1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 - “Do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything. Hold on to the good.” 

1 Corinthians 14:29 - “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should test what is said.”

TESTING THE GIFTS – The New Testament says that we should test all prophecies in the church – and this is true whether the prophecy comes as a verbal revelation, a vision, or a dream.  Unfortunately, very few Pentecostal or Charismatic churches today test any prophecies.  They accept everything people say, even though many so-called “prophets” today mix up their own imaginations with true divine revelations.  In the true Work of the Holy Spirit, we must develop a consistent practice of testing the spiritual gifts.  The Bible commands this and the Spirit requires it.  If we allow false prophecies into the church alongside true words from the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will stop speaking in that place completely, leaving us to our own imaginations.  This happens even with seemingly “harmless” false prophecies that promise people prosperity or victory over their problems. 

Of course, the Lord wants to speak in every one of our services.  It would interrupt the flow of the service (especially if the services are nice and brief) to stop and seek confirmation of each prophecy or spiritual gift as we go. In Maranatha we have a small, private meeting immediately before each public service.  There, a group of mature members can ask the Lord for confirmation of each spiritual gift or prophecy related to the upcoming service.  This requires that we train the members to seek God in prayer ahead of time (preferably praying at daybreak) for spiritual gifts pertaining to the next service.  God will speak ahead of time when the members do this.  It is hard for many Pentecostals to learn this mentality, because they think prophecies and other gifts come only when we feel caught up in the emotion of the moment.  Many, unfortunately, think that prophecies must be spontaneous.  God is not dependent on our own emotion or excitement.  He can easily speak to the other members at daybreak (or other times) about the upcoming services that day. 

Those who have received revelations meet promptly 30 minutes before the designated service time.  One by one, each gift is put before the Lord by the group (a pastor or deacon leads the meeting).  They ask God to confirm that specific gift.  All will open their Bibles together to read the verse the Lord gave.  If the Lord gives 2 or 3 verses in confirmation of the gift, we can accept it as being from God, unless it contradicts wisdom or sound doctrine, of course.  Jesus said, “Every matter should be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”  (Matthew 18:16; see also Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15).  We do not need everyone to read his or her verses – it will take too much time.  If there are two or three confirming, God has confirmed that spiritual gift.  Only two or three people need to read – the two or three who received confirming verses.  Once we have two or three witnesses, we move on to consult the Word to test the next gift.  

God will establish a matter on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  He may give more.  Yet he needs only give two or three confirming verses to the brethren, and once the group hears these read, the group can move forward.  

This practice of having two or three verses read for confirmation applies only in a group setting.  When we are alone asking God to speak through his Word, we read only one verse.  Those who ask God to speak through the Word repeatedly about the same matter risk falling into the trap that Balaam did, inquiring of the Lord repeatedly until he received the answer that he wanted (Numbers 22:10-20).  This nearly led to his death (Numbers 22:22).