Are There Too Many ‘Prophets’ Operating by Occultic Powers? by BERT FARIAS Charisma News
“We are gathering a company of prophets in different local cities and regions, so that we can prophesy into the atmosphere to cause a shift in the region,” said one prophet. This belief system and mode of operation is common in the “prophetic” ministry today.
Honestly, my spirit is disturbed when I hear such statements. To be clear, I am a strong proponent of the Ephesians 4:11 ministry gifts and the supernatural manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. By no means have these ministries or gifts been done away with. And I have no doubt that some of these so-called prophets and prophetesses are sincere and well-meaning, but please realize that you can be sincere and wrong at the same time and cause much damage to the body of Christ.
You just won’t find that line of thinking, terminology or practice in the New Testament. “Prophesying” into the atmosphere, causing a “shift” in regions and “warring” in the heavenlies are mystical terms that produce hype in the hearers and nothing in the earth realm. There are no examples of it in the Bible. There is no Scripture for it. New Testament prophets don’t prophesy into the atmosphere. Neither do Old Testament prophets for that matter.
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First of all, you don’t prophesy according to your own will and desire, which seems to be a very common practice today. Prophecy along with the other gifts of the Spirit manifest as the Spirit wills, not as man wills (1 Cor. 12:11). There is much error I am seeing in this area today. It has its roots in mysticism, witchcraft and occultic spirits that prophets are yielding to in this hour. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.
I’ve watched some of these prophets. They yield to the Holy Spirit and the true anointing one time, and then the next time they are yielding to another spirit. And sadly, most of them don’t even know the difference. They do this primarily because they feel they have to perform, but their performance is in the flesh, it brings attention to man, and it actually accommodates devils. Familiar spirits know things about people, and they can communicate that to anyone who opens themselves up to that realm. They do it in the occult all the time. Prophets are prone to this. and yet we don’t want to discredit the genuine ministry of true prophets. Just be sure to test the spirits, evaluate everything with Scripture and be careful with whom you associate.
Performance and Titles
Performance in ministry is common today because titles are common. When someone has any title such as “prophet” before their name, which is very prevalent today, it automatically puts them into a performance mode. As they are addressed and introduced by their title when they minister, they then automatically feel pressure to live up to that title, so it becomes easy for them to move into a performance mode. This is becoming increasingly popular and status quo today, and I’m afraid it is setting the wrong example and damaging the body of Christ in so many ways unbeknownst to most of us.
