am planning to give some studies on prophetic
hearing, but since I have been asked a question concerning the gift of the Word of Wisdom,
I want to answer it, since it relates especially to the prophetic ministry.
This gift is often misunderstood by those who have never functioned in it. It is a gift
that is largely peculiar to the prophet and functions extensively in the prophetic
ministry. I am going to compare it with the Word of Knowledge to make it a bit clearer.
Firstly it has nothing to do with natural wisdom or intellectual capabilities. It is
not the Holy Spirit giving you an ability to be wise to overcome your lack of knowledge or
intelligence. It has nothing to do with you getting a solution to a problem where before
you were perplexed. I know that this is the way some people have interpreted it. The Holy
Spirit reveals the Word to us at times, and we ‘see’ things in the Word that we
have not seen before. This is not an operation of this gift.
It is not you suddenly getting the wisdom to solve a crisis. If you are sitting in a
church council discussing some problem that needs to be solved and you suddenly get the
solution, that is not an operation of the Word of Wisdom. It seems to me that everyone
gets stuck on the word ‘wisdom’ as though it relates to mental capability. You
can receive such influences from the intuition of your spirit at any time.
But that is not the operation of a spiritual gift. It is simply tapping the power that
is within you. I have covered that aspect in The Way of Blessing book
available at GMR Publishing.
The Word of Wisdom is simply a revelation of God’s plan and purpose for the
future. It always has a future orientation. When you are ministering to someone and the
Lord gives you a Word of Wisdom for that person, you will get a revelation concerning
their future life and/or ministry, indicating both the current path they are on, and what
God is planning for them. It is always an impartation of knowledge concerning the future.
The Word of Knowledge on the other hand is simply a revelation concerning the past and
present. It is a supernatural impartation to you of facts concerning the person’s
past and present. It might be about something that happened the person’s life, or it
might be a current circumstance or condition. It could even include a person’s
thoughts and aspirations. It could include the condition of the spirit, soul or body. Or
it could include events in their life. It might include something the person doesn’t
even know themselves.
Now since the Word of Wisdom has a future orientation, we need to clarify exactly how
it operates and what we are supposed to do with it when we receive it. Many people seem to
think that when a prophet receives a revelation concerning the future by this gift, that
he is predicting what is going to happen in the future. In fact this is so entrenched into
people’s thinking, that the term ‘prophet’ or ‘prophecy’ is
usually considered as one who predicts, or a prediction of what is to happen in the
future.
When someone makes such a prediction and it does not take place, we tend to be
skeptical of the person and see him or her as a false prophet. It then causes you to doubt
whether you heard correctly and you wonder if you were deceived. I have seen this happen
many times, both in my own ministry and in that of others, and I sought the Lord for
clarification on this matter. And this is what I want to share with you.
A good few years back when I was still new in these things, I had an aunt that was
suffering from cancer. We all prayed for her, and I remember one night as we were praying
there was a tremendous anointing. My late dad was at that time moving very strongly in the
prophetic anointing and the Lord showed him that my aunt would live to see many more
years. But she suffered on under treatment and seemed to not improve much. Later on the
Lord led me also to minister to her.
The anointing of the Lord came down very strongly, permeating her whole body, and the
Lord showed me the cancer leaving her body, and her being used by the Lord in a healing
ministry. The Lord confirmed this to her and she rejoiced and thanked the Lord for me and
prayed that the Lord would use me mightily in my ministry. I will still very young in
these things at that time.
But sometime later, after much struggling, my aunt died and went to be with the Lord. I
was really confused. The Lord had clearly shown both my dad and me that He was going to
heal her and use her. Yet she still died. Were we both wrong? Did we miss it? Was this a
true revelation from the Lord? I sought the Lord concerning this, and He showed me
something interesting. He showed me that He had indicated to us what His will and purpose
was for my aunt. But she had failed to enter into it.
I realized afterwards why this had happened. It turned out that my aunt’s mother
had died of cancer at a young age. The children were gathered around her deathbed, and
just before she died, she called the aunt in question over to her and tried to tell her
something. But she died without being able to say what she wanted to say. The aunt grew up
with the opinion, expressed also by some of the other family members that her mother was
trying to warn her about something that was going to happen to her later on in her life.
She grew up wondering and fearing that she too would die just like her mother, of
cancer at a young age. And sure enough she did just that. Her faith in the fear that had
gripped her sealed her destiny. The Lord had tried to move her away from it. The
revelation given to my dad and I was the Lord telling her that He wanted her to be healed
and that this could be her future. But in the end, the final destiny was determined by she
herself, and not by the Lord.
Now let me give you another example in similar vein. My ex wife had a grandfather that
was a dear child of the Lord, although he had been very wicked in his youth. They lived a
long way from us on the coast of the South Africa, and we went down to where they lived
one Christmas for a holiday. As we visited with them, he asked me to pray concerning his
health. He had been suffering much physically and was really down.
I laid hands on him and began praying for him, and as I did, I just saw darkness. It
gave me a fright, because I didn’t think he was that that ill, but I felt in the
Spirit that his condition was serious. Then I saw a path leading up ahead of him. The Lord
often shows me this kind of picture, and I know that it is a picture of the path that lies
ahead for a person. The condition of the path often tells me what lies in store for that
person. If it is full of obstacles or holes, then I know that a difficult time lies ahead.
If it is smooth, green or bright I know that it speaks about a time of blessing ahead.
In this case, I saw his ‘road’ take a turn, go uphill, and then I saw the
Lord waiting for him at the end of the road. I had never seen such a picture before, but I
knew instantly what the vision meant. It meant that I was seeing the end of his road. The
Lord was waiting for him there. He was going to die. Let me tell you that is a very
difficult vision to receive. What do you tell the person? I couldn’t tell him that I
saw he was going to die.
As we ended that holiday I returned home with mixed feelings about what I had seen. But
one night as I was praying I felt led to intercede for him again, and this time I saw
clearly in the Spirit, a funeral service, and I knew without a doubt that he was going to
die. The Lord even gave me an indication of the month it was to take place, which is
something I seldom receive – the time period of an event.
As it turned out, the Lord led us to actually move down to the city where he was
living. But just before that I received a final confirmation of what was to happen. I was
praying one night when I felt a very heavy burden of intercession. The Lord often uses me
in a manifestation of the Word of Knowledge, where I actually enter into a person’s
experience and feel what they are actually feeling inside.
This usually happens when I pray for someone, but the Lord also had begun to do this
when I interceded for someone. I began to experience a deep groaning in the spirit and
felt that someone was suffering physically and battling to breathe. It went on for a
while, and I looked to the Lord to show me who I was praying for. He showed me that I was
praying for this man. And I continued to pray that the Lord would reach out and touch him
physically.
Then as I was praying, I suddenly experienced a tremendous release in the Spirit, and I
broke forth in song. I saw myself marching with what appeared to be a band of angels. It
was like marching along in a brass band, like the Salvation Army do. And I was full of joy
and all the pressure was gone.
I thought at first that the Lord had healed him as I prayed, but then the Lord showed
me what had actually happened. The Lord told me that I had experienced in the Spirit, what
was going to happen when he died. I actually went through the process he was going to go
through in death, and went with him into eternity.
Well needless to say, I was now quite sure that he was going to die. The Lord had
showed me this on three different occasions now. As we moved down to where he was living,
I was not sure how I was going to minister to him. How would I prepare him for his death?
He certainly was ready spiritually. His life was dedicated fully to the Lord. I was a bit
nervous when we visited with him and his wife about what to say.
But as we visited with them, the Lord placed the strangest picture in my mind. He
showed me that old man strong and well. He showed me that He was going to rejuvenate him,
to the point that he was even going to be able to drive a car again. I saw him totally
healed and set free. And I was quite confused. When I asked the Lord what was going on, He
told me that there was a difference between what was destined to happen and what He
desired in His perfect will.
This brother was destined for death, partly because of the attack of the enemy on his
body, and partly as a result of his own desires and faith. But the Lord was offering him
the opportunity to change the picture. The Lord was saying that this could be changed. And
I tried to share this with him. But it seemed that he had already committed himself to
going home soon. I found out afterwards that he had already arranged his coffin and
funeral plot and made all necessary arrangements for his death.
And sure enough, in due time, it happened. We received a phone call to say that he was
suffering physically and I rushed there to pray with him. They had called the ambulance to
come and get him, and he seemed more concerned about getting dressed in new pajamas
than
seeking the Lord for healing. And then he suddenly collapsed and started to turn blue. I
was sent out of the room by the relatives to see if the ambulance had arrived and to
direct them to the correct old age home. And while I was out waiting he suffocated and
passed into eternity. It had happened just as I saw and experienced it.
So where was it at? Did the Lord want him to die? Did I get a revelation concerning the
future? Did I hear incorrectly when I felt the Lord saying He was going to heal him? I had
to once again weigh up the facts and come to a conclusion. And I came to the conclusion
that the Lord does not necessarily decree things when He reveals the future, but simply
gives us an insight into what is destined to take place and how we can change what takes
place. But in the end it is not the Lord that determines the final destiny, but we
ourselves.
We need to take His Word of Wisdom and apply it, to cause it to take place. Let’s
consider what happened when the Old Testament prophets spoke of the future. When the
prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Was he predicting what was to take place in the future? Was he showing that God had
revealed to him the birth of the savior? No, I am more inclined to think that God had
given him by the Word of Wisdom, an insight into His own plan and purpose. And the prophet
was responsible to speak it forth into the earth.
How does God accomplish things in the earth? Does He not do it by His word, the Rhema?
In Isaiah 55:11 He says
So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in
the thing] for which I sent it.
But how does He send His word forth into the earth? How does He make His decree? He has
to do it through human lips. And He does it through the lips of His prophets. That is why
He says in Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret
to his servants the prophets.
God works through His prophets, to cause them to speak forth into the earth, the Rhema
Word that will cause His will and purpose to be fulfilled. The prophet Isaiah did far more
than predict the coming of the Messiah
HE LITERALLY SPOKE IT INTO EXISTENCE.
And that is what the Word of Wisdom is about. It is God revealing to His servants the
prophets what His will and purpose is concerning the future. And He does this so that we
can speak forth His Word into the earth, and cause it to take place. We are His
instruments in the earth. It is our responsibility to speak forth His word, to cause His
will to take place in the earth.
I believe that if God’s prophets would pick up on this and
realize their
responsibility, they would be more careful about what they hear, and would not glibly make
predictions over people. This is why intercession is the major ministry of the prophet. We
are called to birth on the earth, the secret things that God reveals to us. We should not
be telling the whole world His secrets, in an attempt to show how great we are at hearing
His words. We should be taking the secrets He gives us by the Word of Wisdom, and speaking
them into existence.
Sometimes it would be better to remain silent when the Lord gives you a Word of Wisdom.
It might be that you are to intercede for the fulfillment of the word rather than speak it
forth. At other times the Lord wants you to let people know what they should aim for in
their life and ministry. He shows you what is happening and the way things are currently
headed. And He shows you the way that He would have them to go.
The Lord never imposes His will on us, as so many people seem to think He does. We
think that God has sovereignty decided our future for us and we just have to get ourselves
in line with it. So we go off at a tangent contrary to what we already have felt in our
spirit. This is especially true if some prophet comes along and mistakenly gives the wrong
directions. A clear understanding of this gift prevents this from happening.
When a prophet gives a genuine word of wisdom he is revealing something that God is
offering to you in His wisdom. The Lord knows the future as well as the past and present.
So He offers you an opportunity in His wisdom, via the word of wisdom. He is saying to
you, "I am making this opportunity available to you if you wish to pursue it."
He is not telling you that this is your destiny and you have no choice in the matter.
When you come to recognize this operation of the gift it will change both your attitude
to prophetic words given to you by others and those you receive on behalf of others. The
final outcome lies in the hands of the person to whom the word was directed. As a prophet
you need simply deliver the word the Lord gives you. It is not your responsibility to make
it come to pass. That is the responsibility of the person who it is for.
You need to make this clear to the person you are ministering to. I often see a door
when I minister a word of wisdom to someone. And it means that the Lord is offering the
person an opportunity, like a door that they can go through. But until the person actually
goes through that door the opportunity will not manifest. The Lord will not force His plan
on you. You have to give Him license to do so by going through that door and submitting to
His plan.
As a prophet you will also be given a key when you move into the prophetic office. In
fact the key is the symbol of the authority of the prophetic office. I have seen the Lord
giving this key to every person I have helped to move into the prophetic office. You might
function in the ministry of a prophet, but the receiving of the key indicates your moving
into the prophetic office.
As a prophet you are then responsible to use that key to open and shut doors in the
lives of others. So you are able to unlock doors of opportunity and offer them to people
in the Spirit. And that is what you do by the Word of Wisdom. The ball is then in the
other person’s court. You will also at times need to block a person from proceeding
in a direction that is not correct. So the key can also be used to close doors.
Of course you need to realize that before you can receive such a key and be given such
a responsibility, you are going to have to prove yourself trustworthy of such a
responsibility. That is why the preparation for the prophetic office is so intensive and
takes such a long time.
But that is another subject altogether.
