What does the Bible have to say about “paying for prophecies.” It might shock you!
Introduction
There has been a lot of discussion lately in Christian media from ministers who have a national platform concerning the concept of sowing a seed for a prophecy. These ministers and writers usually, more often than not, erroneously refer to the concept of sowing a seed for a prophetic word as “paying for a prophecy”. Generally these bloggers and writers give the impression that they have been assigned by God the spiritual authority to be prophetic police of the internet.
Sadly many of these bloggers and writers do not have the Apostolic or Prophetic authority assigned by God to even make these assertions. Their argument against sowing a seed for a prophecy generally goes something like this: No matter how bad someone needs a prophetic word from the Lord, they should not receive a prophetic word from someone online by sowing a seed, but rather prophecies should be administered within the four walls of the church. Furthermore, if someone does receive a prophetic word online or via the internet, they definitely should not “pay” for it. This is my first chapter of a new book I am writing, What the Bible Really has to Say about Paying for Prophecy. In this chapter I discuss the commonly misunderstood scripture in Matthew 10:8: Freely have you received; free you give.”
My first experience with sowing a seed for prophecy.
My first acclamation to sowing a seed for a prophecy happened about 10 years ago. I was talking to a friend who mentioned that she had received an anointed prophecy from a Bishop. When she told me who the Bishop was, I gasped! I was appalled. I had seen this Bishop on late night television and was familiar with him. He would ask people to sow a seed and in return the person who sowed the seed would receive a prophetic word. This concept of “paying for a prophecy” went against everything that I had been taught. “You can’t pay for a prophecy!” I exclaimed. And I was indignant about it. I stood on the scripture “Freely you have received. Freely you should give.” Later I will discuss how this is arguably one of the most misunderstood scriptures in the Bible as it relates to giving.
Ironically, a few days later I had fallen asleep with the television on. When I woke up, this Bishop that I had blasted my friend out for “paying” for a prophetic word was on TV. He promised that I could request a free prophetic word by calling his ministry. My curiosity got the best of me. I decided to request a prophetic word with the expectation that what I received would be bogus. Once-and-for-all I would prove that this guy was a phony.
After a week or so, I received a written prophetic word from the Bishop. The prophetic word that I received was very accurate – so accurate it was scary. The prophetic word mentioned how I was a writer and that God was opening up a career for me in the theater arts and film. This was all very true. Besides prophetic ministry, I am a playwright and screenplay writer. There was no way for him to know this. I was in the infant stage of my writing and did not have a website or anything out on the internet by which he could have “googled” me. Later, I sowed a seed to his ministry and received my first audio prophecy. I was extremely blessed by his ministry. The prophetic words that I received from him and his team of prophets gave me that courage to purse a career in entertainment. Since receiving his first prophecy I have produced 10 stage plays and 1 feature film that opens in stores soon. I would have never had the boldness to fully pursue this career had I not received this Bishop’s words.
You cannot “pay for a prophecy”. If God charged you for a prophetic word, you probably couldn’t afford it.
My connection with these prophetic words from the Bishop put me in position to receive directions from the Lord concerning how to establish my business, what partnerships I should pursue, and who to stay away from in business. As a result, I have made thousands and thousand of dollars by following these prophetic words. I only sowed in money a fraction of what I have received in revelation from those prophetic words. So to say that my meager $30 seed (or whatever the prophet is asking for) is payment for the revelation received from a prophetic word is ludicrous!
How could I afford to pay for the deliverance I received from a prophecy?
A few years ago I had become really depressed. I had come to recognize that I had spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on a Ph.D. in higher education, yet I was unable to acquire a job working at a college or university. Although I knew the Lord had sent me to get my Ph.D., I was beginning to question the reason for why I needed to get a Ph.D. Around this same time I sowed into a prophet’s ministry – not so much to specifically receive a word about this issue – but rather to be encouraged.
In this prophetic word, the prophet began to explain my calling and that one day I would be ministering to those in high political authority. This prophetic word broke off years of depression because God explained to me that it was paramount that I obtained a Ph.D. so that I would be listened to by these political leaders. The prophetic word said that all of my educational experiences were setting me up with an academic pedigree that would allow me entrance into places of high authority. When I heard this prophetic word, the depression of feeling like a failure broke off of me immediately. This word brought clarity to my calling and caused me to feel as though the money I spent to receive a Ph.D. had a divine purpose. However, the money that I sowed into this prophet’s ministry was minuscule to what I received from the personal prophecy. Two years of depression and feeling like a failure was instantly lifted from off of me by one prophetic word that financially only cost me $30. There is no way I could ever pay God back what I received in mental and emotional healing from that prophetic word. You see, you couldn’t pay God for a prophecy if you wanted to. Who could afford it? I definitely could not. And neither could you.
A commonly misunderstood scripture: “Freely have you received. Freely you give.”
One scripture that the self-assigned prophecy police use is this one:
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give(Matthew 10:8).
On my first day of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary my teacher taught us this: when interpreting scripture, never lift a scripture out of its context to make an argument. Rather look at that scripture and study the scriptures that proceed and follow the scripture for an accurate interpretation. So let’s look at this scripture again including the scriptures before and after Matthew 10:8.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 9“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts- 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town (Matthew 10:7-15).
In this passage, Jesus was sending the disciples out to minister. His commission to them was to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom while they demonstrated the kingdom. The disciples were indued with power from the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, cleanse leapers, raise the dead and cast out demons. How many churches these days even believe in praying for the sick, cleansing leapers (people who have AIDS), or raising the dead? And don’t even mention casting out demons! Most churches don’t even believe people can be demonized.
So where do people go to experience healing, deliverance, or prophetic revelation? I submit to you that many people are seeking outreach ministries, online ministries, and going to conferences to receive deliverance, healing, and to receive prophetic words. When writers and bloggers belittle prophets who administer personal prophecy via the internet by condescendingly referring to these prophets as “internet prophets” they are intentional being derogatory and insulting – as if to discredit God’s prophets. As you can see from Matthew 10:7-15, the disciples were sent out into the marketplace -not the synagogue or the temple (modern day church). The one time Jesus tried to preach in the synagogue the religious leaders got so mad they ran him out of town and tried to push him off a cliff (ref. Luke 4). Anything that is cutting edge is usually accepted outside of the church first and then it becomes mainstream acceptable. Personal prophecy has primarily happened outside of the church because the church has been uncomfortable with prophecy. But as we can see from Matthew 10, just because something spiritual happens outside the walls of the church does not mean that it’s any less anointed or accepted by God.
Interestingly, when you study the book of Acts, out of the 20 miracles that were performed, only two occurred in the church. The other 18 miracles occurred through spiritual experiences that the Apostles and Philip the Evangelist had in the marketplace. The internet is our modern day marketplace. Just like in the book of Acts, or when Jesus sent the disciples out in the Gospels, ministers made contact with people and then ministered to them by the power of God. These spiritual experiences – whether in deliverances, healing and miracles, or prophecy happened in the marketplace – not the church. Administering a prophetic word to someone via the internet is nothing new to God. Internet ministry is God’s marketplace. God has been sending His disciples out into the marketplace for over 2,000 years to minister to His people. In Biblical times it was door-to-door. In comparison, in present-day society, most people are scared to let people into their houses physically. However they do trust letting people come into their house via the internet. The internet is God’s new method of ministering house-to-house.
“Freely you have received, freely you give” in context.
When you read Matthew 10 in its proper context you see that when Jesus said “Freely you have received, freely you give” He was admonishing the disciples to not bring a backup stash of money with them when they went out to minister, but to totally trust in God for their provision. Jesus in turn promised the disciples that if they did trust God for their substance, He would command the people to take care of their needs. Jesus said, “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts-no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.” Jesus was telling the disciples that they would freely receive from the people, therefore they would not have to worry about giving their all in ministry because He would make sure that they were not left empty handed. The people were expected to financially take care of the disciples.
It is very important that we understand what Jesus said about taking care of His prophets because it is still applicable today. When Jesus said “Freely you have received, freely you give.” He was saying to the disciples: “Wherever you go in the marketplace, you will not have to worry about money. You don’t need your own resources because the people have been mandated to take care of you.” Furthermore, Jesus told the disciples, “You are not responsible for taking care of yourself. I have mandated the people to take care of you.” We know that this is the context by which Jesus said “Freely you have received, freely you give” because in Matthew 8:14-15 He states, ” If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (emphasis mine).
When a prophet is not worried about how she or he is going to pay their bills or provide for their family, they are in a position where they can spend quality time with God and hear on behalf of His people. So when a prophet freely receives from God’s people, then she or he is freed up spiritually to give an accurate anointed word from God. The church has gotten this scripture twisted and thought that it meant because prophets receive the anointing of God for free (There has been nothing free about being a Prophet. Accepting God’s call has cost me everything), they should administer prophetic words for free. As you can see from Matthew 10, this could be further from the truth. In this scripture, Jesus was saying that the people of God should financially support His prophets (give) and in-turn, His people can expect to receive an anointed word from His prophets. The prophet is not burdened down with concerns about expenses therefore she or he can hear (receive) an accurate word from God.
Think about it: out of the five-fold ministers, all the other offices: Apostle (Missionary), Pastor/Teacher (Church), and Evangelist (Itinerate-Church) have a system in place by which they can be supported. The Prophet is the only five-fold ministry gift that does not have an infrastructure in place where they can be supported full-time through a financial giving system. Like priest in the old testament, the prophet has to be supported by the people. In the past, many prophets were financially supported through traveling from church to church. But these days this is not even a sure method by which prophets can survive financially. During the last recession, because churches were losing money, they stopped bringing prophets to their churches. Many of my prophet friends were scrapping pennies to make ends meet. I have two prophet friends who, during the last recession, had to go on welfare! You cannot tell me that this was God’s will to have His holy prophets on welfare?! God forbid! So when these self proclaimed prophecy police look down their noses at God’s Holy Prophets for ask for a donation in exchange for a prophetic word they are wrong. These self-proclaimed prophecy police should be ashamed of themselves! You can best believe these people will have to give an account for their stout words against God’s “internet prophets” as they facetiously call them.
In conclusion, we cannot make the assumption that Prophets are free to prophesy in the local church when 90% of church leadership does not even believe in prophets. And of the 10% that do, many of the pastors who provide the leadership for these local churches do not allow prophets to minister in their churches on a regular basis. House prophets in most local churches are usually regulated to prophesying only during praise and worship and during ministry ordinations. Are these the only reasons Jesus set prophets and personal prophecy in the Body of Christ – to be regulated to corporate words during worship and ordinations? Of course not! To the self-annoited prophecy police of Christian media – NEWSFLASH! The internet was not designed by Satan. The internet was designed by God to send His word out to whoever has the ears to ear what The Spirit is saying to the church.
personalprophecy 
Very good article Kyle, I’m so glad someone is stepping up to the plate on this issue.
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Prophets prey on some of us. It just happened to me recently. It is offensive and ungodly. God directs where, when and to whom I share His money. Some prophet recently concocted this whole scheme with her spiritual daughters for me to start paying part of her rent! They have known the prophet for years and me not a year. I had already been generous even beyond what God said because I saw a need. I told them no ma’am was I indefinitely paying anything for anybody not a parent. Although the set up was that the prophet allegedly did not know what they were asking, she does. I hear from God too. My relationship with the prophet is now ruined basically…i dont see her the same. I noticed she begged for my car, oddly would give me money I guess for me to multiply it times ten and I knew she was broke…so far in my twenty years of lnowing prophets, only one had a nonmanipulative spirit and he is dead. The notion of paying for a prophecy has gotten out of hand. However, if I sign up to pay as you have set up here, then I don’t feel preyed upon.
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Hi Jenny Smith this example is unfortunate and sad. People should be led by God to give, not be manipulated to give. And just like there are bad pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc there are bad prophets. However we cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. We have all had a bad experience at McDonalds or Walmart but typically we do not stop going there. We might change which store we go to though. Ministry should be approached the same way.
However, a minister asking for a donation to me is not manipulation. The scriptures are pretty clear that if you teach from the gospel you should be fed from it as well. Yet it is not the minister’s job to try and make people give. People should be led by God and if they don’t obey it’s between them and the Lord.
Blessings
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