Filmmaker Matthew Thayer believes the church has spent too long silencing a spiritual gift the Bible instructs Christians to test, discern and embrace.
Thayer, director of the documentary “Can You Hear Me Now?,” told CBN News he “absolutely” believes God continues speaking through prophets. He also offered a spiritual-warfare explanation for why much of the modern church rejects prophecy altogether.
“Honestly, I think it’s because the dark spiritual forces that we war against, according to Ephesians 6, knew that communications with God was the first thing that they needed to take out,” Thayer said.
“Communications are taken out in warfare first,” he continued. “That’s just a standard warfare practice. And so, if we are actually in a spiritual war, it would make sense that they would target prophets first.”
Test Everything, Reject What Is False
Scripture does not instruct Christians to reject every prophetic word because false prophets exist. Instead, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 tells believers not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecies, but to test everything and hold on to what is good.
Thayer said those instructions establish several important expectations for the church.
“It assumes that the Spirit is going to be moving, and you can’t control the Spirit of God,” he said. “Two, don’t despise prophecies, which means it assumes there’s going to be prophets. Three, it assumes that not everything they’re going to say is amazing, and there might be some stuff you need to sift out.”
That discernment is essential because supernatural accuracy alone does not prove that someone speaks for God.
“To me, it’s more about who the prophet is pointing to,” Thayer said. “Because that’s what Deuteronomy 13 very clearly stipulates, that there’s going to be false prophets and they’re going to be accurate. But if they’re pointing you away from Yahweh, if they’re pointing you away from God, then they’re a false prophet.”
“If accuracy is the only thing that you’re using to determine whether or not somebody’s a true or false prophet, you’re actually opening yourself to deception,” he added.
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Prophecy Should Produce Action
Thayer also warned against treating prophecy as entertainment, elevating prophetic personalities or assuming a word from God eliminates the need for action.
“A prophet is actually directional first,” he said. “A prophet will show up and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re going the wrong way. This is not God’s best for us. This is the way that He is calling us to go.’”
Prophecy should lead God’s people toward repentance, prayer, obedience and action. It should never become an excuse for spiritual passivity or an opportunity to place personalities on pedestals.
“It’s not to point to prophets,” Thayer said. “It’s not to point to people that we’re going to put up on pedestals and venerate and all of this other stuff. That’s a bunch of nonsense. It’s to point people to God and to say He’s speaking to you.”
The biblical response to false prophecy is not to silence the prophetic voice. It is to test every word, reject what is false and hold firmly to what comes from God.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
