However, a lot more is required of a prophet than just an ability to prophesy, because if such were the case we would all be prophets. I have discovered through years of personal study in the Scriptures that personal prophecy is one of the lowest forms of prophetic ministry, even though it may be the most common, because it is an elementary spiritual principle that can be practiced by all (believers).

The prophet’s ministry, from a full biblical perspective, involved much more than just giving personal prophecies to individuals. The vast majority of the time their ministry was directed toward correcting the error, complacency and backsliding from a national and/or religious perspective. Words given to leaders, kings and other individuals were given with a corporate view in mind. In this sense prophets really acted as heavenly ambassadors, with a much greater assignment than what is generally perceived.

The ministry of the prophet, unlike prophecy, requires maturity and accuracy, because the prophet was charged with accurately representing God to the people. Their lifestyle had to match their words. They had to first know and then be able to teach the laws and requirements of God to the people (Deut.4:5; 31:22). They had to be able to interpret the law (2 Chron. 34:20-28). They had to have wisdom in judgment as they judged people and nations (Ex. 2:14; 18:13; Num.11; Judges 4:4; 1 Sam. 7:15-17, 1 Cor. 14:29). They were godly leaders and spiritual fathers (e.g. Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha). They were worshippers, musicians and psalmists (Ex. 15:1, 20-21; Deut. 31:22, 30; 32:44; 1 Sam. 10:5; 1 Chron. 25:1-5; Psalms).

As you can see, there was a whole lot more to their ministry than just prophesying, even more than is mentioned above!

The maturity that is demanded of a prophet is made explicitly clear by Paul in his message to the Ephesian community of believers:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

(Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)

It stands to reason that if a leader is called to bring a people into what the scriptures describe as mature manhood, that leader must first be mature himself. It is impossible for an immature prophet to bring any person into maturity. Therefore maturity is an unequivocal requirement of every New Testament prophet or ascension gift (five-fold) ministry.

You will notice also from the above text that the prophet’s clearly defined ministry and assignment is not to prophesy, but to build accurate architecture into the lives of God’s people until they are a mature and accurate representation or, if you may, reproduction, of Jesus Christ in the earth. Of course prophecy may be employed in this regard, but there is nothing in this text that even remotely suggests that a prophet’s primary mission is to run around giving people personal prophecies, not that there is anything necessarily wrong with giving personal prophecies.

A failure to understand this principle has caused many to errantly label every good prophesier a prophet or make prophecy the defining factor for prophetic ministry when it is in fact an elementary principle. It may be the most common denominator, but it is not what defines a prophet. In other words, every prophet can and will prophesy, but not everyone who prophesies is a prophet.

The ability to prophesy and being a prophet may appear to be synonymous in Scripture, but a careful examination will reveal that they are not. Error creeps in when we fail to discern the difference.

When Scripture identifies Philip the evangelist as having four virgin daughters who prophesied, it was careful not to identify any of them as being prophets (Acts 21:8-9). It simply states that they prophesied. However, many Christian egalitarians would lead you to believe, because of their own socio-political/ecclesiastical agendas, that these were four female ascension gift prophets, but this is clearly not what the text is saying. The text states that they prophesied, an elementary spiritual principle that can be practiced by any saint. To equate prophesying with that of being a prophet in this instance would make every prophesier a prophet, and that is simply not so.

Take, for example, the disciple named Ananias. He received details from God in a vision providing him with both the name and physical address of Saul’s present location. Not only that, but God also showed him exactly what Paul was doing at the time – praying! Then when he obeys God and finds Saul exactly where God told him that he would, he gives him more words of knowledge regarding Saul’s experience on the Damascus road, lays hands on him and heals him of his blindness. I know very few prophets who operate in such detail. This guy got names (both Saul’s as well as the name of the person he was staying with), address and everything but Saul’s blood type and birth date. He knew what Saul was doing, what Saul had recently experienced, and what was afflicting Saul’s body, yet this guy is described in Scripture as nothing but a disciple! He was not a prophet or seer (Acts 9:10-18)!

Think about that for a moment. Think about the level of accuracy that this guy displayed in his ministry to Saul; more detailed than anything that John the Baptist demonstrated, and he (John) was described by God as being the greatest prophet born of a woman (Luke 7:28).

How could this guy prophesy or minister in such a way and not be a prophet? Because prophecy is an elementary principle that can be practiced by any saint. It is the same Holy Spirit that is prophesying through them as is prophesying through the prophet. And being more detailed or accurate in one’s prophesying doesn’t necessarily make one a prophet either, as Ananias clearly confirms.

Agabus was one of the few people identified in the New Testament as being a prophet. He prophesied to Paul warning him of the impending persecution that awaited him when he returned to Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-11).

The interesting thing about this story is that the message given by Agabus had already been given several times before by what would appear to be regular saints who had been prophesying the very same thing in every city that Paul went to (Acts 20:22-23). Agabus’ prophecy regarding Paul’s persecution didn’t carry any greater detail than what had already been communicated by regular saints, even though he was an ascension gift prophet. These saints were able to prophesy the same as Agabus, but they were not prophets.

It is, therefore, incorrect to assume that every able prophesier is a prophet. The prophesier may prophesy just as well or even better than a prophet, but that still doesn’t make them a prophet. Prophesying is available to all, but the ministry and calling of a prophet is reserved for a select and chosen few. Prophecy is an elementary principle, but being a prophet requires years of maturity.