Prophetic Word: False Prophets (and Your Spiritual Diet)

This post is going to address a topic every believer should take heed to both now and in the times ahead. I will be sharing two prophetic dreams the Lord gave me about false prophets and ministers, and then give you keys to identify what makes you potential prey to the workers of religious witchcraft. If you think you can easily spot a false minister with logic only, think again. I advise you to read this prayerfully and then use this as a springboard to safeguard your spiritual life.

Two Types of False Ministers

Let me start off by distinguishing two specific categories of false ministers.

The first and most obvious kind of false ministers are those who have directly and explicitly given themselves to Satan and thereby are illegally accessing spiritual information (ie, not via the Holy Spirit). These types of people have engaged in occult or witchcraft practices to gain these spiritual powers to wield over unsuspecting persons. Most times this is quite evident, even to the unbeliever. There are times, however, when it is not.

The second group are those who started out genuinely following the Lord and over the course of time eventually strayed from the path of righteousness. It usually happens because they have been seduced by the enemy through the pride of life, the lust of the eyes or the lust of the flesh. The door has opened for the enemy to come in and as they stop listening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He eventually leaves and they start being led by seducing demons.

They may not know they are deceived but since they are now ministering with a different spirit than the Holy Spirit, they have become false ministers. Keep in mind that these individuals still have the gifts of the Spirit in operation because the gifts are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). However, the mantle on their lives lifts at some point. So now they have just enough to make you think that they still have God’s approval or are in right-standing with Him.

Prophetic Dreams

On 30 May 2023, I dreamt that I was at what looked like a youth conference. It was a really huge conference. As I stepped into the building, I saw many young people singing exuberant praises to the Lord. A few of them were praise-and-worship leaders. Then the scene immediately switched to them sitting in the lobby, including me and my younger brother. My brother and I were sitting on the right side, in line with some of the others. On the opposite bench were also youth sitting in a long line as well. A young lady I know, whom I will call Michelle (not her real name), was also sitting on this second bench. Next thing I know there are men going around trying to lay hands on all of us and immediately I reprimanded these men and said, “You’re not laying hands on me; I don’t know you. I don’t allow anyone I don’t know to lay hands on me. And you’re not touching my brother either; I’m responsible for him.” Then I looked at Michelle and said to the men, “I can’t speak for her; she is at the age of responsibility.” At this Michelle looked at me and was confused as to what she should do – should she allow them to pray for her or not? With this, I turned to everyone else and started telling them they should not let just anyone lay hands on them, and proceeded to tell them what to look out for.

The scene switches and my younger brother and I are now at a house which I know isn’t ours. Then a man, who is supposedly our dad, realizes he is sick. He is about to leave the house to go for help and as I try to hug him – with an alarmed look on his face – he bolts away from me and jumps into his car (the window was rolled down). As he did this, I saw from his waist down what looked like an alligator’s body and tail slithering into the car as well. This was obviously what he was trying to hide.

I went back into the house and my younger brother and I started searching the house from top to bottom for clues. We then stumbled on a secret room that our dad was using to medicate himself and do some other experiments. This was not the end of my dream but that was the important bits of it.

The second dream I had was just a few days later, early June. In this dream I was about to record on video what I was eating. I looked at my plate and it was a full, healthy meal – with variety. As I was contemplating whether I should record what I was eating or not, I heard the Lord say, “I wanted you to show them what you are consuming.”

The scene changes to me going over to a middle-aged woman and speaking a word to her that she should have been a station guard; that by now the Lord wanted her to be that. Then a false prophetess showed up and started yelling at me to stop stealing her members. By the Spirit of the Lord, I spoke (instantly being elevated in the air above her) saying, "Stop tolerating Jezebel.” I said that about three times, pointing my finger at her. Before I rebuked the false prophet, I looked at her appearance and she was well dressed, she looked good and decent on the outside.

Interpretation

There is much to be said about these two dreams but I am not going to give the interpretation of them in detail as that will make this post much longer than it needs to be, so I will just give the parts to focus on right now.

Both these dreams are warnings to the Body of Christ and a call to the watchmen who are to sound the alarm against religious witchcraft and false ministers.

The young people in the first dream represent two camps – those who are still babes in Christ and then those who are not fully mature, but have received some discipling and are not babes in Christ anymore. My younger brother was symbolic as a babe in Christ who I am responsible for as a mature believer, minister and watchman. My godly duty is to protect the babes in Christ against the wolves in sheeps clothing. Not only was I to keep myself from other false ministers praying for me, but I also had to cover those who were still young in the Lord from harm. Michelle, who was on the side, represented those who are at the spiritual age of responsibility; they know just enough to start exercising their discernment. I also believe a distinction was being made between both sides – who would choose to be on the Lord’s side and who would not (in other words the ones who are compromising).

The middle-aged woman in the second dream is symbolic for the mature believer. The Lord is saying there are some of you who the Lord has called to rise up as prophetic watchmen and by now you should have been! But because you are aligned to false prophets, you have not been able to take up that position. In essence, you have been corrupted and bound by religious witchcraft yourself.

There are false prophets who look the part on the outside, they seem to be in right-standing with God, but inside are tolerating the Jezebel spirit by whom they are prophesying divination. This, I believe, is in relation to the second type of false minister, who had a genuine call in the Lord but have now corrupted themselves and are practicing mixture.

Now, I have spent my whole life in the church environment and I have seen the good, bad, and the ugly. I have witnessed covert witches in church, false prophets, ministers who entertained Jezebel spirits, and so much more. I certainly also know what it is to have fallen into deception while spiritually immature, but by God’s grace have had the truth uncovered to me. Through all this, God has trained me over the years what to look out for and how I need to safeguard my spiritual life in these areas. This is what I believe the Lord wanted me to share with you and this is the dream element where the Lord was telling me that He wanted me to “show them what I was consuming.”

There are many faithful believers and ministers who are sounding the alarm to the Body of Christ not to follow false ministers but it’s important for all of us to assess why it’s so easy to fall for them in the first place. Secondly, we need to also put measures in place to ensure that we have the discernment necessary to differentiate between who is false and who is the true anointed of God.

What Are the Safeguards Against the Wolves?

First of all, you need to understand that it is your responsibility to keep yourself pure. These false ministers are operating under the influence of the Jezebel spirit, who seduces God’s people. By aligning yourself with them you are a willing participant to wickedness and idolatry.

The Lord spoke to the church in Revelation “not to tolerate Jezebel.”

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” - Revelation 2:20

When you give heed to false ministers you are partnering up with the Jezebel Spirit, therefore you will come under the same judgment as the hosts of Jezebel.

Please, do not just receive any prophetic word or allow just anyone to pray for and lay hands on you. These are two ways to receive impartations, whether good or bad. When you come into agreement with any false prophecy, you are opening a door to the enemy. When you let someone lay hands on you, they impart to you any anointing or spirit attached to their life. This is serious business. Impartation and prophecy is a blessing from the Lord when it comes from the right source but it can also send you into a tailspin if from a demonic source. So be alert.

Did you notice in the dream that the false prophet looked good and right outwardly? False ministers appear innocent and look the part; the only way you are going to know who is in right-standing with God is by the Spirit of God. So how are you going to know who is who? One of the ways that will help you is the gift of discerning of spirits. While the Holy Spirit dispenses this gift to whom He chooses, I do believe God wants all of us to seek this gift for the time we are living in now. We are living in perilous times; deception is on the rise and He does not want us to be led astray.

This gift operates through the physical senses and has helped me in the last few years to literally feel strange fire on some prophets. Without it, I would admit that some false ministers would be hard to discern. But even if you don’t have the discerning of spirits gift, you can still have a level of discernment that can tune you into the Holy Spirit’s warnings. However, it's important to look at what you are consuming via your senses and gateways. What you are watching and listening to is deposited into your soul and can desensitize you spiritually and corrupt your life so that you are no longer able to hear God or discern what is from Him or not. If you want to sharpen your discernment, take stock of what you are watching, listening to, and even the company that you keep. Most of you will find that you need to go into a time of consecration. I would say a great prayer to pray is that God should remove anything from your life that is making you dull in the spirit. Then watch how many people are about to exit your life as well.

Another, and probably the more important reason why so many believers are dull in their discernment and can so easily fall prey to false ministers is because of the lack of Word in them. You need to consume the word of God to be able to be on guard against false ministers. You may be praying daily, but without any Word you are malnourished. The Word of God is a landing strip for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and fills you with power.

Listening to preaching is not a substitute – ever. The truth is many Christians are spiritually lazy and because of that the enemy can easily seduce them. This is the number one reason, along with prayer, why I am able to keep my spiritual senses sharp. And this is what the Lord was pointing to in the dream. My plate of healthy food was the WORD OF GOD. No secret methods here, no need to sign up for a course. It’s literally the FREE Word of God. That’s it. So now you know the Lord is calling you to read His Word. Not just a verse a day. Read chapters, study it, and then meditate on key verses He highlights to you.

As I end off this post, I want to leave you with these points to honestly assess your spiritual life and if you’re good prey for false ministers to seduce and deceive you. These will help you to know which areas of your life to make adjustments in, and stay sound.

7 Things That Make You a Good Candidate for False Ministers

1. Having no Word or not enough Word in you.

Not reading the word of God DAILY is a no-no.

2. No prayer life.

This is self-explanatory.

3. Not living a life of repentance

Open doors to the enemy is a good way for him to draw you into deception.

4. You haven’t healed from toxic relationships or organizations

If you’ve come out of churches or organizations that were false, controlling, or cult-like you need to break those soul ties & ask God to heal you from these wounds. If you don’t do the necessary healing and deliverance work, you will end up in the same type of environment again. This happens in the natural as well when someone is in an abusive relationship and just ends up somehow connecting with another abuser. The demonic spirits that entered your life through these associations will lead you back to the familiar.

5. You haven’t learned to discern God’s voice.

Those who rely heavily on prophecy are those who haven’t learned to discern God’s voice for themselves. This can make you vulnerable to false prophets. Take time to learn how to hear His voice for yourself.

6. Taking the opinions of leadership without verifying it with the Word.

Listen, it doesn’t matter that you think honoring the man or woman of God who’s shepherding you means not questioning what they teach. God will hold you accountable for receiving false doctrine. Be like the Bereans who the Apostle Paul commended for going home to study the scripture for themselves to confirm that what he was teaching was true!

7. Insecurity and low self-esteem.

If you struggle with your identity in Christ, you are likely always looking for someone to make you feel good, whether you know this or not. This is what the enemy preys on and this is why you need to make it priority to let your Heavenly Father affirm you and secure you in Him. The way to do that is spend time in His presence and ask Him to show you and tell you how He sees you.

I know this was a long post but I hope you were able to take some things from this to apply. I encourage you to read it a few times and start putting into practice the points given. The Holy Spirit will surely give you the grace to do it if you ask.

Blessings,