The Etiquettes of Prophetic Ministry

The seven candles on the altar means the spiritual direction or the spirit system of the working ability of God. That is why  says

What is the work God gave Papa SBJ Oshoffa? God descended into the world through the spirit to take man back unto God.

So it is the working ability of God. The system of the candles is not by might nor by power but by spirit. The significance of the system is for God’s working ability.

To properly understand this topic, some terms would be explicated, such as:

1. 1. Etiquettes: This is known as the formal rules of correct or polite behaviour in a society or among members of a particular profession.
   2. Prophetic: Correctly stating or showing what will happen in the future.
   3. Ministry: The work or duties of a minister in a church.

The Prophetic Ministry is a spiritual body in Christendom that accommodates those that reveal the mind of God to His people.

Our mentor in Christianity Jesus manifested in the Fivefold ministry according to the book of Ephesians 4:11. We will be considering the polite and formal rules of one of these Ministries which are the PROPHETS.

Who is a Prophet?

Precisely, a Prophet is a person who reveals the mind, plans and strategies of God to His people.

This Ministry carries a powerful unction; the Bible makes us know in the book of Amos 3:7 

This should give us the understanding of a fact that, every secret of God is with His servants the Prophets.

For better understanding another version of the Bible, The Message Bible (MSG) explains it like this “God, the master, does nothing without first telling His Prophets the whole story” I want us to go back to that portion of the scripture.  The bible did not say He would tell prophets, but the bible says He would tell HIS prophets, so automatically we have prophets that are not of God, as we continue we will have a better understanding. Every Prophet of God is structured to know God’s mind.

In understanding the Etiquettes of this ministry, it is Expedient for us to study a few scenes of God with the first man that was called a Prophet by God. According to the Bible, the first man God called a Prophet was Abraham Genesis 20:7a says “Now, therefore, restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet”. I know you are asking yourself right now that was Abraham truly a Prophet? YES! He is because God proclaimed him as such. I remember I defined a prophet as a person who reveals the mind of God, also I clearly stated what the bible says in the book of Amos 3:7 via this definition. In this portion of the scripture, I want you to understand that Abraham was truly a Prophet of God because God himself gave Abraham grace to function in this office.

Something happened in the bible before Genesis 20 where God proclaimed Abraham as a prophet.

Take your bible now and turn to the book of Genesis 18:16-17 let us read together

Verse 17 explains what Amos 3:7 says; God has planned to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, but God did not want to execute this plan without first telling His Prophet (Abraham).

Let us continue  Verse  18  “seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all nation of the earth shall be blessed by him.

For a better understanding of this verse, I want us to look at a scene, turn your bible again to the book of Genesis 17:1-2 let us read “And when Abram was ninety years old, the Lord appeared to him and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect And I will make my covenant between me and thee and would multiply thee exceedingly.

For better understanding, a  covenant means coming together gotten from a Latin word “con Venice” it presupposes two or more parties coming together to make a contract, agreeing on promises,  stipulation, privileges and responsibilities.  This definition gives us the clear clue that God established a covenant with Abraham not of blessings only but for Abraham to know the mind of God. God and also His descendants, but before God talked about making a covenant with Abraham He said that he should walk before him and be perfect, Abraham did this and it was accounted to him as righteousness Galatians 3:6. In this context of Abraham, it is known that the covenant was what brought Abraham and God together as friends, which surely makes Abraham know God’s mind and this certifies him to be a Prophet.

Note: According to the nature of all relationship, in the relationship of friends (true friends) they know their plans and schedules very well even before anyone of them executes his or her plan.  I purposely choose Abraham for a better understanding of the fact that all Prophet must be known as Gods friend, also I choose our father Abraham because his life clearly explains the etiquettes of a man worthy to be called Gods Prophet.

Apart from the definition I gave about a Prophet, I want us to know that a Prophet doesn’t reveal God’s mind only, but a Prophet carries an anointing that gives the power to speak authoritatively (to speak with the Authority of God). God told Abimelech “so now give the man’s wife back to him. He’s a prophet and will pray for you, pray for your life.” God is letting us know the power a Prophet carries in changing situations.

The office of a Prophet has a standard that must be met for proper dissemination of God’s message to His people, according to the bible we have Major Prophets and Minor Prophets, these standard doesn’t differ as per your level, either a minor or a Major the standard doesn’t differ, you may be asking that how can I know if I am a major prophet or a minor, that is not our topic, the Holy Spirit could bring that teaching some other time.

Now we can proceed to know the etiquettes of this ministry, I divided them into two:-

• The major etiquettes.
• The sub-major etiquettes

The major etiquettes are:

1. STRENGTH:-    A  prophet  must  be  a  man  of  strength,  the strength I am referring to here is not the natural body strength but the strength as personality, the personality is GOD, the bible says in 1samuel 15:29 “and also the strength of Israel would not lie nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent.”This depicts God as the strength of his beloved when you are on the side of God he would make himself your strength over principalities and challenges. The prophetic ministry has been and would continue to be a threat to the kingdom of the dark, so every minister in this ministry must have God as their strength so that they won’t be plucked out by the enterprise of the Dark Kingdom.
2. THE WORD: – Prophecy is a word, this word (prophecy) can only be fulfilled when the super word makes it too. Now you may ask what is the super word? If you have asked like this you are wrong, rather ask that who is the super word? Yes if you asked in this manner you are spirit filled, the super word here is the power of the creation and that is JESUS.The Bible established this fact in the book of John 1:1 ” in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God”   this verse is clearly explaining the person of Jesus as the word that existed since the inception of the world.Now for more understanding let us move to verse 2 and 3 Verse 2″ the same was in the beginning with God” Verse 3 “all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made”.Be careful I want you to understand this particular verse, without the word (Jesus) nothing was made, definitely the power of creation is Jesus Christ, as a Prophet and prophetess, for better manifestation in this ministry you must know the power behind Creation (Jesus) embrace this power as a person believe this power as the Saviour then greater manifestation is sure in this power,  says .
   “for as many that received Him He gave power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name”John 1:12
   I must say this the Prophets of old that manifested before the arrival of Jesus as a man on earth, manifested graciously because they understood the power behind creation,  so definitely they understood the power as a person that is Jesus. If you don’t know, have, believe Jesus yet and you are manifesting in prophecy, let me shock you by telling you that you are not a Prophet but a Sorcerer. Jesus is the foundation of all ministries, so all ministers must be rooted in Christ’s foundation.
3. THE HOLY SPIRIT:-   Before we proceed I would like to explain something, there was a man in the bible that said something about the holy spirit before the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, he was King David, he said in Psalm 51:11 “cast me not away from thy the presence and take not thy holy spirit from me”. David understood the Holy Spirit very well, he knew the benefits of having the Holy Spirit, so he can’t afford to lose this Spirit then he pleaded that he should the retained in the consciousness of the Holy Spirit.I want all Prophet and Prophetess to understand basically that every channel that gives you revelation must be initiated and endorsed by the Holy Spirit, if it is not, then you are not of God. We have diverse channels not rooted in the holy spirit and yet gives  revelations,  every  possessor  of  this  channels  are  not manifesting  under  the  Holy  spirit  they  are  manifesting  under familiar  spirit,  be  careful  they  are  Demonic,  we  have  many situations presently where people have taken Prophecy for Sorcery, because of the absence of the Holy Spirit, a man was caught in the Bible name Elymas or Bar- Jesus, I beseech you to open your Bible to Acts of Apostle 13:6-12, study carefully. This man called Elymas also known as Bar- Jesus is known to tell people about future (note: his  messages  are  false),  he  had  an  encounter  with  Paul  and Barnabas, please, study this passage of the scripture properly, it would lead to answering a question that would be deposited in your mind right now, The question is, how can I know a true Prophet? Is that not the question in your mind? YES, it is, okay let us proceed.  Elymas  was  seeking  to  turn  the  Proconsul (a magistrate who served as a consul and then as the governor of a province) away from the faith, but because Paul was filled with the holy spirit he knew immediately who Bar- Jesus was, this has answered the afore asked question, as a Christian you can only know a true prophet of God when you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, because there is a need for connection before you can affirm, the bible says
   
   ” the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are Children of God”Romans 8:16
   A whole lot of people are in the shackles of false prophecy and prophets because they lack the confirming power that the Holy Spirit gives, it is also called the discerning spirit, that is why they are in bondage. I have to establish that fact.

The sub-major etiquettes, I did not call them minor because they are not, they are rules that must follow the major ones. They are:

1. Fasting and Prayer:–
   
   “and Jesus said because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence yonder place, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible unto youMatthew 17:20-21
2. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. The verse has established the fact that nothing miraculous can happen when fasting and prayer are not involved, as a prophet or prophetess if you are not dedicated to prayers and fasting, I doubt your height and depth in manifestation and in the realm of revelation.
3. Purity: –
   “who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?Psalm 24:3-4
4. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart :  I want you to understand that before you can access pure Revelation from God you  must  abstain  from  anything  that  could  contaminate  your ointment as a Prophet the bible says in Eccl 10:1a” dead flies causes the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour” . The most rampant  form  of  immoralities  found  in ministries now are the sexual immoralities, many ministries have been eaten up by this and many ministers have fallen via this if you want to enjoy the grace of God that sustained all Prophets that has manifested in Gods glory then you must avoid sexual immoralities and always crave for Purity through the help of the Holy Spirit of God.
5. Humility:- Humility simply means humbleness in character, I tag this entity as God most preferred entity that a man must possess, many ministries and ministers fell victim to the opposite of this the entity that is pride, because they refuse to take cognizance of the consequences of pride, the Bible says in Psalms 149:4 ” for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the humble with salvation ”   In every context of life I have studied that God gives preferential treatment, grace, favour to the humble, but the Pride he hates even from afar, the  shows that pride  stinks because  it causes people that possess it to be hated by almost everybody in their environment.

When Pride comes into a man’s life, okay, let me put it this way, when a man allows pride to come into his life, okay for better understanding,  when  a  man  is  Proud,  particularly  a  minister, precisely according to our topic a Prophet, this pride sucks out such person’s anointing gradually, Proverbs 11:2 “When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom”. I would list some pages of scriptures for you, to establish what I said that God gives preferential hospitality to the humble. 

It is compulsory for you to read them and meditate, they would keep you on the track of humility so that you would not deviate into Pride.

Conclusion

I would like to discuss this finally, for all ministers in the prophetic ministry to understand what the Bible says in Romans 12:6 ” having then gifts according to the grace that is given to us let us use them, if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith”. After reading and meditating on this portion of the scripture, I understood this fact that, I call the fact the Law of faith in relation to prophecy, it States that your manifestation and sustainability in the realm and office of prophecy is directly proportional to the level of your faith in the Potency of Gods power. This means if your faith is a sick one, then your manifestation would surely fall victim of diverse spiritual sickness. I decided to conclude with this so that all ministers in the prophetic ministry would always and clearly understand the concept of faith in the ministry, So prophet or a prophetess must be a someone with a strong faith, for a perfect flow and ultimate sustainability in the Prophetic ministry.

God bless you as you inculcate these etiquettes into your ministry as a prophet or a prophetess, I assure you that growth is sure In Jesus name (Amen).

Author: Noah Akinseyosan