The heart of prophetic training (R. Loren Sanford)

Have been reading R. Loren Sandford's book "Understanding Prophetic People", and just had to journal this passage down, because it is hardhitting, but oh so true. In 1 Samuel 19, it is said that Saul was hunting David down to kill him, and on his way, he met a company of prophets, and also prophesised. This is a sobering passage, a stark reminder that because God's gifts and calling are irrevocable, we can be rotten to the core, and yet, still retain the gifts. Are we walking right with God? The plumbline is not whether we are flowing in the gifts; the plumbline is the fruit/ the character of our lives. This line by Sandford is convicting - "Good water pumped through a dirty pipe exits the water tap coloured by the condition of the pipe".

Here is an extract from his book:

The heart of prophetic training has little to do with learning about dreams, visions and methods of hearing God. Rather, it has everything to do with character development, brokenness and humility. Intimacy with God is the goal. The sin nature and its practices constitute obstacles to achieving that goal. Without the crushing and breaking of the sinful practices and structures of the flesh brought about by the wilderness and the dark night, otherwise good words can and do produce decidedly bad fruit. Good water pumped through a dirty pipe exits the water tap coloured by the condition of the pipe.

Character is everything. The prophet must be dead to self and alive to God... the essence of our training must be loss of control and surrender to the hand of God, even in suffering. So do you still want to be prophetic?

When all has been stripped away, what remains? What value is there in standing naked and broken before God? The answer is the inestimable value of knowing to the core of myself that I am a son, that I am loved and that He is my Father. This is my whole identity. Am I a prophet, a healer, a leader? Recognised or ignored? Well-known or labouring in obscurity? These things no longer matter. What remains is that I am His, secure in His arms. Nothing more. And should that not be enough?

A new leadership is soon to emerge. They labour in hiddenness under limitation, learning the sweet simplicity of nothing more than sons and daughters, but they must soon be revealed and released. In brokenness and humility, walking in the depth of His love, this new generation will be safe to wield the power of God because those elements of flesh that would have abused the flock or usurped the glory of God will have been crucified with Christ. This must be the goal, not building great ministries or expanding our influence.