What role does the gift of prophecy have in healing trauma? Can one word from someone that is a “thus says the Lord” moment change everything? What about the dangers of prophetic words concerning the healing process.
The simple answer is YES, it change set in motion a transformation. One word from the Lord changes everything. The more complex answer is you must use discernment because most of what flies in the name of the prophetic is actually eastern religion with a little Jesus on top.
I believe in prophecy. I have had my life changed by a prophetic word more than once. I also have had some really crazy abuse done to me because of “prophetic ministry.” it is actually divination but that is another discussion.
This is why many pastors are very shaky when they hear someone say they have a prophetic word. They often are walking in all types of weirdness. They also have seen the abuse that has come in the name of “God told me.” Everything from church splits to divorce has been a result of false prophecy.
However, the truth remains that real prophecy changes people and can be the things that breaks the cycle of trauma.
Prophecy that changes things
While many ministries has a “eat the meat and spit out the bones” mentality, some ministries are more bones than actual meat. For someone who is dealing with PTSD, it is hard to deal with so much false prophecy when you are struggling for freedom.
I have had some prophetic words from people that I can trust in key seasons that changed things. In fact, a few weeks before I had a direct encounter with the Spirit; there was a prophetic word spoken to me about the end of the trauma circle was closing. I didn’t think much about it but afterwards I realized, “Hey, that was a moment of God said.”
I have seen a prophetic word go forth to a man and everything broke right on the spot. He was delivered from trauma right in the middle of a service and he went home a completely different man. It happens often actually. It is very biblical.
I will never believe that prophecy does not have power when it is truly from the Lord. It causes demons to flee, angels to come and times of refreshing to the soul. The problem in my opinion is not the prophecy but the problem of false prophetic word that fly and only harm people.
However, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is a lot of fake money out there in the world but we still use the real money to live. The same is true with prophetic ministry.
Seek the Spirit for your help and ask for His comfort but be open to the role of the Spirit through someone else if that is what the Spirit desires to do. Sometimes, when there is trauma goes on, it is easier to hear the Spirit through someone else than on your own. Think about Naomi in the book of Ruth.
Why prophetic ministry is so ugly?
There is a lot of eastern religion in the prophetic movement right now. No accountability. No discernment. No distinguishing between spirits. It is basically a free for all when we think we have more say than the Lord. If we like it, it is from the Spirit and if we don’t, “it doesn’t bear witness.”
When “popular prophets” (When was a prophet in the Bible “popular?”) miss most of their prophetic words and we still smile at 1 out of 10 they actually get. The truth is even a clock is right twice a day.
Spiritually, it is even worse. We have false prophets and people who operate in divination. They are able to “read people” and spot “energy.” This is straight up eastern religion but we don’t see the difference because the Charismatic movement is so naive for what is true prophecy, they accept the fake.
If you receive a “prophetic word” that lacks the presence of God with it, build your ego, tells you how “amazing” you are and does not confront the lack of holiness in your life; there is a good chance it is by a demonic force of divination.
The truth is most prophecy is not “encouraging.” It is calling you to deep levels of holiness and death to self. When dealing with trauma, this is often even more the case because the wound in the soul makes it hard to die to self.
Personally, I think if used the biblical norm of stoning false prophets and a little burning them at the stake, all the fake prophetic ministry would stop!
Resting in the Spirit
What happens when you know that you have heard from the Lord without a question, be directly or through a prophetic word that you have discerned to be the Spirit? You rest with surrendering it to the Lord.
The Holy Spirit can not lie. If He said it will happen, it will happen. We can’t make it happen. We can’t stop it from happening, either. All you can do is believe the word of the Lord, lay it at the foot of the Cross as an offering, and wait for the appointed time. 120 different times the Bible says, “It shall come to pass.”
In the late spring of last year, the Spirit said something about someone I know and it is beyond discerned and confirmed. Yet, to date, I have yet to see it fully happen. What I see in the natural does not matter because Holy Spirit does not lie. If He said it will come to pass, it WILL come to pass.
I say that to tell you that if you are believing a word from the Lord about anything, trauma or not; Holy Spirit do what He said He will do. All you can do is lay the word at the foot of the Cross as an offering and wait until it comes to pass (and it will because God does not lie!)
In the words of my hero of the faith, Smith Wigglesworth, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
