Raising a Prophetic Family

I can see it in my mind’s eye: the scene is 10 years down the road. The family is together, kids running around the house. Suddenly, our atheist neighbor comes unexpectedly knocking at our door. We open it to see her in a mess; weeping, confused and wondering what life is all about. We invite her in and just as we sit her down and hand her a glass of water, Levi comes down the stairs from having his quiet time and says, “I was just in my room talking to God and He put you on my heart. I prayed for you and He gave me something to tell you. Would you like to hear it?”

Yes, it’s an imaginary circumstance but I have this vision indelibly seared on my brain. Is it a pipe dream? Is it just my over-active imagination? Or is it a dream of God, a desire He has for families? If so, how can I partner with Him to make His dream (which has now become my dream) come to pass? Jesus is more than a host who has you over to His house once a week. He’s a Lover who zealously desires to invade every part of your life; the mundane parts, the exciting parts, the hidden, secret and personal parts. He wants it all. If we give Him free-reign, an invitation to come and go as He pleases, we might be surprised how many times He Himself unexpectedly shows up, knocking on our door.

The scenario I described above is the issue of the prophetic, one of the 2 pillars of the The End-Times church. The spirit of prophecy is stated in Revelation 19:10 as being “the testimony of Jesus” or in other words, it is what is on Jesus’ heart and what is on His mind at that moment and for that person or people. It can also be called the “rhema” word of God, the “living word”, something that, once spoken, takes on a life and energy not its own, because it actually belongs to God. If Levi came down from his bedroom with a rhema word from God for that woman, I guarantee that her life would change instantly, for in hearing that word she would be hearing the very words of God, and in hearing the words of God she would be confronted by Him – and no one can have an interation with God and remain unchanged!

I want to look at the issue of raising a family that flows and moves in the realm of the prophetic. I’m a practical kind of guy, so I’m going to jot down some practical ideas:

It has to start with the parents. If the parents don’t show an interest in flowing in this area themselves, they will not pass on a desire for it in their children, therefore creating only a naturally natural family. As a husband, I was confronted by the LORD in this today. I am called to be the leader of my wife and that includes leading her in areas and expressions of ministry. My wife has a prophetic gifting and she desires to cultivate it and steward it in a more intentional way. As one who cares about her destiny and is jealous for her to have all that the LORD would want to give her, it should be my pleasure to lead her and encourage her in this. Paul said to “desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophecy.” (1 Corinthians 14:2) Again, he says later in the same chapter, “desire earnestly to prophecy.” I need to do this myself so that I can lead others into desiring and seeking after this precious gift of the Holy Spirit. I need to create an atmosphere in the home that is amiable for and hospitable toward the prophetic spirit flowing in our midst. I need to make room for it and encourage it. Even more, I need to do it myself. What safer place to step out and give it a go than in your own family? Practice prophesying over each other as husband and wife. Seek the LORD and cry out to Him in the secret place on the other’s behalf and ask Him to give you a word, a Scripture, a picture, something that would speak to the internal life of the other person. Paul also urged Timothy to “wage the good warfare” specifically by remembering the prophecies that were previously made concerning him (1 Timothy 1:18). This isn’t something to be done only in the church, though that is good. It must be done in families in the home. The church is made up, at its core, of families. Families are made up, at their cores, of a husband and wife. Therefore, the only way to get prophecy into the church at large is to start in married couples and families.

It’s about being supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural. God is jealous that His End-Time bride flow naturally in the supernatural and live supernaturally natural. Jesus did it when He walked the earth. Despite His incredible displays of power, He did not remove Himself at all from the common man. Even more, He immersed Himself into the lives of the common man by becoming One Himself. “Weirdness” doesn’t have to be synonymous with “prophetic”. Some of the most profound and life-changing prophetic words were given to me in the most natural of settings by the most unassuming people. In fact, receiving a hyped-up word from some super-prophet would only cause me to examine it more carefully. God loves to move in the natural realm and to do it in subtle ways. A prophetic word does not have to come with a booming “thus sayeth the LORD” and a supernatural confirmation (although that always helps:) They can come as impressions, or feelings given and guided by the Holy Spirit. We have to have an obtainable and realistic view of what the prophetic looks like if we are to be motivated to pursue it for ourselves. No one would feel qualified or motivated to pursue prophecy if their picture of it was too high or too complicated. the Spirit can move prophetically anytime, anywhere. He loves to move in naturally supernatural ways and supernaturally natural ways.

I believe God wants the gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit to move freely and frequently in our house. One of our highest desires is to be a place where the Spirit of God can rest – aka, where He doesn’t have to strive against us in letting His will be done in our home on earth as His will is being done in heaven. He can flow and move easily in our home because there is no one resisting, quenching or grieving Him. My expectation is that this would become an expected and commonly experienced thing around our house, that words would be given and received freely. Then our house would become itself, a house of prayer, a place where man and God speak and listen to one another.