It is common to see people desire  a better life. Most believers also sincerely want to reach the world for Jesus Christ. However, these individuals have yet to describe intentionally and in detail what this life and this world would look like. Most people disregard the importance of planning a coherent path to the realization of a goal.

Most people in society go through their lives in moods of hope, wonder, cynicism, or even entitlement to this life or world they have been longing to have. However, without a clear and articulated path towards the life and the world they desire, people would end up in either naiveté or despair. Naiveté is a common state of mind for most people, wherein there is lack of experience or wisdom in life. Despair arises when a person lacks the ability to change the current situation. People who end up in either of these can be considered as “amateur prophets”.

Amateur prophets have the calling and the gift to make a difference in the marketplace. However, amateur prophets are not intentional and effective in their ways of being. Being amateur prophets is not a permanent or a fixed condition. When one realizes that one is in this level of ministry, one can easily progress into being mature prophets by restoring integrity and commitment.

Amateur prophets operate in either naiveté or despair. They do little or almost nothing to advance God’s kingdom or experience the quality of life they desire for themselves. Being in a state of naiveté is having insufficient or non-existent understanding or knowledge of the marketplace. Nevertheless, they behave and speak as if they do. They act with habits and ethics that prevent them from experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised and from advancing God’s Kingdom.

The difference between a bucket and a conduit, is that the bucket, once it’s full, cannot receive anymore. On the other hand, liquid flows in and out the conduit. It is never full and it is never empty. Analogously speaking, the amateur prophet is a bucket, not a conduit.  Most of the time, an amateur prophet becomes a recipient of God’s grace, but not a channel of God’s love.

Amateur prophets do not respect the need to generate leverage in order to influence the marketplace. They are usually stagnant in their ministries and in their personal lives. These people usually “know” a lot of information about how to live a full life or how to win people for Jesus. They claim they can “make it happen,” but they are unable to prove this claim in the face of the realities in the marketplace.  More often than not, they are misled and disillusioned and do not know that they are.

In the Bible, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, is an example of an amateur prophet. Gehazi appeared in three accounts involving Elisha. One account involves the story of a wealthy Shunamite woman (2 Kings 4:8-37). The woman always had special accommodations for Elisha. Elisha did not know how to repay the woman for her kindness; she also asked Gehazi what could be done. Gehazi had the insight to recognize that the woman’s secret longing was to have a son of her own and so Elisha prophesied about the birth of the child.

A few years later, the promised child died and the woman went to Elisha in grief, but Gehazi thrust her away. However, Elisha commanded Gehazi to run ahead to Shunem where he was to lay the prophet’s staff on the child. However, Gehazi could not bring back the child to life. Elisha’s presence and word was the one that prompted the resurrection to happen. In this situation, we see Gehazi being an amateur prophet, unable to generate the results that a prophet can.

In another account about the cure of Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-27), Gehazi is presented to be greedy and deceitful. He operated as an amateur prophet and took advantage of the ministry he was in for personal gain. Because he was greedy, Gehazi was himself cursed with Naaman’s leprosy.

Elisha’s integrity in refusing the gifts of Naaman was juxtaposed sharply with the corruptness of Gehazi’s actions. Gehazi lied to Naaman with such casualness and the coolness with which he subsequently appeared to Elisha pains an avaricious character for Gehazi. He received immediate and fitting punishment—permanent leprosy which extended up to his descendants. Gehazi thought he could make the “good life” happen for himself by lying his way into a reward, even after his master already rejected it would be the best plan of action. However, the lack of integrity and the dishonesty in his ways caused him to suffer.

In rabbinic tradition, the four lepers at the gate discovered the mysterious route of the Syrians in 2 Kings 7:3-10 to be Gehazi and his three sons. At first, they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and hid them (2 Kings 7:8). However, realizing the folly of their greed, they bore the good news to the King.

Likewise, there are amateur prophets who operate mostly in despair. These are people who know they do not have the capacity, knowledge, or ability to change their current condition. Many people who are in the state of mind of despair are in good spirits and have good attitudes, but they are incapable of moving effectively because they believe that without some significant interruption, they would not be able to change their current condition.

People in despair also know they do not have a clear pathway to move beyond their current situation, outside of good luck. However, luck does not exist. People who base their lives on luck operate like victims of circumstances, unable to do anything about their situation.  Most of the time, their states of mind are inconsistent and untrustworthy. The marketplace can easily swallow up the prophet because of the absence of commitment and integrity to stay on course for living an abundant life and advancing God’s Kingdom. The absence of integrity results in unworkability. A person who operates in this kind of being thinks that he is just stuck in a rut; in reality, however, he is just operating in a space of unworkability.

Allow yourself to be an empty space for God to move and to minister to other people. Be equipped and sign up for this FREE Course and experience the Power of Prophecy to open up your mind to what God is doing in your life right now!

Are you being an amateur prophet?