One of the things I am passionate about is helping people to grow in their spiritual gifts—especially prophecy. [1]
People regularly share with me that they believe they have a gift of prophecy, but are not sure how to begin developing it.
Sometimes they express fear or embarrassment about stepping out with a prophetic insight, because they lack confidence.
I also come across prophetic people who tell me that they used to flow in the gift of prophecy but feel it has become blocked or closed down in comparison to how it used to be.
These Christians long for the ‘good old days,’ when they felt released in their gifts and saw miraculous things happen as a result.
This is why, over the next little while, I am going to be producing some articles on how to move forward and break through limitations in relation to prophetic gifts and ministry. [2]
Identifying a Limitation is Good News
Identifying a potential barrier to the growth of your gift or ministry is good news—for it is the first step to empowering you to break free and enter into the ‘more’ that God has for you.
In fact, in God’s Kingdom there is always more!
And you can turn that seeming obstacle into a stepping-stone to greater growth and fruitfulness.
Signs that you are Being held back in Your Prophetic gift
Here are eleven signs that there may be a limiting factor holding you back in your prophetic gift or ministry.
If you do not have a gift of prophecy, replace the words ‘prophecy’ or ‘prophetic ministry’ with the name of your gift or ministry.
See if you can identify with any of these:
1. You used to believe you were called to prophetic ministry [3] but now you are not so sure
2. You are wondering why your prophetic gift seems to be hidden and not recognised by other Christians or by leaders in the church
3. It is a long time since you stepped out, took a faith risk, and did something new in the use of your prophetic gift
4. You are drifting and have a lack of direction in your prophetic gift or ministry
5. You feel barren and are wondering where the fruitfulness is that you were promised or initially experienced when you started out
6. You recognise that difficulties in the use of your prophetic gift began with an event that occurred in your past
7. You are not sure what to do to get to the next level of growth in your gift of prophecy
8. You have been hurt or wounded in relation to your prophetic gift and haven’t gotten over it
9. You are not receiving opportunities to use and bless others through your gift that you would like to have
10.You are content with your current level of experience and do not have the motivation to press through for growth in your prophetic gift
11.You do have opportunities to use the gift of prophecy, but it is not flowing as smoothly or as accurately as you would like, or have known in the past.
Over the next little while we will be looking at how to overcome some barriers to growth in your gift. Many of these will apply to other gifts, not just prophecy.
Some of the things I will be considering include:
- Fear
- Not knowing where to start
- The effect of past hurts
- Apathy
- Not being released or given opportunities
Feel free to forward or share these articles with others who may be helped by them.
Notes:
[1] The gift of prophecy is the Spirit-empowered ability to receive and convey a message from God—to make known the Father’s mind, intention and purposes.
[2] If you are interested in developing your gift, the e-book ‘Grow Your Prophetic And Prayer Gifts’ is a tool to help you identify which stage of development you are in and move to the next level.
[3] By prophetic ministry, I do not mean a role or position. Prophetic ministry occurs when you use your prophetic gift to love and help people in a way that brings them closer to God and releases them into His purposes. As Paul says, ‘the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.’ (1 Cor 14:3)
Related Posts:
Why Is My Spiritual Gift Or Ministry Not Being Released?
Break Free Of Hurts That Are Blocking Your Prophetic Gift
4 Barriers to Hearing God’s Voice – and Biblical Insights for Breakthrough
© Helen Calder 2011 Enliven Blog
Enliven Ministries: In the David McCracken Ministries family
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
Dear Helen Calder
I am an ordinary Christian who is always eager to share the word with other people and in many instances I was given the pulpit to preach. I always share the Word with my colleagues where I am an educator. Since I started preaching, many people have said I have a gift (but I am not sure which gift) and I always bless them and I preach the uncompromising Word of God and some few individuals will be annoyed. The few that get annoyed really bring my spirit down and then I feel worthless and blocked but whenever I share the Word people say the message was powerful. Recently a man of God prayed for me and told the church that I am a man of God. Again recently, another man of God told me that I have a prophetic gift and mind you, they have never heard me sharing the Word of God! I personaly feel that I have been called by God but I do not know which gift I have and to be honest with you, I do not think I am worthy of His ministry because of the sinfull life that I am living but I believe I am a strong defender of the Word because I get hurt when people disrespect God and talk-ill about Him. I also feel that I am completely lost but I do pray and wish to be a faithful servant of God.. Could you pls. help me in this regard.
Best regards.
Mr. Sipho Joseph Sangweni
Dear Mr. Sangweni, it is wonderful to hear of your heart for God and desire to share His word. I believe it is OK to be unsure about which spiritual gift or ministry you have. The main thing is to continue to be faithful and to take the opportunities just as you have been doing, and allow the specific gifts to emerge in God’s timing.
The feelings of being uplifted when you believe people have been helped, but disappointed when some criticise, is common for those who are beginning in ministry. It shows that you have a need, as we all do, of becoming stronger in knowing your value to God, the assurance of your call, and even the truth about your salvation. As you become stronger in your relationship with the Father and His love for you, the fear of people’s criticism or rejection will drop away. These articles may be helpful for you http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/category/orphan-spirit-2/
This one may too, as I share about how God sees us even in our weakness. http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/07/13/the-gift-of-prophetic-vision-see-what-heaven-sees/
Keep pressing in to Him, I believe you will break through in the sin areas that are troubling you as you gain a revelation of His love and acceptance of you, and that will flow through into a more powerful expression of your gifts, because you can only give away what you have received yourself.
Sin can bring lot of guilt, work on getting closer to God, fasting regularly leads to rising above sin, and leads to Holiness.
Sin quenches, grieves the Holy Spirit. Worship, fasting regularly, praying in tongues and with understanding, reading the Word of God regularly all these empower you to work in the spirit, it then enhances boldness, increases your confidence in God and you will not be easily discouraged by people’s view about you when you are doing things inline with the Word of God. Always be quick to give God the glory when people complement you very important.
My gift is being choked by:
1. pressures at work, home, and even church. So many things to do and I am struggling to have as much quality time with God as I desire. I have re-prioritised my activities and weaned off some but it is still not good enough for me to cope.
2. Coming out of my closet with a smile on my face ushers me into a harsh world. anyone close to me shouts at me, or I disappoint them and feel my spirit rapidly fall down from the clouds where I had been. I end up feeling alone and and lonely in the world.
3. when I have a word for someone usually something comes up to separate us. All of a sudden people fall sick and get days off, or I normally have to spend several days out of town or something of that sort.
4. Generally people avoid me. I became boring when I got born again. (there are emails and jokes that they are no longer free to share with me or speak of when I am around) I have been labeled “Holier than thou” christian at one point in time.
Hi there Regie, thank you for leaving your thoughts. It’s so true that busy-ness of life can get in the way of our intimacy with God–which then impacts our ability to hear His voice, and it also becomes more difficult to stay full of the Holy Spirit. The fact that you have already re-prioritised shows that you have the desire to get on track, and I pray that you will find the space that you need.
I pray also that you will know the intimacy with the Holy Spirit that will sustain you throughout the day. Being busy can drain us–take time to be filled or re-filled with Holy Sprit, you will find that makes a difference also to your faith. People will be attracted to you because the joy of the Lord is on you.
As Paul said in Romans 14:17-18, ‘For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.’
Hi Helen
Thanks for the prayer and inspiring guidance. I will certainly watch the up coming blogs. I have recently joined a financial firm as a financial planner, very demanding and yet I know that is where God want me because of a prophecy.
What you said make sence, there will be challenges,and I need to remain focussed on the call. I believe that what I do is for the kingdom and the greater picture God will reveal as I travel on this road.Thanks for encouraging me that the challenges is not failure, I like that, it calmed my spirit when I read it. I believe I am in preperation season…. Thanks for your intercession.
God bless
Hi Nadia, what an exciting job opportunity for you. May you be blessed and a blessing where God has placed you in this season!
Dear Helen,
I had an instance that happened to me over 25 years ago when I said something to someone which I believed was a stern warning, someone I had a close relationship to, shortly after having giving a word of admonishment in a small congregation. It was also the last time I felt that I was used in this way and I concluded that it must be because I said something wrong and God was angry at me.
Now I believe God is revivng me and I have begun , after many years of silence to understand that God wants to talk to me because I have been having dreams lately and The Holy Spirit has directed me to scriptures and thoughts which I have shared in my church.
I was awakened by a dream this morning at 04:20am and I while I was praying God told me to download your E book Grow your Prphetic and Prayer Gifts! So I did it right away and I’m so glad that I did. I see now that what had happened 25 years ago was the seed. Now I believe that the seed is growing after lying dormant many years and I am very excited about the growth which I now see coming!
God bless you, David
Hi David, thank you for leaving the note and WOW! So wonderful to hear of the Spirit breathing on your life and gifts in this way. When the revelation starts to flow it certainly brings a sense of awakening and intimacy with God with it, what a wonderful testimony. I pray that you will find clear ways to move forward in the stewardship of your gifts and that you find the e-book helpful with keys, too.
One of the greatest revelations we can have is that Father is not ‘angry’ with us, but like a Father helping His children grow, even desiring to comfort and pick them up when they stumble. Sadly, the responses of people often don’t reflect His heart, and this is especially true when they believe we have done something wrong. So I believe it is God’s desire and great joy to breathe life into your gifts and to speak to you through prophetic means.
As far as warnings and admonishments, this is something we advise prophetic people to be very careful about. Here’s some general guidelines:
*avoid directional prophecy and correction
*If you felt strongly a corrective word or warning is from God, take it privately to a leader and submit with humility
*it may may an insight of discernment for you to pray privately
I share more about this area in these posts:
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/09/13/differences-between-old-and-new-testament-prophetic-ministry/
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/02/10/how-do-you-weigh-up-what-the-prophets-are-saying-pt-1/
(Feel free to ask questions)
Again, so thrilled to receive your note and I pray that you will flourish and grow in your gifts in this next season. Blessings! Helen
Hi Helen,
I pondered on your 11 signs and you know I have been my biggest block. Not anyone or anything but me mentally. Before I came to Christ I use to work as Clairvoyant and I never done face to face readings rather I done it all by email and I never used a tool either i.e tarot cards or what ever else people in new age use these days. I done many readings around the world with accuracy and diligence I never would pass on bad news to that person as I believe in passing on messages for the common good of that person how it felt easy at that time. I since returned to the Lord as I was 13 when I was baptized and now at 30 years have been back in the Lord for 2 years I am now too afraid of using my prophetic gifting…I remember going to my Pastor when I first joined our church and asking him to take my gift away because to me it was a hindrance I disliked it and had since I was a little girl…The share reality for me my dreams and visions were not nice and still aren’t but I am understanding as I am learning and growing in my relationship with our Father. As a child growing my mother recalls how often I would wake from my sleep saying “He’s coming for me” and foresee things that would happen. It has been spoken over my life that my calling is I am a messenger, I am a deliverer for the King of King by three senior Pastors and That Jeremiah 1:1 confirmation of the Lords word for Who I Am and God himself through a dream revealed this too me oh and of cause my Mum who has known and believed since I was born. But Helen knowing all of this and believing it is another thing for me.
Thank you Helen for listening to me I appreciate your time. Bless you as continue to be a blessing to all.
Hi Chontae, thank you for leaving your note.
It certainly sounds as though you have had a prophetic gift upon your life from a very young age. The enemy tried to take you from the faith with a counterfeit calling of Clairvoyancy, but now you are back where you belong. What a wonderful testimony!
I am wondering if you also have a gift of discernment, which can give you insight into the spiritual realm (see here: http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/08/08/8-signs-you-may-have-the-spiritual-gift-of-discernment/ )
I believe that God is redeeming the gift on your life and will use you powerfully for His glory.
A couple of people I have known with a similar story to yours found it best to not use the prophetic gifting for a period, while they got their faith on track, and journeyed to freedom, so don’t worry about the 2 years or any further time you may need to be released in your prophetic gift again.
You will get to a place where you are comfortable in being yourself and the way God has wired you with your gifts, and become freed from the fear that you have had. It’s OK to be on a journey with this, our Father is so wonderfully patient. The main thing is to allow yourself to decide to move forward, one small step at a time.
When you do start to step out in your gift, you may find it helpful to ask your pastor to allow you to run what you receive past him or her, or to appoint someone who can be that person for you. As you find a safe place to express your gift, one this under leadership, you will receive the confirmation that you are hearing from God, and grow in the confidence again.
Do keep in touch on the blog and read some of the posts I have written on prophecy and discernment. I answer comments like the one you have just left, so feel free to ask questions this way again, and keep an eye out on this topic over the next few weeks.
Hi Helen,
Thank you for your confirmation about taking my time I feel relieved to hear someone say that to me because this journey has not been easy for me coming into accepting my prophetic gifting has taken nearly 2 years. At present my husband and I are the Children’s Ministry Leaders in our church and for 2 months God has spoken to me about my gifting. Every time I went to step out He would say “No Chontae, I want you to know my voice in all area’s of your life. He also spoke to me about nurturing, preserving and training me in Children’s Ministry such as character building He tells me character will sustain me in the gifting. All my prophetic dreams, visions all go to my Pastor because this is where I feel most comfy at this stage. A BIG thank you Helen for confirming all this for me most importantly its ok to be where I am so long as I keep moving forward which I am.
I am in a season of knowing Gods voice in such a noisy world. I mean I have 5 children that in itself is full on lol.
Also to answer your question about discernment yes I operate more in this gift than any other. I am yet to understand it fully so thank you for your link.
Bless you abundantly Helen may your cup overflow in every area of your life as you continue to extend the Kingdom of God.
Chontae xx
Thanks Chontae,
That all sounds great, and yes, your five blessings must keep you very busy!
Thank you for your encouragement, too :-)