II Chronicles 20:20 NKJV …’Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” ‘
God sends His prophets to the people for any number of reasons; to warn, to encourage, to bring correction, to impart something they need, or to confirm information for them. A prophet will never take the place of God in your life, nor will they always have every answer you seek. We are all required to have our own personal relationship with the Lord. He can and will speak to every one of us through any number of diverse ways. There is value, however, in heeding prophetic warnings. God would rather warn you about something and allow you a window of time to self-correct rather than punish you. God is patient and He corrects those whom He loves. (Proverbs 3:12 NKJV) God is just and He will determine the level of severity of the punishment based on whatever criteria He chooses.
If God has allowed a prophet to cross your path in order to bring correction, it is extremely important that you heed the warning. Do not take the correction as a form of disrespect nor view it as if it is emanating from an arrogant individual who has no right to tell you anything. God hates pride. God sent the message to save YOU. Not everyone receives the privilege of having a specific encounter meant to communicate a message directly to them. God does the choosing but throughout the Bible it is clearly evident that He sent prophets to people, lands and systems that He deemed exceedingly wicked in order to warn them before they faced severe punishment or eminent destruction. God is not required to give anyone a personal visitation so even if it is a correction, consider it a privilege. Also, don’t make the mistake and assume that you have additional time and will eventually change and do it God’s way. Sometimes the destruction or punishment comes quickly or unexpectantly. Sometimes He bypasses the punishment for something worse.
Prophetic people walk in a certain level of spiritual authority, but some can misconstrue this confidence as arrogance, which it is not. Don’t make that mistake and thumb your nose up at the prophetic word that was given. Even if you do not like the person, it doesn’t make that prophetic word is any less true for you. Don’t judge the person based on how they look, what they drive, or their level of income. God can use a homeless person to give you a prophetic word that could save your life. Only a fool would reject the message because they didn’t like ‘the package’ it came in. Refusing the correction is by default, choosing the punishment.
Use caution when speaking about prophets or any of God’s anointed people. You may incur a painful backlash that you did not expect simply for ‘putting your mouth on them’ in any negative way. Even if they are in the wrong. Touch not my anointed also means ‘touching’ them with your negative words. (Psalm 105:15) Have your opinion but keep it to yourself or discuss it with God directly. Alternatively, approach with discretion and civility. No one is above correction, not even prophets, but prophets tend to receive their correction directly from the Lord. No one can correct you like He can.
II Chronicles 36:16 KJV ‘But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.’