Jennifer Eivaz: "Are You Called as a Prophet? Then You Are Called to Lead!"

From the desk of Steve Shultz:

I am honored to call Jennifer Eivaz a personal friend. She and her husband Ron pastor Harvest Christian Center in Turlock, CA.

As both pastor and recognized prophet, Jennifer has an extremely detailed, but also a birds-eye view of what it means to be in the Office of a Prophet.

I like Jennifer's practical writing style, teaching gift and understanding of the Office of a Prophet. You'll discover she's quick to tell stories on herself in areas where she's blown it or not understood. This is the mark of a person who has humility.

Please do me a favor... Listen closely, read slowly and absorb all you can from Jennifer, especially if you, or someone you know, is in the recognized Office of Prophet.

You're going to learn a lot here! Remember to forward this article to your friends!

Prophetic Encounters and Visions

I had the most unusual vision around 12 years ago during a conference at my church. It was the type of vision where your whole world disappears and you find yourself in another reality. Inside this vision, an angel came with a large scroll and a pen. I'm guessing the scroll to be four-feet wide and ten-feet long with writing on the front and back. I could not decipher the writing and there was a space at the bottom of the scroll waiting for a signature. I'm not sure how I knew, but in the vision I understood that I needed to sign the scroll. I also knew, by instinct, that I was signing on to my call as a prophet to the nations.

In the vision, the call to be a prophet was plain. In real life, I had never considered it before or even aspired to it! I signed the scroll and communicated back to the angel saying, "I've signed your contract. Now what?" The angel quickly corrected me saying, "It's not a contract! It's a covenant, and I'll be back."

As I came out of the vision, there was one of our conference speakers standing over me. I don't know when it happened, but I was now flat on my back on the floor. She was very enthusiastic and began shouting, "You are a prophetess of God! You are called to the nations!" I still didn't know what to make of all this. I'm a prophet now? What does that mean? What do I do? The experience did yield the beginnings of a new anointing and authority in my life. It also launched me into some mighty adventures in God as well as some shocking spiritual warfare.

Are you wondering if you are a prophet or not? There are some clear ways to know. The office of a prophet is a calling from Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 4:11). It's a leadership role with a designated sphere ("metron") of authority. When Jesus calls you to the office of prophet, there will be some type of spiritual encounter where it will be made plain to you. If you really have the OFFICE of PROPHET, you can expect the Church to later confirm your calling by revelation. The Church accepting you as a prophet is usually progressive in nature, but your call is not something you have to announce or demand. (Photo via Freeimages)

We see a similar pattern in the life of the Apostle Paul. He received his call in a vision on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9). His ministry was later confirmed and progressively received by the Church. People who are prophetically gifted often mistake their giftedness as a call to the office. They are not the same thing. Others call themselves "prophets" because the title elevates them. The spirit realm knows, and you can't manufacture an anointing that isn't there. When a real prophet operates in their designated sphere of authority, they get visible results that no one else can touch.

After I had that vision, I began to recognize the voice of God in a set of repeated circumstances. One church in particular, The International Church of Las Vegas, would have an annual "Holy Spirit" conference that was consistently anointed and a place of refreshing for my husband and me, especially as young pastors. The ICLV pastors enjoyed bringing to the front all the visiting ministers for personal ministry. Hands would be laid on us, the anointing would fall, and as ministers we would receive powerfully.

In my case, however, I noticed I would often receive the anointing much deeper than the rest. It was the same pattern each time. I would be out in the Spirit on the floor and I would stay that way well past the others. They would respectfully move their conference service forward, but I would be left in the altar space of the church, and a few times up on the platform. It was quite embarrassing to me as I was not an up-front person at all. I was always a back-row person. I came to realize much later that God did that on purpose, and it was a message. He was saying that as a prophet He had called me to stand before the people, not behind them. It's a leadership role.

"You Are a Prophet. You Need to Lead!" -Jesus

Since then, I've understood the role of a prophet to be the role of a leader. It's taken a long time to cultivate a mindset and application of leadership in my life. Being a prophet involves a "governing" role in the Body of Christ that equips and matures the saints alongside the other gifts of Christ: apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (see Ephesians 4:11-12).

Here are some tips to help you be a become a better prophet-leader:

1. Deal with intimidation. If you are going to succeed as a leader, you need to deal with the spirit of intimidation. Second Timothy 1:7 says we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Prophets often deal with the spirit of fear and anxiety in a heightened way. The spirit of fear, some even call it a Jezebel spirit, wants to keep you silent and put you in hiding. This spirit will discourage you, make you suicidal, and cause you to second-guess everything you hear from the Lord (see 1 Kings 19:4). You must relentlessly resist fear and discouragement in all of your thoughts and your relationships.

2. Be socially aware. As a growing prophet and ministry leader, I was not always very pastoral or attentive when it came to the personal emergencies of Church members. I would often know prophetically what was going to happen with the person. In my emotions, I could be well over their problem long before they were. Unfortunately, I would neglect to walk people through the process of recovery, which justifiably made some people feel slighted. I'm much better now at walking people through things, but it took me a while to see how abnormal my behavior was.

That's just one example of being socially awkward because of your prophetic wiring. As a prophet, you are wired differently than the rest of the world and are absorbing information multi-dimensionally. Many times you aren't even in the same time zone as the people around you. They are in the present, but you are off somewhere in the future and already reacting to it. It can make you seem disconnected to those around you and out of step. You have to be intentional to stay in the present for the sake of others and not get so far off in the future that you stop being relatable.

3. Beware of offense at the Church. Prophets will always be tested with offense at Christ's Church. "Offenses will come..." (Luke 17:1). A prophet feels pain deeper than others. Your sensitivity is your strength and your weakness. When offense comes, you feel it a lot stronger. It can cause you to react and not want to be a part of the Church or even build it. You can't experience the blessings of the Church unless you are a part of it. Real covenant, real marriage with the Body of Christ is only as strong as your decision to love His Church for better or for worse. We love what Jesus loves, and Jesus loves His Church.

To effectively speak into the Body of Christ, you have to be committed to building it. That is a position of the heart, and it also means being an active part of a Church and/or physically leading one. The Church is a catalyst to your call. The natural tension that that comes with being a part of the Church actually works for you even though it's frustrating. There will be tension, and tension sharpens you. (Photo via Pixabay)

4. Develop organizational skills. Prophets really enjoy the spontaneous prophetic flow of the Holy Spirit. It just doesn't replace the need for good planning, structure, and organization. Prophetic spontaneity will capture people's attention as well as gather them. What keeps the people and takes them forward is a clear vision, a communication plan, and a strategy on how to get there. Habakkuk 2:2 says to write the vision, make it plain, so we can all run with it. That's a message about planning things well. Learn to be a planner that can communicate and stick to a directive without changing things too quickly or too often.

5. If you don't serve well, you won't lead well. Jesus described it best: The greatest person is one who serves (see Luke 22:27). Prophets can, at times, suffer from acute bouts of arrogance and entitlement. It repels and doesn't attract. When you serve and love well, your leadership will be refreshing and received well.

Jennifer Eivaz
Executive Pastor, Harvest Christian Center
Email: asst2jeneivaz@harvestturlock.com
Website: jennifereivaz.com

Jennifer Eivaz is a vibrant minister and international conference speaker who carries the wisdom and fire of the Holy Spirit. She presently serves as an Executive Pastor with Harvest Christian Center in Turlock, California, and is focused on raising up a passionate and effective prayer community that is tempered with love and hears the voice of God accurately. Jennifer loves the Presence of God and is a prophetic voice to her Church and to others. Her teaching style is authentic and aimed at the heart, having been built on her personal testimony of God's incredible goodness and miraculous display in her life and in the life of her Church. Jennifer is a graduate of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is married to HCC's Senior Pastor Ron Eivaz, and they have two wonderful children. She has written a book called The Intercessor's Handbook.

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