THE ROLE OF THE PROPHETIC IN THE MARKETPLACE

The answer is a resounding “yes!” As five-fold ministers in this season, and as an end-time army or minister, I must understand God’s purposes, and sooner or later, I need to do my job and prepare or perfect the saints to do the work of ministry. Certainly, we are to minister in the marketplace, and those who are trying to have an impact in our society, need to hear the voice of the Lord, the direction of the Lord, and the strategy of the Lord. In John 17, it clearly tells us that we are sent, the same as the Father sent Christ into the world, but not to be of the world. We need to be a light in the marketplace, and we need to be a voice in the marketplace. The question is not am I supposed to be there but what is my role there? How do I exercise my authority there? How do I let my light shine? The following points should help us to define and understand this role and maximize our impact.

First and foremost, my character and integrity will have a direct effect on the way that I am received in the marketplace. How I conduct myself in my affairs before them is paramount. I have to understand that people in the marketplace have a different sense of value and are looking and playing by a different set of rules. I must base my life on the biblical principles that I stand for, even if I appear at times quite different than what they are used to. Even though I have a different foundational principle, the Lord knows, and I need to know what appeals to them and what will get their attention. If He is teaching us to be fishers of men, He doesn’t just want me to drop a hook in the water. There is different bait to attract different fish. I need wisdom, strategy, and revelation from the Lord, but my character has to be unyielding and right before them as well.

The second would be an opportunity, I can’t expect to have an impact on society sitting in my room or always surrounding myself with church people. I have to get out in the marketplace, so I need to begin to develop relationships with Christians who are working in that environment which will give me the opportunity to partner with them in the harvest field they are in. I need to begin to cultivate relationships with people in my congregation that can afford me those relationships. Let me give you an example, on a couple of occasions a businessman here in southern Ontario who attends our church, a Jewish believer, has arranged for me to meet some of his customers. These customers know that he is a believer by his life and his witness, and I have a great relationship with him. He arranged a time for me to meet with these customers who happen to own a supermarket. I prophesied over their family, their business. The Lord told me about their roots and humble beginnings, as well as His present-day vision for them. It was an impactful and very spiritual moment. We spent an hour with them and their leadership staff. It enhanced my friend’s witness and business relationship with them. They enjoyed the presence of the Lord. My friend has done this on many other occasions as well so it helps him to evangelize and have an impact on their lives. So, the relationships that I am looking to nurture and develop are centers of influence, that can open doors of opportunity for me to minister in their realm of authority. Another example is when I ministered to the hairdresser of one of my congregants. She brought me to her home and I ministered to her family. Another contact and influential person in my life brought me to a friend that they had who was a college administrator, who was not a Christian, and I ministered. It opened a great door not just in their life, but it opened connections that impacted our ministry as well. I must make myself available and take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible. I must let my voice be heard.

Thirdly, as a prophet I need to bring a sure word about future economic conditions, so that the people who are under my spiritual influence and are looking to expand their business, invest in a new home, start a new business venture, or are contemplating investments, will be able to get a reliable view of the economic conditions presently and for the future. Unfortunately, many times, I have heard these great fear predictions, that have caused the Body to miss golden opportunities to prosper because the prophet didn’t understand the timing to release the revelation of the Lord. We start each year with a Watch Night service. You can find some of those annual prophetic words on our website. I almost always include what the Lord is speaking about the economic climate.

Fourthly, I need to provide training and equipping for marketplace ministers, so that they fully understand their role. I very rarely prophesy these days about marketplace ministry. The Lord has been speaking that so long prophetically. Now is the time, to equip the marketplace ministers and train them and support them properly to fulfill their destiny.

Lastly, I try to speak prophetically into the lives of those people who get outside of the realm of nuclear church and into the marketplace, whether it’s in education, government, entertainment, the medical field, etc. I want to speak words of encouragement, comfort, and exhortation regularly into their lives. More than anything else, from the pulpit the Lord has given me, I want to constantly affirm them and their importance on God’s agenda that they will know that they are received and accepted by Him and by us in their role. I understand the importance of this personal affirmation because for more than twenty years, I was a marketplace minister and didn’t feel understood or appreciated in my call other than others looking to me to sow financially into the church. That is certainly part of the role, but it is not all of it. I need to continue to bring that to their attention and enhance their standing and confirm their place in the church and the marketplace.

If you are a prophetic voice in this season, or if you are in the leadership role of the office gift of the prophet, I want to encourage you to use that voice and that gift for the edification of your brothers and sisters in the marketplace ministry. If you are a marketplace minister, hear the voice of the Lord. Don’t just hear it but heed it. Bring your life and your business into alignment with those words and begin to cooperate with the Lord to bring them to fulfillment. This is our hour of impact, and the purpose of revival is transformation. The gift of prophecy is the voice of revival.