How Do We Restore Prophetic Integrity?
When the body of Christ is shaken by prophecies, how do we restore the integrity of the prophetic?
In an exclusive interview with Charisma Media, Dr. Michael Brown discussed prophetic integrity and how we can use discernment when prophecies are inaccurate or don’t come to pass.
Looking specifically at the 2020 election and the multiple prophecies that were given that Donald Trump would win a second term, to now seeing him re-elected again four years later, Dr. Brown provides insight on how we can navigate these prophetic words.
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One of the first things Brown points out is that there were some who were explicit in their prophecies, saying Trump would have eight consecutive years in the Oval Office.
“There were those who guaranteed Biden would not be inaugurated,” says Brown. “I watched them prophesy by name. I even reached out to them to try to interact without success. I watched them say after the results were given in favor of Joe Biden, I watched them say, ‘No, it’s going to be reversed…’ they were saying the elections will be overturned that Trump really won. They were prophesying that Trump truly was the president. He was the spiritual president and the earthly president.”
Brown says that along with these very determined beliefs that Trump would win, some continued to prophesy that a coup would happen and Biden’s time as the president would end.
“So, in point of fact, when they said that he will win, they meant in 2020. When the election results were announced against him, they said the elections were stolen,” Brown says.
Another point that Brown makes is the possibility that some could have seen in the spirit the outcome for 2024, but this goes to show why prophets are not to give dates and times of when words will be fulfilled.
“First Peter one tells us the Old Testament prophets, when God spoke to them about the sufferings of Jesus and the glory that would follow, God told them, ‘No, no, no; this is not for you. This is for a future generation.’ Any of us that have heard the Lord prophetically know that timing is very difficult, so unless you have a very specific word from God with times and dates, often something starts and then stops and then picks up later on, or you think it’s going to be now, but it’s five years down the line. So that’s why they could have said, ‘We really believe that Trump is going to be a two-term president, whether it’s now or in four years…’ that would have been one thing. They didn’t say that,” he says.
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Brown also says that there are those who have humbly repented for missing the mark when they earnestly felt they had heard from the Lord. This should act as a reminder for the body of Christ not to immediately disqualify someone from the prophetic because they made a mistake.
“We’ve all made mistakes. If you minister long enough, you will. We’re not out to kill each other and throw each other under then bus,” says Brown. “We don’t have the view that some have that you stone them and disqualify them for life.”
When it comes to the prophetic, we must weight words spoken with Scripture, and trust the Lord to reveal His correct timing for every word that is from Him. We must also continue to use discernment to know if something is from Him or not.
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Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
