01   The Warning

The “Trade Secret” Lie and the Psychic Pitfall

The worst offenders are those in so-called “prophetic office” who guard prophecy like a “trade secret”—acting like it’s too sacred or too dangerous for Joe or Jill Christian to operate in. That attitude? Run far, run fast. That is the unmistakable, possessive stench of a Saul spirit.

And let’s be brutally honest: prophets are not always right! If you demand a perfectly accurate “word of knowledge”—burping up your address, phone number, and social security number—before you lend them an ear, you are not looking for a man or woman of God. You are shopping for a soothsayer, a psychic, or a spiritual parlor trick. This is a devastating, false doctrine currently infecting the prophetic landscape.

02   The Word

The Scriptural Guardrails Are Set by God

Prophets “hear in part,” “know in part,” and “see through a glass darkly.”

SCRIPTURE (the actual Word of God!) tells us prophets “hear in part,” “know in part,” and “see through a glass darkly.” Stop trying to clean up these ambiguities! They are baked into the prophetic spirit by God Himself precisely so your ultimate dependency is on HIM, not a human conduit. These “in part” limitations are authentic and necessary characteristics of a prophet. When they go beyond these divine guardrails, they are crossing over into the psychic realm, which is purely human, dangerously flattering, and, more often than not, demonically influenced.

03   The Correction

Stop Chasing the Rabbit in the Hat

Stop holding out for a prophet to “pull a rabbit out” of his prophetic hat before you believe them. Stop chasing the one who parrots your personal data—they are operating in a dimension that is, at the very least, deeply problematic and, for you, spiritually perilous.

“Believe the prophets,” so you shall “prosper.”

— 2 Chronicles 20:20

The entire point of the prophetic, according to 2 Chronicles 20:20, is to “believe the prophets” so you shall “prosper” (meaning: Advance. Move forward. Succeed.). Notice what it doesn’t say: “believe the prophecies.” Why? Because authentic prophecy will almost always be “in part” and “through a glass darkly.” You don’t throw spiritual caution to the wind based on shaky information, even if it’s divinely inspired. God wants you to invest your trust in a bona fide prophet who is committed to a long-term, relational basis in your life. (Heads up: territorial pastors absolutely despise this idea.)

✦ A Closing Word

If you read this and you don’t feel some level of friction, some immediate adjustment (the polite word for correction), you haven’t read closely enough. These pervasive misperceptions and errors are practically a universal cancer within the Charismatic/Prophetic movement. But frankly, can I help it if I’m right? To the Scriptures! If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is NO LIFE in them.