The Prophet's Wilderness

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Junior Desouza 2008

The prophet's wilderness. What a subject. May this writing help steer and stabilize developing prophets! 
The desert experience, or wilderness, is God's mandatory prerequisite to the prophetic calling. A prophetic person
never looks worse than while he/she is in-desert; and, he never looks better than when he emerges as gold, mature
in character and ace in prophesying. Even though all Christians experience certain desert seasons, the prophet's
wilderness is unique in that it is typically longer in duration and broader in revelatory production.

Biblically, the desert is constitutional to prophetic identity. Moses stumbled upon the burning bush and his prophetic
calling in the desert (Ex 3:1-10). David blossomed in his desert strongholds, writing many of his psalmic prophecies
while there (1Sam 23:14). Elijah, when overcome with despair, ran to a prophetic fetal position--the desert
(1Ki 19:3,4). John the Baptist championed the prophet's wilderness, living there in seclusion for extended seasons
and even years (Lk 1:80, 3:2). Jesus, the promised Messiah-Prophet, willingly resorted to desert places
(NKJV Mk 1:45, Lk 5:16). Though desert places can be dry and wanting, maturing prophets come to find a safety
there, a place where their intense and introspective disposition can find relief and equilibrium in God (Ps 55:6-8).   

The wilderness forces dependence.
A prophet's greatest enemy is himself, not Jezebel or religious crustiness or a satanic nemesis. Giftedness has
greater power to lure a person into prideful self-sufficiency than the Deceiver himself. Many profoundly gifted
prophesiers have shipwrecked their lives and ministries through such self-reliance or gift-reliance, drifting away from
daily dependence on Jesus Himself. Such prophets are runaway trains racing toward a head-on collision with
humbling and reckoning.  

The desert is a place of lack, whether it be relational, social, ministerial, financial, or some other personal need or
want. Though God ultimately intends to fill what is lacking, He will not do so until every semblance of self-sufficiency
and self-dependence is burned, baked, crushed, stomped, and obliterated by the heat. The burning desert sands
will scorch our pridefully calloused feet until, at last, we break and fall to our knees in permanent dependence on
Him. Hosea 13:5: I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat.  God uses the desert to become our
Caretaker, melting away our "I can take care of myself" sickness. We will only come up from the wilderness when we
are sufficiently leaning on our Lover, not our self or our gift. See the symbolism in Song of Songs 8:5: Who is this
coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?

The wilderness cultivates intimacy.
Hosea 2:14 tells us God uses deserts to cultivate intimacy with us: I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the
desert and speak tenderly to her. The prophet's temptation is to become so intercoursed with his gift so that he
forsakes sweet intimacy with the greatest Gift of all, our First Love Jesus. The greatest commandment is not, "If a
man's gift is prophesying, let him use it" (Ro 12:6); it is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength" (Mk 12:29,30).  

Just as God will not allow self-sufficiency, so also He will not allow us to intercourse our souls with anything above
Him. Like David, He will keep us in that desert stronghold until we are daily singing and writing romantic psalms to
Him. Like Israel, He will allure us into the desert until we cherish His tender whispers, until that voice becomes the
central focus of our daily life and emotional well-being. Until personal intimacy is greater than prophetic ministry.

The wilderness acutes spiritual hearing.
Deuteronomy 8:2,3 tells us the desert trains and sharpens our spiritual hearing, making us acutely accurate in
perceiving God's voice. Hosea 2:14 says God "speaks tenderly" in the desert, and Psalm 29:8 says "the voice of
the Lord shakes the desert". Luke 3:2 shows us how prophetic messages come to the prophet in the desert. God
loves to open up and talk in deserts! Consequently, we learn how to hear Him.    

You see, in the desert key blockages to perceiving God are dealt with and removed. Loud negative emotions are
faced, resolved, and silenced. Competing dreams are shattered, leaving us blank and receptive to God's dream.
Comfortable patterns are disrupted, exposing misleading voices that spring from routine. Anytime our soul and body
are afflicted by lack, our spirit rises to attain the voice of God to sustain our total being. During extended or repetitive
deserts, the Christian becomes keen in perceiving divine communications and movements. Since correct spiritual
perception is the essence of prophetic ministry, God will bake His prophets in deserts until their perceptive
blockages are melted, until prophetic purity with no mix is reached.  

The wilderness transforms character.
Prophetic power captivates to such a degree that character problems can be obscured and overlooked. Christian
history is stained with almost-prophets who shipwrecked their lives and ministries through egocentrism, emotional
mismanagement, pernicious habits, wildfire appetites, unhealthy relationships, major doctrinal deviations, and so
on.  

We all come from Egypt, a place of sin slavery. We all need multiple deserts to get Egypt out of our
psycho-emotional root system. Some of the most destructive people in all of Christianity are not false prophets, but
true Christian prophets who are unwilling to declare war on personal sin patterns. They possess a measure of
prophetic grace that draws followers, yet they wind up damaging those very followers through their dysfunctions.
They leave many wounded in their wake, hurting prophecy's cause and credibility as well. If you read David's psalms
that he wrote while living in desert places, you will find him consistently mentioning personal sins, inner healing,
breaking codependence, and so on. The wilderness transforms character! The time is fading fast when low
character prophets are allowed to minister publicly. Churches are tightening their grip on who holds the mic, being
led by the Spirit to place a higher premium on character quality and soundness.   

The wilderness destroys co-dependence.
The Lord said in Jeremiah 17:5,6 that He uses the desert to deal with codependence, people-pleasing, and fear of
man. Of all ministries, the prophetic is probably most easily polluted by codependence. Stories litter the Old
Testament of false prophets telling people what they wanted to hear simply to gain their approval. They muddied the
oracle of the Lord, prophesying from their imaginations and emotions.

Many, if not most, of our desert experiences pertain to people--their rejection, persecution, gossip,
misunderstanding, non-spiritualness, indifference, mockery. God thrust us into this desert because we care too
much! Oh how quickly our heat would turn to cool waters if we would only become de-peopled! We all have a human
need to be loved and affimed by others. This is not wrong. This basic need morphs into a sinful obsession when our
emotional wellness is tied to people and their reactions more than to God. A prophesier must be so de-peopled that
he senses a free-flowing confidence to be, say, and do whatever he needs. God will loose the desert dogs on us
until we simply do not care anymore.

The wilderness creates individuation.
One recurring problem I continually bump into is the lack of prophetic individuation. I weary of hearing uniform
"prophetic words" that are not very prophetic. Rather, they are more of a regurgitation of the current spiritual fad.
These "prophecies" are thoroughly unmoving, fail to bear witness within, and exploit the ideals of immature
Christians. Sometimes I ask myself, "Does God not have more to say? Either He is not very relevant and original, or
some of these prophesiers have a high flesh-mixture diluting or blocking the authentic word." I am well aware that
God speaks thematically and consistently. Equally so, He speaks with uncanny relevance and uniqueness in
different contexts. We need greater prophetic individuation.

Individuation means "the quality of being individual, distinct, unique, or original". The desert creates this
individuation. Because the fervent heat melts away pretense, in-desert prophets are able to find their truest
prophetic voices underneath the wanna-be facades. Those voices may have similarities to other prophets, but
should also have noticeable uniqueness and innovation. What Moses discovered in the desert about his prophetic
identity is quite different than what Elijah discovered. And David. And John. These prophets all emerged from the
desert with some similarities, but also great individuality.

The wilderness intensifies anointing.
The wilderness increases our prophetic power. As crucial transformations happen, the Spirit has more liberty to rest
upon us in stronger measures. Check out the subtle symbolism in Song of Songs 3:6: Who is this coming up from
the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?  
When Jesus came up from His desert experience, He was encompassed by the smoke of God's glory, perfumed
with powerful anointing for ministry (Lk 4:1-19). Psalm 92:10 says something similar: ...fine oils have been poured
upon me. This fresh oil of power came upon the psalmist because he battled his enemies and overcame (v11), he
grew spiritually very much (v12), and he made God his intimate dwellingplace (v13).

We too increase in the power of the Spirit by being fully faithful to the desert developments. We will face our
enemies and we must overcome them. We will be challenged to grow personally and we must swallow our pride and
do so. Ultimately, we must plant ourselves in God and His presence. We must let the desert's fervent heat melt
anything and everything in our life that keeps us from finding our all in all in Him and only Him. Then we will see Him
increase His anointing portions upon our ministries.  

In the desert the highway is prepared and straightened for God to powerfully show Himself in our ministry.

Isaiah 40:3

Article hosted with permission from Junior Desouza http://www.jdarticles.com/

The focus of the heart in an age of distraction

The Dimming of revelation light

The time that we are living in can be likened to Samuel’s time in 1st Samuel chapter 3. A time of increasing darkness - where there is increase in confusion, in deception regarding the teaching of God's word and increasing rarity of a pure prophetic voice.

Prophetic ‘light’ is dimming. Prophetic light is prophetic revelation, the revelation of God’s present purpose, intents and present command. There is increasing a premium in the church for a pure prophetic voice in which the power of God can be manifest.

Proverbs 3
5 
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
7 
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Age of distraction/spirit of distraction 

We live in an age of distraction. The distractions that pervade modern environments are small and subtle and have multiplied in uncountable fashion because of technology.

Distractions serve as imitations of Gods presence, power and purpose.These offer a semblance of comfort and peace, but instead of true peace, these create a dulling of the senses, a drugging of our spiritual man. In contrast, God’s voice, God’s revelation and God’s light brings a deep and lasting peace, in which there is strength and healing, but counterfeits dazzle the senses, they also numb of the spiritual senses and mind.

'Being distracted for awhile’ carries with it the temptation to form a habit or lifestyle of distraction, which produces in our human spirit, a distracted spirit. If our spirits are distracted, it is extremely difficult, but not altogether impossible to focus on God. If left to its own devices to run amok, it will leave our human spirit in a continually distracted state. This condition disables us from hearing and being led by the Spirit of God, and opens us to other spirits - fear, confusion, frustration etc. I believe that there also exist an evil spirit of distraction, whose main job it is to distract us from hearing the whispers and leadings of the Holy Spirit. it can be overcome through the grace of God, the choice to focus and pray and the prayer to continually set our hearts on God. God will create that focus of heart we desire. Lest we be led by the lust of our eyes and not spiritual desire.

These distractions ultimately serve their purpose of adding to the confusion of God’s people and further obscuring God’s pure light – the light of His presence coming from the Holy of Holies. The revelation light which reveals God. In the way man-made light obscures the light of the stars, these little lights pollute the light environment so that God's pure light cannot be perceived. if we are content to walk in man-light, then we exchange walking in man–made light for God pure light and direction.

Light is supposed to clear up confusion and give purpose and direction, both lights can give direction and purpose - the question is which light are we using? Are we giving God’s light adequate attention so that it can focus all our research, endeavour, plans and knowledge? Or are we distracted and having no idea what God wants for us to do at the moment? The cross will help us die with Christ to our fleshly distractions things which God will have us put aside so that we can focus on him. The 'closet' of prayer is a place of undivided attention to focus on Father.

Imagine if Jesus was so distracted He didn’t know what the Father was saying or showing him because he constantly had to check emails and Facebook and his twitter feed and was so distracted he could not finish even His sermon. No, Christ knew exactly his fathers voice and knew exactly what God wanted Him to do moment by moment and we can too. Father God wants to be with His children to show them tenderly guide them tenderly into all truth, all direction, to fill them up with all power and fullness so that we too can be about his business. Are we willing to be focused on Him and be dedicated to be trained by Him?

What would we sacrifice in order to truly know deep in our heart the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, which God wants to give us in His presence? Would we be prepared to ask, seek and knock until we obtain this peace which God wants to give us? the peace of God and stillness of heart which the Lord would have us settle and establish us in? 

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

The Hebrew word Shalom, for peace means all rounded well-being and welfare, even healing and wholeness. We live in an age of much uncertainty, anxiety, fear and confusion. One of the more difficult things in this age is to walk in the light of God’s peace. In His presence is deep peace, peace that surpasses understanding. Yet we find it very hard to be still, our hearts are restless and agitated, making it difficult, yes a fight, a combat to find the rest of God in His presence. Distractions and fleshly substitutes for the presence of God are one reason for this. The activity of the flesh makes the soul agitated, making it difficult to be led and clamed by the Spirit of God who is a Spirit of peace.

Only the peace of God can overcome this spirit of anxiety, and the voice of God will dispel confusion. God can give stillness of heart and quiet confidence. When we are still on the inside, God can impart His instructions to us, His people step by step. The love of the Father will dispel the spirit of agitating fear. Let us turn back into His presence.

There are high stakes problems, which His people face, in which the people of God need God’s wisdom, plans and instructions more than before.

We live in a busy city, but in the busyness, what do we do with our down time? The spaces of time in between the time we have to fulfill and carry our necessary responsibilities? What do we choose to do with our hearts? Let us choose the oasis of God’s presence. Jesus was empowered for ministry by the many oases of God’s presence which empowered Him to be continually on the move doing the works of God.

Mark 6:30-31

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

The enemy also seeks to speak His impressions, his ways, His directives and directions to God’s people. Close your heart to him. For your seeking and your diligence of heart to hear and move in God alone and your development, the growth of your capacity in hearing the voice of the Shepherd, the One who says that all His sheep hear His voice, He will strengthen you to hear Him even more, and the Lord will deliver you from the voice and assaults of the enemy as you seek His face and His presence.

The enemy will try all ways and means to obscure God’s revelatory light for this is most harmful to his kingdom when God’s people learn to move in God’s light and word and power. We need to be holy to walk in the holy light of God. To do works of justice, righteousness powered by God’s presence and grace to sustain the walk in God’s presence and to overcome the evil one. We overcome simply by being full of the Spirit, the voice of God and obeying what the Spirit of God says though practice.

How much do we value the presence of God?

Let us beware of the words we speak, speak God’s life and do not speak death. For your words will affect your mind and receptivity to God’s presence and voice. Let us take up the cross and die to all our distractions for to live in the Holy of Holies is a worthy and noble aim and goal, to die to facebook and to all the internet’s distractions in order that you may learn to hear God and wait and worship in His presence, this is a worthy Goal, that God may have a people who are led by His voice and presence alone. To become a people who manifest the works of His power in every place.

Matthew 5  19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[e] destroy and where thievesbreak in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye (the focus of the heart) is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye (heart focus) is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but ifyour eye (Heart focus) is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

To seek God and have Him possess our hearts is indeed is better treasure than the fleeting assurances that the world gives.


The tiredness of the people, the spirit of restless searching and their need for God’s rest.

The need for Rest – God’s people are tired, in need of refreshment, in acute need for their joy to be renewed. Turn to His presence. The Lord will never leave us, nor forsake us. His presence is as springs of water in a desert place. Investing time on God’s presence is a better investment than any time we can spend on any other thing. Spend time in prayer. Read God’s word as He directs and focuses your attention on what He wants us to read. Let Him give you understanding and wisdom in the scriptures. Learning to hear God’s voice in reading the scriptures is pleasurable and strengthening. God’s presence is refreshing to our tiredness. It will renew our strength and joy and satisfy the restless searching in our hearts. (Psalm 63)

For what you are really searching for in all your restless searching, is really for God Himself. This is the reason for your restlessness of spirit for it is the searching of your human spirit to be found in Him. It is His light and voice that you search for, to be enfolded by Your Father in the secret place enfolded in His wings, where no harm can befall you. He will not cast you aside but take You into His arms over and over. Mighty love and grace belong to Him. Your joy and vision will be renewed.

The restless searching spirit is a symptom of spiritual hunger, our restlessness is many times the drawing of the Spirit of the Father to His beloved to come to Him for there are treasures in God’s embrace.
 

God’s wisdom many times looks foolish

Remember -God’s wisdom  and power many times looks to the world like foolishness and weakness. How can prayer solve my problems? In the worlds eyes it is a foolish way to spend much time in prayer but it is God’s way, and it is mighty for the ‘effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much’ both in heaven and on earth. In the spiritual realms, there is something at work for our blessing.

Remember the prophet Samuel was mighty because he only dwelt in God’s presence, that place where His glory dwells. Joseph was mighty in prison because He learnt to walk in God’s presence while in adverse circumstances. Do not give up the quest to walk in His presence alone. Remember, Joshua was mighty in battle because He listened and obeyed the specific instructions of God alone, and he learnt to exclude doing anything else which was not God’s idea.

If we do not do this, the consequence will be severe – a church not led by God’s wisdom, power and voice, not led by God Himself, but the works, wisdom, plans and strength of man’s flesh.

Jeremiah 17:5 
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
 and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 
He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. 
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
 in an uninhabited salt land.
7 
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
8 
He is like a tree planted by water,
 that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;
 who can understand it?
10 
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”

His presence will wash you, cleanse you and make you ready to walk in the timing and seasons of God. For the things which God desires to come to pass will require much dependence on God. Let us become a people of God with strong  continual testimonies of God’s leading, presence and action in our lives!

The difficulty of receiving an invisible God

Our common desire for a leader

Somehow in my walk with God over these 18 years, I have realised that I sub-consciously come to expect a superman, a man who would deliver me from the evil one, someone to depend upon to teach me the word of God, to tell me what to do in especially difficult circumstances. Someone greater than me, a ‘boss’, an adonai, a master to whom I can depend upon.

I have looked and looked and desired a mentor, someone who would teach me the ways of God and disciple me into faith, but to no avail. This is and has remained an unanswered prayer for a looong time in my life. What then? God gives us His mighty grace even when he does not do the thing we ask and desire and beg Him to do for His grace is sufficient for us.

Much like the children of Israel who again and again asked for someone a man other than God - for someone to intersperse themselves instead of the people, in the presence of the living God - God gave Moses, then Samuel then Saul, then David, but they would not have Him, God Himself as their God, for it is easier to trust something you can see and know, a man rather than to have faith and know the heart of God yourself. 

We are ever looking to idols for it is easier on our hearts and minds to have a God who is predictable, tangible, visible, rather than a God in heaven whom we cannot see!

A shift of mindset

Jesus, however has a different emphasis and a different goal in mind.

John 8

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their [a]phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi (teacher) by men. 

8 But do not be called Rabbi (teacher); for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called [b]leaders; for One is your Leader,that is, Christ. 

The Holy Spirit has been given as our teacher to teach us all the ways and the truths of God. It is unnerving to have a teacher you cannot see. Not always convenient, nor is it predictable the things He would teach us, but yet He is there, ‘who leads us into all truth’.

Instead of expecting a superman to deliver me in difficult circumstances and from the assaults of evil. He wants for me to depend on one- My Father in heaven, for deliverance from evil comes from Him alone. 'Our Father in heaven… lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’. His might and power are incomparable. And Jesus would have my faith, 'not in the wisdom of man but in the power of God.' To discover Gods power for my life, and depend on it first hand.

Instead of following the commands of a man who is flesh and blood whose voice I can hear audibly, He wants me to follow the commands of Christ, whose voice is oftentimes, but a whisper in my heart. And whose commands I need to take seriously. He will be my shield and protection. The greater one whom I follow.

Instead of drawing my nourishment - spiritually and emotionally from a man, He wants me to draw it from the mighty store of love within God’s wide chest, the mighty store of love that my Father has for me which overflows to my account when and if, I would seek Him and desire to be in his presence. I struggle oftentimes with my own weaknesses but God would - wants to, enfold me and become my strength in my struggles ‘be strong in the strength of God’ the supernatural strength of God which enfolds me in my weakness.

Is it always more convenient for a man to tell me what to do. For I can see, hear, touch and be touched by a man. But Yet God desires that I come to know this invisible God, by faith – which is at once easy but also at times, impossibly difficult. To know something of heavenly communion with Christ, and not settle for an idol of man, which sells short of the glorious comforts of God. To know that I am to be ultimately accountable to Him for every hour of how I live my life for He will judge before His throne and to grow strong in dependence on Him alone, thereby.