How do you know if you have a spiritual gift of prophecy?
It is common for people who are in the early stages of developing a prophetic gift to experience uncertainty and questions. If you can relate to this, the following list of signs will encourage you to keep moving forward and develop your gift of prophecy:
8 Signs You May Have a Prophetic Gift
1. You Desire a Close Relationship with God
Prophetic insights from the Holy Spirit, are sourced in an intimate relationship with God—His Presence is where you hear His voice and receive revelation from Him.
So one sign you have a prophetic gift is that you are not satisfied with a shallow relationship—you want to be close to Him.
That is because God has called you to be one who hears the whispers of what is in His heart—to learn what His intention is and pass it on to others. (John 13:23-25)
2. You Want to Learn About Prophecy
‘Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.’ (1 Cor 14:1).
A hunger or longing for a gift can be from the Holy Spirit, as He is drawing you towards God’s purpose for your life.
This is the hidden stage of a gift—where very few people, except those who are close enough to know the desires of your heart, are aware that you have the ability. But God knows—He has placed that desire within you because He is drawing you towards your destiny. ‘Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4)
3. You Tend to Pray Prophetically
A gift of prophecy often shows up in prayer before it manifests in other ways.
- You find yourself praying something spontaneously that you hadn’t thought of—and you realize the Holy Spirit has led you
- You’ve received feedback when praying for another person or situation, that what you prayed for was exactly what was needed
- God has given you knowledge in prayer that you could not know by natural means
Prophetic prayer is powerful—because you are praying according to God’s purposes. As 1 John 5:14-15 says, ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.’
4. You Have Had Confirmation that you Accurately Hear from God
A sign that you have a gift of prophecy is that you build up a track record of hearing from God accurately. For example:
- People you have prayed for or shared prophetic encouragement with, have given you feedback that your prophetic insight was spot on
- You have found yourself thinking about a Scripture or message—and then your Pastor or another person shared the same one
- You have journaled something you believe God is saying—and it has come to pass
Very often these kinds of confirmations are private—this is the Holy Spirit giving you are nudge to explore your prophetic gift further.
5. People Have Been Helped by Prophetic Insights You have Shared
Accuracy alone is not a sign you have a gift—in the Bible, a spiritual gift must be exercised in love and bear good fruit that honors God (1 Cor 13, 14).
The Apostle Paul said, ‘the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort… the one who prophesies edifies the church.’ (1 Cor 14:3, 4b)
So important questions to ask are:
- ‘Have people been helped, encouraged, strengthened, and comforted by the prophetic insights I have shared?
- ‘Has the church been built up?’
The sign of a prophetic gift is that people are helped and drawn closer to God by what you have heard from God and shared.
6. You Find Yourself in Circumstances Where a Word from God is Needed
One sign of a prophetic gift is that God engineers circumstances to gently push you into needing to hear from Him. You find yourself in a place where you need to respond and act on what you hear. For example:
- Someone you are praying with needs a word of encouragement from God, or
- You have some personal circumstances where prophetic guidance is necessary
7. You Have Prophetic Values
Here are some core values that those who have a gift of prophecy tend to have in common:
- A love for God’s Presence
- You place a high value on hearing God’s voice and the prophetic gift and ministry
- Being passionate about God’s prophetic promises
- A love for holiness and justice and the righteous standard of God’s Word
You may wonder why other people don’t see things the same way as you do—but the reason is, God has placed prophetic values in your DNA. It’s how He has designed you.
8. You Have Been Through a Trial in Relation to Your Gift of Prophecy
A pattern we see in Scripture is that someone who has a ministry call goes through a trial, or a failure, or what we might call a ‘wilderness experience’ in relation to their gifts. So if you have had difficulties, or you have felt shut down in the area of prophecy, be encouraged. This may well be a sign you are gifted and called in prophecy.
God has an end in mind. Don’t let the enemy hook you to a past experience through hurt or disappointment. Remember Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’
Do whatever it takes, forgive others and yourself; keep your heart free to move on, pick up your prophetic gift once more, because God is coming through for you.
What to read next:
How to develop your prophetic gift: where to begin
Taking the pressure off when you are growing in prophecy
Your Invitation to the Enliven Prophetic School
Do you recognize signs you have a gift of prophecy and would like to take the next steps to grow in your spiritual gift?
The best mentoring and teaching I can give you is now rolled into this one place.
Classes include: ‘How to hear God’s voice’, ‘How to Begin and Grow in Prophecy’, ‘The Seer Gift: How to Grow in Pictures and Visions’, ‘Prophetic Discernment, ‘Discernment and Prophetic Warnings’ and the ‘Prophetic Guidance Master Class’.
You can view and sign up for my self-paced video lecture series in the Enliven Prophetic School here. Choose between a small monthly subscription or a one-off payment with no expiry date.
© Helen Calder Enliven Blog – Prophetic Teaching
Enliven Ministries
In the David McCracken Ministries family
Thank you Helen. This is exactly what k have been experiencing , i thank God that He used you to encourage me. Stay blessed in Jesus Christ’s name.
I’m glad to hear you have been encouraged, Peter!
This is the season im in right now
Thanks a lot Helen. These are exactly my case and I’m greatly encouraged.
God bless you.
Good Day
I often dream of something and it happens the way i saw it in a dream. I have been through so many challenges but am still keeping strong and God is always showing me his miracles even when it seems all is coming to an end. Am still on a spiritual journey to discover my gift.
Dear brethren I almost experience all of the mentioned signs but I still find it difficult to tell someone I saw in him/her as people don’t take me serious.some say I’m crazy.
Hi Nella, yes it does take time to grow and learn how to share the gift too. This article may have some helpful encouragement for you: https://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2014/06/10/6-tips-for-those-starting-in-prophetic-ministry/
God bless you Helen! Through your publications and especially those on the prophetics like the above, I have been heavily blessed and encouraged to cultivate my prophetic gift for the edification of the body of Christ. I have learned of barriers to exploring the prophetic gift that you shared which were just what l have experienced over some years ago. I am always happy to read your prophetic articles. God graciously bless you more for teaching the Word the way you do!
Amen!
Hello Pastor Dan, thanks for leaving the note! I’m happy to hear you’ve found the articles helpful – may you continue to be enlarged and flow in what God has for you
Dear servant of God,
You spoke to my heart! Am always hungering for God. I know in my heart of hearts that the Lord wants me to operate in prophetic ministry. There is this urge from within that has pushed me to desire more about prophetic ministry and how to operate in that gift. Recently, I have been operating in prophetic dreams. In 2015, I had a dream in which I was running on a road. And as I continued to run, I saw my assistant pastor jeering or ridiculing me but I continue to run. My purpose was complete the race. Several months later, he almost split the church, when he left and started his own ministry. Few members of the church followed him. This was very hard for us but we have since recovered and most of the members who left are back! This is just an example of how I operate these days.
Thanks for sharing that testimony, Dr Tobias. I love the way the Holy Spirit can warn, exhort and prepare us supernaturally like that, to take us through trials up ahead. That’s a powerful testimony and I’m inspired – I believe we will see more of this type of prophetic dreaming and preparing in times to come. May your church and ministry continue to grow in His extraordinary grace.
Thank you my sister. I can see the importance of prophetic mentoring!!!
I’m a new born so to speak, I came to the Lord on the 10th of Dec 2016, I would like to know how I can identify the gifts that I have recieved or rather the ones that I will grow in. I pray to hear God’s voice, I do not know how to identify this. Things I’ve done and scriptures I’ve read that came to mind was fitting for the situation I was in and had prayed for guidedence. But this has gone quite, I’m told by my pastor that there is huge growth, but it does not feel like it. I’ve had strong profetic word from a profet…..but do not know how to intrepret it, I have prayed about this, I have asked for wisedom regarding this…..but not a sign or a squeeck. I want to feetl God’s presence I want to hear Him speak and I want to speak in tongues…..can you please advise in this regard.
Hello Le Roy, that’s wonderful – sounds like huge growth to me! a couple of articles come to mind that may help you with the journey:
https://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2015/06/16/3-simple-keys-to-hearing-gods-voice/
https://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2014/02/04/4-barriers-to-hearing-gods-voice/
What about caring for people, love them…and they accuse you of evil, or are afraid you can see through to the hidden sin or secrets that need repentance, won’t look you in the eyes, what about them constantly accusing you of being crazy. How do you know it’s a gift or if it’s a curse. Money has Always been stolen, with held… Or inaccessible. Rejection, seemingly ostracized by many … To the point I don’t know why I am here, alive, unless it’s lot in life to be tormented like that, yet sometimes it seems I pray for people and they’re healed or touched by His light somehow. Thanks for this article, at least I know I’m not Alone thought sure seems like it.
Sorry to hear that Kimberly, sounds like you’ve got a lot going on there…praying for you right now
Kimberly, you are experiencing the spiritual attacks that the enemy uses to discourage prophetic people, especially those with a calling for deliverance ministry. Persecution! I went through that in all areas of my life at the same time for 3 years. It gets better. Continue to pray for people. God is using you to heal them and using them to train you.
I recently rewatched the TV show “Joan of Arcadia”. The basic premise is that an average teen begins to see and hear God. It’s like an intro class in the gift of prophecy set in a modern environment. I watched it years ago…and I’ve since gone through everything the main character went through in those 2 seasons. You will probably be able to relate. God actually restarted me in “training” from where He left off when I was a child, before I wandered away…
JESUS: “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” (Matthew 5:11-12 NLT)
http://bible.com/116/mat.5.11-12.NLT
2 Timothy 3:12-14 NLT
Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived. But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.