I was having coffee with a friend recently
and he asked me the following question: “So, what do you do with ‘Big Words’?”

I
began formulating an answer and said, “Well first…,”

“You
put it on the shelf,” he interrupted.

Ah. There it was. A phrase so common to those familiar with the prophetic that it has
become a part of that language known as Christianese. This phrase embodies a deeply engrained
attitude towards the prophetic word that assumes an appearance of wisdom. But what is this wisdom? And is it wise?

A prophetic word, Paul tells us in 1
Corinthians 14:3, is given to strengthen, encourage, and comfort. A prophetic word can bring counsel, wisdom,
clarity, instruction, discipline, and direction as well. Paul also warns us in 1 Thessalonians
5:19-21: Do not put out the Spirit’s
fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the
good. In 1 Corinthians 13:9 Paul
also tells us that we now know in part and we prophecy in part. We should understand that there are
limitations to the prophetic that we must live with. Prophetic words are often partial and require
further unfolding, revelation, and time to play out.

One
of the most valuable lessons I have learned about prophetic words is something
that Murray Dueck, teacher and founder of the Samuel’s Mantle Prophetic School, once taught me:

The prophetic is not as much about
revelation as it is about invitation. The Holy Spirit gives prophetic words to us in order to cause us to seek
God. They are meant to draw us into
deeper relationship with our Father, for no prophetic word can be walked out in
its fullness without walking its journey with Jesus. If prophecy is given in part how will we
discover the part(s) that we need yet to discover? The invitation contained in each prophetic
word is to discover more of what Jesus is saying to us by connecting with the
very giver and source of the word. As
Revelation 19:10 tells us …Worship
God! For the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.

The
common response to prophetic words is to hear and receive them in the following
manner: Amen. Put it on the shelf. Let’s translate that response so that it is a
little clearer. Amen: We know and have experienced enough of the prophetic to
believe that the gift is real, so we accept that something prophetic has been
said to us. Put it on the shelf: We have also learned that the fulfillment of
prophetic words cannot be accomplished by our own efforts. They cannot be rushed or forced to come to
pass before God accomplishes their fulfillment according to his will. By setting words on the ‘shelf’ we believe
that we are avoiding this pitfall, which leads to frustration and
disappointment. So, on the surface there
seems to be something wise in loading up the shelf with our prophetic
words. But, underlying this wisdom are
some problems.

First,
is that it is rooted in the fear that we will be disappointed, that the word
will go unfulfilled. We use the shelf as
a way to insulate ourselves from this outcome and to protect ourselves. This fear reveals that in our hearts we do
not trust that Jesus is both able and committed to accomplishing the promises
he makes to us. We fear that either the
words we have received are inaccurate or that we will not live up to some
standard we feel is required in order to have such prophetic words
fulfilled.

Second,
the shelf is a place of unbelief. If we
genuinely believe in the gift of prophecy we must approach it with faith, as
well as wisdom and discernment. To
simply put it aside and ignore it requires no response on our part, and thus no
faith.

Third,
the shelf is where we put things and forget them. As time passes, words stored on the shelf
fade from memory. They become something
that sits in the background of our spiritual lives having little or no effect
on our faith, our lives, or our relationship with Jesus.

Underlying
the shelf is the stark reality that we do not value the prophetic words we are
given. We risk treating prophetic words
with contempt by ultimately disregarding them, that which Paul has warned us
against not doing. We also risk not
testing the words and holding on to that which is good. Instead, we store them away and let them
gather dust. How sobering is it that
Paul equates such contempt for the prophetic with quenching the Spirit’s fire!

One
potential consequence of using the shelf can be seen in Proverbs 13:12: Hope
deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. With each prophetic word comes a seed of
hope; a hope in the word of Jesus to us; a hope that the good things that he
has spoken to us by revelation will be fulfilled. All seeds must be cared for in order to grow
into what they are meant to be. They
must be watered, planted in good soil, get enough sunlight etc… Too often we treat prophetic words as
inevitable events, and we do not respond to the invitation they imply. Because we tend to put them into storage on a
spiritual shelf, we ourselves create the potential condition described in the
first part of the above verse. If there
is a seed of hope in the words we are given, we delay its growth and
fulfillment by using the shelf. Our hearts become sick with disappointment,
frustration, and even worse, bitterness. We begin to see that the shelf is not a wise place at all to put our
prophetic words. There they sit
unheeded, devalued, and gathering dust, instead of becoming trees that give
life when they are fulfilled.

Let
us return to the conversation between my friend and I, and let me suggest what
I feel is a better response.

“You
put it on the shelf,” he interrupted.

“No!”
I replied, pounding my fist on the coffee shop table.

“Well,
what do you do then?”

“First,
burn your shelf,” I told him.

“Burn
it?”

“Burn
it until it is nothing but ashes,” I affirmed.

This
is the first step. We need to turn away
from this response and change the way we receive prophetic words. Prophetic words are immensely valuable and
ought to be treated as treasures. They
are powerful, for they can avert disasters in our lives, they can give us the
wisdom necessary to deal with difficult situations, they can be the
counsel that helps us to make right
decisions, they can confirm what we have felt the Lord already might be saying
to us, they can even change lives entirely and convince those who do not know
Jesus that he is alive and loves them. They are given to us because God loves us and they are gifts from his
very heart. They do not belong on a
shelf.

I
was once given a prophetic word, some years ago now, by a trusted friend who is
one of the most gifted prophetic men that I know. It was a ‘Big Word’ that I would have most
likely discounted if it had not come from him. I share it here hesitantly, but I want to show that I am familiar with
the issues at hand, there are reasons why I have thought about this particular
subject. My friend began to pray for me
and said “Eric, the Lord has given you a significant anointing. He says that you will be like C.S Lewis. You are a deep thinker and you will write
things like he did, both stories and teachings that will effect the church and
the world.”

Big
Words? You bet. My initial response was, of course, Are
you crazy? What do you say to
something like that? How do you even
begin to respond? Well, I responded in
my spirit in the only way that I knew how at that time. I took it to the shelf. What else could I do? But before I could put it down, and feel
safely relieved, I felt Holy Spirit say “Don’t you dare do that!” So I froze, and I asked,

“Okay. What do I do with this then?”

“You
treasure it,” he whispered back.

So,
after some pondering I decided to do as he said and I asked if he would give me
a treasure chest in heaven to put the word in. He did, and this changed the way I responded to the prophetic from that
day forward.

Step
two then, after ridding yourself of the shelf, is to ask Jesus for a treasure
chest, or some other symbol that for you means treasure, and begin keeping your
words there. I have many treasures there
now. I keep a record in my journal of
words given to me, so that I will not only avoid forgetting them, but also so I
can revisit them. When I do, I open my
treasure chest and I invite Jesus to look at them with me; to speak to me about
them. How are they coming along? What is the good in them? Are there any that need clarification? Even, are there any that don’t belong?

In
this way we are not only valuing and treasuring what he has spoken, but we
answer the invitation to be with him in walking the journey of these words
out. We experience more freely the hope
words are meant to impart to us. We move
to a place where we will see the tree of life that will arise as words, both
‘Big’ and small, are fulfilled. By
treasuring Jesus’ words to us we act in faith and we express our belief that he
is absolutely trustworthy. The result of
such trust is described in Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths
straight.

I
hope you are convinced to some degree that prophetic words are not shelf
ornaments, but are great treasures.
 

Eric H Janzen