Are You A Prophetic Person?

Prophecy is the act of revealing Christ to a particular people, in a particular place, at a particular time.

The word ‘prophetic’ can be hugely intimidating for people. Most students in my Living As A Prophetic Person Online School take a few classes to be able to even voice that they may be prophetic. I can totally relate, and I think it comes from a misunderstanding of what prophecy is, what being a prophet means, and the place prophecy is meant to take in our communities.

I used to feel like saying I was prophetic was prideful or presumptuous. I also used to think that if anyone was prophetic they were also a prophet and so I never considered myself to be so. Both of those assumptions were just a lack of understanding and in the next Journal entry I’m going to explain the difference between prophesying, prophetic ministry and being a prophet.

For today though, I wanted to start by reminding ourselves that according to the NT being prophetic and prophesying isn’t a gift for a few but the natural overflow of being alive in Christ;

‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. - Acts 2:17.

The early church considered this to be fulfilled at Pentecost, beginning a new epoch of divine life for God’s people. But how does prophecy look in the context of Jesus?

Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”
- Revelation 19:10

In other words, prophecy is our revealing Christ, what he did and who he is today to the world around us. It’s important to reflect that we’re not testifying only to Christ-past, but to the living ascended Christ who rules over the whole earth. This means that to testify to Jesus means to reveal him to a particular people, in a particular place at a particular time. Prophecy helps the present world understand Christ.

That’s the role of the whole church.

And yet we also read that God endows some with the gift of prophecy (1 Cor 12:9-10), and gives the church prophets (Eph 4:11) to help her grow into maturity.

So, how do we know if we’re prophetically wired and not just enjoying the fruit of God’s promise to all the church? Well, it’s not definitive by any means, but here’s a description of many of the elements that I have seen in myself, prophetic people and in prophetic ministries over the years. You may feel resonance with one or two of these characteristics or all of them. You may not relate at all to any of it and yet still may be a prophetic person. I don’t believe in boxes (classic prophetic-type statement!) so don’t let me put you in one!

So here are some ways that being prophetic may express itself in your life:

Prophetic people can often have a natural intuition for trends, events, people and situations. Strong imagination faculties and an ability to hold different concepts and ideas together can also characterise a prophetic mind. This could outwork itself in the workplace, in academia or with family and community issues.

People who are prophetic are often Highly Sensitive People (which we might talk more about in a later post) who have both a keen sensory experience of the world and a strong awareness of how others around them are feeling.

Because of their natural ability to intuit things, prophetic people can sometimes be skeptical of institutions when they appear to threaten minorities or the ability for people to know and see God. This means they have a strong sense of injustice with social, political, religious and economic issues and can at times can sound black and white to those around them.

Prophetic people are grieved by disconnection and disunity in the world but especially among religious communities and that grief can be amplified when behaviour or teaching that creates greater disconnection is apparent around them.

You’ll often find prophetic people in the arts where they’re able to express these emotions and intuitions in ways that are spacious enough to be received into a person's heart rather than through the rational faculties. Prophetic people can find more freedom in expressions of God and truth that are not easily defined or presented, inviting others into the journey of wrestling with God themselves.

Prophetic people also care deeply about other’s connections with God. They’re passionate about seeing people living free and close with God in their families, workplaces, ministries and selves. This means that prophetic people are often encouraging to those around them or challenging when they see someone compromise on these elements in their life.

Due to sensitivity and the unique gift make-up of different prophetic people, they will often experience a thinness in the spiritual realm both in regards to the Spirit and what he’s doing in a place or people or with demonic spirits, the occult, violence and other forms of spirituality. This means prophetic people are often affected by their environment more than others. Knowing place, and understanding its history are often important to prophetic people as it helps them with the spiritual landscape they’re experiencing. This is also true of those people around them and their own spirituality/journey as this is also likely to affect the spiritual, mental and emotional state of a prophetic person in some capacity.

This can manifest in dreams, mental trials, strange visions, or sinking feelings when confronted with negative spiritual dynamics in people and places and clarity, prophetic increase, compassion and joy when confronted with positive spiritual dynamics in people and places.

If you feel like some or all of that sounds like you let me know in the comments below!

Much love,

Strahan.