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Prophetic
Gift Free
7 Barriers to Growth in your Gift
of Prophecy and How to
Overcome Them
Helen Calder
Set Your Prophetic Gift Free
7 Barriers to Growth in your Gift of Prophecy and How to
Overcome Them
By Helen Calder
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Copyright 2014 Helen Calder
Ministry: www.DavidMcCracken.org
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1. Signs Your Prophetic Gift is
Being Held Back
The spiritual gift of prophecy is the Holy Spirit-empowered
ability to receive and convey a message from God—to make
known the Father’s mind, intention and purposes.
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These Christians long for the ‘good old days,’ when they felt
released in their gifts and saw miraculous things happen as
a result.
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1. You have a desire to prophesy but are hesitating to step
out and have a go through fear or doubt about your ability.
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By prophetic ministry, I do not mean a role or position. Prophetic ministry
occurs when you use your prophetic gift to love and help people in a way that
brings them closer to God and releases them into His purposes. As Paul says,
‘the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging
and comfort.’ (1 Cor 14:3)
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8. You have been hurt or wounded in relation to your
prophetic gift and haven’t gotten over it.
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When our thoughts, desires and beliefs about God and His
gifts result in fear, doubt, or being held back—something is
wrong.
Checklist:
You hear from God through your intimate
relationship with Him
You relate to God as your Father
Checklist:
You are developing your gift in the context of a
church community and have the protection of
leadership, protocols and accountability in place
You keep the New Testament guidelines for
prophecy, and adhere primarily to encouragement,
exhortation and comfort. (1 Cor 14:3)2
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The NT Biblical guideline for those who are beginning, or operating in the
general gift of prophecy is: do not bring corrective, directive or commissioning
words. If you sense something along these lines strongly, we recommend that
you share it with a pastor/minister or leader rather than directly to a person or
group (see next page).
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You ensure that what you share is in line with what
the Bible says, and with the loving nature of Father
God
What about if you do these things, but you are still not
100% sure that an insight you have is from God?
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak
only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
(John 16:13)
We hear God’s voice, not with our physical ears, but with
our heart and our spirit. For example, here are some ways in
For more information, especially about commissioning, see the article, ‘Is
Personal Prophecy Biblical?’
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/08/17/is-personal-prophecy-
biblical/
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which the Holy Spirit can speak to you in a prayer or
devotional time:
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The Holy Spirit most often speaks to us in light, spontaneous
thoughts and pictures, scriptures and words coming into our
minds. We often refer to this as His ‘still, small voice.’ (1
Kings 19:12) This is in contrast to the noisy world we live in.
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3. Leap Over the Fear Barrier
‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of
God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives
us power, love and self-discipline.’ (2 Tim 1:6-7)
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It robs the church from being edified and built up by
the use of your gift
It robs God of the glory He would receive from you
stepping out to share a message from Him
Above are four strong reasons why you should break the
power of fear in relation to your gift!
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The first thing you need to do is settle the fact that God is
speaking to you and wants you to hear Him.
Some people think that they cannot hear God speak unless
they have a strong prophetic gift, or some other spiritual
gift or special ministry. However, this is a misconception.
God wants to have a relationship with us! This is why Jesus
paid the price of His life on the cross. Communicating with
our Father is the basic right of sons and daughters and the
joy of our God.
2. Fear of Unworthiness
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Sometimes people allow shame, condemnation or a sense
of unworthiness to make them feel as though they are
separated from God—and therefore, unable to hear His
voice or to prophesy.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have
trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb 5:14)
Some people are fearful that what they are hearing may not
be from God.
It’s true that there are many voices around our lives, and
that we need to weigh up what we are hearing to ensure it
is from God. Maturing in discernment is a process, so
weighing up what you hear is important. Remember:
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What we are hearing from God will be in accordance
with His nature – e.g. the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-
23)
What you hear from God will withstand the
accountability of oversight (1 Thess 5:19-22)
A telemarketer
Someone you love
You see it’s not about the fact that someone is speaking—
but recognising the Person behind the Voice. As you grow in
your love relationship with God, you will get to know His
voice. You can trust that what He has to share with you is
good, and from His Spirit. (Luke 11:11-13)
There are some practical ways that you can take the
pressure off.
The worst thing that can happen is that you are humbled,
learn something from the experience, and grow in your gift
as a result.
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See http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/09/13/differences-
between-old-and-new-testament-prophetic-ministry/
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4. Push Through Apathy
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There is one crucial ingredient that you must have, in order
to overcome indifference and push forward in your gift of
prophecy.
This also holds true for all spiritual gifts. This includes other
revelatory gifts such as discernment, intercession and word
of knowledge.
Here are three kinds of desire that are vital to growth in our
gifts:
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In Acts 8, Simon the sorcerer offered money to the apostles
so that he could have the same power that they did. Peter
rebuked him strongly for the wickedness in his heart.
If you feel that you have lost that sharp edge of hunger for
God and His Presence, now is the time to return to that
place. (Rev 2:4-5)
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I encourage you to stop and do a check on how you are
going in this area.
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Wayne Grudem defines a spiritual gift as ‘any ability that is empowered by the
Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.’ (GRUDEM, W. Systematic
Theology. 1994. Nottingham: Inter-Varsity. p1016)
For examples of spiritual
gifts see the following scriptures:
1 Cor 12:4-11, Rom 12:6-8
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I have often heard it said that we should desire the Giver,
not the gifts (and have sometimes said it myself!) But the
Bible clearly says we should desire the gifts.
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Excerpt from my book, ‘Grow Your Prophetic And Prayer Gifts.’ See
the resources page at the end of this book.
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Am I willing to submit this longing for a gift or
ministry to leaders in the church—and hold back if
they do not see God has called me to this area?
Is this about loving people—or feeling fulfilled
myself?
Does reaching for this gift free me to be more of
who God has created me to be?
Is it clear—to others and to me—that it is God’s
glory and His church that I want to bring attention to
and not myself?
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and
unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jer 33:3)
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In valuing your spiritual gift, you are valuing the Holy Spirit.
(1 Cor 12:7)
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5. Break Free from Hurts
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You seem to go through cycles—you might move
from one church or ministry to another and yet
never get recognised or released to the degree you
would like to be
The same pattern of stepping out in prophetic
ministry and then getting hurt or disappointed
seems to happen repeatedly.
1. Criticism
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We do not criticise or judge babies who are learning to
crawl or walk—in fact we celebrate their efforts. And yet it
is amazing how quickly we Christians judge one another
when we are stumbling through learning stages in our
spiritual gifts.
2.Disappointment
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For more information about the Jezebellic or religious spirit in relation to
prophetic ministry, read my e-book, ‘Prophetic People in a Changing Church.’
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/e-books/prophetic-people-e-book/
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Ministry opportunities—for whatever reason—have
been removed from us
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Steps to Breaking Free from Blockages in
your Prophetic Gift due to Hurt
1. Take Ownership
Even though others may have been the reason that we were
shut down to start with, the ongoing issue is that we are
reluctant to expose ourselves to further hurt. Our instinct is
to hold back.
We are the ones who, with God’s help, have the ability and
the keys to break ourselves free.
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Secondly, if we have been criticised, removed from ministry
or held back in the past, there may be an aspect of truth in
the reasons for the action that was taken.
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Use discretion here, and look for some wise counsel.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
Some things that can be prayed through personally and with
a prayer partner are:
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We know we are healed when we can receive feedback and
be open to adjustment in the operation of our gift without
reacting badly.
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See ‘Prophetic People in a Changing Church.’
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/e-books/prophetic-people-e-
book/
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6. Lift the Ceiling Through
Accountability
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Our Father’s intention is that we operate in our spiritual
gifts and ministries in the context of community that
includes oversight. (Eph 4, 1 Cor 12-14)
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am referring to leadership decisions, not issues
contrary to Biblical, legal or moral principles)8
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An example of submission in prophetic ministry is when our oversight instructs
us not to share or act upon a prophetic insight we have received immediately,
but to hold onto it and pray about it—and we carry out that request graciously.
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For a helpful explanation of this see: Differences Between Old and New
Testament Prophetic Ministry
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/09/13/differences-between-old-
and-new-testament-prophetic-ministry/
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Following are 7 reasons why accountability is beneficial to
your prophetic ministry:
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2. It Sharpens our Prophetic Ministry
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This quote is by Ken Blanchard
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Spiritual authority and the power of God flow through the
lines of appointed authority. (See remarkable examples of
this in Acts 6:8; Acts 8:5) Jesus commended a Roman
Centurion for understanding this principle. (Luke 7:7-9)
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only grow and change when we allow someone outside of
ourselves to have input. We also grow in character as we
have a teachable attitude.
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See my articles on prophetic mentoring:
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/tag/prophetic-mentoring/
Mentors should be in an accountability relationship themselves, spiritually
healthy, and love and honour their church and leadership.
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If our prophetic function is within the life of our local
church, then we are accountable to our church leadership12
regarding the expression of our prophetic gift in the church.
(1 Cor 14)
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Biblical leadership is not domineering or abusive, but strong ‘servant
leadership’ as demonstrated by Jesus. (Matt 20:25-27, 1 Peter 5:3)
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7. Overcome Lack of
Opportunities
Why are Leaders not Giving me
Opportunities?
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‘Why does it seem as though my gift is hidden?’
‘Why am I not receiving opportunities to exercise my
gift of prophecy?’
‘Why don’t leaders in my church recognise my
ministry?’
‘Will I ever fulfil the prophetic call of God on my
life?’
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Sometimes we wait for an invitation, role or position when
Jesus just wants to love people through us.
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Every church has unique protocols for the operation of spiritual gifts. See
Prophetic Ministry In Church Life: Why Have Guidelines
http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/07/26/prophetic-ministry-in-
church-life-why-have-guidelines/
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asked me why I hadn’t mentioned it, and happily provided a
pathway forward for me.
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4. The Delay is about God’s Timing
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Faithfulness
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observations will not be well received. If you initiate the
conversation, and are willing to make adjustments, you may
be surprised at the results.
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continue to pray about and be open to receiving mentoring,
feedback is important to helping you develop your gift.
Exceptions—Yes of Course!
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Every situation is different and while the above suggestions
may be a general help, your gift, maturity, church and
leadership will be unique to you.
Online Resources
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See http://www.enlivenpublishing.com/blog/
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8. Maximise Your Season
In His love and tender care, our Father also ordains seasons
of pruning, testing, or wilderness times, to grow us in our
call, gifts and character.
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1. The Beginning Stage
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We undergo a season of trial, or wilderness season, in the
area of our giftedness. Our sense of confidence in ourselves
is being stripped away but will be replaced by a new sense
of dependency upon God. We gain wisdom and humility and
are prepared for greater fruitfulness in prophetic ministry.
(Acts 9:28-30)
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4 Benefits of Understanding the Growth
Stage of Your Prophetic Gift
Can you identify which of the above seasons you are in, in
relation to growing your prophetic gift?
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3. You can Break through Barriers
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Continue to respond well to trials or hurts as they
occur (testing stage)
As we close, some further ways that you can make the most
of this include:
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In Closing—My Prayer for You
Fill him or her afresh with Your Holy Spirit right now, may
there be a new awareness of Your Presence and a greater
clarity in hearing Your voice.
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In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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Further Resources to Help Grow
Your Prophetic Gift
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are the first clue to the gift and ministry calling that God has
placed in your life.
www.DavidMcCracken.org/estore/
www.EnlivenBlog.com
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