The prophet's handbook

certain time. Because of how humans interpret spiritual language, which is from the earth up instead of God’s way, from heaven down, it could take a while. He will probably have to wait a year or more for us to understand what He said and the way He meant it. Take the following as a case in point. In January we pray and hear the Lord say, “Go.” Our immediate response is to figure out what He meant. Did He mean go to the store, to the mission field, to the church? What? After struggling on our own for a while, we finally settle down to get the rest of the message. We eventually return to the Lord to ask, “Where?” Remember now, several weeks may have gone by. The next word comes: “Go to the place.” Ah! We now have more information to go on, but there is still a final piece missing. You think, Why won’t the Lord just say what He means and get it over with? Why does He put you through these games? Again, a few weeks of personal probing goes by, and then you decide you can go back to the subject with the Lord again. At last He gets the entire sentence out: “Go to the church on the corner.” You are stunned. The church on the corner? you wonder. What church? Now you are playing games because you know that there is only one church on the corner, and it is the little storefront one you would not be caught dead in. God knows my heart, you think. Oh, I must have mistaken what He said. He could not possibly ask me to sink down to that level. You inwardly regret pressing the point and wish you had not heard what He said. Since no one else heard Him but you, you begin the most dangerous of all prophetic games. You begin to twist the word you heard to cause it to say something you can live with. Who is to know the truth anyway? you rationalize. Three months have gone by, and you pressed the Lord into an answer you now do not like. Silently, you determine not to do it and put the entire matter behind you. What’s next? Judgment. God must send you through an assortment of excruciating, pride-breaking lessons for you to obey Him. He knew all along that you would react this way, but now that it is out in the open, He is forced to correct this flaw in your character and end your flagrant disobedience. It gets hard, and after years, what should have been a twenty-second inquiry and response has turned into a terrible test of wills, yours against the Lord’s. Years go by, and you miss the blessing He had buried for you in that little, unattractive, no-name church. Still, the stronghold over your soul must now be broken. Could the prophet have made a difference? Although you may not have listened to the prophet, the matter could have