Prophetic Principle
Number Two
The following instructions given to new recruits in Boot Camp demonstrate another important component of genuine prophetic ministry.
I was watching a TV documentary about new recruits being trained in an Army Boot Camp. It was comical to watch, but it was no fun for the recruits.
Here were these young men who looked like they were hardly old enough to shave. They had never been away from home and Momma before, had never faced this kind of discipline, and they were going through quite an ordeal. Several drill sargeants came into the barracks, and each recruit stood at attention beside his bunk.
The drill sargeants were stomping all around, disapproving of everything in sight, getting up in each man's "personal space," nose to nose, and screaming orders and questions at the tops of their lungs. The young recruits were spooked, ready to jump out of their skins, and wanting desperately to do whatever it took to satisfy these crazed drill sargents.
The drill sargents repeatedly gave the same instruction:
''THERE ARE ONLY FOUR ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTION I ASK YOU!
THEY ARE:
YES SIR!
NO SIR!
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION SIR!
AND
NO.....EXCUSE....SIR!"
Think on that last phrase: "No excuse Sir!" Do you know that is the perfect definition of repentence?
You come before God, no longer saying, "Well, she made me do it." Or, "If he hadn't done this then I wouldn't have done that." Or "You know what he did to me Lord, so I have every right to..."
True repentence is when you finally say to God, "There is no excuse for my sin...there is no excuse for my trespass...there is no excuse for my wrong attitide..." Instead, you simply say to Him: "God...No excuse...I was wrong...please forgive me."
God loves it when we repent. He is quick and merciful to forgive us when we fail.
Note what He said to us through the Prophet Isaiah:
"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit..." Isa. 57:15.
Notice in the first part of that Scripture it describes God as "the High and Lofty One." He is lofty. You and I are not. It further says that He "inhabits eternity," and that He "dwell(s) in the high and holy place." Notice who also dwells there too, "with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."
This tells us that one of the requirements to operate in prophetic ministry, to flow in strong gifts, or as Sister Goodwin termed it, to "minister in the Spirit," is to have a "contrite and humble spirit."
Strong's Hebrew dictionary tells us that this Hebrew word "contrite" means:
Webster's Dictionary defines "contrite" as:
"Feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming."
God loves all people, but He draws close to Himself in the High and Holy place those who are contrite and humble. In other words, those who are quick to sincerely repent, saying basically, "No excuse God...just, please forgive me, I was wrong." And those who also have a small opinion of themselves, and of their own abilities.
Sister Goodwin who mentored and prepared me, Kenneth Hagin, and others for prophetic ministry, exemplified these two qualites: sincere repentence and humility.
Hearing her pray, was a beautiful experience.
I remember hearing her pray one time, "Father....We know not whether to come in, or to go out...We know not whether to stand up, or sit down...except You should tell us." The humility expressed in that prayer, still brings tears to my eyes.
Her home was like the Holy of Holies of old--God's manifested presencee was there every time I visited her. She dwelled with Him, and He with her, because she kept their roles straight. He was the High and Lofty One, and she was dust in comparison. She was small in her own eyes, but she trusted in and served a great God. Therefore, to Him went all the Glory of the Gifts He used her in. She took credit for nothing, and directed others' attention back to the Father above.
I have found in my own experience of being used by the Lord in many, many manifestations of the revelation and utterance gifts particularly:
The stronger the anointing in manifestation, the more humble and contrite my own heart has to be as the anointing is flowing through me. The slightest amount of pride or any attempt to draw attention to self, grieves the Spirit and quenches the anointing almost instantly.
Principle Number Two
As it was with the new recruits, so is it with us in genuine prophetic ministry:
When we offer God "no excuse," genuinely repenting and humbling ourselves before Him, maintaining a humble and contrite spirit, He draws us deeper into the Holy Spirit and into the prophetic aspects of His anointing.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so in entirety, without charge, and attribution is given.
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