 say if it is possible to lead in prayer? Yes, Pastor. Yes, yes, please. Yeah, thank you. Let's pray. Out there Father in heaven we bless you and we thank you Lord for another opportunity Lord to be instructed by your daughter and thank you Lord for giving us this opportunity Lord to be gathered all over the world online here again Lord to learn at your feet. We thank you because of the wisdom Lord that will be impacted with and the understanding and the knowledge. We pray Father at the time Lord we are together let it be fruitful. Lord we pray as we listen as we pay attention oh God speak to us Lord through everything we'll be learning today and above all Lord may we be used for your glory may we be used as instruments to bring light to those who do not understand Lord the concepts of your word or Lord the concepts of the apostolic and the prophetic in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father for in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you Seri. So we will get into what we have been looking at so far and that is about receiving personal prophecy what are all the things that we should think about and how should we assess those prophecies before we actually consider acting on it and that's what we looked at. We said that we have to first test whether the prophecy is from God and there were a couple of tests and first of all you know we should never despise a prophecy. The moment you hear a prophecy the right way to approach is to say okay you know we will consider I will consider this and then go ahead and test that prophecy don't reject it you know right at the outset then go ahead and test that prophecy test it for you know whether it is in harmony with the written word of God whether it moves me towards God and his will for my life then we ask the question does the Holy Spirit bear witness to this prophecy with my spirit we also check you know whether it is in harmony with the overall plan and purpose of God for my life so if it satisfies all of these questions then we know that this is a word from God and we take the next step and yesterday I was saying that another crucial thing is to know how to apply it because every word doesn't mean that God wants us to act on it right away so there can be a passage of time involved and this can be a few years it can be many years and in that duration one needs to know what is it that they should be doing in order to prepare themselves for that you know the Cairo's movement of the right time when we have to step out with the prophecy so no God generally gives us this period of time and it's for our benefit so some insights regarding this duration and the process that one goes through before the fulfillment of the prophetic word one is that we must believe in that prophetic word as we go through that period we must have our hope and faith in that prophetic word because we saw how second chronicles 2020 God says believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established believe his prophets and you shall prosper so there is a blessing as we believe in what God has already spoken no if we have an attitude which is like okay I don't I don't think this is from God and I am not going to believe this that's when you know we are not aligned with what God is doing in our life so take that prophetic word now that it is confirmed that it's from God believe in it believe in it the next thing is to obey that word so whatever is it takes you know you go ahead and do that you know God could be revealing different things at different points in our journey so just you know believe it and act on whatever it is that God is speaking to us about and then the prophetic word you know during that phase when you're holding on to the prophetic word one very important thing is to wage spiritual warfare with the word that has been spoken so first Timothy chapter 1 and verse 18 that's where Paul instructs Timothy to fight a good warfare with the prophetic word which has been spoken over his life now I think this is very important because what happens is many of us think that when a prophetic word is spoken it is supposed to be automatic you know that okay this this word came that God is going to whatever fill in the blanks you know God is going to bless prosper me in a in a great job or God is going to give me a successful ministry so all that is there but in the phase when you don't see the full manifestation there are people and what them say if God said it you know that settles it and that's it you know I'm not going to do anything about the prophetic word but here is something we see in scripture that when a prophetic word is spoken over our lives we have to use it in prayer so you know we could bring that in prayer and say God you have you said in your word that you know you spoke to me that you're going to do this in my life so you know I stand firm on it and as you do that one thing is that you know you are you are acknowledging affirming it but it's also like a declaration to the powers of darkness so that is why wage a good warfare that you believe in what God is going to do and what God has spoken over your life so waging a good warfare is also necessary we can't just have the prophetic word and think that it'll it'll just happen you know by itself so we're praying it through and using it in spiritual warfare is something that we must engage in and then you know we must recognize that God has a due time when he will perform what he has spoken so until such time it is good to do what God has shown us right now you know and and this is also really important the example that I gave yesterday where I said someone comes and says that God is going to take you to the nations and you have an international ministry and all of that so even though such a word has come and maybe I have prayed through and I have a confirmation that it is a true word and what do I do now you know with that word the best thing to do is to hold on to God in prayer and see how he leads us into the next step and why we are waiting for that maybe currently I already have a job maybe currently I already have a ministry you know currently you know I'm already working on some projects so it's just good to continue what you and I know God has called us to right now so that is the best thing to do you know just continue in with what you know while you wait and yeah prayer one is I already talked about using the prophetic word in spiritual warfare now it's also important for us to pray through the prophetic word now we we see in God's word that there were there were prophecies made and it it took people to spend time in prayer to see the manifestation of that prophecy you know one example is in the book of Daniel and Daniel already knew about the fact that you know the the people of God would be set free and you know they they will move out of Babylon so he knew all these things but then you see that Daniel is holding on to this word and he's actually praying about it now if God is anyway going to do it why pray but there is a dynamic of engaging in prayer which is necessary for the fulfillment of that prophetic word so no now if I just ask any one of you you could probably share you know a couple of prophetic words over your life over you know your ministry over your family now instead of just keeping that in our memory it's good to start praying through start praying through just the way Daniel Daniel already knew the prophetic word about the nation and that was not you know enough for him to know it he started praying into it and that's how the release also came we also find a prophet like Elijah in 1 Kings 18 we saw that God spoke to him and he already told him it is going to rain and yet what does Elijah do he goes and he starts praying that's praying about what something that God has already confirmed he's told Elijah this is it and it's funny because Elijah he communicates this to Ahab and then you know he goes and prays so he was sure that he heard from God it is going to rain so he could have you know he could have just rested after after declaring it to Ahab but that's not what he did he went and prayed and even prayed seven times so it was the seventh time when he saw you know small cloud rising up and he knew that this is the timing it is going to pour now and it's best for me to get out of this place so prayer has a path to play in the manifestation of the prophetic word and so whenever we receive prophetic words it's good to pray them through that God will take us through a necessary process now you know when we hear great words of prophecy made over our lives or let's say made over our family or even sometimes parents they hear this prophetic word about their child and they're all excited oh wow God is going to use you know my child mightily but whenever there is a great word okay also remember that there will be a great preparation in order for us to walk in that word so God will take us through preparation and one has to yield to that preparation to be ready to step into it when things are happening now this is another very very crucial thing for us to understand when a prophetic word is spoken it's generally in part so a prophet will not address or anyone anyone even a prophesying believer will not address every area of a person's life or a person's work so the prophetic word could only be about ministry but you know it's like it's not that God is not seeing the other parts of this person's life maybe God just meant to speak address one particular area of that individual's life okay so we we must understand that you know prophecy is in part and God addresses parts in the prophetic word and we must also remember that when this prophecy comes it it may not speak of everything and even the unsaid parts have to be considered for example let's go back to the same example of you know God is going to bless you with an international ministry this and that that's what is spoken now what is unsaid the unsaid part is that one has to yield to God one has to grow spiritually one has to grow in the grace of God you know with regard to the gifts that are there on their lives so that is unspoken but it is equally important like the spoken word so this is you know something that we have to recognize just because God didn't say it through that prophecy we can't ignore or neglect it okay so now let's talk a little bit about understanding timing in personal prophecy and I've been saying that God's appointed time is is the moment when things will materialize or it will happen so one has to wait for it God's appointed time when we think about God you know God lives outside of time he is not you know his calculation of time is completely different from ours the scripture also says that a day is like a thousand years for God so his way of looking at time is quite different and in a prophetic word you know we can see I mean we can see examples in God's word that there have been words that were spoken but it wasn't God's type that they came to fruition for example early on in Genesis we read how the man will crush the head of the serpent you know the the woman see will crush the head of the serpent but in Galatians 4 4 is when you know in the fullness of time God sent the Lord Jesus so it took those many thousand years for Jesus to come and similarly the word spoken to Abraham you read about his life Genesis 12 the promises all the way through Genesis 15 and then you're expected oh wow you know Abraham is going to have a son and this will be a son of promise but in reality it took 25 years for that word to be fulfilled and if we look closely at the promises of God it also had to do with his descendants they also have to do with you know the land that God will give them so the promises were over the generations so not just Abraham but also his descendants needed to believe and wait on the Lord for certain parts of God's promise to be fulfilled so there was a passage of time and a duration so the same thing you know applies to us now in the prophetic word we could hear words like you know God God will do it soon immediately you know Jesus is coming back soon and sometimes gauging what that soon immediately the time duration is critical and we should not assess it as you know our kind of understanding of time so even in the book of Revelation we see excuse me Revelation 22 12 where God says behold I am coming quickly okay but now we are with you know things unfolding in the world events unfolding in the world where we are moving towards the end of you know this age and it certainly the way we perceive it it is not a quickly it has taken you know years and decades and things like that so we have to be open to the way God works and his time sometimes you know as I've been saying it could take a few years it could take five years 10 years 20 years for what God has spoken to actually come to pass so we must understand that and that will be helpful because then we will know how to act on it you know we won't make foolish decisions like you know quitting your job or selling everything that you have because God said you know you're going to get into you know certain certain way of serving him so you have to also wait for God's timing and the way God works now when we consider the prophetic in scripture there is something called as prophetic foreshortening okay prophetic foreshortening Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7 through this I can you know explain what I'm saying could somebody pick up that passage and read please Isaiah 7 verses 6 and 7 yes personal yeah as I as I said Isaiah 9 oh my apologies 9 Isaiah 9 6 and 7 correct it says for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace of the increase of his kingdom sorry of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of david over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the lord of post will perform this yes yes thank you thank you say for reading it for us this is a familiar passage usually you know during christmas times people would read it in this very passage if you notice I know Isaiah prophesies he says for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and we know that this is talking about the birth of the lord Jesus okay now in the same sentence as I am saying the government will be upon his shoulder now we can all testify to the fact that the kind of life that Jesus lived here during his earthly ministry you know he did not he was not part of the government or the rulership you know in in that sense so yes he brought the kingdom of god but like literally for him to to rule as a leader that that didn't happen quite happened then but when we study scriptures we understand that this is going to happen you know when uh when we see the end of the age and the you know the millennial rule and reign of christ and then you know you move forward into the the other things that that will occur and it will be christ exalted you know ruling and reigning with the government on his shoulders so this is a very good example for us because in one breath there is you know there is ages there's there is thousands of years okay and for somebody who is interpreting if we don't recognize this you know we could be like but you know the word said this and that all in one breath but the timing of what god is speaking to us even if it is a part of the same sentence you know it can be different and and that's what we see here this is you know called as prophetic foreshortening where the timing is so different now of two occurrences and for the person who is interpreting right they would need to recognize this and this tends to happen in the simple prophetic words that are spoken because we are going to use because we are going to prophesy over others and also receive prophetic words you know just we are just sharing this so that we are aware and we don't get confused you know what is god saying um why is it all you know one thing is happening one time and something else is happening in another time in my life like what is going on but that's how god speaks and we have to understand his timing and say I saw your point here say he has commented god lives in the now yeah that's true so you know that that's how we say god lives in the now there's no past or present future times only relative to us here on earth yes that's so right okay all right so yeah some more insights about interpreting personal prophecy and applying personal prophecy so when we make decisions let's be fully aware of the way you know the timing of what god is talking to us about okay if we are not careful then you know we can go through some disappointments now about releasing prophetic words we will talk about it but then something that I would put right here is you know sometimes people are in a hurry to add a time to the word that is spoken for example okay you are going to get married in two months okay so maybe somebody is very excited oh wow no it's going to happen finally and then a month comes and goes another month comes and goes two months have gone and this person is here you know like nothing has happened so then what happens you know they go into disappointment that the prophetic word said this timeline and it didn't happen so you know using of timeline even when we prophesy and we generally say that when we teach you know this subject unless god impresses on our hearts you know very strongly and puts a timeline and says by the end of the year or in two years or in five years don't say it okay best not to say best not to attach a timeline to the prophetic word so normally a general prophesying believer we would just say don't add a timeline unless you are very very sure so we need to exercise caution otherwise what tends to happen is you know people anticipate they expect and when it doesn't happen you know it really affects their fate okay and we don't want that to happen so better to avoid adding a timeline and in the you know interpretation of the prophetic word once again there's a section here in our notes I'm on page 170 PDF version about confirmation so to have a confirmation from one or more witnesses especially when it is an important prophetic word you know maybe we've heard from god if we have to change our city or you know take the family and shift to another place these are all very very big decisions so before we make such a decision based on the prophetic word generally what happens we might have an idea like god would have already put that in our hearts and we might be thinking yeah what if god takes me to another place and then suddenly the opportunity comes our way the prophetic word comes our way so there is a confirmation right there because god had already you know given us an idea that this is going to happen but there are times when we don't have an inner witness that god is going to bring about the change in our lives so in those moments it is best to wait to get confirmations you know again don't have to run behind prophets and prophetic conferences but just put it out before the lord and say god you know in your own way please give me like a double witness so that I'm sure I'm ready to make this decision I'm ready to make the move but please give me a confirmation and that way you know you can be very sure particularly when you're making a big decision for life so a few more things about the personal prophecies always check for the inner witness of the word that has been spoken to us you know whether the Holy Spirit is bearing witness whether we have a sense of calm in us you know that okay we can act on this word and remember that god is always very consistent he doesn't say something totally new you know to derail us he never does that so the prophecy must be consistent you know as compared to being very abrupt like sudden and random okay then also the witnesses if god gives us more witnesses that this is exactly what he is ministering to our hearts then we have more surety as we act on that word yeah sometimes there is also in the bible we see there is god uses repetition okay there were some dreams for example the dream of you know when you look at Joseph interpreting Faro's dream I think Faro had two dreams right and the interpretation was more or less the same it was the same in fact of both the dreams which Faro had and god spoke twice god spoke twice so sometimes again you know we must not get stuck on it we for the sake of confirmation if we come before god and say god you know I want you to tell me whether this is from you you give me a vision you know some people pray like that you only give me a vision then I know and god is gracious you know sometimes he just goes by what we request however you know god can speak any which way maybe he speaks through the pastor maybe he speaks from the word of god so if we are open then you know that's better because then god can confirm in you know whichever way but also look out for you know this double happening repeatedly god says the same thing and especially when it comes to dreams if you're having the same dream more than once god is trying to get your attention if it is a dream from god so get a confirmation and then act on it especially when making big life decisions okay so while prophesying in a congregation again this this thing about confirming the prophetic word or in other words you know maybe confirming is not something that can happen in a church service right away but at least to know that this is from god you know the witness that yes this is a prophetic word so in a congregational setup it will be good as Paul points out in first Corinthians 14 that let everyone speak one by one and let the others judge so when there are other people who can and you know the word judge sometimes that sounds very you know it sounds like oh that's tough somebody has to judge are they judging the person no it's to simply judge whether it's coming from the right source you know and if it is really a prophetic word so others you know being capable of recognizing whether it is a word from god is so helpful and this must be practiced in a congregational setup when a word is released others have the opportunity to like assess it and say that okay yeah it is from god okay so there's some reiteration of the same things that we have spoken of but I think it's definitely very helpful because you know we have to remember these things again there's another section that is reiterating to us that the part that is revealed is important but the part which went unsaid is still important and the example that is given in the section is when you know god says let's say there's an individual who is stuck in sin in their lives is something something is not right and they know that they have to repent now before the lord however when a prophetic word is spoken over their lives maybe god through his mercy chooses to say good things now this person might hear words like okay you know you are like you are like Joseph and god is raising you up for a time such as this and you know god will use you as a deliverer so many you know good things nice things now that's the end of the prophetic word so the person should not think that oh everything was good that means you know god is happy with my life I don't have to change anything I'm okay even the fact that I am not leaving my sinful habit it's okay because you know god wants to bless me anyway so how does this work you know god's nature is one of mercy and grace right and he's long suffering so just because god chose to you know god decided not to bring up the city shoe the person doesn't mean he's happy with that so the things that are unsaid are as important as the things that are said or revealed and when we we know this you know the sometimes we wait on a prophetic word like it is everything oh if if the prophecy comes that's everything I need for my life but not really because what did Paul say we see in part we prophesy in part so the prophetic word is just a part and that's how you know like we must be aware of it and also give attention to the things that were unsaid so god silence about a particular area of life does not imply that he approves of what is going on in that area okay so here's another important insight true prophets also make mistakes now this is you know quite necessary to understand in the subject because what happens is it's things tend to be about the accuracy of the prophetic word now if somebody says something and you know let's say a seasoned prophet okay someone has gone through the whole process of prophesying prophesying and you know becoming more sensitive to the voice of god they are generally correct they're generally very accurate if such a person releases a prophecy and it ends up being wrong now the tendency among god's people or you know believers is oh false prophet look at this he he made this statement and it's so wrong so we start labeling people as false prophets but something that we have to recognize is that just the way the teacher of god's word you know when they are teaching it's possible that you know sometimes their interpretation of the word they they didn't have a revelation you know at a certain point in their life and as their journey you know in serving god through teaching they come to a place where they have greater revelation and at that point you know they they are saying something which is so contradictory to what they were teaching earlier so we don't we don't label a teacher who said something inaccurate at some point as a false teacher right we don't because we just recognize that okay you know so and so at certain points though they were sincere they ended up teaching the wrong whatever true they they taught the truth in a wrong way uh and we let go of that so similarly even when it comes to prophets and even in the case of apostles you see that you know Peter Peter uh was he knew the truth about salvation but when it came to the Gentiles and the Jews in fact god used Peter mightily to go and minister to the Gentiles he went and ministered the Cornelius and the Gospel went to the Gentiles through through him but he was trying to keep the Jewish traditions in front of the Jews and when the Jews were not looking you know he was okay with you know not not practicing all the Jewish traditions so Paul rebukes him and he says what are you doing um uh being an apostle this is this is not how you should be so there is a correction given to the apostle as well so even when it comes to the prophet okay there can be times when a sincere um you know a sincere prophetic word can be wrong maybe the prophet perceived it wrongly or even this tends to happen uh in the prophetic you know um if you we call Jonah Jonah goes and he prophesies you know like fire and um God God's wrath you better repent and uh that he never expects a sinful community to turn to God but they do and when they do turn you know God changes his mind and Jonah is so upset he's like God how could you do this to me you asked me to pronounce judgment and here you are giving your mercy to the people so what will the people think about me they'll think I am a false prophet because I said judgment is coming okay so even this can happen uh when people respond particularly words of judgment and words of uh um like correction and things like that that can be you know God can and please note that it is within his nature he's not doing something completely different from who he is but within given his nature of mercy and grace he is accommodating of you know people and their response in a given moment so God finally did not judge them the way Jonah had quickly so even that can happen and when that happens again people start saying oh a false prophet he said that he or she said that you know judgment is going to come and nothing like that has happened so uh before labeling someone you know as a false prophet we really have to think about it um yeah now who is a false prophet well it's not just a wrong prophetic word here and there that makes one a false prophet but as we read you know Jesus also said like you shall know them by their fruit so look for the fruit of their life look for the fruit of their ministry is it uh is that ministry or the life of that individual drawing a people closer to God so if that is happening and then there are these standalone one or two you know wrong prophetic words we can't label the individual as a false prophet and the bible also has a lot to say about you know false prophets especially during the end times uh john apostle john writes about the spirit of anti christ now peter apostle peter describes uh you know the people who are like this false prophets and teachers who take people away from from god and there are certain characteristics that are also described that they are you know covetous they exploit they use deceptive words um and uh yeah so they bring about destruction their ways are destructive you know they are proud they are not um respectful of the word of God or you know what God is doing so there are many characteristics that have been given there for us for us to uh you know understand a false prophet through these things so just wrong prophecies shouldn't uh you know uh like we shouldn't use that to tag people as a false prophet and uh surely God is raising up in the times given now he's raising up uh many people and we cannot we must in fact pray that you during this time that there will be many prophets who will rise up because uh you know this is the age isn't it the five old ministry office is God is restoring them uh back to the body of Christ so we want to see more prophets we want to see more apostles we want to see more good teachers evangelist pastors rise up because the anointing is available and you know that that must be our prayer uh and when it comes to the prophets of God uh we shouldn't be quick to judge them because there are also scriptures like first chronicles 1622 which says do not touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm so uh God takes his prophets seriously and you know he takes care of them uh as well so we must be very careful before we make statements like this about you know the the people that God has anointed and appointed so with that we come to the next chapter here on interpreting dreams if there are no questions then I'll just go forward with the dreams chapter it seems like everything is quite clear there so yeah we'll talk about dreams we have a few minutes that's all right so dreams are um we we've seen that God uses dreams to communicate his message in the passage of 33 verses 14 and 18 you know the way God says that in a dream in a vision of the night when deep sleep falls upon men while slumbering on their beds then he opens the years of men you know again the spirit when you hear years the spirit of men and seals their instruction so he puts a word in their spirit is what we understand here so what are dreams you know we talked about visions visions are uh from the spirit we perceive visually the message of God that is a vision uh and so we use the term see okay and and people who see visions as seers so dreams can simply be called as visions of the night one sleeps they have this this uh you know the the message being released to them so generally dreams are known as visions of the night when someone is sleeping you know God speaks to them uh in different ways uh and yeah they perceive God's message and there are lots of examples of dreams in the bible many people had dreams uh people of God and people who did not know God the people who did not know God is like Abhimalek uh Pharaoh uh you know and uh Nebuchadnezzar like all these people had they were able to perceive what God was saying and then again you had God's people so you had Jacob um uh you know you you had um a Solomon having a dream so Daniel so God's people so God uses dreams to speak to people can an unbeliever have a dream from God yes they can have a dream from God uh there can also be uh you know something known as trances trances are when people have a vision they are conscious but for a moment they are no longer in control of their you know physical body or their physical senses that is known as a trance and there are examples of that as well so dream is usually when somebody is sleeping they they hear from God and in a dream uh we tend to have uh a dream needs interpretation okay needs interpretation there is a lot of symbolism involved in dreams and uh sometimes we notice that the things that we perceive in the dream have a self-contained meaning okay for example if you see an iron pillar we would all automatically say strength even in Jeremiah 118 iron pillar that's mentioned so iron pillar strength strong so that's the way we would interpret it but then there are symbols that we're not very sure of also okay so um a good example is good figs in scripture if we don't know the passages and don't understand then we'll be like what figs you know what figs am I seeing in my dream it refers to Israel it refers to God's people so uh or the Jewish captives representing Jewish captives so if we don't have that understanding then we will not know how to interpret it so there can be symbols in our dreams some which we can they have what we call a self-contained meaning so the moment you you see that you know okay you know breeze like if there's a breeze then you know okay um soothing calm peaceful we get the meaning but if there's something else that you see then you know you're not sure a leaf uh you're like okay what leaf is this what is God trying to say so then you will have to work on it a little bit to get the meaning so I'll just quickly share a few pointers for how to interpret a dream always use biblical symbolism because there's a lot of books out there that are from the occult there are new age symbols and you know psychology and mysticism all those kind of books out there so the right way to interpret dreams is through biblical symbols um yeah sometimes symbols will be found in scripture sometimes it will not be found in scripture for example the car that I mentioned yesterday so the bear is a car in the bible so at times like that when a symbol is not in the bible we also have to hear from the holy spirit or the spirit of God and we have to expect the release of other gifts of the spirit word of knowledge discerning of spirits you know word of wisdom to interpret that dream okay sometimes the what we see is literal and sometimes it is symbolic for example if I if I see a teacher in my dream you know maybe miss philomena it could be miss philomena or it she could be representing wisdom knowledge understanding instruction so uh it can be interpreted both ways so the symbol can be literal exactly that person something about miss philomena I need to pray for her or it can be God is talking to me about equipping okay so we run out of time what I'll do is I'll close right here and then we will try and complete this chapter in the next class and the remaining chapters you know we've covered most of that content in many of our discussion so I'll be going over them very very quickly so then we will be able to finish understanding the prophetic and then move on to the apostolic so let's just pray and close right now so budget the is it possible for you to pray please I'm not sure maybe Christopher oh yes this pastor yes thank you heavenly father we thank you for for the time we spent today in this class and what we have learned about the prophetic ministry we asked you to thank you to bless us give us all your grace let us have a blessed blessed day going forward we thank you for looking after us keeping us in good health being with us throughout the day we ask your blessing and praise on everyone who's attended this class today even those who have not been able to attend the class we asked you to we ask for your continued presence in our lives and whatever we are doing and we ask this in in Jesus name amen amen thank you thank you Christopher thank you everyone for joining in please pray that God would give more dreams okay and yeah of course communicate in other ways as well so God bless you we will meet again next week thank you