The prophet's handbook

integrity, relevance, or purpose fulfillment. Those qualities are only available in an office. The prophet’s office has been in existence since Abel. (See Luke 11:49–51.) Its long-standing existence predates what we have come to accept as spiritual gifting. Generally, when this term is applied to any spiritual activity, it is referring to the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7–11. However, that is a misnomer because the word that is taken popularly for gifts in that passage does not pertain to the independent operations of individuals, but to the arbitrary manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps that is where the problem began in the first place. Nevertheless, Scripture establishes that long before the latest gifter came along, the prophet’s office existed and was professionally occupied by those whom the Lord chose. It does not matter how much the prophetic may have been ignored over the years of the church’s existence. Its office may have remained vacant, but in God’s mind it was never defunct. If this next generation of prophets is going to get it right, they are going to have to relegate the gift to the office and demand that the prophesier and other prophetic gifts be regulated and administrated by official prophets.