If you were taught (like I was) to put personal prophecy on a "shelf" and wait to see if it comes to pass, you probably missed your responsibilities while you wait for fulfillment.
In my last posts, I've talked about different kinds of spiritual declarations and our part in them. (You can access a full list of them, here.) I created this participation scale to show where each type of declaration fits and our part in them:
Intercessory Declarations
These require the most participation from us. I call them "intercessory" because I use them during intercession but they could be called "detailed" or responsive or something along those lines. They are meant to be used to progress in prayer from simply asking God to do something, to hearing Him say yes/no, and then declaring what He said to declare. Intercessory Declarations make prayer more effective than simply shooting a list of "wants" at God's heart, hoping one of them is what He wants as well. (Link here.)
Truth Declarations
Truth Declarations (link here) powerfully cancel lies spoken to us or over us. For women who struggle with their inner vocabulary toward themselves and the outside world or have had lies root in their minds, creating destructive fruit, the practice of Truth Declarations arms them to counter the lies as they pop-up and then re-wire their brains to the truth of what God says of them.
Sovereign Declarations
I've also talked about Sovereign Declarations (link here), which are by far my favorite because they simply depend on God's faithfulness, which I know I can count on. (It appeals to my efficient nature.) If He says it, He will do it. Regardless of the people and circumstances involved—it will happen. They just sometimes take a long time from the time they are declared on earth to actual fruition. Then again, sometimes they don't.
Mindful Declarations
Similar to Truth Declarations in the sense that both types of declarations are based on the truths found in God's Word and have the power to transform our DNA. They both are usually destiny-related and identity-related. Both are 100% rooted in the Bible. However, Mindful Declarations (link here) are proactive, whereas Truth Declarations are typically reactive. Truth Declarations are said in response to a lie that pops up in our minds or spoken in real-time to/over us. Mindful Declarations are proactive because we feed our minds with the truth of them, letting them transform us, all day, every day.
In this post, I'm exploring Prophetic Declarations, which on the above scale, require less from us than Truth Declarations (which have to be researched in order to know the truth to declare or what Truth Himself declares) but more than Sovereign Declarations, which just need to be spoken (and really don't always need that!).
This is very similar to reminding God of His promises in the Bible and declaring them over us and our family (which would be Mindful Declarations). In this case, we are also reminding God of His words given through the prophetic gifts in the Church and declaring them over us and our family.
Prophetic Declarations usually originate from prophecies given to us or that we receive from the Holy Spirit for our nation, a group of people (e.g. nationality), a local church body, a particular family, or an individual. When we receive prophetic revelation, we must first verify they line up with the Bible, asking questions such as "Does this prophecy line up with the revealed heart of God in the Bible?"
If we find they are Biblically sound, we should declare them as a part of our daily prayer time—and this is important—until they come to fruition.
Catch that? I didn't know this until recently. My church taught that prophecies should be set on a shelf to see if they come to pass, with the assumption that if it was from God nothing would stand in its way to fulfillment. This is not wholly accurate and not what the Bible tells us about the warfare we are in.
In Daniel, we are told the angel Gabriel waged war for several days, while Daniel fasted. The two worked in tandem (unknowingly perhaps, on Daniel's part). Other Old Testament prophets received prophetic visions then were instructed to fast and pray until the vision came to pass. Other prophets repeated their messages of prophecy in each city and town—often getting run out of town!
There is nothing "wait and see" about the prophets of the Old Testament as they lay hold of the promises of God.
If you receive a prophecy and are led to fast and pray for a time to see it's fruition, do so. At a minimum, participate in the prophetic by declaring what God has said until it changes your perspective and the living power of God's words change the atmosphere around you. This what it means to wait with expectation—and it transforms us while we wait.
I have created a growing list of spiritual declarations, here, along with definitions, how to use them, and examples of each. Feel free to print and share. If you have any to suggest, email me.
Grace engages us in the wait.