How to Know if a Prophesy is Corporate
TIPS ON HOW TO KNOW IF A WORD IS CORPORATE
A corporate Word is a Word given to the enlarged body of Christ, like for instance a church meeting, a conference, a Word over the internet. If you don’t know if the Words you are receiving are meant for others too, these tips are for you.
1. Know your own level of maturity in your calling.
Luke 2:49-52 NLT
“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “You should have known that I would be in my Father’s house.” But they didn’t understand what he meant. Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them; and his mother stored all these things in her heart.
Just like Jesus’ grew up and knew His calling at the age of 12, God will call you many years before you walk it out in public. You will go through His promises, His preparation and finally hands on training before you may be walking in your calling.
Acts 20:28 NKJV
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Scripture tells us that all may prophesy. (1 Cor 14:31) However if you are walking in a leadership calling in your life, and you receive a Word that is more than a personal Word to you, then it is the nature of your calling to give corporate Words for those you care for. In this case, recognition of a corporate Word is simply based upon knowing who you are in Christ.
2. Know your level of faith.
Matt 13:57-58 NKJV
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Your level of faith matters. Even Jesus’ influence was limited based upon other’s ability to believe. If unbelief in an audience makes a difference, how much more should your own faith.
As a carrier of His Word, you are not responsible for it to come to pass, but you are responsible to believe what God spoke and release it with holy boldness. What you say will not be able to stand against the demonic opposition if you have not built a solid faith in God and His Word. Consider what happened to those who did not walk with Jesus, but tried to use their “formula” for power:
Acts 19:13-16 NKJV
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
3. Know your confirmations.
2 Cor 1:21 NKJV
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.
2 Cor 13:1-2
“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”
God is the One Who calls and it is His job to confirm/ establish you in that calling. He promises that all truth is established by 2 or 3 witnesses. Learn to recognize God’s confirmations to what He has spoken. This not only ignites your faith, but also fortifies your ability to stand after you have shared the Word. Confirmations guard against presumption, assumption and getting ahead of God.
4. Know God’s timing.
John 2:4-5 NKJV
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Knowing God’s timing is rooted in understanding your own relationship with Him and the nature of the Words He already gives you. If these are Word promises, then it may simply be a matter of waiting for the opportunity to release it. Sometimes His Words are to be released through prayer, other times through writing, and others through decreeing. I heard and saw prophetic promises for 13 years before it was God’s timing to release them to others. It was not my time and He told me to wait.
However if you are accustomed to hearing, then immediately dispatching with signs following, you are going to know that God’s time is NOW and can normally walk within that parameter unless God tells you to wait.
5. Know the relevancy of the Word as to season and application.
1 Chron 12:32 NKJV
The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.
Prov 15:23 NKJV
A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
Isa 50:4 NKJV
“The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
Understand how the Word applies in a practical way. Does the Word fit within the season of what God is doing in the overall corporate body of Christ?
Spring is a season when God gives us new beginnings, fresh starts, new boundaries to grow into, promotions, birthing new ministries, babies, jobs and assignments. It is a time of fresh, catapulted faith to launch into the unknown. It is a time of seeing the first small beginnings of what God spoke in our winter tombs. It is resurrection power of hope, courage, and rekindled passion.
Summer is a time when we are growing in the assignments He has given us. It is a time of experiencing visual fruit, gifts, movement and productivity. It is a fulfilling time where we are fully launched in passion and carrying out the plans God has spoken to us. Summer is a time of labor and delivery.
Fall is a time of bringing things into completion. We harvest and conclude what we have been building. We organize it and settle it, and either store it for later or give it away. Just like the parable of the tares and the wheat, fall is a time of release and letting go as we prepare for winter. Fall is the beginning of death to self where God is tearing down structures in our lives instead of building them up.
Winter is a time of death to self, where we wait upon God to bring new life and hope. It is usually a colder time with isolation, separation and little outward or visible activity in God. In the darkness of one’s tomb, in the dark night of the soul, this is where we draw near to God by putting our roots down deeply in Him. We cling in desperate times and He is there to reassure us and speak Words of hopeful promise of what is to come.
6. Know who you are immediately connected with.
Eph 4:16 NKJV
From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Corporate Words are simply Words that apply to a group of people outside of your own personal life. Often times recognizing the difference is simply knowing the people you are connected with. What are they experiencing? What are they saying? What is God saying to them? You will quickly know you are not alone, when what you see and hear goes outside the boundary of your own life and has Godly purpose to bless those with whom you are connected.
7. Know your audience.
Luke 2:52 NKJV
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Prov 18:16 NKJV
A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
I John 4: 6 NKJV
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God is the One Who adds favor with Himself and with men. If you have a corporate call but have no favor of an open door for audience, then you are either still being prepared or you are in the wrong audience. When you find an audience that will listen, then the Lord also gives you His Words for them. God supplies your gifts and this in turn opens doors of increase in favor. It is a two way street going both directions between your gifts, favor and open doors for audience.
8. Know the faith of the person who is in authority.
1 Cor 14:28-33 NKJV
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Heb 13:17 NKJV
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account . Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
One time I clearly heard a word of knowledge for a service and received an immediate confirmation to it, but the one I submitted the Word to did not have the faith for it and did not speak it out. I understood this, as several times I have had people send me a Word wanting me to dispatch it, but I did not have faith for the Word either and could not dispatch it.
People in authority are responsible for the safety of those they care for. They are required to give an account to God. Each leader has a certain metron or boundary in which they operate in subject matter, gifts and spiritual power. If your gift is challenging the leaders’ comfort zone, then it is best to lay low and pray the Word. For example when you visit a house and they take off their shoes, then it is best to honor them and take off your shoes too.
9. Know the subject of the Word.
Ps 2:7-8 NKJV
I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
Is the subject matter for an individual, family, church, town, state, country or nations? It is a simple to discern.
10. Know your metron or measure of authority.
2 Cor 10:13-14 NKJV
We, however, will not boast beyond measure {#3358}, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us — a sphere which especially includes you.
2 Cor 10:13-14 NLT
But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you.
Metron is a Greek word meaning a measure of a limited portion or degree. We are each given a measure of authority, and it is important to understand our metron, or sphere of influence and authority in which He has placed us.
In my calling, He has assured me an angelic host that accompanies the Words He gives through me. When I dispatch His Words, I know He is dispatching angels to accompany those Words. Behind the scenes they do remarkable things to line up the Words with people, and bring them all into synch with His timing. It is simply beyond human capacity and this is completely related to His Godly sphere and measure of influence.
There is a bumper sticker I have read that says something like, “Do not drive faster than your angels can fly.” Men and angels move forward in God as we each align with Him and His Word.
Deut 32:8 NLT
When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of angelic beings.
SUMMARY: The Lord gives His Words to nourish His body. Learning how to distinguish who the Word is for is usually a matter of knowing your own walk in God, the nature of the Word you received and how it fits with others. It is practical, it is functional, it is applicable, and it is relevant, and it connects with God and with man.
Eph 4:11-13 NKJV
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Eph 4:15-16 NKJV
But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
