Today particularly in America the standard is instant result. We have fast food restaurants that that take less than 3 min from the time you order to the time your food is handed (hot) to you. We have remote starters that start our car and warm them so they are thawed out by the time we actually walk outside to leave. We have the ability to have hundreds of TV channels at our finger tips instantly. We can search practically anything and find a wealth of knowledge concerning that subject in a matter of seconds. We have frozen (fully prepared) dinners that we can microwave and within minutes are ready to be eaten. So the question is, how has this microwave mentality effected our view of prophesy.
It is very common that a prophet will give a prophesy and if it does not happen within the next day or 2 then he (the so called prophet) must have missed it. Some of us who are more "patient" in the Lord will give a gracing time span of a whole year. If by then it has not come to pass we declare the "so called prophet" a false prophet. We pass their name around and declare from the stage saying "don't trust this guy because he obviously does not hear from the Lord and must be a false prophet."
...or is he?...
I ask you at this time to consider Isaiah. He gave many prophesies. One of these prophesies was about the virgin birth of Jesus. The fulfillment of this prophesy did not occur until nearly 700 years later. Like Isaiah many true prophets of God see way into the future and see things that may not even be able to be comprehended by others at the time they are seen. By today's microwave standard Isaiah would have been labeled a false prophet.
Understand that I am not trying to in some way say that there are not false prophets. The truth is that there are a bunch of false prophets. In fact the majority of people claiming to be "prophets"are false prophets or simply don't understand who and what a prophet is. What I am hinting at here is that we should not judge the legitimacy of someone who declares a prophesy based simply on if it comes true in a short span of time. What we should be judging the word, that was delivered, on is the word of God. 1 John 4:1 says this. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
So if the prophetic word delivered lines up with Gods word but has not come to pass yet then hold onto it and remain open to it until the Lord brings it to pass. Don't reject it and void your ability to receive it because it did not come to pass that moment. Again remember how long it took for the prophesy of Jesus birth to come to pass. Also keep in mind that the word may come to pass but not in the way that you had conjured it up in your mind.
A small but sad bunny rabbit trail here. Out of curiosity of the results I Googled "how to test the validity of a prophesy?" And the top 10 hits did not even remotely mention that we should test the spirit of the word given with the word of God. In fact surprisingly many gave scriptural references to judging the prophet (individual giving the word). The entire reason for this is to make sure that wolves in sheep clothing are not speaking to the flock. That being said, it is God who reserves the right to judge and condemn or lift up individuals in the five fold ministry. If you find the prophesy to not line up with the word you reject the word. If the words given continue to be contrary to the word of God then stop listening. Stop asking the individual for personal words. Stop inviting them to prophesy to your congregation. Stop giving them a voice in your life. Also remember though that it is not your place to bring a verdict of condemnation to that person publicly. As scripture says first go to them in private. If they won't listen take a brother. If they still will not listen take them to the leadership of the body then if still no result remove them for the safety of the flock. What it does not say is stand on the stage and declare to the tv camera your opinion of the proclaimed prophet. This is out of order and it may just be that you are passing judgement based on your microwave mentality.
I encourage each of you to judge prophesy based on Gods way which is to judge the spirit of the word given. I also encourage you, that if the prophesy lines up with scripture, to give God time to bring it to pass. This will help you receive things God is speaking to you and reject that which is false.
