Have you ever said, “I don’t think I’m prophetic.” And yet, if you are a team member in Healing Rooms, you are already extremely likely to be walking in the gift of prophecy. Prophecy, simply put, is God speaking His heart and mind through a Spirit-filled person, although a donkey will occasionally suffice! Prophecy is for a particular time or season and directed at one or more people, in order to effect heavenly expectation, direction and/or change. When God spoke in Genesis 1, the world that once didn’t exist came into being. Therefore, speaking God’s word aloud can be a very powerful tool; as Hebrews 12:26 states, it shakes things up with heavenly truth. Likewise, when we declare aloud the words, pictures and scriptures that God reveals to us, we declare Heaven down and into the earthly atmosphere in which we live. And God’s word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11); God is always doing something, even if we don’t see it immediately.
We don’t need to be a Moses or an Elijah to be prophetic. As Christians, by the power of Holy Spirit in us, not only we can rest assured that we do know and listen to Jesus’ voice (John 10:4/27) but that we also have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). As new creations, we ourselves have become the very tent of meeting, the holy place, in which God is speaking to us constantly in a myriad of ways. So we have access to God’s thoughts. Inspired by Hebrews 7:25, Rev Ray Scorey used to say “Jesus is interceding for us all the time, so what is He saying?” We just need to tap into God’s river of words.
Consequently, in a Healing Rooms ministry session, we go ahead and discern what Jesus is saying for a guest. After discussion with them about what has cropped up, and if they are amenable, we proceed to declare it over them. That is prophetic. It powerfully releases God’s truth into a situation, shaking the foundations of roadblocks to healing and roots of disease.
At the start of a session, our Healing Rooms team frequently write down received words, pictures and scriptures on a piece of paper, which usually gets given to the guest at the end. It’s wonderfully encouraging for everyone, especially when the revelations confirm each other and “hit the spot” with the guest, who may respond with deeper revelation, either spontaneously or with gentle questioning by the team. It’s a holy collaboration with Holy Spirit, guest and team members. This prepares the way, always with the guest’s involvement and permission, for sensitively dealing with the issues that arise and often casting out those things which have been revealed as being at the heart of the problem in hand.
Although it is possible for a single prophetic word to effect a healing, what we don’t want to do is to get all prophetic and forget to declare and decree the healing, in whichever way the Lord leads, in order to complete the heavenly transaction. It’s important to remember that Satan is a legalist and quite a lot of our job is to help guests break agreement with the devil’s thinking, accusations and lies and instead establish a foundation for agreement with God’s law, words and promises to His children.
To seal the deal, it’s really important to fill up any spiritual vacuums with the divine exchange (see Isaiah 61:3, Matthew 12:43-45 and Matthew 18:18). This replaces all the cast out, dark, negative stuff with all God’s heavenly opposites. This is also prophetic, as we listen and see with our spiritual ears and eyes and then declare and decree the Lord’s positives and healing over a guest, in the power and authority given to us by Jesus to ‘heal those who are ill, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons’ (Matthew 10:8).
Most of us require practice and experience to walk confidently, accurately and compassionately in the prophetic. In order to grow in the gift of prophecy, we need to grow spiritually. As jars of clay, we are already full of heavenly treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7), but we do need to do our part, as Proverbs 2:4 expresses, and ‘look for it as for silver’. Some suggestions are to get seriously stuck into scripture, press into a two-way relationship with the living God, be willing to “step out of the boat” and be prepared to get things wrong before getting them right. God is always previous and He will draw on what we have already learnt as part of our heavenly quest so far.
Furthermore, I have often said that God’s thinking is in the inkling. He will frequently give us a “starter for ten” and it’s when we go with a scrap of revelation, that we find we activate the “more of God”. It’s like the talents; with each one we run with, rather than bury, God gives us extra.
While the Lord often uses our own experience and circumstances for the good of others, it is possible for our own “stuff” to get in the way of accurately hearing God. The main thing here is to be surrendered to God in our spirit. Sometimes, our own anger, frustration and unforgiveness can push an agenda to the fore, which may have much more to do with self than God’s intent. Rev Ray Scorey would frequently say that our Christian journey is a continual process of dying to self, in order to come into line with Abba Father’s way of thinking. None of us are perfect, so do be kind to yourself and be kind to each other in this endeavour. Dying to self does not happen naturally; it takes determined and sustained proactivity.
When we’re not sure our prophetic word for a guest is actually from God, there are a few litmus tests we can observe. The main one is to ask ourselves if the word is positive and encouraging. Mark Virkler is cited as saying, in the Arnott’s book Grace and Forgiveness, that all negatives come from the devil and all positives come from God. Consequently, all prophetic words need to be delivered with love and compassion, for there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1) and, as St Paul writes in Romans 2:4, it is the kindness of God that draws people to repentance. So, it’s good practice to deliver our prophetic words with sensitivity and humility. Additionally, in Norfolk School of Prophets, we discouraged any “Thus Saith the Lord!”, because if we’re wrong, it gives nobody any room for manoeuvre. It’s more humble, kind and safe to say something like “I am sensing in my spirit that…”.
Another litmus test is to ask ourselves if our prophetic word is supported by scriptural intent. If it strays outside Biblical precedence, handle with care! There will often be a biblical text to accompany a “kosher” prophetic word or picture. It’s okay to actively seek a supporting scripture there and then. I have often found a Google search to be fruitful in throwing up surprisingly unexpected and fitting verses.
The gift of discernment is an excellent litmus test. We have been spliced into the heavenly vine and so ‘deep calls to deep’ (Psalm 42:7). Sometimes, this is experienced simply as an intangible feeling of rightness or wrongness. Some people may have what’s known as a “check in their spirit”, if something doesn’t feel quite right. Then, it’s absolutely fine to put something on the back burner and give it time to either mature into something clearly of God or dissipate as “not for now”. The way we handle these things, as a team, is with a unity that demonstrates mutual encouragement and thoughtfulness.
If you don’t feel prophetic, remember that it is a gift and, not only does St Paul express eager desire to see us all receive the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:5), but God loves to bless us when we reach out and ask Him for things that are our heavenly destiny; gifts bought for us by the high price paid at the cross. So be brave and do consider asking for all the gifts but, as 1 Corinthians 14:1 exhorts, especially for the gift of prophecy. The beautiful paradox is that whatever God gives to us is to give away. That’s how Kingdom grows with us in the mix.
The longer I’m in Healing Rooms, the more I realise I need to depend on what Holy Spirit is saying and doing in any instant, not only with regard to me and the team but also with the guests themselves. In our Healing Rooms, we often suggest to the guest that they listen alongside us to what God is saying and encourage them to share what they are receiving from the Lord. It’s so important for a guest to be invested in their own healing journey, making their involvement active and vital at every step.
I feel my biggest question in any session now needs to be, “Lord, why have You revealed this precious information to us and what do You want us to do with it?” It’s too easy to fall back on what we think is a good idea or rely on previous methods, rather than running with God’s idea and approach for the moment. I am more keen than ever to take each ministry session one step at a time and to keep the lines of communication with the Lord open throughout. In John 5:19, Jesus said ‘the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’ We can do nothing without seeing what Father, Son and Holy Spirit are showing us. Reliance on self can shut down access to healing and that is not what we’re here for!
So let’s relax into God and trust Him, as He walks and talks with us in this beautiful ministry.
Rev Ruth Scorey
Director of Norfolk Healing Rooms in North Norfolk, National Director for Healing Rooms Scotland and previously joint Director of Norfolk School of Prophets with the late, great Rev Ray Scorey.