Written by Ciara Fortun
Read: “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay’.” Habakkuk 2:1-3 NASB
For most of my ministry thus far, I’ve operated primarily as an intercessor. As an intercessor by definition, you are called to stand in the gap and pray on behalf of others or situations before the Lord. Specifically for me, this has looked like praying for revival in the global youth (primarily in Omaha and Lifegate’s youth ministry) for the past eleven years. Even while I myself was a student, I had an unshakeable burden to contend for the hearts to turn to God. What I didn’t realize until last year, was that this was not only the burden of an intercessor but a prophetic burden that was cultivated in me long ago and has been confirmed by youth leaders around me.
At summer camp last year, I got to know our speaker throughout the week, and during a session one night, he came over to give me a word. He confirmed what had been seen by other leaders: that my primary mode of publicly operating as an intercessor would start to shift to operating as a prophet. I’ve wrestled with the thought of that, even now as I write this, but my mom had great insight. She said, “Not every intercessor is a prophet, but every prophet is an intercessor”. The office of a Prophet is not just giving prophetic corporate words or direction, but contending in secret for things that God sees and one day will be. Often, it doesn’t make sense in our present human timeline. As a Prophet, you are called to pray prophetically into burdens because He called you to, not because it feels right.
This is a more recent calling I continue to hold loosely before the Lord, but it has felt more and more fitting that this describes the manner in which I minister.
Weekly Reflection Questions
- What is your experience with prophetic words? Have you received a word before?
- If you look back over your life, can you see moments that maybe the Lord was speaking to you and you just didn’t realize it yet?
- Do you tend to see the truth in black and white? How does this affect your relationship with the Body of Christ?
- What are some burdens you feel the Lord has placed on your heart in your community, city, or world?