Because we are born again, our spiritual eyes and senses are open to the spirit realm. However, we need to train our senses to discern good and evil. “Discernment is not something we drift into but must train into.”[1]
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:14
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. Ephesians 1:17-19
We can also perceive the voice of God, what the Holy Spirit is saying, through the gift of discerning of spirits, the gift of word of wisdom, or word of knowledge. These are revelatory giftings that allow us to see in the Spirit.
Focus on learning to discern the good first, then you can recognize the evil. Pay more attention to what Jesus and the angels are doing than to what demons are doing. It takes regular practice, using activations such as asking Jesus where He is in the room or what He wants us to see or hear, and not dismissing that still small voice or the impressions that might light upon our hearts and minds. We must repeatedly practice listening, seeing, and sensing with the Holy Spirit.
We must distinguish our senses from thoughts and emotions. Not every thought is from God. We must take our thoughts captive and renew our minds with Scripture. Not every feeling is from God; feelings can lie; don’t use emotions alone to make decisions.
True discernment comes from the Holy Spirit. Discernment operates through the senses (what we spiritually see, hear, feel, taste, and smell), which are often evident in our physical bodies. God wants to invite us not just to hear Him in one regard, but to hear Him through all our senses, and to learn to flow with the Holy Spirit.
We must use Scripture and test the spirits by anchoring discernment in the Word of God to identify whether something aligns with God’s character and promises. God and His Word never change and are eternal (Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 40:8; Psalm 119:89). Testing the spirits is vital for recognizing when something appears “angelic” but contradicts Scripture or comes from the wrong source (1 John 4:1-4).
Let’s turn our attention for a moment to how we can judge a prophetic word we have received to ensure it is from the Lord and not from someone’s soul, their flesh, or a seducing spirit from the demonic realm.
But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 1 Corinthians 14:3
We are not to discern from emotion, e.g., it makes me feel good, so it must be God. We are not to discern by the messenger the sincerity of the person giving the word; for example, they are sincere, so it must be accurate. We must not discern whether the word is true or false by their use of spiritual language, Scripture, or praying in tongues, thinking this must be the Holy Spirit. None of these is foolproof. So, how do we discern with certainty whether a prophetic word is from God?
The one test that can expose every false prophecy is this: if the word does not align with the Word of God and who God is, then it is false prophecy. If there is a mixture in it where some sounds like it is from the Word or God’s character, but other parts of it are not, reject the word, no matter who delivers it. If it aligns with Scripture but gives you an uneasy feeling, do more searching of Scripture, pray, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and be willing to reject the word if it doesn’t pass the test. If the core message violates the Word of God, there is no light or truth in it.
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20
Test all things; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Jennifer LeClair explains in her YouTube video, The One Test That Exposes Every False Prophecy,”[2] that we can ask the following questions to determine the validity of the prophetic word:
- Does it align with Scripture or contradict it?
- Does it match the character of God, the ways of God revealed in the Bible, or does it present a different version of God?
- Does it call us to greater holiness, or does it permit us to compromise?
- Does it strengthen our obedience to God’s Word or create confusion?
I recommend that you record your prophetic words or write them down so you can revisit them later in closer detail. If you haven’t done this, you can always ask the Holy Spirit to bring it to your remembrance, and, by faith, as you receive it, write it down piece by piece as the Holy Spirit brings it back to you. If you don’t hear anything at that time, thank the Lord and let it remain in your spirit by faith, and the soul will become aware of it at the right time.
In January 2026, when we looked at Jesus, our wisdom, I mentioned how important it is to seek His wisdom this year and how vital it is that we also have a vision or a prophetic revelation for this year. I also discussed the need to ask the Holy Spirit which previous prophecies we have received to focus on this year, and fight the good fight of faith to bring them into God’s timing (1 Timothy 6:12).
Last week in March, we discussed hearing God’s voice.
So, now that we have learned about hearing and discerning God’s voice, let us turn our attention to our prophetic promises and see how we can help bring them into manifestation at God’s timing. We need to know which prophecies are from Him, how to move forward in them, and how to step into the prophetic and the supernatural realm, where God dwells.
God speaks things into existence and creates them through His Word, and all of creation is the product of His divine speech (Genesis 1:1-25). Both the written Word and the Rhema or living Word are seeds (Mark 4:3-9, 13-20).
There is a seed of promise in everything God speaks; we are to co-labor and cooperate with Him to see that it comes to pass. We must nurture the seed. Prophetic words are not merely informational; they are creative declarations from God and align with the books in heaven written about our destiny (Psalm 139:16; Daniel 7:10).
Satan, the accuser of the brethren, may have a case against us in the Courts of Heaven. We must not only silence the accuser but present our case before God, the Righteous Judge, for the rendering of decisions for us on our behalf (Hebrews 4:16; Revelation 12:10-11). We present our case to the court with open books, guided by a prophetic understanding of our destiny and purpose.
In his recent webinar on Empower 2000,[3] Robert Hotchkin explains that while God’s Words are sovereign, His sovereign plans in this realm include us as dominion stewards (Genesis 1:26-28), and we have a role to play in most prophetic words by perceiving, believing, and receiving. Faith is required to receive what God has spoken.
Hearing the prophetic word is often the beginning and does not automatically guarantee manifestation. Many believe that once God speaks, the outcome is inevitable and automatic. There can be complete prophetic words of something God will do sovereignly, no matter what.
But often a prophetic word is an invitation to enter into a cooperative process with God and to experience fulfillment on some level. Our response to these prophecies will determine their outcome, especially if they are directional. That is why it is so important to spend time with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal our part, so that we can see our prophetic promise come to fruition. There may be certain conditions that need to be met.
We don’t have to earn these promises, but God wants to give insight into how to position ourselves to see them come to pass (Amos 3:7, Genesis 1:26-28).
The words we speak are a huge part of seeing our prophetic promises come to pass. We must guard our words, because there is power of life and death in them, and we must not speak against what God has said (Proverbs 18:21). We must learn the power of speaking words in agreement with the promise.
Our prophetic promises are from “I AM” and His timing, not when and how we want. We must focus on the present tense and stand in the revelation of who God is – “I AM.” We see Moses was in the wilderness learning and growing for 40 years before he was sent to Pharaoh. And even though God told him that Pharaoh would let the people go, Pharaoh didn’t let them go at first, but Moses still believed in “I AM,” held on to the promise, and cooperated with what God told him to do.
God, who is “I AM” (see Exodus 3:14), has already done it, won it, and given it, even if it hasn’t manifested yet (John 19:30; Ephesians 1:3). He is shining a light on what we are coming into. We can receive these promises in the present tense because “I AM” is in the present tense.
Therefore, we decree and declare from the present tense, and we do this by faith! We are not making it happen, but we are aligning with what the Father has already declared.
Many prophetic promises come with built-in instructions on how to align, believe, receive, and cooperate with the eternal “I AM” so the promise moves into our reality.
The enemy wants to hinder us or trick us into believing it won’t happen. And we may even start thinking, maybe it isn’t going to happen, because we’ve been waiting for a while, or it won’t happen the way we think it should. But we can repent of any fear, doubt, discouragement, unbelief, and any words spoken against its fulfillment. We can plead the blood over any words spoken against our prophetic promise and declare that those words fall to the ground harmless and ineffective in the name of Jesus.
The Process: We must first determine that the prophetic promises we have received are from God. Then we can sort through our prophetic words, or the Scriptures God has given us, pulling out any themes the Holy Spirit highlights. One example: God has told me, through different prophetic voices on different occasions, that I would write more books and, specifically, revealed the topics of those books.
Next, we can Journal and ask God what He wants to say to us. In my case, I need to know which book He wants me to work on first. Then I need to begin writing, outlining the order and content, and ask Him when it should be released, in His timing. So, we need to act on it. We must take our prophecies and do our part in obedience to what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us. Praying, decreeing, and agreeing with the prophetic promise are vital!
Abundant Blessings!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Ivan Roman, “Unmuted” Webinar, 2-9-2026.
[2] Jennifer LeClair, “The One Test That Exposes Every False Prophecy,”streamed 2026, YouTube.
[3] Robert Hotchkin, “From Disappointment to Divine Delivery: Manifesting Your Prophetic Promises, Empower 2000 Webinar.
Living the Abundant Life 