Stewarding the Prophetic Words God Gives Us – Individually and Corporately

by Lyn Packer

When God speaks a prophetic word over a person, church, community or nation, He is looking for something, a response from us. He is looking for our belief, trust, faith and co-operation in order for that word to come to pass. He is looking for us to steward well the word He gives us.

There are some prophetic words that are sovereign and will happen no matter what – like the ones given about Jesus coming back; but most prophetic words involve the cooperation of mankind in some way.

So how do we treat a prophetic word – are there steps and keys to follow in order for it to happen? Sometimes I wish there were, but no, there is no formula that will guarantee a prophetic words fulfillment. Each prophetic word must be weighed and acted on according to God’s instructions and timetable.

Stewarding Your Prophetic Words

What do we do with a prophetic word when we are given one? The following things may be of help in seeing the full potential of your prophetic words realised. This is not a formula, or a hard and fast list, but are some things that I have found helpful.

On being given a prophetic word:

Weigh it up before God. Ask Him if this word is actually from Him. Sometimes people can read atmospheres around our lives and speak out of what they perceive instead of by the Spirit of God.
Believe it and embrace it. If after praying about it you believe it is from God then receive it, wholeheartedly embrace it. Believe that God would never call you to something you are not capable of achieving with his help. God is not a liar.
Write it out. It is too easy to forget what is said or to only remember the bits we particularly liked if we don’t have a written record of it. This is also important when we need to war with it to see it established.
Look for identity statements – either direct or indirect/implied - these are the things God says about you in the prophetic word e.g. direct – “You are my much loved child”; “You are strong and courageous”. Indirect or implied - “I see a picture of the Lord forging steel in your backbone” – implies that God will make you into a strong being. Out of these make an identity declaration that you can read, re-read and declare over yourself such as – I am much loved by my Father in Heaven, I am strong and courageous.
Look for any conditions that God is setting e.g. As you spend time with Me I will show Myself to you and reveal to you My heart; prepare yourself, dig into My Word and I will reveal My mysteries to you etc. Determine to give yourself to these things that God is asking of you.
Look for any promises without conditions e.g. I will reveal Myself to you; I will set you on high etc. If any of these are ambiguous ask the Lord what He means e.g. What does He mean by "I will set you on high?" Is that a position of leadership or a position indicating good sight? Write them into a declaration of God’s intent and promise to speak over your life.
Look for gift or calling indicators – I am calling you; You will pray for the sick and they will be healed; You will preach to many; etc With this one you need to ask some questions of yourself and of God...
Ask the Lord – What needs to change in my character and habits to be a person who can walk in and sustain this call? Stocktake your life. Look at your life honestly. What are the hidden things that need to be changed in order for you to become the person in that prophetic word? The parable of the sower comes in to play. The word (prophetic) is the seed. It can be fulfilled 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold; it’s up to you.
What training do I need, if any? What do I need to learn, or begin to practice in order to steward this call well?
Look for time indicators – look to see if there are any time indicators contained in the prophetic word. What does God want to do now, and what is a promise for the future?
Believe that the future God has promised you will come to pass. Ask the Lord what needs to happen in the immediate, and what you need to do to prepare for the future promise. How long your future stays out there in front of you can depend on some things – How you work on your character, how you cooperate in what the Lord asks you to do. Take hold of your future and by your obedience and cooperation with the Lord draw it to you.
Be prepared to pray into, and war with, the words God speaks over you (1 Tim 1:18, 19). How do you war with a word? Verse 19 tells us part of that – holding faith; stand firm in believing the word God gave you, believing it, declaring it over yourself and cooperating with God in the character work and development of the gifts He has given you. Through those things you war on a belief level, and a practical level, to bring you to a place where you become someone who can walk in, and sustain, the promise. Recognise and push back the powers of darkness that would seek to tell you that it could never happen, that God couldn’t use you. God’s boundaries for us are huge. The devil will always try and place a false boundary around our lives. Watch out for well meaning people who will try to make you see sense (squash the dream). Don’t allow them to talk you out of your destiny.
Submit the word to a trusted mentor or leader. Ask them to pray into it with you. Ask them what things they see in your life that would stop you from fulfilling this word. (Character changes). Get them to pray with you.
Be accountable. Make yourself accountable to others. People who are unaccountable generally end up in deception.
Deal with any unbelief, doubt and fears regarding the word or God’s fulfilling of it, as they will paralyze you and possibly delay fulfillment of the word. Unbelief is most often rooted in lies that we’ve believed about the nature and character of God, or about ourselves. Ask yourself why you don’t believe this could happen; what lies do you believe about God, yourself or the Church?
Speak the word over yourself frequently. Job22: 28 You shall decree a thing and it will be established for you. Pray prophetically over your life. Pray and thank God as if it was already a reality in your life; this prepares the way for God to act (todah- thanksgiving for things not yet received Psa 50:23). Confession changes the dynamics around your life. Confession marks in the spirit realm, as well as in the natural, where you stand. Confession begins to shape and change your behaviour. Confession releases a motivational drive to live up to your beliefs. There are many other verses as well that speak about the importance of our confession.
See yourself doing it. Use your God given imagination. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Tim 4:12-15 to meditate on the things God has said over him by prophecy. That word meditate means to frame pictures in your mind or imagination. Our imagination was not given to us just so that we can live in a fantasy world; it is your God-given vision centre. Part of the reason it was given was so that we could dream with God! It is a vitally important part of our spiritual life. It is for dreaming dreams, for seeing into the future, into the potential that God has placed within us, bringing it into the now by our confession and our obedience.
Embrace the Holy Spirit’s training process - A prophetic word is God revealing His desired outcome and plan for you in a certain area. That means from the time that word is given to its fulfilment - everything in between is now designed to test us and train us to become the person God saw when He spoke over us (Psa 105:19 about Joseph’s word). Graham Cooke says – “The process from prophecy to fulfilment is our training and proving ground where we cultivate the identity and develop the faith, focus and favour required to move in the Spirit at that level.”
Take steps to get training, if needed. Ask the Lord what training you need to look at doing – is it to learn a language, learn a trade, learn about customs of a country etc? Also realise that He might allow your training to happen through things that you wouldn’t automatically gravitate to – He may make use of adverse life circumstances which teach us things that we will need for the future.
Faithfully do what is already before you. He who is faithful in little will be given much. What if you’re asked to do something by a leader that you think doesn’t fit in to your plans? Do it with a good heart. We don’t always know exactly what God is going to do through a situation. Your humble obedience will work much in your life. This might just be a part of God’s training plan for you.
Know that God’s timing is accurate in your life. It’s been a while and your prophetic word hasn’t come to pass yet and you are ‘chomping at the bit’ like a horse that wants to run; be patient! God knows better than you do when the time is right time to release you. Let the peace of God rule your heart and mind. Phil 4:6,7. You can depend on God. He cares for you. 1 Pet 5:7.
Begin to pray into that future now. Pray for those that you will minister to, pray for those who will work alongside you, pray for the provision needed for the vision to come to pass. Pray for God to work in your life.

God has an incredible plan for your life! It is far more than you could ever hope or dream. It is an exciting life, a life of adventure and He looks forward to seeing you fulfil all that He has planned. Choose to embrace all that God has for you; embrace the pioneering spirit that is within you and step out and become all that God intends for you to be.