Prophetic Ministry and Familiar Spirits
Prophetic Ministry and Familiar Spirits
Every prophetic ministry should learn how to avoid familiar spirits. Prophets carry a great blessing for the body of Christ. They also have a significant responsibility to guard their ministries from demonic encroachment while avoiding familiar spirits.
As prophets mature in their ministries they quickly learn to “wait for the unction” of the Holy Spirit before moving out in their gifting. This is how they keep defilement and spiritual corruption out of their lives and ministries. The Apostle Peter made it clear that men of God wait on the Holy Ghost, “Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
Prophecy from the Holy Spirit was never spoken by “the will of man,” that is to say, by man's will. This is significant and fundamental in prophetic ministry. This teaches if one prophesies by faith only, without any Holy Ghost unction, then they wrongly prophesy according to their own will and not Gods. This is the indicator of a presumptuous and self-willed prophet who can easily tap into deceiving spirits of divination. To avoid familiar spirits the mature prophet will wait on the unction from the Lord. Prophecy is serious ministry and should not be taken lightly. To meddle in prophetic ministry outside the unction is dangerous and damaging to the lives of precious people.
Prophesying is not something done solely by faith. Prophecy is not by the prophet’s faith and will exclusively. Faith alone does not force the Holy Spirit to speak. You have a measure of faith involved but the prophet is not making prophetic utterance come by faith. The seasoned prophet understands this and is able to protect himself and others from prophetic error. Again, prophecy is not about faith, will or emotion, it’s about waiting for the Holy Ghost to move.
The prophet is only a spokesman. If the Holy Spirit decides to speak He will but the prophet must wait for the unction offered according to the direct will of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11). Let’s look at the pattern for a safe prophetic release, “Holy men spake as they were moved (compelled and prompted) by the Holy Ghost.” True prophetic utterance is always with Holy Ghost unction. Unction is God’s permission to speak on His behalf. If there is no unction, then the prophet is acting by assumptive faith decoupled from the Holy Spirit’s prompting. This is unsafe.
Unction, Greek chrisma, means anointing. Those that prophesy by presumptuous faith are in danger of tapping into a demonic spirit of divination. This is the realm where high-level occult spirits gain access into the lives of Christians, churches and ministries. Again this reveals the seriousness of the prophet’s ministry and responsibility of every believer to judge prophecy according to the written word of God.
Divination is foretelling (prophesying) the future by occult means. As already said prophecy should come only after you receive Holy Ghost unction to speak. This is the biblical pattern taught us in the Word and demonstrated by the prophets of old that were first “moved by the Holy Ghost.” Remember, unction for the prophet is the permission of the Holy Spirit to speak. After you receive permission then use your faith and surrender to the will of the Spirit and prophesy.
Five steps for avoiding familiar spirits are:
1.Knowing when the Holy Spirit wants to speak.
2.Receiving the Holy Spirit's permission, rightfully called the unction.
3.Using faith to surrender to the Holy Spirit’s unction.
4.Speaking what the Holy Spirit has to say.
5.Judging the prophetic word according to Scripture.
SET PROPHETS, MANTELS AND ACTIVATION
Fivefold ascension gift prophets carry a prophetic mantle. In the New Testament we refer to the office of the prophet as one of the fivefold ascension gifts given by Christ to “perfect the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:11). When Elijah was ushered into heaven he dropped his prophetic mantle to Elisha. Elisha was already called into the prophetic ministry before this event. The mantle terminology is an Old Testament term referring to the prophet’s ministry. New Testament prophets are better described as gifted but we can still use the illustration of mantle to explore prophetic operations.
I have seen the effects of this prophetic mantle on the prayer lives of people that come into contact with it. One day some people were praying together. As I listened many in the group were prophesying. What was striking to me was these people had never prophesied before. So what was it that was different in this particular group? There was a man with a prophetic mantle on his life among them. He was a fivefold ascension gift prophet. The reason these others were able to prophesy was they were picking up on his prophetic gift. This expresses the need for fivefold ascension gift prophets in local churches because their gift activates the prophetic among the general assembly. This is healthy within the biblical context because true prophetic utterance exalts and magnifies Christ and is “the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10).