Prophetic Delay

There are times when displaying our faith in silence and trusting the Lord is our strongest prophetic act.

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As we wait for the fulfillment of a prophetic word, we should never appear like someone following a carrot-dangling-on-a-stick, continually pushing a word forward into the future past its initial date of promise in hopes something will take place. Once a prophetic word is declared, we need to shift our attention away from the word to the One who alone has the ability to fulfill the promise contained in the word.

If the carrot-on-the-stick way of thinking persists and is not broken, two kinds of jeopardy will appear. One jeopardy can cause a prophet to compromise their integrity trying to keep a word and their reputation afloat through ongoing acts of self-promotion or a never-ending stream of updates and revisions. There are times when displaying our faith in silence and trusting the Lord is our strongest prophetic act. The other jeopardy is disillusionment for those who trusted a prophet, but as they wait, they see the prophet performing the equivalent of religious cheerleading using emotion and human energy to mask the fear of delay.

We can trust God to perform what He promised if what we prophesied is truly a word from the Lord. Between the moment of declaration and the fulfillment of a word is where God builds our character and establishes a witness of our prophetic credibility.

 

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins

Featured Image by Hao Wen on Unsplash

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About the Author

Garris Elkins is a Kingdom Winds Contributor. He and his wife, Jan, serve the global Church through writing, speaking, and mentoring. They live in southern Oregon, tucked away in the foothills of the Rogue Valley. Their shared desire is to have each person learn how to hear the heart of God and become a transforming voice in their culture.