3 Principles of Effective Prophetic Ministry to Children

While being a part of the early years of the Prophetic Movement, we learned there was a three-stage process in dealing with “prophetic revelation.” I must state though, that we primarily taught these wonderful principles on more of a church level and not as much on a family level. Nonetheless, these simple guidelines apply to every area of life and ministry.

Stage 1: Receiving revelation in its various forms and having it confirmed by the testimony of two and three witnesses. Journaling becomes a big key in this journey of receiving and retaining revelation. Apply the scriptural tests to judging revelation. (This is explained more thoroughly in the book Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Experiences and Receiving and Discerning Revelation Study Guide.)

Stage 2: Receiving revelation in its various forms and having it confirmed by the testimony of two and three witnesses. Journaling becomes a big key in this journey of receiving and retaining revelation. Apply the scriptural tests to judging revelation. (This is explained more thoroughly in the book Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Experiences and Receiving and Discerning Revelation Study Guide.)

Stage 3: Learning to properly interpret the revelation you have received. This indeed is a constant art to learn. Many believers move into presumption and thus move out with their own understanding instead of properly seeking the Lord for the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

The first response to every form of revelation is prayer. Have you given the revelation back to the Lord and are you seeking godly input and counsel? Prayer first! Remember, You can do more than pray after you have prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed!

Stage 3: Bringing application to the interpretation of the revelation you have received. Mercy! If you get the wrong interpretation to the revelation then you will surely move into the wrong application. Period! So stage two becomes all the more important.

Now we begin to flesh out the word. You must be committed to a plan. You must put action steps to your faith. Faith without works is dead. (Sadly, that is exactly where some parent/young adult relationships end.) Please hear me, there is always a “trial and error” aspect to these ways of God. They now must bear the majority of the weight of their decisions.

Dear prophetic papa Bob Jones always use to tell us, “Just kick your feet up on the coffee table and enjoy the breeze! Enjoy the ride.”

Your children are not just work! They are a lump of clay that is very impressionable and that you get to help shape. Always remember, they are the Lord’s first. But they are in your stewardship for a while. Date your kids. Play with them. Provide a safe place for them. Pray for them. Speak God’s destiny over their lives.

Then yield them back to the Lord and ultimately release them from your control and enjoy the journey of destinies fulfilled!

Dr. James W. Goll is the president of Encounters Network, director of Prayer Storm and coordinates Encounters Alliance, a coalition of leaders. He is director of God Encounters Training—an e-school of the heart—and is a member of the Harvest International Ministries apostolic team. He has shared Jesus in more than 50 nations worldwide, teaching and imparting the power of intercession, prophetic ministry and life in the Spirit. Goll is the prolific author and co-author of numerous books—including Shifting Shadows of Supernatural Experiences (co-authored with Julia Loren), from which this article is adapted—and has also produced multiple study guides and hundreds of audio and video messages.