Jamin Bradley

It’s no secret that I’m a big proponent of supernatural ministry—indeed, it’s a big part of why I became a pastor. I love teaching people how to listen to the Holy Spirit. But this comes with its fair share of risks, like God-Told-Me-Syndrome.

While I always teach people to be discerning and to share words with a humble preface like, “I feel like God might be saying…” this doesn’t always happen. Some individuals get caught up in every whim of a feeling that comes their way and staple “God said” to it. It is next to impossible to argue with such people, and it doesn’t matter if you can prove them wrong. Once God’s name is securely stapled to a word, the person receiving the word can only be seen in one of two lights: (1) obedient or (2) disobedient. The word-giver has become God, and the word-receiver may reject it at the risk of great scrutiny and judgment.

There’s a quote in C.S. Lewis’ book, The Horse and His Boy, which has proven itself to be typically true in my experience. The first time I heard it I wasn’t sure about it, but it’s stuck with me and earned its place in my thinking. It’s there that Aslan tells Aravis the following:

“Child,’ said the Lion, ‘I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.”

This isn’t a hard rule of the prophetic. We can point out several times in the Bible where God gives someone a prophetic word about someone’s story to speak over someone else (Nathan’s word to David about Bathsheba, for example). However, I’ve found that most prophetic words do not disclose a person’s story. God seems to like speaking vaguely and parabolically. Most of the authentic words I’ve been given make little sense to the person who gave them and make a lot of sense to me because they piggyback on other words, signs, impressions, and feelings in my life.

On the other hand, if I take someone through an inner healing session, the prophetic works very directly and specifically. In those moments, I help my friends tune into the Holy Spirit, and then God invites them to tell me their sorrows so I can help them untangle things. That is to say, God tells them their own story, and then they explain it to me. He might give me nudges here and there along the way about what they need to talk about, but the most direct stuff comes out of their mouth if they’re willing and open to the process with me.

We must be careful when we say, “God said.” This is a power move, and it messes with our minds as much as it messes with the people we’re speaking to. And if we’re wrong, then we are guilty of taking God’s name in vain, because this is the exact kind of situation that famous commandment was trying to prevent. Don’t staple God’s name where it doesn’t belong. God is already speaking to the Christian you are prophesying over. They do not need to believe the word you give them—indeed, they are biblically commanded to test your word. If you are mad at them for not receiving your word, the issue of pride may not be in them, but in you.

Listen carefully. Discern carefully. Speak carefully.