One of the greatest dangers within prophetic ministry is releasing words based on what is seen in the natural rather than what Heaven is actually saying.

If the Lord is going to entrust someone to speak on His behalf, they cannot be moved by outward appearances alone.

Prophets must learn to see people, places, and situations from Heaven’s perspective—beyond and outside of their current condition, outward appearance, or personal and cultural preferences.

This means refusing to assume.

Prophets must be able to look at dry bones and call them to life, to recognize when something that appears healthy (like the fig tree) actually needs to be put to death, to look at someone who appears to be the obvious choice and hear God say, “No,” or to see someone others would overlook and hear God say, “Yes.”

We see one example of a prophet being moved by appearance rather than the will of God in 1 Samuel 16:6–7: “When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, ‘Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!’

But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” — 1 Samuel 16:6–7 (NLT)

Samuel took ONE look and assumed he knew the Lord’s will.

Many prophets today—especially on social media—are doing the very same thing out of habit, tradition, erroneous beliefs, and even prophetic peer pressure.

It’s reckless.

As stewards of the voice of Heaven, it is irresponsible to release words simply because of what we observe. Our responsibility is to receive from Heaven first—and then faithfully release what Heaven is saying.

—Lakeshia Momon