Office of the Prophet: A Comprehensive Study

By Janice E. Wagner

This study came about from a teaching on the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit the author prepared for the altar workers at The People’s Church of Santa Fe in New Mexico.  That teaching has been incorporated into this study.  During the discussion on the manifestation gift of prophecy, it was stated that operating through the gift of prophecy does not make someone a prophet. The question arose, “what is the difference between the gift of prophecy and the office of the prophet?”  That was when this study was born.  This book includes scriptural teaching on the office of the prophet which is one of the five-fold ministry gifts or offices.  The book teaches how one knows he has been called to be a prophet.  It discusses the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit as tools used by  prophets to accomplish what the Lord has assigned them to say and do.  There are also examples of how the Holy Spirit has operated in the life of the author over her 40 plus years of serving the Lord as a prophet of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973685753

Janice E. Wagner

The author is an ordinary person who loves the Lord with all her heart.  She heard the Lord speak to her in June of 1979 telling her that He was calling her to be his mouthpiece to the body of Christ.  She  responded by suggesting  God made a mistake.  She humbly accepted His call but left the door open for him to withdraw his call when he realized his mistake.  God never lifted his call from her.  In fact, as she has learned to trust him more and more over the years, his anointing has become stronger, and he has developed boldness within her to speak for him in powerful ways.  Hers has been a 40 plus years journey of ministering under his anointing and his call.

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Copyright © 2020 Janice E. Wagner.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8588-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8576-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8575-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020902639

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/27/2020

What is a Prophet of God?

How does Someone Know he is a Prophet?

How Does the Holy Spirit Operate

in the Life of a Prophet?

What are the Responsibilities of a Prophet?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a book can be very time consuming and many family members are deprived during the process. I have to thank my husband, Charlie Wagner, for his tolerance and support as I have day after day spent many hours typing and editing this document. I also want to thank him for his assistance in wordsmithing this document. My sister-in-law Nancy Witkowski did the first review and her comments and observations were invaluable. Thanks for all you did. A huge thank you goes to Pastor Bob Baca for suggesting that I prepare this study. He along with his wife Pastor Esther Baca encouraged me through this long journey to publication. The book would not have happened without their encouragement. The biggest thank you goes to the Holy Spirit who I believe breathed this book into being. I was just the vessel he chose to put it on paper.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I consider myself to be a relatively normal human being. I graduated from Elizabeth Forward High School in 1972 and attended Bradford (Business) School graduating with a diploma in Legal Secretarial Studies in 1974.

I received the Lord Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior at the age of 12. Throughout my life I have suffered through many trials. Some of those trials have included multiple health challenges. I have been at death’s door several times only to be spared by the power of the Lord. I have received healing upon healing in my life (physical, emotional, and spiritual) and the Lord has poured out many miracles as well.

Twice in my life my family has had to sell everything we owned and start over in a new state that we had never even visited before. I was born in Pennsylvania and moved to various locations in that state until God sent our family to Georgia to start a new life. After living in Georgia for 15 years, the Lord moved our family to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Each of these moves had its own challenges.

As a Christian, I have learned not to ask the Lord why; rather, my question to him when trials come into my life is, Lord how can my experiencing this trial bring honor to your name? Of course that question usually comes after a lot of whining, crying and complaining.

I am an ordinary person who loves the Lord with all my heart. I have to be honest with you I have made many mistakes in life. I have sinned in many ways that I do not wish to disclose because doing so would give the devil glory. He deserves no glory for who I am today; I give all glory to the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit for who I am and all that the Lord has done in and through me. Because of the sin in my life I spent many years bound by guilt and shame. It was through my sin and failures that I learned our Lord isn’t hiding behind every tree holding a two by four waiting to smack me in the head. He did not come to this earth to condemn me. He forgives as soon as I repent.

In 1979 just before I had my first son, the Lord spoke to me after a seriously long time of repentance and told me that he was calling me to be his mouthpiece to the body of Christ. I was humbled that the Lord would call me to be his mouthpiece after all the ways I had failed him. I told him I thought he was making a big mistake, and when he figured that out he could take his calling back. Well, he has never taken his calling back nor has he lifted his anointing from me. In fact, as I have learned to trust him more and more over the years, his anointing has become stronger and he has developed boldness within me to speak for him in powerful ways. It has been a 40 plus years journey of ministering under his anointing and his call.

When I look back over my life of service to the Lord, I am amazed by the ways the Lord has used me and the words he has given to the body of Christ through me. I recognize that it is truly the Lord speaking through me because there is nothing good in me but him. The things I speak come directly from the Lord himself. He gets the honor and glory for anything that is accomplished.

If the Lord can use someone like me to minister for him, I know he can talk through any one of his children once they have been infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. The challenge is to take the time to listen for the Lord’s voice and simply repeat to the body of Christ what you hear.

If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and he has anointed and commissioned you to minister in the office of a prophet of God, fasten your seat belt. It’s going to be an interesting journey.

If you have questions or comments on this book or would like to get in touch with me, I can be reached by emailing [e-mail].

PREFACE

Before you get into this study it might be beneficial to tell you a few things about my writing style. I was educated in the 1960’s where if a person was referring to both male and female the pronoun used would be the male form and it was inclusive of the female. In many ways I would like to go back to that time. I am not one who worries about being politically correct. If you get offended by such things, this may be a problem as you get into this study.

Unless otherwise noted in the study my scripture references come from the New International Version of the Bible. I admit that there are some differences between the New International and the King James Version of the Bible. In some cases, I believe that the King James Version has the best interpretation. There are many other translations of the Bible available today. Choose the one that best ministers to your needs. For me personally, the New International Version is the one I best relate to when reading and studying for myself.

This study came about from a teaching on the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit that was prepared for the altar workers at The People’s Church of Santa Fe located in New Mexico. As I was discussing the gift of prophecy, I stated that anyone who knows Jesus as their Savior and has the infilling of the Holy Spirit can prophesy if they know what the Lord wants to say to his people. I also stated that simply operating through the manifestation gift of prophecy did not make a person a prophet. I discussed the fact that the manifestation gift of prophecy is not for prediction. The scripture texts will be included in the study itself, but basic prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort. I also stated that when prophets prophesy their words often contain revelation. At this point several people in the class asked what the difference was between the gift of prophecy and the office of the prophet. That was when this study was born.

There are many aspects of the office of the prophet. This study will answer many questions about the office of the prophet: What is a Prophet? How does someone know he is a prophet? How does the Holy Spirit operate in the life of a prophet? What are the responsibilities of a prophet of God?

The Lord used different prophets for many different purposes. There were very powerful prophets, and there were prophets who seemed to have less powerful roles as prophets. Some performed powerful miracles, and others have no recorded miracles having been done at their hands.

This study discusses how a believer knows he is a prophet, and how the Lord used various prophets in the Old and New Testaments. The study discusses the differences between the prophets of the Old and New Testaments. It discusses the reason why God sends prophets, and how he has operated through them in the past and in current times.

Studying the Bible is something that everyone should do for themselves. There is also a place for personal testimonies of how the Holy Spirit has operated over the years. Since I am the person doing this study, it seemed appropriate to relate some of the ways the Lord has operated through me as I have served in the office of the prophet over the years. Each believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has a story to tell. Some of those stories are more interesting than others. I felt that including some of the more interesting personal experiences from my life would give the Lord glory. The way the Holy Spirit has operated through me is a perfect example of how the Lord placed his anointing on a very ordinary and imperfect person to accomplish his purposes on the earth. It is my hope that the personal experiences I have related in this study will help you understand that if God can work through someone like me, he can work through anyone who is humble in heart and willing to respond to the Holy Spirit when he speaks. All you have to do is be willing to die to self and let him take over.

I want to thank God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God for breathing into me this study and allowing me to put it to paper. I recognize that the things I do myself don’t have life in them; it is only when the Holy Spirit anoints a work that life can be contained therein.

As I look at the completed document, I am amazed at the journey that the Lord has brought me through. I do not have a college degree; my highest level of schooling is business school. To tell you that I feel inadequate to have put this study together would be a vast understatement. It is a work that the Lord has done through me, and I pray each person going through this study will personally be taught by the Holy Spirit who is the greatest teacher in the world.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1     Introduction

Chapter 2     Prophet - God’s Definition

Chapter 3     Who does the Lord speak through?

Chapter 4     Prerequisites to Serving as a Prophet of God

Chapter 5     The Manifestation Gifts – Tools for the Prophet

Chapter 6     Utterance Gifts

Chapter 7     Revelation Gifts

Chapter 8     Power Gifts

Chapter 9     Prophets Outside of the Pentecostal Community

Chapter 10   Prophets and the Working of Miracles

Chapter 11   Characteristics of a Prophet

Chapter 12   Suffering

Chapter 13   Distinguishing Between True and False Prophets

Chapter 14   The Call to the Office of Prophet

Chapter 15   Prayer can Change the Mind of God

Chapter 16   Prophets have Varying Levels of Spiritual Power

Chapter 17   Prophet as the Voice of God

Chapter 18   Prophets – Old Testament Verses New Testament

Chapter 19   God’s Prophets can Speak Their Mind to the Lord

Chapter 20   Experienced Prophets Mentor Newer Prophets

Chapter 21   Closing

Answer Guide

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Most churches in this day and age are ignorant of what the office of the prophet is and how those anointed to serve in this office operate in the church and in the world at large. There must be someone teaching on this subject, but I have not encountered anyone. It is imperative for the people of God be able to recognize these individuals because the office of the prophet was established by God himself, and he anoints and appoints prophets to be his voice to the body of Christ and to the nations.

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) Notice the Lord in this scripture refers to his prophets as servants. Prophets are servants of the Lord in word and deed.

When the Lord gives revelation through his prophets, God will validate what the prophet speaks. Throughout scripture you will find phrases that include: Fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken through his prophet. (I Kings 2:27); According to the word of the Lord (II Kings 1:17); and But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets. (Acts 3:18) These scriptures indicate the Lord will bring to pass messages spoken by his prophets.

Jesus said, Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. (Matthew 10:41)

Scripture makes it quite apparent that the Lord values His prophets.

I want to thank Pastor Bob Baca for asking me to put this teaching together. I have never sat through a teaching on the office of the prophet. What I know has come from the Holy Spirit as he has taught me how to operate in this office over the years.

In studying and compiling this teaching, the Holy Spirit reaffirmed his call upon me to minister in the office of the prophet. I do not say this lightly or to make anyone feel that I am more favored by God than others. It is a humbling and awesome responsibility that requires great diligence to be sure I am hearing the Lord and following what he is directing me to do and say.

Through studying the office of the prophet, I discovered that many of the things I have done over the years and the ways the Lord has had me minister are all part of the office of the prophet. I was doing what the Lord told me to do, and I was ministering in the way the Lord called me to minister, but I was unfamiliar with the characteristics that set me apart to minister in this office. I learned a great deal through preparing this teaching, and I pray that each person studying it will learn as well. Of course, the Holy Spirit is the perfect teacher, and I invite him to open your minds and hearts to hear his voice