Prophetic Words vs. Christian Fortunetelling

By Kathy DeGraw

Prophetic words are powerful, and true prophetic words should produce results.

People want to desperately hear from the Spirit of the Lord, but are we tapping into a spirit of deception when we are demanding a prophetic word? 

In the Word of God, it says, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). 

People are so desperate to hear from God they are willing to pay a fee for prophesy.  I’ve seen countless websites that say to send in a $25 or $50 love offering for a prophetic word. I’ve also seen churches saying to sign up for a prophetic word at this time with this person.

We are then crossing the borders of fortunetelling and expecting a prophet or a prophetic person operating in the gifts of the Spirit to be able to give us a prophetic word.

Most people operating in the gifts of the Spirit, and specifically the gift of prophecy, cannot turn their prophetic on at a moment’s notice.

If prophets are soliciting money for a prophetic word, how can the purity and integrity of the ministry and word be trusted? You don’t know what they just did an hour before they recorded your word and sent it back to you.

Honestly, you don’t know if they have one general word that they send out to all their “paying” clients.  We are being so trusting of people we don’t know and who label themselves as a prophet.

False Prophets in the End Times

The Word of God clearly says in the end times that false prophets will arise.  Are we keeping that at the forefront of our minds when we’re soliciting a word from a person?

 Are we inviting a familiar spirit to speak through a prophet when we give money for a prophetic word? Are we opening the doors to the demonic by paying for a word? 

The Bible instructs us to be honorable to a prophet. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward” (Matt. 10:41).

We should give love offerings and financial support to a prophet. God loves a cheerful giver. “Let every man give according to the purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

However, it also says, not grudgingly or out of necessity. We should desire to give to a prophet because they have blessed us. Usually, this means giving to a prophet after a time of ministry, during a love offering, or in the weeks following ministry or for a special need.

However, we should not be giving a love offering in advance for a prophetic word. There is no difference between paying for a fortuneteller versus paying for a prophetic word. We shouldn’t have assigned times and amounts to give to receive a word.

I remember one time I was invited to another country to minister. The conference host had set times the ministers were to sit at tables, and people from the conference could form a line at their table and get a word.

Being a minister, I was assigned to be at one of these tables. I didn’t show up for the prophetic time. I would not participate, and I heard my table had a line of people waiting and asking for me. However, that type of prophetic ministry does not come from the unction of the Holy Spirit and is not keeping the prophetic pure.

When we receive a prophetic word that is not accurate or not according to the will of God we need to clean it up afterwards in the spiritual realm. What does that mean?

Test the Spirits   

We need to break the assignment and break the hold of those words. When words are spoken, they are a prophetic assignment whether positive or negative, therefore, once they are released into the atmosphere, once they are spoken out, they are on assignment. 

Whether good or bad they are on assignment. Do you want words carried out that are in contradiction to your prophetic destiny? Wrong or false words released can delay and detour your God-given assignment.

We need to test the spirits, and what Christians don’t know is that paying for prophecy or even demanding a prophet to prophesy for free can invite a familiar spirit in to operate.

We can tap into a false spirit just as they did in the Bible. We don’t know the struggles prophets are experiencing, how much they are praying before sending or giving you that paid word or what else is going on in their life to distort their discernment.

Most importantly, it is not pure and right to sell a prophetic word and mask it as “give us a love offering, and we’ll send you a word.”

If we want to release the prophetic, we must clean up the prophetic. If we want to be prophetic, we need to honor the prophetic. Where do you need to change your thinking today to be part of the generation who wants to come forth and bring forth pure prophetic?

When people come up and ask me for a word, I tell them, “You can get all the words you want, just open your Bible and read it. It is full of words for you.” We wonder why churches don’t embrace the prophetic and street evangelism is so difficult. There is so much false and wishy-washy prophetic content out there, and Christians not using it purely because people are hesitant and have shut off being open to the prophetic.

Hearing the Holy Spirit

One of the most common complaints I hear in a person’s spiritual walk is that they don’t hear from God. They do hear from God; they just don’t recognize how easily they hear His voice. People often perceive the voice of the Lord as their own thoughts when it really is the Spirit of the Lord speaking to them (see my book Who is Speaking).

Since we don’t recognize the voice of the Lord, we go looking for a word from a person. We are so desperate to hear from the Lord and get revelation and information for our life that we often seek out a prophet through a conference, internet or whatever means we can to connect with them.

I can’t even begin to count the number of phone calls, contact forms and emails I receive that demand a prophetic word. It isn’t a casual conversation or at an event where the Spirit of the Lord is present. It’s people so desperate to hear from God that they put a demand on the prophet to perform and give them a word no matter where they are or what they are doing.

The Bible gives us a prime example of instructions for prophecy. “For no prophecy at any time was produced by the will of man, but holy men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:21).

Prophets should only release the prophetic as moved or unctioned by the Holy Spirit. Prophecy that comes forth by the will of man can contain fleshly elements and false information.

Have you ever stopped to consider when you put a demand on the prophet you might receive an inaccurate word? Prophets are still people and have emotional issues, spiritual strongholds and physical weaknesses.

We truly don’t know their spiritual life and walk of a person unless we are living inside their soul experiencing what they do, and we know that is impossible.

We must use caution as we are in the end times and deception arises.  We must also be carefully discerning as the person prophesies to determine if the Spirit of God is flowing through them or if they are speaking out of their soul or flesh. 

Listen attentively. We want a consistent flow of the Spirit coming out of their mouth like a river knowing that they are receiving downloads from the Holy Spirit as they are speaking out and simply releasing what they are hearing.

The belief of putting a demand on the anointing can be dangerous. I believe that is why many people fall away from the Lord, and many pastors don’t embrace the prophetic.

We put a demand on the anointing, we demand prophets to prophesy.  When the prophet isn’t in the anointing at that moment, we unknowingly receive a false prophetic word and then wonder why our prophetic words aren’t manifesting.

The truth is we all have struggles, off days and days when we struggle spiritually. Often we put a prophet on a pedestal and think they are above all the petty things we experience and should be spot-on accurate at a moment’s notice, no matter what they are facing in their own lives.

Our first and foremost responsibility in receiving revelation and information is to go to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to give us direction and application for our lives. The Father, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit should be our first source. After we have read our Bibles, worshipped, prayed and still feel stuck, that is when we can consider seeking out wise counsel and prophetic direction. Notice I said, “prophetic direction,” not a prophetic word.

I ran from my prophetic calling for years. I had seen the prophetic used too many times as a sort of Christian fortunetelling.

A prophet comes into town, and people will flock to an event to get a word. If we want the prophet to be pure in what they release, we need to be pure in what we are seeking. The prophetic must be cleaned up and brought to a place of purity and balance.

The beautiful thing about Jesus dying on the cross is He left us a Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and we can be in communication with Him anytime we want. Trust Him! He wants to speak to you, and He will speak to you when you quiet yourself and get in His presence.

Kathy DeGraw is a prophetic deliverance minister releasing the love and power of God, to ignite and activate people, release prophetic destinies and deliver people from the bondage of the enemy.  She is the founder of Kathy DeGraw Ministries and Be Love Outreach.  She is the author of several books including; Speak Out, Discerning and Destroying the Works of Satan, Identity Invasion, Who is Speaking? and Warfare Declarations. You can connect with Kathy on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/kathydegraw or visit https://kathydegrawministries.org.