Years ago, Lorraine and I stood with a group of mainly German Christians in a certain place in a Polish lakeside city on the border of Ukraine. We were not told who or what we were waiting for, but after an hour or so the decision was made for the group to move on.
When I asked who we had been waiting for, I was told that early that day the group leaders had prayed that anyone who had any interest in the kingdom of God would be led by the Lord to where we were standing. No one had come, which they said meant that now we were free to leave.
I thought it a bit strange at the time, but we had a prophetess among us, and I realized later that making a point of possible contact was one way the group exercised their faith.
On yet another trip, this time in what had only months before been East Germany, I was told that we would know which turnoff we should take to reach a border when we would pass through a pine forest and then see a woman standing by the road with a basket under one arm. The turnoff would be just after that to the right. She was and the turn off did.
All three things took place exactly, in that order. On the way back as we neared Warsaw, the prophetess warned the driver to slow down because a car would suddenly and unexpectedly appear on the right-hand side from behind a hedge. It did. She also warned of something standing on the edge of the road, which had three legs. Again, the driver slowed down and soon after a surveyor’s trident appeared (apparently left accidently on the edge of the bitumen).
This reminds me that we should recognize and respect genuine prophets, as well as pastors and teachers. They’re an interesting ministry to have travelling with you because they tend to be a bit different from pastors, who are cautious and teachers, who are studious. I have no time for those 24/7 prophetic news cycle style ‘prophets’ (and can get a bit temperamental at times). But hey, nobody’s perfect — including some fivefold ministries!