What to do when hearing a prophecy today?

There can be several steps to do when hearing a prophecy:

1) Do not despise the prophecy.

2) Do not believe the prophecy by default.

3) It can be profitable to record the prophecy. Record the date, time, person, and exact words of the prophecy without adding or removing any.

4) Understand the content of the prophecy recorded.

5) Test the prophecy (to determine if the prophecy is true or false).

6) Act in accordance with the result of the test and the prophecy.

7) Watch if the prophecy comes to pass as expected.

All of this can be done in a few seconds, or it can take years, depending on the prophecy. 

Missing a step can matter as the steps can all build upon one another.

You can find more details along with reasons for each steps below:

1) Do not despise prophecies:

Paul commanded: "DO NOT BE-TREATING PROPHECIES WITH-CONTEMPT" (1 Thessalonians 5:20).

There is evidence to infer that prophecies can still be given today, and the Scriptures command us to not treat them with contempt.

For more information:

Did prophecies stop being given at some point around the 1st century AD?:
Click here

Do prophecies render the Scriptures unprofitable?:
Click here

2) Do not believe prophecies by default:

When you hear prophecies, do not believe them by default.

Prophecies are to be tested first before they may or may not be believed. 

For more information:

Not every prophecy is to be believed or trusted:
Click here

3) It can be profitable to record prophecies:

It can be profitable to record prophecies.

Recordings of the prophecies are to include all the words that were received, without adding to them or removing from them. This is because prophecies are not necessarily understood automatically and so preserving the words as they were given can insure the preservation of their original meanings. 

For more information:

It can be profitable for prophecies to be recorded:
Click here

One may want to record:

1) The exact date and time the prophecy was heard. 

2) The name of the person at the source of the prophecy.

3) The exact words that the prophecy had (without interpreting them or adding or removing from them).

The name of the person may be useful because it is possible for people to prophesy more or less accurately (thus knowing who exactly prophesied may be helpful).

For more information:

Is it possible for people to prophesy more or less accurately?:
Click here

4) Understand the content of the prophecies:

It is not impossible to understand prophecies after hearing them, but prophecies are not necessarily understood automatically. 

For more information:

Is it impossible to understand prophecies?:
Click here

Prophecies are not necessarily understood automatically:
Click here

After recording what the prophecy communicated, the subject to whom the prophecy was directed to can now start to seek to understand what the prophecy means. Indeed, the language used in prophecies can be understood in certain ways. 

For more information:

How can the language used in prophecies be understood?:
Click here

It is important to understand what the prophecy means so that it can be tested correctly, to see if the prophecy may be true or false. 

Furthermore, an action can be expected from the subject to whom the prophecy was directed to, and so understanding the meaning of the prophecy can help figuring out what the proper action may be in response to the prophecy.

5) Test the prophecies:

We are commanded to be testing prophecies, as Paul wrote: "do not be-treating PROPHECIES with-contempt, but BE-TESTING all (things)" (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). 

Prophecies can be TRUE or FALSE. 

One understanding of what "testing prophecies" can mean is: 

Examining if a prophecy is TRUE or FALSE. 

There are basic ways to be testing prophecies. 

For more information:

Basic ways to test prophecies:
Click here

It is important to test a prophecy because an action can be expected from the subject to whom the prophecy was directed to, and so depending on the result of the test, the action as a response to the prophecy can differ.

6) Act accordingly:

As a result of testing the prophecy, if it is is a TRUE prophecy, then it must be believed. 

If it is a FALSE prophecy, then it must NOT be believed.

For more information:

Not every prophecy is to be believed or trusted:
Click here

Furthermore, prophecies can include a call to action (explicitly or implicitly) from the subject to whom the prophecy was directed to. This is important to know because humans' actions can be taken into account for prophecies to come to pass (or not come to pass). 

For more information:

Prophecies can include a call to action (explicit or implied):
Click here

If it is a TRUE prophecy, then the subject must make sure that their actions as a response will be in accordance with the conditions set forth in the call to action in order to make sure that the prophecy can come to pass (or not come to pass).

7) Watch if the prophecy comes to pass as expected:

Watch if the prophecy comes to pass as expected. This is important because it can help figuring out if the previous steps were done correctly (or not). 

If a date or a season was expected for the prophecy, recording in a calendar or a note that we are used to look at can be useful to make sure that we do not forget about it later.

If a prophecy does not come to pass as expected, there can be several possibilities (which can include having not done the previous steps correctly).

For more information:

What if a prophecy did not come to pass as expected?:

Click here

↺ Click here to return to the Table of Contents.