Prophetic

Activation Internship
Lesson One:
Introduction: The Simplicity of the Prophetic
THE BIRTH OF A PROPHETIC MINISTRY:

I was standing at a lectern relating to a group of people an experience of hearing
Gods voice. Abruptly from the crowd I was rudely interrupted:

"That's the problem I have with men like you... You are always claiming God
told me! God never talks to me like that, I just don't accept it. God can't be
telling you everything..."

I stared back at the man silently, unsure what to do next. It was 1988 and I was
speaking to a group of about 70 pastors and their wives at a monthly minister's
luncheon. The host was a good friend of mine who had been hosting this group for
many years. The crowd seated before me represented denominational pastors as
well as independent ministers all who subscribed in their doctrine to charismatic
truth and the Holy Spirit led life.

The pastor who had interrupted me held the pulpit of a large, successful full gospel
church in this moderate sized city in the Deep South. His rudeness and vociferous
objection to my off-handed remark met with murmurs of approval across the room.
What had I said to provoke such a visceral outburst?

To illustrate my message to my fellow pastors that day I had referred to something
the Father had said to me prefacing my remark with, "The Father told me the other
day..."

After loudly interrupting me with his words of ridicule, my well dressed
provocateur leaned back in his seat with a self satisfied look on his face,
acknowledging the tacit approval of many in the room, who all seemed to agree that
"God just didn't talk to people like that anymore..."

Usually I'm not very fast on my feet with a "quick come-back". Under normal
circumstances I would have mumbled an apology, finished my message and made a
hasty exit after the meeting. Today was different. I felt the fire of the Holy Spirit flash
from my feet to my chest and I shot back in a strong clear tone:

"You mean to tell me that you are NOT on speaking terms with your Father?"

The pastor hesitated, looking around. The smirk on his face slowly faded to
something more like embarrassed anger. I continued, addressing the group:

"Are we saying that the norm for Spirit-filled believers is to NOT hear the voice
of God, and anyone who DOES is considered an ODDITY?"

Needless to say I didn't get invited to speak to that well heeled group of pastors very
often after that. Driving home that afternoon to the small rural church I had
pastored for nearly a decade, I determined in my heart that the people pastored
would be trained in hearing the voice of God with clarity and activated in speaking
the Father's words to those who couldn't hear for themselves.

GOD HAS A VOICE, HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU WITHOUT ANSWERS FOR
YOUR LIFE:

The simplicity of the prophetic is found in this definition: hearing God's voice and
articulating what you hear to others. Not everyone is a prophet, or called to the
five-fold ministry of a prophet (Eph. 4:11), but prophetic gifting is available to all
believers in some measure great or small because every believer is intended by God
to know His voice and communicate His voice to others.

God is speaking, whether you hear Him or not. During this course we will train you
to hear the Father in very practical ways, and we will challenge you to share what
you hear for the benefit of others. Each lesson or chapter will have an activation
which will require action on your part.

Bear in mind that the Kingdom of God doesn't come with observation (Luke
17:20,21). The Kingdom only comes in your life as a participatory act initiated by
you and endorsed by Spiritual results through the hand of God. If you only read the
lesson or watch the video this course will not be very helpful. You must act and do in
order to take full advantage of what the Father has for you in this internship course.

WHY SHOULD WE TEACH PEOPLE TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD?

Eph. 4:11 - 12 says that the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher are in
the body of Christ not just to HEAR GOD FOR YOU but to train you also how to hear
God for yourself, and to grow up into God and fulfill the work of your own personal
destiny and ministry. In other words, our job is to work ourselves out of a job by
training, instructing and mentoring others till they hear the Father's voice with
clarity and are activated and empowered to bring the kingdom of God to bear in
their lives and the lives of others.

DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER:

 (1 Corinthians 2:4 KJV) And my speech and my preaching [was] not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power:
Paul knew the futility of mere words. It isn't enough to merely talk ABOUT GOD.
When you are sharing Christ, what you are successful in talking someone INTO,
someone else will come along and be successful in talking them OUT OF. Paul knew
this and didn't bother trying to TALK people INTO accepting Christ. He simply
DEMONSTRATED Christ first hand in SPIRIT and in POWER. In so doing Pauls
audience was FORCED to make a decision having been confronted directly with the
SPIRIT of God and the POWER of GOD.

There are two ways to walk in demonstration:

1. You can demonstrate the SPIRIT (through the prophetic, prophecy, word of
knowledge, word of wisdom, tongues and interpretation.).

2. You can demonstrate the POWER (through healing, casting out devils, miracles,
raising the dead, etc.).

The demonstration of the SPIRIT actually is meant to BRING the demonstration of
power. Example: When John the Baptist came, the scriptures tell us, "John did no
miracle..." (See John 10:41). Yet, though he did no mighty acts, John nonetheless
ACTIVATED JESUS in His miracle ministry. This demonstrates to us that the
PROPHETIC activates the CHRIST IN YOU, which is the hope of Gods Glory in your
life (See Col. 1:25-27).

If you look in the scriptures you will see that Jesus didn't do any miracles until John
by the spirit of prophecy activated the CHRIST CALLING on the INSIDE OF HIM
according to the Father's plan.

This is the calling and commission of every prophet, and the ultimate and
underlying purpose of every prophetic gifting or utterance: TO SPEAK TO THE
CHRIST IN YOU ...

John knew he wasn't worthy to loose the sandal strap of the Christ that was in Jesus
(John 1:27). He was a prophet like none before him or since but he knew his place,
as you should know yours if you are going to accept the privilege of speaking the
Father's voice to His children.

Being a prophet or moving in the prophetic is about SPEAKING to the CHRIST in
every believer and ACTIVATING who Jesus DIED TO BE ON THE INSIDE OF THEM.
There is no place for an aloof, elitist attitude in the prophetic.

So be encouraged as you go through these lessons to absorb the teaching and do the
activations with gusto, for there is much reward and great enjoyment in being used
of God in this way.


ACTIVATING THE GIFTS OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE:

Each chapter of this book will present an aspect of the prophetic geared to challenge
your faith and build you up in the gifting that God has imparted uniquely to you.
With each lesson there will be an ACTIVATION ASSIGNMENT available in the
Facebook Forum designed for that purpose which you can find by searching for
Prophetic Internship Response Forum. You will find further instructions how to
proceed in that Facebook forum after you make request to opt in.

Your experience and the experiences of others in the internship will be shared for
our mutual learning and assistance for all. Bear in mind that this is a safe
environment where you can't make a mistake or do it wrong. Just relax, and allow
the Holy Spirit to lead you from where you are into greater fluency of all nine of the
gifts of the Spirit (See 1 Cor.12:1-20).

PLEASE NOTE: The baseline assumption for this course is that you have
accepted Christ as your savior, and have experienced the new birth. If
that is not the case, simply notify the course leader and we will assist
you in these matters.

THE ACTIVATION PROCESS:

To begin, a little orientation is in order for understanding the activation process,
since we will do activation assignments weekly. The activations each week will be
different and unique but the approach will remain much the same.

What exactly IS a prophetic activation?

Prophetic Activation is the means by which we identify the various ways in which
God speaks to us and through us and then we attempt to open ourselves to be used
in that particular manner. It is about challenging yourself and stretching yourself by
yielding to God through the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

REMEMBER: THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT ARE NOT MERIT BADGES:

The prophetic gifts or the other gifts of the Spirit for that matter are not MERIT
BADGES. They are charisms or grace-lets as the original language of the scriptures
tell us. That which comes by grace is not based on your maturity, holiness or merit.
You can't be good enough. You just have to make yourself available to be used by the
Holy Spirit.

Trust in Him, rely on Him and don't let yourself be condemned into thinking God
won't use you. After all, God spoke through a braying ass once, why wouldn't He use
the worst of us (See 2 Peter 2:16)?
Another way of saying this is that God gives us His ability as an unearned gift even
when you don't deserve it. It is not something you work for but is a free gift
activated by releasing your FAITH. In addition, you don't have to FEEL anything in
particular in order to be used in the Gifts of the Spirit (although you may experience
great spasms of emotion when you prophesy which is perfectly fine). The only
prerequisite is accepting the truth of the gifts of God and releasing your faith and
stepping out.

So again, you:

1. See the truth of the gifts of God.

2. Accept that the gifting is available without merit by grace.

3. Step out in faith and give what you best feel and sense God is giving you.

These three steps comprise the activation process we will take you through in each
assignment. Learning to move in the prophetic or any of the other gifts is not some
deep secret. It simply involves the same transaction of faith by which you came to
accept Jesus as your savior in the first place:

THE SIMPLICITY OF GAINING FLUENCY IN THE PROPHETIC GIFTS:

Here is an example of how it works in receiving the new birth experience:

1. At some point in your life you heard the message of the Gospel that Jesus died to
save you from yourself and bring you by the new birth into the family of God.

2. The Holy Spirit moved on your heart and mind and you became convinced that
what you were hearing was truth and from God himself.

3. You realized that God didn't expect you to be good enough to receive his gift of
salvation and you chose to accept His unmerited favor.

4. You went beyond just hearing and acted upon the truth you are now convinced of
and responded in some way by which you prayed to accept Christ as your savior and
became in fact born again.

You will learn in this course to move in the Gifts of the Spirit in just this same way.
The same way you accepted Christ is very similar to how you allow yourself to be
used by God in the gifts of the Spirit. This is true specifically when used in the
knowledge gifts utilizing the same principles by which you came to accept Christ in
the first place. This is because you GROW IN GOD, the same way you came to be
BORN INTO HIS KINGDOM IN THE FIRST PLACE.
This is the simple, child-like truth of operating in spiritual gifts. There are no trade
secrets" or "hidden revelations". God has a voice. He wants to be heard. He wants
you to share what you heard with His help to touch the lives of others for the
Kingdom.

THERE ARE THREE GIFTS THAT COMPLEMENT AND COMPRISE PROPHETIC

GIFTING:

Throughout this course you will be developing fluency in three of the nine gifts of
the Spirit:

1. Prophecy

2. Word of knowledge

3. Word of wisdom

These are the gifts that are primarily in use when someone prophesies. These
activations will also be helpful with the other seven gifts of the Spirit, activating the
gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, discerning of spirits, faith, healing and
miracles because they are all developed in like manner.

These gifts are different from each other but the process is essentially the same.
Once you become familiar with the activation process we will teach you, fluency in
all the gifts will come much easier.

The purpose of each activation is to stretch you and draw out your spiritual gifts in a
safe, loving environment. You can't make a mistake and no one is going to tell you
that you 'did it wrong'.

WHAT IS THE SCRIPTURAL BASIS FOR MOVING IN THE PROPHETIC AND

THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT?

Let's consider a few more scriptures:

(1 Corinthians 12:1 KJV) Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not
have you ignorant.

Over 100 years have passed since Pentecostal/Charismatic experience was restored
to God's people through the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. Yet there is still
much ignorance, superstition and resistance to the gifts of God. One lady I know
reports that in her country to identify your gifting in the prophetic is virtual
"Christian suicide".

So prepare yourself as you learn about the prophetic and gain activation in the
prophetic gifts, that not everyone will be as thrilled about it as you are. Determine in
your heart now that LOVE will be the rule by which you conduct yourself in every
transaction, even when you are rejected and rebuffed in your gifting.

(1 Corinthians 14:40 KJV) Let all things be done decently and in order.

Many leaders, teaching on the gifts of the Spirit do more to QUENCH the Spirit by
emphasizing the decently and in order above the let all things be done.

1 Cor. 1:31 tells us you may ALL prophesy, that all may learn and all may be
comforted. No matter how staid and traditional your worship service might be, if
the gifts of God are not in evidence then that is INDECENT and OUT OF ORDER!

Do you ever go to church and hear someone afterward say, I didn't get anything out
of that service... Well, if we maintained an environment of openness to the Spirit of
God and liberty for the people to be used of God then ALL WOULD LEARN AND ALL
WOULD BE COMFORTED according to the scriptures (if we actually believed this
stuff!).

In the early church experience we find liberty, order and maturity as all who were
moved upon by the Spirit of God were given place to exercise their gifting:

(1 Corinthians 14:26 KJV) How is it then, brethren? when ye come together,
every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a
revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.


Many leaders criticize these observations but until you get New Testament results
and see New Testament power in your community and church then you really arent
in a position to criticize New Testament methodology. These practices were given
for us to follow and emulate and if we fail to do so then we as leaders fall short of
our calling.

In the prophetic we want to encourage and nurture you to hear His voice and share
it with others. You will be amazed at the accuracy and timeliness of the most
innocuous things that you might think don't amount to much, but in fact completely
change the lives of your targeted hearers.

DEVELOPING THE GIFTS: CAN YOU LEARN HOW TO PROPHESY?:

(Hebrews 5:14 KJV) But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
[even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.


The gifts of the Spirit don't emerge in your life fully formed. They develop in you like
a language. Over time and practice you become fluent in the gifts of the Spirit. The
anointing increases as you hook up with those who have a greater experience and
mantle of anointing than you are walking in at the time.

As you exercise your gifting, you will learn how to flow and release yourself in the
Spirit of God. You will also learn how not to quench the Spirit or grieve Him by
succumbing to other influences. You learn by doing. The kingdom of God doesn't
come with observation, it comes through active participation.

EDIFICATION, EXHORTATION, AND COMFORT:

(1 Corinthians 12:7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to
profit withal.

(1 Corinthians 14:3) But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to]
edification, and exhortation, and comfort.


Much harm has come to the prophetic movement through immature and
misinformed leaders who speak curses, pronounce judgments and speak rebuke and
reproof in the context of "thus saith the Lord..."

Most teachers in the prophetic today will claim that the average layman who
prophesies has no right to do anything but "edify, exhort, and comfort". However
they go on to assert and claim that the man or woman "in the office" of a prophet
allegedly has authority to condemn, judge, rebuke and reprove. There is no New
Testament precedent for this in the prophetic.

Whether you are called to THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET or simply aspire to the
prophetic as a believer, there is no "license to kill" no "007". You can extensively
study the life of every New Testament prophet and you won't find ONE that
operated outside the parameters of "edification, exhortation, and comfort".

Therefore even when you are receiving a "word" from a prophet, if that prophet
steps over into condemnation and judgment, you are under no compunction from
the Father to accept that as His word. There are times it is true that the Father will
rebuke and correct quite vociferously, but the prophetic is not the tool or
instrument through which that judgment will come (this will be dealt with more
fully in other writings but is outside the scope of this course).

ALL MAY PROPHESY:

(1 Corinthians 14:31) For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn,
and all may be comforted.

All born again, Spirit filled believers have the nine gifts of the Spirit available to
them but some will demonstrate more enablement than others. God has imparted
the gifts to His children, yet He still divides and distributes to individuals as He wills
based on desire, calling and ability to receive and step out. So to develop your gifting
to the full, this course will provoke you to step up, step out and give out to the fullest
measure of that sample of prophetic gifting the Father has imparted specifically to
you. Now, let's DO THE STUFF!

WEEK ONE ACTIVATION: PROPHETIC PRAYING

(This week you are to "pray out" or "pray prophetically" over the recipients you will
find listed in the weekly assignment section of the Prophetic Internship Response
Forum on Facebook.)

The scripture tell us with each gift there are differences of administration (1 Cor.
12:5). We can compare this to medicine. You can take medicine in a pill, a patch, an
injection, and so on. Likewise the prophetic word doesn't apply or come forth
through you in just one way. In fact depending on the setting YOU GET TO CHOOSE
because "the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet" (See 1 Cor. 14:32).

WHAT IS PROPHETIC PRAYING AND HOW DOES IT WORK?:

Prophetic praying is a low key way to prophecy that involves yielding to the Holy
Spirit as we pray over someone. You relax into the flow of the anointing and the
Holy Ghost gives you the words, the thoughts and expressions that cause your
prayer to become more than the sum total of its parts and truly bless the person you
pray over.

The end result of prophetic praying leaves the subject of your praying knowing that
God spoke to him or her directly as you prayed out the mysteries of God over them.
In this prayer, the gift of prophecy, word of knowledge and word of wisdom will all
make themselves evident though you may not realize it at the time.

This is a good method for prophesying over someone who doesn't know about the
prophetic. It doesn't matter what you call it, if the Holy Spirit breathes through you
into that person's life in your prayer and that is all that matters.

Normally in a classroom setting we would pair off in the group with someone you
don't know. Now, that isn't possible with the online course so I am going to pick a
list of recipient that each of us will prophetically pray over by posting your response
to each person in the Prophetic Internship Response Forum on Facebook.

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT FOR PROPHETIC MINISTRY:

Now to do your assignment go online to the Prophetic Internship Response Forum
on Facebook. Once you have requested and been opted in you will see a list of names
I have assigned this week for you to share what you feel God has given you. This is
one hallmark of the prophetic: You don't have to know anything in the natural, just
pray out what effortlessly comes to you most easily and God will be in it.

THE PURPOSE OF THE "PROPHETIC PRAYING" ACTIVATION:

When you exercise prophetic praying you will activate in yourself sensitivity to the
voice of the Holy Spirit. The beauty of this activation is that it flows in the familiar
format of prayer that any believer will be comfortable with. The goal is to relax,
don't worry about speaking in the first person or saying, thus saith the Lord...
Forget about style of delivery and just pray out of your heart by the leading of the
Holy Spirit as best you can.

STEP BY STEP WALK THROUGH OF THE "PROPHETIC PRAYING

ACTIVATION":

As you pray, realize that the Holy Spirit (Christ in you) will enter into your praying
without you making any effort whatsoever other than simple yielding of your mind
to the natural, restful flow of compassionate prayer for another.

You are a born again person. Christ living on the inside of you. Just allow him to
minister through you as you pray.

SPIRIT INSPIRED PRAYING:

This activation is very low key. You don't have to conjure up any unnatural intensity
or loudness. Just pray out of your heart. The Holy Ghost will enter in to your praying
and you will be amazed at how accurate and edifying what you share will be.

ACTIVATE YOURSELF AND STEP OUT:

How do we activate ourselves in prophetic praying?

1. Remember that you are one of the ALL who may prophesy according to 1 Cor.
14:31 If all may prophesy then all (including you) have some level of prophetic
gifting. Remember, prophetic gifting in its simplicity is about hearing the Father's
voice and sharing it with others.

2. You have a lot of mistakes to make before you get it right. You won't get it right
every time. It's ok. You aren't being graded. You are entering into a fluency exercise
whereby you will improve with time. You will become more anointed, more
accurate and more right on as you step out and give what you have in this safe
environment.

3. We are all learners, even someone who has been prophesying for years will tell
you that every time you prophesy it's a step of faith and trusting God to lead, guide
and instruct you. Relax and share what you have.

PRAY IN THE HOLY GHOST:

Praying in the Spirit or, in tongues connects your volition, your mind and emotions
directly to the Holy Spirit to allow His thoughts, impressions, pictures, to come
through in your praying. It isn't about external stimulus but an act of faith even if
you don't "feel" anything. If you dont pray in tongues dont worry about this part we
will help you with that gift later.

I've trained myself and conditioned my spirit man to respond when I ask the Father
after praying in the Spirit "what would you say to your servant".

If I get "stuck" I don't stop speaking, I switch over into tongues to break through the
choke point and continue ministering prophetically.

ACTIVATION PRAYER:

Approximate this prayer as you get ready to do the Activation Assignment this
week:

Father, I acknowledge that the Holy Spirit dwells within me. I ask that His
thoughts overshadow my merely human intuition as I present my whole body
as a living sacrifice you. I bring every thought into captivity to the mind of
Christ. I will be open to Jesus my savior as He resides as Christ living within me
as I pray. Give me boldness to speak those things you would have me pray. Help
me not to doubt or hesitate, but simply release what you are inspiring me to say
and pray. Amen.

NOW GO SILENT AND LISTEN, LOOK AND FEEL:

Relax because this is about having fun. Go "down inside" and open your inner ears
and eyes to receive the grace to start off and pray. Give yourself about one minute of
silence and look and see what information presents in your mind's eye. Listen to
hear and pay close heed starts to "percolate" in your "knower". Remember it's about
seeing, hearing, feeling.

Let's cover these different modes of receiving:

If you are a "seer", you will see pictures in your mind quite spontaneously. These
pictures no doubt will need interpretation but make an effort to give exactly what
you see in your heart. Interpretation will come later.

If you are a "hearer", the Spirit will come to you in more of an auditory way in the
acoustics of your inner man. This will not likely be an audible voice but might be
occasionally. It may be more like you are hearing something inwardly. When you
think you've heard enough to proceed you simply pray out in your reply what you
hear the Spirit saying to you for this assignment.

If God speaks to you in your "knower", you will more or less describe the moving of
the Spirit upon you as "feeling after" the voice of the Father. You just know what
He wants you to say or do. This may even be an actual sensation in your body which
would lead you to pray for healing.

PRAY ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT'S LEADING:

Now it is time to do what we have prepared ourselves to do. Go ahead and pray,
speaking or typing ONLY what you feel you are being led to pray by the Holy Spirit.
Remember, we are not trying to perform or give formal "thus saith the Lord
prophesy" but rather relax and pray a prophetic prayer. As the recipient receives
what you share it will register in their heart according to the unction of the Holy
Spirit in your praying. Be bold don't hold back - remember you can't make a
mistake.

FOLLOWING UP:

Be sure to visit the INTERNSHIP RESPONSE FORUM to post your assignment and
read feedback that has been given on your previous contributions. That is where the
rejoicing comes when you see how awesome God is in working through what you
thought was just a simple prayer.

APPLYING WHAT YOU NOW KNOW:

Can you see how this Spirit led, amped up form of prayer will revolutionize your
prayer life and the effectiveness by which you pray for others?

Be sure to post your activation assignment by visiting the INTERNSHIP RESPONSE
FORUM and entering your responses. We are looking forward to next week!