HOW TO BECOME A TRUE PROPHET (I)
Prevailing Word: “The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest….and the hand of the Lord was there upon him”. –Ezekiel 1:3

Memory verse: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not”. Jeremiah 33:3.

There has been a lot of concern about the proliferation of the prophetic ministries nowadays. So many true believers desire to flow in the prophetic and they often ask, “how can I become a prophet?’
Well, you have to be “a priest” first. By “priest”, I do not mean for you to become an ordained clergyman in any of the main live historic churches. A “priest” is an intercessor- basically. He represents men before God. From our Prevailing Word, Ezekiel was first of all “a priest” before he became a prophet. All of us can function as priests- because 1 Peter 2:9 declares that we are a “royal priesthood”.

The work of a priest is to offer spiritual sacrifices to God on behalf of one’s self and others. We intercede for God to forgive the sins of others. We take up their needs and concerns before God until God gives us a message for them. Then we also offer the sacrifices of praise and worship to God (1 Peter 2:5,9). Are you aware of your priesthood as a believer? Are you already standing the gap, praying for people by name -that God would forgive them? (1 John 5:16).

Are you receiving “life” and “forgiveness” for these believers that have sinned or are you busy criticizing, gossiping and fault-finding them? When God comes down to make people prophets, He looks for those who are already functioning as “priests” like Ezekiel.

A prophet is one who has received a “burden” from the Lord. True prophets are identified by the “divine burdens” they are carrying, but false prophets only carry revelations. “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi” (Malachi 1:1).

These “burdens” come to the “priest” as he/she intercedes and as he opens his mouth to declare them, he becomes “a prophet”. “Burdens are greater than “mere” revelations: They have to deal with eternal issues. That is why most bible prophets did not prophesy about temporal issues such as “bread and butter” personal prophecies. They prophesied about Christ, about social justice, and about end-time issues.
Many of our modern prophets prophesy about people’s secrets, money, marriage and primarily, they are “very light”. They have no “burden” from the Lord. The prophets of old were burdened about nations, God’s end-time plans etc.

“Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord”- Jeremiah 23:32

Child of God, start functioning as a priest.

Become an intercessor today. Provide solutions to other people’s problems. Call upon God for others and He will “show you” things about them that will cause you to become a prophet.
You can’t use a short cut. If we fail as intercessors, God will never give us prophecies to the people we are not willing to pray for.
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Shout Hallelujah.
Bible Reading for the year:
Deuteronomy 13, 14, 15 and Luke 20
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Prayer point: Oh Lord may I have that burden that comes from you and as from today I will key into my office(1Peter 2:9) as an intercessor in Jesus name!
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