KEY SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 4:27 -And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

Many people visit prophets of God and would always expect him or her to tell them a prophecy about themselves. Some actually request from the prophet to prophecy to them. Such things put unnecessary pressure on the man of God. Some of the prophets fall to such temptations and say things presumptuously. There are certain prophets who make statements on national events by going public   and making such pronouncements. All these are said as prophecies coming from the spirit of God. Does the Lord indeed direct his servants to make such statements?

In our key scripture prophet Elisha was put in such a situation, but he was very sincere by acknowledging that God had not revealed anything to him about the Shunamite woman. Elisha could have done like some of these modern-day prophets do. They observe the situation and try to say something to suit what they anticipate to be happening. Deut 18:22 “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him”.  Dear prophet, you cannot know everything. That makes you a man, depending on God.

Why do some prophets fall into this trap? This happens when a prophet loses the understanding that his or her office as a prophet makes him or her a mouthpiece of God. You are not a prophet for yourself. You do not prophecy for your stomach. You do not also keep the truth from those that should hear it, although it may be difficult for them to know it. No matter how bitter the truth may be, you have to say it, if only the Lord has instructed you to tell that person, or group of people. Dear prophet of God, God is sovereign about certain issues and may keep certain things from you. Don’t talk about what God has not spoken to you.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father, I pray for all prophets of God, that they would be very sensitive to the voice of the Spirit. May they never live for their own interest but live for God’s interest.

FURTHER STUDIES

Deuteronomy 18:20 -22″- But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him”.