Answering the Call of a Writing Prophet

Many people believe they are called to the office of the prophet.

As you know, to be called is to be awakened and then summoned by the Lord into a ministry vocation, a specific calling set aside for the person God chooses. In the office of the prophet, the prophet is released into the fulness of their prophetic ministry.

It is so important that we understand that callings are sacred, and that the calling itself is a burden. Those called are set apart for the qualification and maturation of their calling. As the called prophet grows, the Lord provides the tools necessary to walk worthy in that calling.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NIV, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Scripture, there are some excellent examples of prophets receiving a call to ministry. For example, the Lord called Jeremiah and Zechariah through a direct prophetic word (Jeremiah 1, Zechariah 1). Moses was called by God through a vision in a burning bush (Exodus 3). Ezekiel received his calling through a prophetic vision (Ezekiel 1). Jonah received his calling through a direct prophetic word (Jonah 1). Samuel heard God call him in an audible voice (1 Samuel 3). John the Immerser was called forth through a prophetic word spoken by his father (Luke 1:76). The office of the prophet opened up to Daniel in a vision (Daniel 2:19).

This is not a complete list of how prophets received their calling, but it provides a wide range of experiences that assist us in framing “the call” within a biblical construct verses man-made insight. The most important thing we can glean from this list is knowing that callings resonate exclusively from an intimate relationship with the Lord. Each person, when released into their office, had an intimate knowledge of who the Lord was and freely spoke and/or communed with Him boldly, earnestly and without restraint.

The scripture states it this way in Numbers 12:6, “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.”

Without going into excessive detail, the scriptures give us a profound pattern concerning how some prophets are called and how some answered or responded to their call.

Among the most common patterns in scripture, we see prophets answer their calling by: (1) recognizing the voice of the Lord; (2) listening to and/or receiving a divine message from the Lord; (3) accepting the divine message as truth from the Lord; (4) being equipped to deliver the divine message in the capacity they are sent; (5) receiving a specific audience for that release; (6) receiving a divine timing for that release; and (7) releasing the divine message to the assigned people at the Lord’s instruction in “the way” the Lord has instructed that specific prophet.

[Recognizing. Listening. Accepting. Being equipped. Receiving the people. Receiving the timing. Releasing the divine message.]

It is also important to note that someone walking in the calling (the vocation of a prophet) is active in their release. They are not prophets only when God needs them to be, but they are ALWAYS prophets operating within their calling and message once the gift is set in its mature place.

Please note, however, that inside the prophetic writing dimension the WRITING PROPHET will have additional requirements for responding to or answering the calling.

Writing prophets will often respond by:

Recording what they hear the Lord speak or what he reveals to them consistently.

Interpreting what they hear in written or creative form.

Ensuring that the written form conveys the divine message clearly.

Delivering the written divine message directly to its intended audience.

Collecting, dating, and archiving the divine messages in volumes.

Preserving and protecting the divine messages in multiple formats.

Clarifying the Lord’s intention in releasing the divine message.

Orating the written divine message.

Signing their name on the written divine message.

Suffering for the written divine message they have been given to deliver.

Including necessary and verifiable historical or personal details in the opening and closing of their written divine message.

Presenting their written divine message in a professional and appropriate manner for their audience.

Demonstrating the divine message before the people to whom they are assigned.

Writing the divine message on the hearts of people through repetition.

Again, this is not intended to be a complete list. Additional responses can be pulled from examining how the original writing prophets walked out their specific ministries.