Proverbs 23:2
'It is God's priviledge to conceal things,
And the king's priviledge to uncover them'.

Never get frustrated by the pace at which the Lord reveals an interpretation to you. Think of it as a game of hide and seek with the Lord! He wants to take you on a journey, and He'll reveal not only the interpretation but also more of Himself to you along the way.

A TEST

Sometimes the Lord chooses to test us through an interpretation. Are you willing to seek Him patiently and have faith that He will reveal things to you in His timing? A key verse to stand on when seeking an interpretation from the Lord is Genesis 40:8

'Do not interpretations belong to God?'.

Joseph moved powerfully in the prophetic, especially in the area of interpretating dreams. Why? Because he knew where to go to for an interpretation; straight to the Lord.

SHARE THE REVELATION WITH OTHER PROPHETIC PEOPLE.

Although our starting point is to seek the Lord directly for an interpretation, it's also a good idea to share the revelation with other prophetic people.

1 Corinthians 13:9
'We all prophesy in part'.

You may have received the revelation in the form of a dream or vision, but someone else may have the interpretation. The Lord often uses these situations to build unity and teamwork amongst us. This is one of the advantages of a prophetic group. Often as we pray and seek the Lord over a dream or vision, a number of people will get an interpretation for different parts of the vision, as the Lord highlights them to us. Sometimes prophecy can look like a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle - just one giant mass of different coloured pieces. As we all bring our piece of revelation to the table, a picture begins to form, and we get to see more clearly what the Lord is trying to do.

In Daniel 2:18-19 we see that the first response of the prophet Daniel was to ask his friends to seek the Lord and pray for an interpretation. He was working in a team.

Sharing revelation with other prophetic people also helps us to hone and weigh the word. In 1 Corinthians 14:32 we learn that

'The prophets are subject to the prophets'

This means that as a team we can use the gift of discernment that the Lord has given us to weigh one anothers words, and help in the sharpening of the word, adding extra revelation and interpretation as the Lord speaks.

BE OPEN FOR THE LORD TO GIVE YOU ANSWERS ANY TIME AND IN ANY WAY HE CHOOSES.

Because the Lord often wants to build a relationship with us through the process of seeking an interpretation from Him, be willing and be looking for the Lord to speak at any time and in any way that He chooses. I always try to keep any vision in the back of my mind through the day. This way it is always on my mind, and this helps me stay attentive to the Lord when He wants to speak to me concerning it.

THE FOUNDATION

Some years ago I had a real heart to see the apostolic and prophetic ministries be raised up. However, I had many questions concerning this. For one thing, if the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20) then what will happen to the other ministries in the church when they arise? Does the house (the church) have to be torn down to make way for the new foundation?

As I pondered and prayed about these things, Cheryl and I were in the process of looking for a new house. We found a house that looked perfect; the place was everything that we wanted! However, when we looked in the basement we discovered that the foundation was cracked, and was bulging out in some places. Nobody wanted to buy the house because the foundations looked really bad. I had a friend who was a carpenter, so I thought I'd give him a call and get him to give me his opinion on the house. He looked at the foundations and said they were 'shot'. So I asked him if it was fixable. He said we could 'raise up the whole house, and then put in a whole new foundation underneath it'. He also said that we could 'make the foundation higher than the old one so that the house would be higher', and that 'a new foundation would last forever'. I knew that the Lord was speaking to me through this; when the apostles and prophets arise, the church won't be destroyed to accomodate them. Infact, the other ministries will be raised up to accomodate the apostles and prophets and when they are in place the other ministries will be held up in a higher place because of the new foundation 'that will last forever'!

BRINGING ORDER TO THE REVELATION

I always write down the interpretation that I get in note form to start with. It doesn't have to be polished yet. We want to have some flexibility to add in more revelation if the Lord gives us something new. The revelation I write down in detail, the interpretation I write down in note form.

THE FUDGE BOX

When I was at high school, I had the chance to learn from a newspaper journalist as a part of my English Language course. I learned that every editor has a 'fudge box'. That is, a small wooden box on his table where people could drop in small stories in note form; just a few sentences. If there is extra room to spare in the paper, the editor can go to the fudge box and find a story to add to the days newspaper. I like to think of the notes that I make on an interpretation like a fudge box. I'm just jotting down the basics as the Lord reveals it me, and when the time comes I have the flexibility to add more and make it more polished later.

THE HEART AND THE MIND

Revelation comes into our spirits (our hearts) and it often comes in no particular kind of order. We get a piece here and a piece there. As we start to note things down, our mind comes into play and we start to get some order into the word. Our minds are great; they're wonderful at finding order in the chaotic mass of revelation.

WRITE IT DOWN

When I first started moving in the gift of prophecy, my pastor at that time had me write down every single prophecy that I received. It took time, and it took discipline, but it really helped me hone the gift, and give sharper words that had more depth.

Prophets in scripture were often asked by the Lord to write down their prophecies. Jeremiah wrote down his prophecy and sent it to the king in Jeremiah 36:2. The king burned the prophecy so he had to write it out again in Jeremiah 36:27! John was told to write out the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 2:1 he was told to 'write this letter', and again in Revelation 2:8, and 2:12, and 2:18 and 3:1 and 3:7 and 3:14.....

When you write or type a prophecy out, look for typos and other errors. Sometimes the Lord uses these to add to the word. Once I had a word that I was typing out for someone and I kept on mis-typing the word 'love'. I kept typing the word 'live' instead. The Lord spoke to me; the word wasn't just about love but about 'life' and how the Lord had a new 'life' for this man. This typo totally changed the word, and turned it on it's head.

Always look for key points or key words in prophecy. Always be asking 'What does the Lord really want to say here?' and 'If I boiled this down to one or two sentences what would they be?'. Answering these questions and thinking in this way will help us stay focused on what the Lord is really wanting to speak into.

Journalists organize a story in a specific way. They always put the most important paragraph first, and they then add more paragraphs of decreasing importance. Why do they do this? Because at any minute a new story could break, and the editor may have to cut a number of paragraphs from the earlier story. Constructing prophecies in a similar way can be very effective in getting the heart of the word to church leadership who are time-strapped and very busy.

ADDING SCRIPTURE

Do any scriptures come to mind as you pray into the revelation and seek the Lord more? As you have your quiet time, or as you listen to others share, be open for the Lord to highlight some verses that fit in perfectly with the prophecy that you have been seeking Him for.

DO THE MARY POPPINS THING!

Do you have a tough word to share? Has the Lord shown you a weakness in the church or in an individual? God shows us an area of weakness because He wants to turn things around and make that area a strength! This is not a time for bashing the church, or church leadership. Don't give Jeremiah 23:29 style words!

Those who are parents know that the best way to stengthen and raise up our children in a certain area isn't by pointing out their weakness in it. The best way is to praise and encourage the child when he or she starts to grow in that particular area. All of a sudden our children start to gain confidence and begin to rise up to a new level. In this way the weakness starts to become a strength in their lives. This works so effectively, and it's the reason why prophecy seeks to 'edify, comfort, and encourage' (1 Corinthians 14:3). Always bear in mind that you are speaking to the Lord's children. If you tried to discipline someone elses children the parents would be very angry, and the Lord is the same way. So let's be very careful in how we handle any weakness that He shows us in His family.

So when it comes to giving words about weakness or correction we really do need to do the Mary Poppins thing and remember that 'A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!'.

PREPARED OR SPONTANEOUS?

There are times to be spontaneous in the prophetic. But there are also times to be prepared and put in some added prayer and thought time over a word to polish it up and sharpen it so that when it is finally given it will have a greater impact.

In Bibical times the prophets often had to walk long distances from town to town to deliver the prophetic words that the Lord had given them. Could it be that they put in some preparation time along the way? Could they have rehearsed and thought about how they could best present the word of the Lord?

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