How we interpret the Holy Spirit’s prophetic messages

God’s thoughts are far higher than ours. He sees all things from His eternal timeless perspective and makes decisions with generations in mind. As human beings, we only see things from our very limited capacity. We have no ability to even imagine God’s thoughts. This is why we need the gift of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who will graciously teach about spiritual things and show us the mind of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is also the One who gives us the prophetic gift so that we may understand God’s will for our lives. Interpreting the Holy Spirit’s prophetic messages correctly, however, takes some knowledge of God’s Word as well as spiritual wisdom and maturity.

(简体中文 > 我们如何解读圣灵的预言信息 | 繁體中文 > 我們如何解讀聖靈的預言信息)

Isaiah 55:8-9  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16 NKJV  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The root word for prophecy in the New Testament in Greek is “prophēteia”. It means “an inspired message, an utterance from God, or the gift of declaring His divine will.” The ability to prophesy is a gift from the Holy Spirit, and we are all meant to eagerly desire to prophesy, as it is a gift that builds and matures the body of Christ. It is a gift we grow in, as we use it more and more.

Romans 12:6 NKJV Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

1 Corinthians 14:1,3 NKJV  Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

Recognise a true prophetic word

A true prophetic word will

• Align with scripture (Isaiah 8:20)
• Be comforting, encouraging (1 Corinthians 14:3)
• Edify and build us up spiritually (1 Corinthians 14:3) – if a prophetic word from God involves the uncovering of sin, it will also include the grace for healing and redemption, it will not be condemning or accusing
• Be convicting (1 Corinthians 14:24-25) and call us into repentance (change the way we think about things and therefore, our attitudes and our speech)
• Tear down lies and strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
• Usually pierce to the heart (Hebrews 4:12)
• Expose secrets (1 Corinthians 14:2)
• Reveal part of the picture, not the full (1 Corinthians 13:9–10)
• Testify of Jesus and point people to Him (Revelation 19:10)

It will not fall flat (“Oh, I already knew that”) and it will not be a general blessing (“Oh, that feels nice.”) A true prophetic word will resonate in our spirits and touch our hearts. It should birth something in us, give us boldness, and lead to action (“I can now see with greater clarity how to move forward.”)

Recognise the ways the Holy Spirit conveys His prophetic messages

The Holy Spirit can convey prophetic messages by different means:

1. Small still voice in our spirit | The Holy Spirit deposits an inaudible message inside us that feels like a spontaneous idea or understanding
2. Audible voice of God (Acts 13:2, 1 Samuel 3:4) | The Holy Spirit speaks audibly to us
3. Spontaneous, unplanned spoken word | The Holy Spirit causes prophetic words to gush out of our mouths without us planning or consciously thinking about it
4. Supernatural discernment (1 Corinthians 2:14) | God-given insight and understanding about situations, people, or places
5. Dreams (Job 33:14–18) | The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual understanding while we are asleep (such dreams are often vivid and not easy to forget)
6. Visions (Acts 2:17) | Vivid mental images while awake or in a trance (Acts 10:10–11) that are to be discerned and deciphered with the help of the Holy Spirit
7. Open visions | The Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes to see what is in the unseen in our immediate surroundings; examples include Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Stephen, Peter, Paul
8. Angels | God sends angels to deliver specific prophetic announcements, warnings, or interpretations of future events; examples in the New Testament include Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, Philip, Cornelius, Peter, Paul
9. Symbolic acts | The Holy Spirit inspires us to perform certain actions that convey His message; examples of prophets who did prophetic acts include Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and Agabus.
10. Feelings and sympathy pain (1 Corinthians 12:26) | The Holy Spirit causes us to empathically feel exactly what someone else is feeling

Recognise if a message is from the Holy Spirit or our flesh

Before we move on to discuss how we are to interpret the Holy Spirit’s prophetic messages, we must first discern and test if what we believe we have received is from the Holy Spirit or our own imagination. The human heart is very (self) deceiving and we cannot see our own sin. Every human being tends to see ourself as upright and blameless. Since mankind fell in the Garden of Eden, our inborn instinct has been to self-validate, self-protect, self-elevate, and self-gratify. If we do not crucify this anxious sinful nature to the cross, our fallen spiritual condition can cause us to perceive or conjure things up in our spirit that are actually from our own thoughts, beliefs, and emotions.

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV  “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

The apostle Paul described such tendencies as our flesh, the root word for which is “sarx”. “Sarx” refers to the human nature that acts independently of God. This includes our impulses, selfish desires, and  lifestyles that oppose the Holy Spirit. The very real danger is that they have been so programmed as a part of our lives that we are not even aware of them. 

Galatians 5:24-25 NKJV  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Here are a few examples of how our “sarx” can corrupt our prophetic gift.

1. Longings and desires | The deepest desires of our hearts can subconsciously steer us towards believing something that soothes our anxiety. For example, “God has shown me that that (attractive) man is going to be my husband.”
2. Most logical choice | When we survive on our rationale, we may think up what appears to be the most logical answers and say they are from God when they are not. For example, “This job has the best prospects out of three job offers, so this must be God’s choice.”
3. Bias and judgments | Our deeply embedded biases and judgments can automatically dismiss something that comes from God. Some biases are even cultural. For example, “Women cannot lead in church so God won’t choose her for this role,” in spite of examples in the Bible such as Priscilla (Acts 18:18–26), Lydia (Acts 16:14–15), and Phoebe (Romans 16:1–2).
4. Subconscious fears and suspicion | Fear is a strong emotion. We may have illegitimate reasons for why we developed our fears, but now we are living for God, we need to die to those fears. Any type of fear opposes the Holy Spirit and clouds our spiritual perception. For example, “God wants us to be cautious of that person because something in me is triggered whenever I am around him.” The real reason for our “sense” could be unhealed past trauma, the work of demonic spirits, or bitterness and unforgiveness. It is not the Holy Spirit, but our own wounded soul that is sending us such signals.
5. Doubt and unbelief | Doubt and unbelief can also cloud our ability to hear from God. For example, “It is just my imagination. God can’t be talking to me about this small matter.”

This is why the Word of God tells us to test the spirits. Is it our human spirit or the Holy Spirit?

1 John 4:1 NKJV  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

Additionally, God does not change His mind. He does not say one thing at one time, and another thing at another time. 

Numbers 23:19 NKJV  God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

He does not give us several optional prophetic words to choose from. He does not tell us, “You have three options, I leave it to you to choose which one to convey.” God’s will is perfect and He has one perfect choice. 

He is not nitpicking and controlling. He does not tell us, “Tell them to obey every detail you tell them, or else great judgment will come upon them.”

He does not scold or humiliate, He sends people to lovingly counsel and correct others before finally resorting to public discipline or reproof. He does not tell us, “Go and tell that person I condemn him.”

He will not tell us to try out the new age or join others in their idolatry. He does not tell us, “It’s alright for you to take part in that festival which glorifies a (demonic) false god.” This is likely our flesh speaking, because we don’t want to reject others or be seen as disrespectful.

The more we know God’s nature, the more we can discern if something is from our “sarx” or not.

How we interpret the Holy Spirit’s prophetic messages

1. The Holy Spirit gives the interpretation 

As the Author of the message, the Holy Spirit will also help us understand His meaning and intentions. His messages often won’t make much sense to us because they are not meant for us, they are meant for the recipient. All prophecies must be tested, particularly by the recipient.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 NKJV Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.

The meaning behind a prophecy is also often obscured from our human understanding. Any prophecy reveals only part of the entire picture. Hence, we need the Spirit of God to impart a prophecy’s proper meaning to us. We cannot rely on man’s wisdom. God is supremely creative and He will deftly craft a message that will cut straight to the issue and shed light into darkness, in ways that are beyond our imagination.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 NKJV  For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NKJV  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As we diligently seek the Lord every day and grow closer in intimacy with Him, such revelation will come more and more quickly, without much effort on our part. Other times, it may require dedicated fasting or even corporate prayer, such as when Daniel asked his friends to seek God together with him for the meaning of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Whichever the case, it is always necessary to go to the Lord first.

Daniel 2:17-19 NKJV  Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

(Please do not rely on AI to interpret God’s messages.)

2. Don’t make the mistake of rushing an interpretation

It is absolutely crucial that we do not rush to interpret any prophetic message. That would be considered presumption, which God’s Word calls “iniquity and idolatry”. That is a serious charge! Proverbs 30:6 reminds us to not add to (or subtract from) the Holy Spirit’s words, lest God rebuke us and expose us as liars. 

1 Samuel 15:23 ESV For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

Proverbs 30:5–6 NKJV  Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

Rather, we should humbly ask the Holy Spirit:

• Who: “Holy Spirit, who is this prophecy for?”
• What: “What is it all about? Please help me understand.”
• When: “Do You want me to say something now or just keep a record and stay quiet for the time being?”

In the book of Acts, we see that the people had presumptuously assumed that the prophetic word that the prophet Agabus had given for apostle Paul meant that Paul’s trip going to Jerusalem could endanger him, especially as the Jews in Jerusalem had also delivered Jesus “into the hands of the Gentiles” for crucifixion. Paul was not fazed by the prophecy as he probably knew that his mandate from heaven was not finished because he was meant to appear before kings, which had not occurred yet. Nonetheless, Paul boldly proclaimed, “I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 21:10-12 NKJV  And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

3. Always check against scripture 

Every prophecy will be aligned with scripture. The Holy Spirit will never go against the Word of God.

Those who are familiar with scripture will also recognise that God often assigns meanings to various things. This understanding will be very helpful in interpreting visions and dreams. Here are some examples.

• People | Father, witches
• Nature | Seeds, water, rainbow, light
• Animals | Eagle, lamb, snake, lion 
• Objects | Wings, swords, robes
• Colours | White, red, gold
• Numbers | 3. 7, 30, 40 
• Biblical dates | Passover, weeks 

4. Put down all idolatry in our hearts

We must never be tempted to interpret any message from God based on our own human understanding. Proverbs 3 calls being wise in our own eyes a form of evil. In fact, God gives us a stark warning in Ezekiel 14:2-4. If we hold onto idols in our hearts, God will not respond in a way that reveals His divine will. Instead, He will answer us according to our idolatry.

Proverbs 3:5-7  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Ezekiel 14:2-4  And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?  “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 

We find an example in the Bible with King Ahab. Ahab enjoyed consulting the 400 prophets who all “prophesied” according to what he liked to hear. King Jehoshaphat, who was visiting Ahab, discerned that something was “off” when he heard them and asked Ahab for a prophet who represented the Lord. Ahab then reluctantly called for the prophet Micaiah, who then warned him that God had put “a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.”  Ahab refused to believe Micaiah. Instead, Ahab put him in prison on a strict diet of bread and water. King Ahab was his own idol. As a result, he was given “prophecies” that catered to him by a lying spirit. This ultimately led to his defeat and death in battle. 

1 Kings 22:6-8 NKJV  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”  So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”  And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?” So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”  And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

1 Kings 22:19-24 NKJV  Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

Learning to interpret a message from the Holy Spirit takes practice and we will not get it right all the time. Even the most seasoned prophetic believers get it wrong once in a while. Sometimes, we share the prophetic word too early or too late, or share it with the wrong person/s. This is why we do not rush into interpreting a message and we do not rush into sharing it. 

The prophetic gift is something we grow into, as we prophesy in proportion to our faith and spiritual maturity. We do not shrink back from exercising our gift just because we made a few mistakes. We simply need to own up and apologise for our error and move on.

Romans 12:6 NKJV  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love the Lord with all your heart and understand the Holy Spirit’s prophetic messages.