Prophets, prophetic people, often disagree on what they see and hear. Sometimes apparently conflicting prophecies or visions may both happen through complex workings and timings of the Lord. Or the differing prophecies may be alternative outcomes that are conditional, such as depending on intercessory prayer. For example, both Moses and Hezekiah appealed to the Lord and God changed His mind regarding the outcome for those situations, see 2 Kings 20:1-6 and Ex 32:9-14 below. Or sometimes the visions or words are simply inaccurate and either wholly or partly not from God.
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life.
2 Kings 20:1-6 (NIV)
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’“ Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Ex 32:9-14 (NIV)
If you read my blog you know I have prophesied positive, grace-filled, merciful outcomes over the U.S. economy, the stock market, California and our political leadership. A large number of my prophecies have been very specific and not general. Thus, they can be measured for accuracy in the future. And because they are specific, what I am saying and believing may be the opposite of what others are saying.
I sometimes intercede against those prophecies and visions which I don’t believe are the “higher good” that the Lord intends (my description for a positive, grace-filled merciful outcome as opposed to a destructive, judgment outcome). Perhaps the judgment or devastating outcome that others see will happen without prayer. But I want to pray for the abundant, undeserved grace that I see and hear will occur.
Perhaps I am biased towards undeserved grace, mercy, and restoration because Jesus was a friend to sinners first and foremost. It was His unusual, overwhelming love that drew sinners, whereas the religious leaders of the day eschewed them. In fact, Jesus rebuked the self-righteous and judgmental Pharisees who thought they were holier than others and didn’t admit that they, too, were sinners and were thus woefully incapable of saving themselves. I want to look at others the way Jesus looked at me with love before He saved me. I desperately needed to have His light shine into my darkened mind and heart but didn’t know at the time I needed His infectious goodness. That is the brilliance of the moment of salvation: the light of Christ flashes on with intense brightness so you can see what you couldn’t see about yourself before. I want to love others because Jesus counseled us to love even our enemies. Jesus wins people over with love. Here is a key passage:
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. And he said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went to another village.
Luke 9:51-56 (NIV)
Notice the phrase, “the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Whenever I have found myself praying for justice or even harsh judgment when I have been severely injured or wronged, I will always find the Lord persistently correcting me until I change my heart to sincerely pray for salvation and abundant grace for that person or persons, not always in that order. The Lord sometimes heals and blesses before the person comes to know God. God will, of course, bring judgment at times. But the above scripture in Luke shows the extreme loving heart of Jesus, a bias towards love and patience rather than judgment. “The Message” Bible captures this love of God beautifully as well:
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.
Matt 5:43-48 (MSG)
Regarding what I’m interceding against in the spirit realm, most of the time it’s taking authority through my prophetic sight and hearing over a “less desirable”, “less good”, even “darker” vision that could happen unless a “more desirable”, “higher good”, “more redemptive” prophecy were seen or heard. Although I believe what I see or hear will likely happen unconditionally without intercession, I will usually emphasize my agreement with prayer, even declarations. Again, it is not that destructive outcomes of judgment will not happen in some situations, they will. But if I see or hear a “higher good” of a positive, grace-filled, merciful outcome and I believe what I see or hear is from the Lord, I will both believe as well as pray in agreement with my prophetic sight and hearing. My prophecies and intercession for the US stock market since early 2009 were just that, a prophetic sight of and agreement with financial restoration from the Lord for America and many Americans. The prophecies were not just about the stock market going to 10,000 and then 12,000 but also health returning to American companies because God’s people work in those companies. Health has returned and is continuing to return to American companies. My prophecies came to pass while many opposite prophecies from others did not.
Maybe it took someone who dared to disagree to be emboldened by His Spirit and prophecy a different outcome for the Lord to then honor those prophecies by the fact they came to pass. If it means not “coming into agreement” with others regarding their prophecies, I believe that is not only acceptable but also prophesying a vastly different outcome may be the Holy Spirit’s leading to do so. It doesn’t mean I don’t love or respect those brothers and sisters in Christ, I do. It simply means I don’t feel called to align with those prophecies they uttered. Yes, I believe some of those prophecies to be wrong. And in other cases I believe they may be potentially accurate but changeable through a different bold prophecy and/or intercession. In summary, to the best of my ability I will speak out prophecies boldly and intercede if I believe the prophecies the Lord has given me are truly from His heart.
All of this can be described as “standing in the gap”. From the scriptures I’ve cited above, which are just a few, God is moved by prophetic sons and daughters who pray for redemption and grace, what I call a “higher good.” To some it may seem arrogant, but I believe it’s the opposite. It takes a lot of exposure of the person going against the flow of popular prophetic opinion (particularly utterances from nationally-recognized prophets), a lot of courage to muster up, and a lot of self-sacrifice of time and pleasure in intercessory prayer over the prophecies. It is, honestly, not pleasant most of the time. It is a great labor and not light-weight. Your flesh sometimes resists because it can be tiring, time-consuming work. But you can’t not do it, your spirit is pulled by His to prophesy, intercede and even declare to the heavenlies.
And then you discover, while you are laboring in all this, He is also working on your character so that you die increasingly to yourself. Being gold refined in hot fire is not a comfortable place for most people. Prophetic experiences carry over into the deeply personal as well, and a great cleansing takes place over and over in you like wash and rinse cycles that don’t stop. For example, as I prophesy certain positive outcomes and grace for various situations in America, so I find I must pray for positive outcomes and grace for those who have greatly injured me with wounds still raw and sliced deep. There is no choice but to allow those shadows of your soul to be revealed in their numbing darkness, that you have set yourself up in that regard as a Pharisee and a judge in the place of the one and only Judge. Then you choose to remove your Pharisee robe from concealing those dark areas, and let them be illuminated by Christ’s embrace of light and love.
Note: This blog post was completely revised on December 24, 2011 as I felt the previous blog post was confusing because it did not express my views as clearly as it could have.
