2 Timothy 4:1-5
By the phrase, “prophetic word,” I’m referring to a statement claiming something would occur in the future. And more specifically, we’re going to be talking about a “prophetic word” about a relationship.
Perhaps someone proclaimed that you and a certain person would get married or that you would meet a certain type of person by a specific time period. Or maybe you feel like you received a prophetic word from the Lord about your own relationship future with someone.
If this “prophetic word” has not occurred yet, what is the explanation for this? Here are 4 reasons to consider.
And for those of you who have purchased my new book, Christ-Centered Dating, and for those of you who will purchase this book at some point, I wanted to let you know about the free bonus material I’m giving to you.
For anyone who purchases this book, I’m giving you 5 of my other books (in PDF) for free and access to a private Facebook group where you can interact with other Christian singles who also believe in the biblical relationship principles I unpack in Christ-Centered Dating.
More information can be found at the end of this article.
1. The Prophetic Word Did Not Occur Because It Was an Unbiblical Prophecy
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 commands, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
This is a very important passage for us when asking why a prophetic word about a relationship did not occur. We certainly want to be careful we are not despising prophecies and quenching the Spirit. But we also need to test these prophecies and not be tricked into believing lies.
One of the challenges when talking about true and false prophecy is that the words “prophecy” and “prophet” are often used differently by different people. Most people associate these words with telling the future, but biblically this is not always the way “prophecy” and “prophet” are used, especially in the New Testament.
The most basic definition of these words relates not to future telling but rather to “speaking messages from God.” So really, at a basic level, when someone applies the word of God through applicational teaching, they are offering “prophecy” because they are proclaiming a message from God.
When someone is proclaiming a “prophecy” in this sense, it’s easier to know if this is truly from the Spirit or just a false prophecy. All you need to do is compare it to the word of God. If the person said something unbiblical, you know it’s a false prophecy.
2. The Prophetic Word Did Not Occur Because It Was a False Prediction About the Future
It’s much harder to know if something was really from the Spirit when it’s the type of prophecy proclaiming that a future event will occur. The only real way to know if this was from God is to wait and see if it happens.
According to Scripture, if a prophet says something that never happens, that prophet did not truly hear from God and they spoke a false prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).
This is why I believe it’s very unwise to put too much hope in a prophecy proclaiming something about your future. A true prophecy from God will always happen. Therefore, people get into trouble when they start making life decisions based upon this prophecy. Rather than the prophecy revealing their future, now this prophecy starts controlling their future. This is not right and it is a form of manipulation on the part of the prophet and a form of immaturity by the person trying to fulfill this false prophecy through their own power.
For example, if you start rejecting relationship opportunities with people you like or that have great potential because you are believing a prophecy made about you and a different person, you are acting unbiblical because you are trying to make the prophecy come true. If it was really from God, it would come true without you trying to fulfill it. You are most likely just missing out on good relationship opportunities because you are trying to make something happen that is not going to happen.
If God truly said it, you are not going to need to micromanage the situation for it to happen. You will need to participate. But if it’s not happening naturally with this person, it’s far more likely that this was simply a false prophecy and God didn’t really say you two would be together.
3. The Person Who Spoke This Word Just Wanted to Look Good and Told You What They Thought You Wanted to Hear
This world is full of people who are willing to sell their soul to the devil just to be famous and rich. If someone like this knows that you really want to be with a specific person, it is highly likely they will tell you what you want to hear just so you will elevate them, give them money, and make themselves look good in front of whoever is watching.
In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, we are warned to watch out for those false prophets who just want to tell us what we want to hear. Rather than focusing on people telling us the future we hope occurs, we should be listening to people who are helping us apply the word of God to our lives right now (2 Timothy 4:1-2, 5).
4. This “Prophetic Word” Hit on a “Desire from God” Rather than a “Specific Desire from God”
Rather than assume a desire or “a word” was totally not from God at all, it is possible God was saying something to you but you just misunderstood the actual meaning of what was said.
For example, perhaps you heard a sermon about signs you were called to marriage, and as the pastor was preaching you felt God was using these points to say that you and this specific person would be married one day. But perhaps God was just using that sermon to tell you that you should pursue marriage but you assumed he was saying you should pursue marriage with that specific person.
In other words, God often gives us a general desire for marriage but we often than attach that desire to someone that he does not want us to marry.
Either way, whether you feel led to wait a bit longer to see if this desire will occur or if you are prepared to let it go, trust God. Only he knows the future, only he knows his plans for you, and only he knows what will happen in your relationships.
Rather than spending time trying to predict your future, all you really need to do is remain in the presence of God. He will then cause his will to occur in his timing (Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 16:3, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28).
For more on this topic, here’s an article called How to Interpret Dreams and Prophecies About Your Future Marriage.
What Does The Christ-Centered Bonus Material Include?
Access to the Christ-Centered Dating Facebook Group
Within this group, you will get to:
- Answer questions from Mark Ballenger to spark meaningful conversations with like-minded Christian singles who also believe in the principles outlined in Christ-Centered Dating.
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Access to 5 Free eBooks (PDF)
Each of these books are sold exclusively on Amazon. But when you purchase Christ-Centered Dating, you get the PDF of each of these books for free.
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