When Prophecy Connects with your Expectations

In Ruth 3 we read the story between Ruth and Boaz when he tells her that there is someone ahead of him to redeem her. What I love about this is that when Boaz said, "If he doesn't want to take you, I'll take you."  (Ruth 3:13) What we see here is that,  even though there's an obstacle, Boaz is completely occupied with Ruth's future. We have to realize that in applying it to our lives, Jesus is completely occupied with our future. 

He's the Redeemer.

He wouldn't have come down to the earth and redeemed humanity if He wasn't occupied with all of humanity's future. It’s predominant in His heart and because of that, prophecy connects us to our future when we don't fully comprehend the Lord's ways. I could imagine that Ruth did not comprehend everything. "What do you mean someone's ahead of him? He's been so kind, he's in love with me..." I'm sure in that moment of not really understanding what's going on, one hasn't had a moment of questioning, "Well, wait, God, I don't understand what you're doing."

But what prophecy does, is it connects and reconnects us to our future.

This is what I love about the prophetic. It reconnects me to my purpose. It reconnects me to where I'm going. I can steer off the path or get off the course a little bit and it puts me right back on that course. It communicates how the Lord wants to please us. Isn't that amazing?

The Lord wants to please His people.

There’s something I love to do when I’m with my grandchildren. Although I’m usually busy ministering, when I have the opportunity to spend time with all five of them, I usually end up taking them to the grocery store and let them fill the cart with whatever their hearts desire. I get so much joy watching them walk down the aisles, skipping and hopping, grabbing things that mom and dad don’t usually buy for them. It’s not about the doughnuts, or the chocolate milk. But the joy of seeing their little faces light up. You see, when God prophesies over you, He's communicating His desire to want to please you. That's what's so beautiful about the prophetic. 

If you continue reading Ruth 3, towards the end of that chapter you see that Ruth returns to Naomi and tells her what Boaz has done for her. What we read next is Naomi prophesying and decreeing, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” (Ruth 3:18)

When Naomi prophesied “He’ll take care of the matter today,” it put the expectation back into Ruth and it became the fuel for her to be able to wait. This is a perfect example of what the prophetic does, it reignites the expectation in our hearts, that while in the midst of waiting, “I know God's going to take care of this”.

Jesus is concerned about what matters to you and I, and He can fix it. He's concerned about America. He's concerned about the nations of the earth. Which means that God is committed to settle the things that matter to you. Just as Naomi prophesied to Ruth, He'll take care of this matter today. If it matters to you, because He's in love with you, He's going to take care of it today, and not leave you hanging, not leave you in suspense. He didn't come to leave us in suspense. He came to redeem us. 

Blessings,

John Harke Team

The Prophet

The prophet sees the Lord’s vision for humanity. Because they feel fiercely, tears flow from their eyes because many aren’t even conscious that the word of God is disregarded. The prophetic message that is spoken isn’t to be shunned because the Lord has concern for all of His creation. Prophets aren’t worried about if their the minority because they have learned to maintain their loyalty to the Lord over popular opinion. They seem to live out of a much different kind of value system.

Because their testimony didn’t originate from themselves they don’t just burn for a season, their words burn for eternity. They have been touched by the eternal word of God which has extinguished the self centered ego that plagues humanity. Any need to prove themselves, has been replaced by a tenderness for the heart of the Father. The decree they speak isn’t necessarily a message of comfort, but a message that challenges. When the rights of others are forsaken they scream, and when human obligations are neglected, they weep. Their hatred towards sin doesn’t produce hostility towards others, it exhibits a desire for reconciliation. Their wholeheartedness for the honor of God is at times misinterpreted as an anger towards men and women who don’t share their beliefs.

For the prophet, to refuse to worship God is scandalous. The prophet doesn’t ask who men and women owe their ultimate allegiance to, for the prophet this is never a question but a demand. In other words, the prophet understands that ultimately autonomy that is fueled by human ambition leads to social confusion. The prophet of God may be misunderstood, however they are really pleading for the well being and prosperity of the nations. They passionately forgive and serve those who have rejected their words. With certainty, they preach not only the sense of indebtedness to God but a sense of indebtedness to every son and daughter of Adam.

Greatness isn’t something prophets attempt to obtain through their own ambition, it’s a gift. Because they’ve chosen to adhere to the relational expectations the Lord has laid out. In other words, to cultivate indifference for a prophet is the result of a conscience that is silenced by a culture that is unaware of the divine presence. Prophets champion the oppressed that are to broken to speak. The appeal for justice isn’t something the prophet can shake off, because the need for justices burns in their hearts. For anything that threatens the very source of life must be confronted.

Those who automatically have a prophetic voice never lose sight and never lose drive towards what matters to God. How God thinks, how God feels, how God acts, never leaves the prophets conscience. The prophet isn’t shaped by impulse, the prophet is shaped by the inner conviction that God is ever present in everything we do. Without an ambition for what is vain, without an infatuation with success, the prophet is entirely content being a friend of God.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

What is the destiny of humanity?

I believe that religion without relationship is the biggest distortion of the image of God. I am also convinced that what drives us when no one is watching, tells us what we have a passion for. For instance, when we have a correct response to God we then, and only then, can correctly discern reality.

Adam had all his hearts desire yet something happened in Genesis three. I admit, although he had everything, those things couldn’t keep him safe from the onslaught of evil. Only having the Lord as his one desire could keep Adam for falling. This is why when relationships don’t operate appropriately, our ability to love the Lord effectively, is frustrated. Our lives are to be uniquely balanced however, we also need more passion for God.

We were created to reflect what the Lord is thinking and feeling, not a narrative of what culture is preaching. Simply because in the very beginning the Lord stood near by and spoke humanity into existence. He took a piece of Himself and gave it to us while we were shrouded in darkness and nothingness. Our brokenness made us extremely vulnerable to His voice. Prophetic proclamations are the activity of God, meaning, His speech is what made us good. For without His voice we are an unproductive wasteland. The good news is that the unproductive becomes productive at the sound of His speech, the uninhabited becomes habituated when He uses His voice. No one is able to contest His word over us, for He is the author of all things. For His word is a creative act shaping and molding us in His likeness. Being made in His likeness isn’t merely physical, it’s the fact that men and women can partner with God, can reason like God and speak for God.

This dimension we bare isn’t to be Lord over Him but to be both responsible and worshipful towards our relationship with Him. Valuing who He is and honoring what He has entrusted to us. This eliminates the pride of self sufficiency and causes us to focus upon the command to love our neighbor. That way we can rule effectively and rightly represent His likeness. Our dominion then becomes a partnership with the Lord, not a call to control. We in a partnership with the Lord, we reflect His divine nature by how we manage and treasure what He has given to us.

Our yearning to be like Him isn’t only that we may rule effectively but that we may love like Him and love Him well. This is the cry of the image barer. This is the cry of the soul who wants to want Him. We are called to live in His world on His terms, this the destiny of humanity. Living on God’s terms means choosing to love Him and pushing away the desire for independence. This is a fight, however I believe the inner urge to see all the Lord has done for us will overthrow the urge to disobey His voice.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

We all have filters that interpret our experiences, but what if those filters are inaccurate?

The Hebrew prophets confronted the priests because the priests were dedicated to their ceremonies more than an inner attachment to the Lord. These leaders did not resolve to honor the Lord in their hearts. I believe that they fell into the trap of pleasing powerful people instead of pleasing the all powerful Lord. That is why the Lord began to speak through His servants. Because Israel needed individuals who ascended to the hill of Lord. God’s people needed the kind of prophets who would chose a pure heart over a successful ministry. Prophets who gave more thought about the love God felt for His people than a greater platform or more economic blessing. What set theses men and women apart was that they made mention what the Lord was in love with more than the religious agenda of the priests and politicians. They understood that the Spirit was able to beat the swords of men into plow-shears and give them the peace they longed for. Therefore, their message wasn’t just about punishment because punishment isn’t the greatest deterrent for humanity. They preached that if people saw the beauty of what was promised, then they would turn towards a loving God.

So then why were their hearts so hard, why didn’t they fear the Lord? Why didn’t they feel the burden of their guilt? One reason is because of the abuse of power from those who were in a position of leadership exploited others through their lust for personal ambition. A heart filled with arrogance and pride doesn’t fear the Lord nor does it feel guilty. The Lords response is by sending a man or women of God to awaken a sense of justice, a sense of righteousness. A submitted vessel who possesses an inner identification with God’s will and a concern for the safety of others. For within the inner heart of these prophets they have to warn us because of what they’re seeing. Not to prove how right they are, but to protect the people God loves.

To the prophet, the Lord isn’t an idea to be discussed, but a King to be praised. Their message is to see what the Lord sees and to feel what the Lord feels. Nothing proves the sincerity of the prophet’s beliefs like their willingness to suffer for them. That is the reason why every prophet suffered for what they believed about God and humanity. Prophets suffer because men and women are held hostage by deception and pride. You see, the prophet is a man or woman who burns with eternal love, a love which has been imparted by the heart of the Father. They have traded in any respectability, for spiritual wisdom and revelation. The stigma that comes from walking in the supernatural doesn’t faze them because of their personal bond with the everlasting God.

I believe in this generation we are going to witness an awakening of the “prophetic conscience” men and women who share within their inner selves the same burden and passion of the Hebrew prophets.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Activating Your Prophetic Word

Proverbs 18:21 (KJVA) Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

There is tremendous power in your words. Many scriptures speak of the power of the tongue and it’s for good reason. Your words are powerful because they have in it a capacity to build the future that you will live in. That’s why in this moment in time, it seems harder and harder to open your mouth and speak and I don’t mean words that others expect you to say or that prevent you from rocking the boat, I mean the words that are inside of you that speak to the purpose that is shouting inside of you to make an appearance into the reality of your surroundings.

Those are the words that God is after and those are the words that if left unspoken, could meet the tragedy of never coming into existence. That is why the prophetic is so valuable. They help provide a language and an awareness of that very thing inside of you that needs to come out. Words spoken over you in prophecy are vital. They not only illuminate your future and the potential that you carry but also give you weapons to war with to achieve the victory of your purpose.

When we pair the prophetic word over our lives with the words that come out of our own mouths, it’s a prophetic physical action that we can take to lay hold and take claim of our promise that God has released for us to walk in. This is not something very hard to do and it does not take a lot of time.

Here is a practical process you can use to begin turning your prophetic words into a weapon of war:

1. Listen or read back the prophetic words that have been spoken over your life

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate to you the parts of the word that He wants to activate in your life now

3. Turn those prophetic words into declarations

4. For example, if the prophecy states that you have a mantle to affect and bless nations, turn it into a declaration that reads something like “In the name of Jesus, I declare that I walk in a mantle that blesses the nations of this world. I declare that my feet will tread on many nations and that the gospel of the Kingdom will come from my mouth over people of every culture, language and location throughout the earth…."

   1. I want to speak to this a little more, don’t be surprised that when you start declaring the prophetic word that you don’t also begin to get into a prophetic flow of prophesying and prophetically declaring and expounding on the word. Allow the Holy Spirit to prophecy through you as well!

5. Place Passion and Intensity Behind Your Prophetic Declarations

6. When you really honestly and truly believe something, when it is something that you are passionate about, your body reflects that belief. Hence we should declare loudly, with authority and with passion.

7. Do this 3 times a day for at least 3 days and see what happens!

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Finding your identity through Prophetic Perspective

Fear, doubt and unbelief produce horrible things. They can wreak havoc on our minds, emotions and, if allowed to fester unopposed, can derail our destiny and leave our potential undiscovered. We have to wage war against these things so that we can fully express who we were created to be and operate. The good news is that God doesn’t want us to have any of this in our lives. In fact, He has given us every tool imaginable to make sure that we can walk in total and complete victory.

One tool He has given us is the capacity to see as He sees. We see Jesus demonstrate this when after the healing at the pool of Bethesda, He declares that He does what He sees His Father doing. This speaks of divine perspective and the capacity that God’s children have to access and walk in it. Sadly, this is one of the most under-utilized privileges in the Body of Christ.

When we look around us, we see a culture that is terrorized by their past, powerless in their present and hopeless about their future. All of this is clear evidence of a generation that is not seeing from God’s divine perspective. They are looking through a very dark, soul crushing pair of binoculars with lenses of fear, inadequacy and doubt. What an incredible opportunity for The Church to rise up with believers that demonstrate the opposite by seeing from a divine perspective. God’s perspective not only sees into the past and present but also into the future. God, the Alpha and Omega sees with an eternal view, beginning to end, front to back. I believe that the world is crying out for leaders with that kind of vision.

We need a prophetic generation with the courage to look beyond their current situation and through the eyes of The Father to find a way to lead others forward.

Are you a part of this bold generation?

If so, one of the most important areas that we must apply this to is when it comes to our identity and position with Him. In fact, this area is essential if we are to experience the fullness of the life that God has for us. Throughout history, the strategy of the enemy has been the same. When a leader is about to be raised up, the enemy will come against their identity, looking for a weakness to exploit, to topple them before they even get out of the gates. Examples of this are Moses at the burning bush, where he gave every reason in the book about how he was not a deliverer or a leader. Gideon grapples with his identity as a judge over Israel to the point where he tests God with a fleece. Even Jesus, after being baptized, is brought into the wilderness where His identity is challenged by the enemy.

When you choose to be a prophetic leader, you will encounter this assault on identity countless times. That is why God’s perspective in this area is of the utmost importance. Allowing this to take place will dramatically reduce the warfare that the enemy will try to bring.

Take time today to seek the Lord, to allow Him to speak to you about how He sees you. Take some areas of your life where you believe something about yourself and ask Him if that is truly the case or is there some illumination that needs to come to see things as He does. Make this a regular practice and see the fruit that God brings from it.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team