By Jennifer LeClaire
God is calling His prophets to watch and pray. Are you on your post?
Are you building walls of religion or towers of prayer? Your answer could denote the difference between a woe-filled fate and a fulfilled destiny.
Prophets obsessed by the fear of man or unholy desires will not fulfill God’s ultimate plan. We must be careful, then, not to prophesy according to the party line in order to establish and preserve popularity in ministry circuits. If we fall into this trap we find ourselves in danger of perverting the gift of God by building walls of religion.
True prophets are not always the most popular five-fold ministry gift on the block because they are bold enough to release a word of the Lord that deals with sin or that warns the local church of potentially unpleasant circumstances coming down the proverbial pike. In order to properly carry this mantle, genuine prophets must build towers of prayer.
False prophets build walls of religion that lead people astray with fabricated edification, misleading exhortation and counterfeit comfort. “These evil prophets deceive my people saying, ‘All is peaceful!’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to hold it together by covering it with whitewash! Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down” (Ezekiel 13:10 NLT).
Verily, verily, the whitewashed walls of religion are going to come tumbling down in a heap of self-righteous rubble and the false prophets are coming down right along with them. Let’s not forget that Jesus pronounced woe on the Pharisaical hypocrites, calling them whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean (Matthew 23:27).
You can’t whitewash sin. You can’t whitewash religion. And you certainly can’t whitewash false prophecy. We must guard our hearts in order to maintain a pure prophetic flow and a life of prayer that will wash away the plans of the enemy instead of fortifying his deception by watering down the truth for the sake of acceptance.
True prophets may not always have the flare, charisma or appeal of their false twins, but who said they are supposed to? Jeremiah wasn’t the most popular prophet in his time, nor was Ezekiel in his day. John the Baptist had his head served up on a silver platter for warning the people of the looming decision between everlasting life and eternal hellfire. But they were the unadulterated mouthpieces of God. And so it should be.
One of the key disparities between the true and the false prophet is prayer. The Bible says the foolish prophets discussed in the 13th Chapter of Ezekiel did not stand in the gap or make up a hedge for the house of Israel so that it could endure the battle. These diviners did not intercede in prayer to protect God’s people.
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True prophets, by contrast, may not win any popularity contests in the local church, but they will sacrifice to make intercession. Instead of building walls of religion, they build towers of prayer; watchtowers in the spirit that allow them to see the assignments coming against the local church. They take that revelation and use it as spiritual mortar to make up a hedge in prayer.
You can’t separate a prophet from prayer any more than you can separate an evangelist from preaching the Gospel. The very first time you ever see the word “prophet” in the Bible, it is connected to prayer. In the Book of Genesis when Abimelech took Abraham’s wife, the Lord said, “Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live…” (Genesis 20:7). So while not every intercessor is a prophet, every prophet is an intercessor.
Consider the prophets of old. They were often called watchmen. Scripture reveals three types of prophetic sentinels whose mission is to stand guard, keep watch and report what they see. We find Old Testament prophets on the walls, walking in the streets of the city and in the countryside.
“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence…” (Isaiah 62:6) Watchmen on the walls are positioned to see far distances in the spirit and discern whether friend or foe is approaching. The watchman gives word to those in authority so they can decide whether to sound an alarm of welcome or an alarm of war. In today’s local church, these watchmen help protect against enemy attacks. Every prophet is called to this post.
“They surround Jerusalem like watchmen surrounding a field, for my people have rebelled against me, says the Lord,” (Jeremiah 4:17 NLT). This relates to the prophets in the harvest fields. Prophets have a clear role in evangelism as watchmen who protect Gospel-preaching efforts against the destructive work of principalities and powers that keep the lost from hearing the truth. Prophets should be deployed on local church outreaches and international missions to watch, guard, pull down and destroy opposition to the Good News.
“The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city” (Song of Solomon 3:3; 5:7 NIV). In today’s times, this watchman is assigned to stand guard over the Body of Christ to see emerging problems. This is a larger responsibility that carries with it a heavier prayer burden and greater implications for the Church at large.
The point is anyone who stands in the five-fold function of prophet should keep their spiritual binoculars around their neck and watch. But not just watch – watch and pray always. Anyone carrying a prophetic mantle needs to closely examine the fruit of his or her ministry. If we have prophesied peace unto popularity, then we need to repent. We need to trade in our whitewash for some substantive mortar and start building towers of prayer that will bring genuine edification, authentic exhortation and legitimate comfort to God’s people.
Let us not be foolish prophets who build our ministries on the sands of seduction for the sake of acceptance because Jehovah promises that rain will pour from the heavens, hailstones will come hurtling down and violent winds will burst forth against those whitewashed walls and expose them (Ezekiel 13:11-12).
Instead, let us build our ministries on the Rock and prophesy the mind of Christ so that when the hurricanes of religion come against the local church and when Jezebel hurls her spiritual sleet at the sanctuary and when the winds of witchcraft blow against the walls, the foundation of our ministries and our local churches will be fortified to stand and withstand in the day of battle.
Rev. Rafael:
See this book written by Jonas Clark: Prophetic Operations, It deals with the issues you are addressing, bringing correction and stability.
Also, see The Heart of the Prophetic, by Jennifer LeClaire.
The Voice is committed to publishing Scriptural Truth to what the Holy Spirit is saying, and our bold editorial stance speaks to the heart of issues that are important in this time of restoration.
Ms. Jennifer,
I don’t know who you wrote this article for, but the “whole world” should read it! I couldn’t tell if you were preaching or prophesying or what; but it touched my spirit, and is gooood!
I could feel the warfare in the passages! The article is an ardent and powerful reminder to us all to wake up, get up, wipe the sleep from our eyes, and be about the Father’s business! I love this article. It seems to have in it a bit of edification as well as super strength in encouragement for us all to get involved in helping to make the body of Christ safe, resilient, and steadfast so that we can, with more zeal, “RUN!” to the battlefield and STAND UP for what we “say” we be believe in.
I’m in agreement. We MUST continue without ceasing in the acts of prayer, warfare, and standing in the gap for each other…protecting each other, loving each other, and caring for each other. COM’MON EVERYBODY! A D V A A A A N C E TO THE FRONT LINE!! LET’S “NEVER” SRINK BACK; NOT EVEN WHEN WE “DO” SEE THE “WHITES” OF THEIR EYES! The Holy Spirit is here to help us be victorious. We need not fear, for “greater” is He who is in US than he that is in this world! Amen, Maggie
Sooo right true prophets r not popular at all because of their pure message of remaining unspotted from this world.The true church is suppose to be peculiar and the people’s lives r suppose to display peculiarity.Jesus said the world would know that we belong to him by the phileo and agape we show towards one another.
Thank you for being used by the Lord Jesus Christ to bring revelation. May God bless you.
I am a Christian who believes in the healing miracles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have been praying for the miracle of healing in the lives of my parents- My mother has a mystery illness that causes syncope and weakness; she is bedridden. My father was recently diagnosed with cancer. I pray, standing on God’s biblical words: “Greater thins than these you can do in my (Jesus) name. To heal the sick, to cast out demons and to raise the dead”. I also stand on His words “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, know and the door shall be open unto you”.
My parents need the assistance of a prayer warrior, like you and your prayer partners, who can work with me in soliciting the mercy of the Lord for my parents and my family.
I ask for your prayers for miracles this Christmas season: HEALING FOR NELLIE AND JAMES FLANDERS, AND UNITY FOR THE FLANDERS FAMILY. There is no greater gift than prayer. Although I do not know you, I believe God’s hand is on you, or you would not have a website devoted to the healing power of THE GREATEST HEALER OF ALL TIME!
Please pray for my family and me as we honor Jesus’ birth together. I need some extra prayers going to our Heavenly Father for His HEALING GRACE. I also stand on the bible verse, “By Thy stripes, I am healed.” BY JESUS’ STRIPES, NELLIE, JAMES AND THE FLANDERS FAMILY ARE HEALED. PLEASE STAND WITH ME IN PRAYER FOR MIRACLES.
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR MINISTRY!
Abigail L. Flanders
(814) 359-6744 (cell)
(704) 393-0135 (parents’ home)
I am sowing my debt busting seed and I want you to agree for my house to be paid for within the next yr. & for financies, salvation for loved ones, debt free living, favor, wealth, wisdom & the husband I have been standing for. Also agree that I am a healthy person & my immune system destroys any & all invading bacteria & I have none of the sicknesses my parents & grandparents had & this applies for my daughters & family members & for David White & the husband the Lord has for me. I have no sinus problems or infections ever nor heart problems nor arthuritus, & no problems with health at all & the devil cannot steal my days at work with any sickness nor anything. That devil, satan cannot steal anything from me at all ever nor my family & that includes the family of Jesus Christ. Agree I have plenty of energy & I have lost the amount of weight I want to loose & I exercise physically everyday & I have no appetite for natural food & I will not eat & if the Lord wants me to fast for me to begin & fast what He wants & for as long as He wants with no interuptions or attacks from the devil in any way. I am expecting my Blessings & breakthrough now. Agree for me to love my job & the people I work with & for them to love me too. Agree for restoration of everything from the past to begin being restored this day in Jesus name.Agree for me to have the Spirit of wisdom & revelation from Father God, to be filled with the fullness of God and to have joy unspeakable & full of Glory & to be filled with the knowledge of Father God’s will. Breakthroughs in every area & every way this day in Jesus Name. The Word declares that if two agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask it shall be given unto them for where two or three are gathered in Jesus name. He is in the midst of them, & this is gathered in Jesus name. Amen & Glory to God the Father & Jesus His son, my elder brother. Any & all neg. word ever spoken over any of us are destroyed by the blood of Jesus & if anyone tries to speak curses or neg. words in the future it will be like Baalam when he tried to curse Israel. He could only speak a blessing, because what Father God has blessed no man can curse.
What can I say. This is truly a clarion call to all sleeping prophets and seers. I mean, when I began to dig into this message, I tell you the truth, I felt a spiritual wind come from under me. Thank you Woman of God for this message. I can say more, but I’m just lost for words. My God!
praise the lord
pl continue to pray for my forgery case with my brother name sanjiv,as after my father death he made my forged power of Attorney and sold all my properties. MY brother is using all his influence on all the police officers and bureacrats . But my eyes r only looking at my Almighty god who has promised never to fail us. i beleive gods justice and victory in this case. i am in INDIA these days regarding this case only.Next week the case will be filed in the court. pl pray for my mothers health also. if god gives you any prophectic words pl let me know.
thanks and may god bless you all
in christ
mala