‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)
As revealed in the verses above concerning the last days, prophecies will be very popular and we are seeing this happen in these times. However, in spite of the abundance of great prophetic words spoken over people’s lives by prophets, pastors, dream encounters and so on, few seem to see their manifestation. What should one do when the manifestation of prophecies seems to delay?
Before addressing that, we need to first understand that prophecies that come from God carry details that the natural mind may find unbelievable and impossible. But then, once it is the Lord, it will come to pass. For instance, when Abram was 75 years old without a son and his wife, 65 years old and barren, God told him that he was going to make him a great nation. This seemed unbelievable and unattainable but God did it.
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-2)
Also, God spoke through Isaiah that a virgin will one day carry a child. This seemed impossible but it came to pass many centuries later in Matthew 1. Understand that once the prophecy is from God, it will come to pass. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
Some of you reading this article have received a prophetic word that you will be married; that you will have children; that you will travel abroad; that your finances will change; that you will receive a certain kind of anointing, etc. Yet you have waited for months and years without a sign that this word will come to pass. In such a situation, here are some biblical prescriptions you can use:
- Trust that the prophetic word will come to pass. If you believe the word is from God and not from man, then trust that it will come to pass. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
God says that once the word comes from Him, He will accomplish it. He is the Chief Implementation Officer when it comes to prophecy manifestation. He oversees manifestation. Learn to trust and believe that this word will surely come to pass. As you can see in Scripture and even in your own life, our God has a track record of keeping His word. He has accomplished all He has said so believe and trust Him that your prophetic word is not an exception. It will surely come to pass.
- Wage war in prayer. Prayer enforces the manifestation of the prophetic word. The devil’s goal is to discourage you from the faith so once you receive a prophetic word, he will surely fight its actualization. Prayer and spiritual warfare must therefore be engaged to bring manifestation. The Apostle Paul charged Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.”
Receiving a great prophetic word puts you automatically on a battlefield so you need to begin to pray and come against any power that will rise up against the manifestation of your prophecy. When David was anointed by Samuel and pronounced king of Israel, he fought many battles before he was officially crowned king.
In addition, pray for speedy manifestation of your prophetic words. Isaac was the recipient of the birthright from his father Abraham so fruitfulness was supposed to be default but his wife was barren. Consequently, he engaged God in prayer and enforced speedy manifestation. “Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:21). He prayed and pleaded with the Lord. May prayer bring speedy manifestation to that prophetic word in Jesus name!
- Obedience is a major key in manifestation of prophecies. There are certain prophetic words you receive that come with instructions or what we call a prophetic direction. You need to obey the instruction in order for the prophetic word to come to pass. Always be very attentive when receiving a prophetic word and look out for the instructions because the prophetic word is a door and the instruction is the key to manifestation. In Joshua 6, God gave Joshua a prophetic word that He had given him Jericho but Joshua had to first obey a prophetic direction or instruction.
“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:1-5)
This prophecy came to pass after Joshua obeyed the instruction. Not all prophecies carry instructions but for the ones that do, please obey them to the letter and you will see manifestation.
- Engage sacrifice and seed sowing. Sacrifice is a major part of our walk with God. Are you ready to part with treasure or something valuable in order to see speedy manifestation? Hannah was barren and believing God for a prophetic child. In the process of petitioning God for a child, she decided that once God grants her request, she will give the child to Him as a sacrifice. By that holy transaction, God gave her the child speedily.
“Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11)
We should not use seed sowing as a replacement for obedience but we must be led by the Holy Spirit with regards to the seed we sow into the prophetic word. In Christianity, we are led by the Holy Spirit.
There are many other things you can do to enforce the manifestation of prophecy such as affirming the written word of God, etc. I will speak about them later. But to conclude this article, I will mention that once you have done all these and are still not seeing manifestation, just be patient and trust the timing of God. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 (King James Version): “He hath made everything beautiful in his time.” Waiting patiently can be a stepping stone into manifestation. Patience is a fruit of the spirit and a virtue in your walk with God. As you wait, implore the mercy of God for the timely manifestation of the prophecy. Hope you have been blessed!
