A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels. They bring the word of God to the people of God and call the people to respond. Prophets are also called “seers,” because of their spiritual insight or their ability to “see” the future.
When the prophets knows the heart and mind of the Lord, they speak the word of the Lord to his people. They stand before the people as one who has stood before God. Because their words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective.
A prophet can undertake a huge variety of roles. This is an expression of the creativity of God. A prophet may act in every role occasionally, but mostly they will move in one or two of these roles. Prayer will be important for every ministry.
Some of the roles that a prophet can function are below, when you read about the prophets.. there are so many different things that they do, it is hard to make this short.
The purpose of prophecy in the bible is given in Isaiah 46:9-10:
“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.”
Supernatural predictions are evidence provided to us for verification. Not a single prophecy from the Bible has been proven false. Many prophecies remain in the future, but all that have come to pass have been verified to be true. Thousand of prophecies from the Bible have been fulfilled. If a book accurately and repeatedly predicts the future, it can safely be said that something special is going on, perhaps even something supernatural. And there are so many prophecies in the scriptures that it should be easy to take a look and decide if the Bible is supernatural. There are some 1,817 prophecies of some nature in the Bible at the time the author wrote the Scripture. A prophecy is pre-written history. Only God knows the future and the reason that God knows the future is because God has predetermined the future. God’s not looking down the tunnel of time to see anything because God already knows everything. And God has already foreordained everything. And He records some of it for us in the Scripture. We hear of these prophecies from the prophets. Sorry got carried away there on Prophecy which is so important when you read the bible. So here are what you would see in a prophet and what they do and what is important.
1. Prayer
An important part of the prophets' task is prayer. Because they know the mind of the Lord, they are in a position to pray effectively. They have a clear picture of what God is doing, so he knows where prayer is needed most. The prophets watch over the word of the Lord and pray it into being. They must not rest until God has fulfilled his word.
2. Receiving the Word of the Lord
A key role of the prophet is waiting in the presence of God to receive the word of God. God is sovereign so we cannot tell him when he should speak. Hearing will always require waiting.
3. Suffering
A prophet is often called to suffering. Deep dealing at the hand of God will often be needed to prepare the prophet for receiving the word of God. Sometimes he may actually have to experience beforehand, something of what his people will experience. A true message is nullified if it is spoken in the wrong spirit. Suffering softens the prophet's spirit, so that he can give the hardest word, in a spirit of love. Suffering contributes to your compassion.
4. Worship
The prophetic ministry can often play an important part in worship. When the church gathered together, two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. A prophecy that speaks of the glory and wonder of God will inspire his people to worship.
5. Encouragement
Encouragement of the brethren is an important aspect of the prophetic ministry. Everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and guiding. The words of the prophets will build up and strengthen the church. This will be especially important in times of trial and tribulation.
6. Foretelling the Future
Prediction of the future is part of the prophetic ministry. Almost every prophet in the Old Testament appeared first as a foreteller. Through his fellowship with the eternal God, the prophet has access to the future. He is the seer who has insight into God's purposes for history. However, whatever he sees for the future is always related to the present. He warns of future judgments so that people will change their behaviour now. He speaks of future blessing to give hope for the present.
7. Direction and Guidance
Prophets bring the word of the Lord to the church. Christians can get so caught up in the events of the world that they do not see what God is doing. This is particularly true in bad times, when it can be very hard to see the hand of God at work. Prophets can give direction to those who are seeking the will of God. Sometimes the prophetic word will be for the church as a whole or for the leadership of the church.
8. Interpreting Dreams and Visions
An important aspect of the prophetic ministry is interpreting dreams and visions. God often speaks in dreams to people who are not listening. We must learn to interpret these to understand what he is saying. Prophets are sometimes skilled in interpreting dreams as you will read in the bible.
9. Correction and Admonition - a warning not to do something.
There is also a negative side to the ministry of the prophet. God often has to uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow, before he can begin to plant and build. Prophets co-operate with God in breaking down all that is not built on the true foundation. They do this by announcing his judgement. At the same time they watch over all that God is building to see that it is built according to his Word. This is an awesome task but God cannot complete his restoration work until the prophetic ministry is restored.
10. Exposing Rotten Leadership
Rotten leadership has done terrible damage in the church. It has imparted sin (and perhaps evil spirits) to hundreds and thousands of ordinary people who trusted their leaders and were vulnerable because they submitted to them. When the leadership of a church is rotten, the prophets should be exposing it. The reality is that a prophet is not needed to expose most problems within church leadership. The people who are close to the leader, usually know what is going on. The problem is that they are too loyal to challenge the leader that they look up to. The prophet is usually the only one tough enough to call the leader on their faults.
11. Announcing Judgments
God raised up the prophetic ministry to speak to evil people and nations and warn them of approaching judgments. God's purposes in judgment are clearer, if a prophet announces them in advance. Prophets and judgments go together. Without the prophets, God does not have authority to bring preventive judgments against evil. Unless God sends judgments against emerging evil, the prophets would be just crying in the wind. Prophets and judgments are part of God's strategy for constraining evil in the world.
12. Preparing for Danger
Warning of trouble is only a part of the prophetic role. The more important and difficult role of the prophet is to prepare God's people to remain strong through the times of distress and to be victorious out the other side.
Prophets should be telling God's people what to do, so they will be ready when troubles come. They should be explaining how Christians can remain strong while the world is crumbling and weak. They should explain how Christians would be able to reach out to the people of the world who are struggling and draw them into a place of safety. They should be telling them how to start building the new thing that God wants to establish in the middle of the world's troubles.
13. Interpreting the Signs of the Times
Jesus criticised the Jews because they could understand the weather, but they could not interpret the signs of the times. Prophets must be able to understand the signs of the times and interpret them to the world.
14. Meaning of History.
Prophets have a role in explaining the meaning of history. When a culture loses an understanding of its history, it loses its sense of direction.
The Bible reveals a God who has plans for the whole world, which cannot be thwarted - to stop something from happening or someone from doing something. Once God has announced his purposes nothing can stand against him or prevent him from fulfilling his word. This understanding of God as the Lord of history is something that has very largely been lost by the western church. It has resulted in a powerlessness to declare the word of God with prophetic power and conviction in the second half of the twentieth century when all the nations have been shaken. When God stretches out his hand and says that the time has come for a nation or a people, they can no longer stand.
15. Testing of Prophecy
Prophets are called to speak God's word. Another important part of their ministry, which we need to see developed, is testing prophecy.
Part of the prophetic role is to sit and listen to prophecies and "weigh carefully" the words that are spoken. This is something that two or three should do together. If a prophecy does not get a consensus of support it should be discarded.
16. Watchman
Some prophets are watchmen or people of vision who stand on the walls of the city of God to see what God is doing. They look into the distance to see what is coming. They often see a long way ahead. Several scriptures describe the role of the watchman.
17. Challenging the Nation
The primary responsibility of the prophet is to speak to the people of God. He brings both direction and correction to the Church. But a prophet may also be called to speak to his nation. Many of the prophets of the Old Testament found themselves confronting kings, and taking an important role in national affairs. Some also addressed their words to foreign nations. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel each prophesied to the surrounding nations
18. Initiating God's Action
God does nothing without warning his people first. Part of the prophetic role is to release God's activity by providing these warnings
19. Explaining What Must Be Done
Many prophets are warning of future disastrous events, but very few are explaining what God is doing and how he will work through these events to bring change. Seeing from within the dark cloud of events seems to prevents them from seeing what Jesus is seeing.
A related problem is that many Christians seem to enjoy warnings of judgement on the world, more than they want strategies that would require them to take action to bring in the victory of God.
God does not cause troubles and calamities; they are rooted in human evil or folly with a bit of demonic mischief thrown in. During a judgement, God takes this human mess and works it for good to achieve his purposes. One role of the prophet is to warn of troubles before they come, so God's people can prepare. Their more important task is to explain what God is doing through the event, so his people can participate in his purposes. Prophets can only accomplish the latter task, if they are standing outside the dark cloud of human events and seeing with the eyes of Jesus. When a prophet receives a warning of a calamitous event, their task has just begun. The next step is to find out what God plans to achieve through the event, and his strategy for the people who want to participate in his purposes during that event. We need more of the eyes of Jesus and less of the dark cloud.
20. Theology
Prophets should be experts on God. Part of their role is to pass on theological and biblical insights to the church. A prophet should also be a theologian.
Seers are men of revelation. Seers are men of enlightenment. Seers are men of intellectual maturity.
21. Healing the Sick
Some prophets are used in healing the sick. Elijah was a prophet who moved effectively in the gift of healing. Elisha followed in his mentor's footsteps.
22. Appointing and Anointing Leaders
In Old Testament times, God often used a prophet to appoint and anoint a king. Samuel anointed Saul and then David as King. A prophet anointed Solomon as his successor.
23. Advising Kings and Political Rulers
Prophets have a powerful role in providing advice to kings and rulers. When God wanted to give guidance to a ruler, he often gave it through a prophet.
24. Historian
Some prophets are historians. Their interest in the future rolls over into an interest in history. Many of the historical books of the Old Testament were written by prophets who recorded the works of God.
25. Guiding Angels
Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve God's children (Heb 1:14). They are sent by God. They serve God's people.
The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength,
who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His,
who do His pleasure (Psalm 103:19-21).
Angels are created for obedience. They are listeners and followers. They do not have the friendship with God that is opened up to us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Angels often do not know as much about what is on the Father's heart as we do. They often "excel in strength", far more than they excel in wisdom and decision making.
Angels move between heaven and earth. When they are in heaven, they know what God is doing, because his Kingdom is established there. When they are on earth, they are dependent on other messengers from heaven to keep them up-to-date with what God is doing.
Angels are sent to earth to serve us, but as events develop and change, they often do not know what to do next. They sometimes have to wait for our prophetic declarations before they know what to do. When they hear the Holy Spirit's word through us, they do it. They recognise his voice and obey it. They listen to a prophetic word and work to accomplish it. That is one reason why God does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. Speaking in the language of angels is good (1 Cor 13:1), because it helps the angels to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.
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