from others even in Heaven!
The gospel is meant to be shared to all. But not every prophetic word is meant to be shared to all but only to those it has been meant to. May God give you wisdom on to whom you should share your prophetic words, dreams and visions.
You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mpjoensuu/ or by visiting markojoensuu.com.
The gospel is meant to be shared to all. But not every prophetic word is meant to be shared to all but only to those it has been meant to. May God give you wisdom on to whom you should share your prophetic words, dreams and visions.
You can connect with Marko on Twitter @markojoensuu and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mpjoensuu/ or by visiting markojoensuu.com.
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