I know, I know. I can hardly even admit it to myself sometimes.

I can hear y’all saying, “well how she went from being a journalist to a prophet…”

Same thing I ask myself. I’m a teacher now too…

But hear me out.

I’d stopped blogging because I was getting weary and confused. I graduated college, got the job I wanted but the discontent seemed to grow stronger and stronger. Everything seemed to be panning out as I’d planned but none of it felt “right.”

“God what is this?” Time and again I would ask.

I’d always known God had called me to something. Ever since I was a little girl there were these prophecies hanging over my head of all the great things God would use me to do. But after so many failed relationships, being a college drop out with bad credit and having a baby with a man who took off three months into the pregnancy, I was sure all those prophecies had failed. (Prophetic principle #1: The word of God will never fail. Luke 1:37)

Truth is, I’d gone back to school and had gotten myself together (somewhat) in the last six years but somehow, I still felt “behind” or as if I just wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Then as I grew more and more in my relationship with God those prophecies came alive again. (The word of God will always resurrect itself.)

“God has called you to do mighty things in the kingdom…” 

Cool. But what was that exactly?

I’d soon find out that part of my calling was as a prophet of God. And as hard as it was to believe at first, I’d later realize that all along that is exactly who I always was.

Here are a couple key moments in that discovery.

When I got saved (for real, for real) in 2013 I had a vision. In this vision I was in a class at Brooklyn College and there was a group of students standing around a desk talking before class started. On this desk there was a big, beautiful, bright and shiny diamond. No one was paying attention to it and I thought it was careless of the owner to just rest it there because clearly it was expensive and could be stolen. Just then the professor walked in and all the students went back to their seats and left the diamond just sitting there. I got up to go get it and find out who it belonged to, but as I picked it up and was about to make the announcement I heard a voice say:

“It’s yours because only you see it. You see things other people can’t see.”

Then there was that one time I was in church on a Sunday morning during praise and worship some years ago around 2014. One of the praise leaders said, “Before God formed you in the womb he knew you…” But for some reason right in the middle of praise and worship I felt led to go read it so I grabbed my phone and went straight to Jeremiah 1:5:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

It was as if I read it for the very first time.

The words jumped off the page and I felt my heart racing. I looked over at my dad who was deep in worship. I could hear it resounding…

“I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

I tossed my phone on the empty seat next to me and said, “Nope, not me. No you didn’t.” (Father, I repent.)

I don’t think I thought about it again.

Until the dreams started coming around 2016. There were so many dreams, but I’d always been a dreamer so I didn’t think much of it. For me dreams were a normal part of my life and I saw them as my time of escape and adventure from the world. Everyone had them right? So I thought.

But there was this one that was… different.

I was standing in a park with my sister.  I saw a flock of eagles. I later learned it’s called a convocation of eagles – convocation generally refers to a large group of people formally gathered for a ceremony – uncanny right?

Anywho…

I saw this huge convocation of eagles flying towards us and all the people in the park stopped to look at them in awe. Suddenly, one of the eagles flew towards me and wrapped its wings around my head, covering my entire face. I was scared. I wanted to hit it so it could fly off of me. Instead, under its weight I fell to my knees. I was scared but I “knew” I couldn’t just throw it off. I simply knelt there in fear until it flew off me. Then the convocation left. As if they’d just conducted a ceremony!

Everyone in the park was staring at me. My sister turned to me with a puzzled and nervous expression and she said, “Why you? Of all the people in the park, why did this eagle choose you?

We both had no answers. But this entire dream was too prophetic if you can dissect it by the Spirit.

I pondered that dream for years. Everything I researched after that point said eagles are generally symbolic of the prophetic but I couldn’t handle that revelation at that time so I left it alone.

Then came the prophecies. And the dreams from other people. And more visions. But still I couldn’t come to grips with it.

Prophet? Me? How?

Better yet… why?

Aren’t all prophets men? Aren’t all prophets white? Aren’t all prophets old? Aren’t all prophets pastors? (I grew up in a Methodist church y’all). Surely none of them are young (or semi young) black single mothers still trying to figure out their lives. Surely none of them have all these fear and abandonment issues. Surely, none of them look like me, talk like me – my Brooklyn-Jamaican accent certainly didn’t qualify.

Are there even prophets in Brooklyn??

The messages and the impressions came and went. Then one day I went on a fast. I had been fasting and praying for a number of weeks. I remember sitting in my home one night on the sofa praying in the spirit. There was dead silence in my home. Suddenly a light of revelation that I couldn’t deny flooded me – similar to Moses by the burning bush:

“I’m a prophet of God.”

I felt like Miles Morales after finding out he was Spider Man. “Wait no, I can’t do this!”

To which Peter Parker replied, “Everybody knows that the best way to learn is under intense life threatening crisis.”

————————-

I’ve been learning through struggle. I’ve been learning through disappointment. I’ve been learning through heartbreaks and mistakes some of which I will share here. But the most important thing is I’ve been learning.

And it makes sense. Suddenly all of who I am makes sense.

It makes sense why all my life I’d see these vivid visions and dreams and “hear” and “know” things before they happened.

It makes sense why I was always so dogmatic about right or wrong, why I HATE injustice.

It makes sense why I’d be a textbook introvert (or mute) until I truly felt passionate about something and then I’d speak out with so much boldness and fervor.

It makes sense why I was so frank and direct and seemingly judgmental to others because I could always know the spirit of a person even before they spoke.

My suffering makes sense.

My attacks make sense.

My childhood makes sense.

My  passion to teach and study the word makes sense.

My insistence that people learn to hear God for themselves makes sense.

My obsession with truth makes sense.

It makes sense why I always felt like a loner, misunderstood just different. (Just don’t isolate, its a common pitfall.)

The rejection makes so much sense.

Once I truly accepted it and made peace with it, my entire life just suddenly made sense.

Chances are you are here too because you received the same revelation and you’re not sure what to do next. This is not so much a prophet’s manual or a “how to” guide as it is a journey in my own story from revelation to maturation.

Here are some things I’ve done:

• First and foremost, through solitude and prayer, I have increased my intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Worshipping, walking and talking with him – just relishing in being his daughter. Allowing him to love me and grow me and groom me. This is of paramount importance because how can I be a prophet of God without dwelling in his presence or without knowing his heart. How can I minister to anyone without God first ministering to me? I’ve found the greatest way to grow in anything spiritually is through increased intimacy with God (…Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16).
• Fast and Pray often. As a prophet you are also an intercessor. Pray without ceasing. Pray. Pray. Pray. I’m saying it that much because that will be your first ministry. Start with those people and issues closest to you. That way as you begin to see measurable results you can keeping going higher. Fast and pray for your family, for unsaved loved ones. Fast and pray about issues on your job or in your community. Pray to know his will. Pray to know what you can do and how you can help. You will be surprised how God begins to use you in the lives of those around you, how he will give you special knowledge and revelation for them and it will encourage you to aim higher with your prayers!
• Develop a relationship with the word of God. The Bible! God and his word are one. There are so many Bible verses I could give about the importance of knowing God’s word, especially as a prophet. But the one I will give is this: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work 2Tim 3 16-17. The primary role of the prophet is for edification and maturation of the church! (Study Eph 4:11-16). Clearly if we are to be fully equipped to function in our roles as prophets, we need to learn scripture to do so.
• Study the life of Jesus. I recommend starting in the book of John. Study how he treated people. Study what he taught about the kingdom of God. Study how he reacted to opposition. Study how he taught on love. Study his predictions. Study his prayers. Study on how he prayed. Study the reasons he gave for the demonstrations of miracles. Study, study, study him. Then ask the Holy Spirit to make you more like him. (For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy [His life and teaching are the heart of prophecy] Revelation 19:10.”)
• Study the role of a prophet: IN THE BIBLE. Study the role of the Old Testament prophets. Study the role of the New Testament prophets. Know the difference.
• Read books from reputable, trustworthy sources or blogs (like this one 🙂 ). Some books I’ve read on the prophetic are “Prophets and Personal Prophecy” and “Prophets, Pitfalls and Principles” both by Bill Hamon. I’ll link a recommended books tab here.

I’m sure there is so much more but this will do for now.

And finally, here are some things I’ve learned:

I’ve learned that there’s a difference between having the gift of prophecy and being a prophet. How, you ask? Much like you can have the ability to sing but not be a singer according to the IRS (meaning it’s not your job you just do it from time to time). The gift functions in and out of circumstances as needed and as decided by the Holy Spirit, but to be a prophet is to be ORDAINED and APPOINTED a prophet by God before the foundation of the world, which means you are born a prophet and there is a certain territory, people and purpose that you are assigned to.

I’ve learned that being a prophet is not the same as being psychic or a soothsayer.  It’s not so much about prediction and foretelling as it is about communicating the heart of God to his people relevant to the culture and the times we are in. It’s keeping people in the “now” of God. And this can be done through, encouragement and exhortation, rebuke (yes, rebuke) and correction, or by teaching and prophesying. So no, I don’t know lottery numbers and I probably don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow unless the Holy Spirit tells me, but I do know that Jesus is coming soon and there is a great revival.. and recession… that’s getting ready to hit this land and we’d better be prepared for all those things.

I’ve learned in this process that the most important goal is maturity – true spiritual maturity. It’s not about the gifts, how precisely I can give a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom or if I can work miracles and heal the sick. These are gifts the Holy Spirit freely gives. It’s about becoming more like Christ – allowing the Holy Spirit to take me through the process of sanctification and dying everyday to my desires, propensities and expectations (this is the hardest part.) It’s growing and maturing in love according to 1 Corinthians 13, letting love be my highest goal and truly loving my neighbor as myself. In fact, the main reason Paul interrupts his discourse on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 is to show us that without love our motivations for desiring spiritual gifts are wrong. It’s about understanding that our first position in the kingdom are as servants and we are to serve in love in those places we are called to. It’s about maturing to the point where we can discern between what is good and evil or more simply what is right or wrong. (Trust me, this is harder than you think).

I’ve also learned that we go through seasons of hiddenness in God. There are times God will hide us in these “cave” or “wilderness” experiences to test, mature and protect us. And so, when it seems like no one is noticing who we are or what we can do or what we have to give, there is no need to throw tantrums or make ourselves be seen, we simply have to surrender to God and in time he will position us where he wants us. (More on this to come.) This is important to know because it is easy to become frustrated and give up when we do not see the manifestation of who God said we will be or what he said we will do. It is easy to become disillusioned by what we “see” in our senses and what we see in our circumstances. Knowing how to discern the times (by prayer) will help temper our expectations and help us to wait on God’s timing.

Case in point: This past year I’d been so frustrated because I couldn’t even get into a ministry in my church. No matter how I tried the door just would not open.  I went to God in frustration.

“But how you call me a prophet, and I can’t even get a spot on the usher board???”

He responded to me in a dream.

I was at this elegant and grand graduation ceremony. All the graduates, myself included, were dressed in beautiful black jeweled gowns. The graduation was in a cave!

God was saying – the time of manifestation (release from the cave) is soon to come. Be patient.

Patience.

As a prophet you will have to be patient A LOT. There will be seasons of what seem like unbearable waiting. But learning how to wait (serving God’s purpose like a waiter does) until the appointed time will keep us from losing our minds in the process.

There is so much more that I can and will share. But for now this is where I will end.

Let me exhort you if you feel as though you have been called as a prophet of God and it feels too much, too heavy or too strange – you are not alone.  But it is imperative that you quickly align with God, accept the call and get in position. You are needed now, for such a time as this, for this great move that God is now ushering in. In Joel 2:28 and echoed by Peter in Acts 2:17 the Bible notes:

‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 

I believe we are seeing and will continue to see an explosion of the prophetic ministry like never before. God is raising up some unlikely leaders to usher in revival and to walk in miracles and supernatural demonstrations in the kingdom. There is an army of revivalists that God is raising up. Chances are, you are reading this because this is what He’s training you for.

Miles Morales asked, “When will I know I’m ready?”

To which Peter Parker replied, “You won’t. It’s a leap of faith. That’s all it is, Miles. A leap of faith.”

So yeah… I’m a prophet apparently and this… this is my leap of faith.

Selah.