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.
I personally can relate to number 9, due to the spirit of religion i have recognized that it’s hard to flow in the Prophetic Realm if the leader of a congregation(Apostle, Pastor, Bishop, etc) has a spirit of pride and a “my way or the highway” type of attitude in ministry, or even someone that is a Prophet in the office and they tell you that you shouldn’t say this or that cause you didn’t flow in the Prophetic the exact same way that the Holy Spirit allowed them to do so and it hurts because you expect in not to occur inside the body of Christ…it all boils down to the Spirit of Religion as far as i am concerned!
Hi Renethia, thanks for stopping by. Yes I understand it can be very difficult and sometimes leadership can be strong, and not as releasing as we would like.
I think it all boils down to, ‘Am I in the church that God has planted me in.’ If we are, and He hasn’t called us out, then it is a matter of staying and embracing and honouring… and adapting.
This article might help
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2013/04/30/growing-in-prophecy-when-no-one-is-cheering-you-on/
Bless you.
There are several points that I can identify with, not as sure now of my gift as I was in the beginning, feel barren, how to get to the next level, not flowing smoothly and accurately as before, lacking directions gifting as regard to teacher, very thankful to have found this site
Blessings
Hi Karen, thanks for the note – there are some links I have recommended in the comments above that you might find helpful. Blessings :-)
Its taken 23 yrs for me to realize my calling even after being obedient & going out to start a church ministry (which didn’t take off) but I learned alot about Church planting. The Pastors knew that my gift was starting but I remember I gave a word to the Pastor & to share with Church & was to he would think about it. It was just pushed aside.
But about almost 2 yrs ago I came close to having a stroke. My wife & I went thru so much after that where we really didnt have a Church family as we thought we did. We went from being in leadership to being a bunch of nobodys. My wife wants no part of the Church because she was so hurt as so was I. I went thru so much to end up having anxiety attacks afterwards. I must confess that I went thru periods of crying before God in anger asking where was He at, where was my so call family in Christ. It was a wilderness I was taken into.
The Lord has been storing my body back into go health but its been a process. I do say that after 23 yrs we no longer have a home Church.
I get to work early & find my little spot in my room before the day starts & just pray before the Lord. I do wonder if the Lord will ever restore my wifes heart again & mine because I know since this happen, the trust is not there anymore.
All I can do is worship the Lord in this area of my life & pray for my family.
Hi Paul, I know there are a lot of people in your position and my heart goes out to you and your family.
Healing from such devastation can be a long process, I pray that God leads you with a sense of freshness and expectation in this. Jesus – the ultimate haven of protection, your safe place and refuge. And that you will eventually find a church and leaders that you can trust again – because there are some very gentle, safe people and pastors out there, and there will be the right ones for you.
Your worship, times of prayer, totally the right thing. May you know Him face to face with increasing joy.