What Should I Do If My Pastor Rejects A Prophecy?

Shared a prophecy but had it thrown back in your face? Here’s what to do if your pastor rejects a prophecy (or your prophetic gift).

“What should I do if my pastor rejects a prophecy?”

Believe it or not, it’s a common question and one I have received more than once from my readers.

Inside today’s article, we’re going to tackle that subject head-on.

Growing Through Rejection

Thankfully, I have been part of a church which encouraged all the spiritual gifts. This also means that I have had good, honest friends to practice with.

However, there have been times when people have rejected what I said. And there are all kinds of reasons for this.

Once or twice, people have flat-out stated, “that’s wrong”.

At other times, they either said it was only partly right or they expressed doubt that God would speak in that way to them.

What Happens If Your Pastor Rejects All The Spiritual Gifts?

Before we go any further, what happens if your pastor rejects all the gifts of the spirit?

In other words, what if they believe that spiritual gifts only operated in bible times and are no longer available today (this is known as a “dispensational” viewpoint)?

That could be a whole other topic, in itself, but there is one prime rule to apply: arguments won’t help anyone (I'll come back to this later).

Ask God if:

• you should leave the church and find somewhere that accepts the gifts.
• stay at your church, but stop operating in the gift of prophecy.
• Seek other ways to (gently) show others that the gifts are still available today.

None of these options are easy, but it’s important that you ask the Lord what he wants you to do, not what you think (or what everyone else says, either!).

If you’d like me to talk more about this subject, please let me know in the comments.

For now, let’s say that we’re dealing with a pastor who does believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but doesn’t like what you share with them.

Pastor Rejects A Prophecy: What Is Being Rejected?

When a friend or pastor rejects your prophecy (or your prophetic gift), you need to understand exactly what is being rejected.

The important thing to remember is that it’s not personal to you. They are not usually rejecting you as a person.

They are usually rejecting either:

• that specific prophecy, or
• that you have the gift of prophecy
• the idea of prophecy operating today.

It’s a good idea to try to identify which of these three is happening in your case.

That’s because it will affect how you pray about the issue - and how you handle sharing prophetic words, going forward.

Regardless of which type of rejection you experience, the important thing to remember is this (here's the prime rule again):

Now is not the time for an argument!

Arguing with people - and particularly with your pastor - won’t help you or them.

In fact, it’s liable to make them think worse of you or the prophetic gifts and further entrench everyone in their belief that you got it wrong.

Instead, you need a strategy for coping with the feelings you may now be struggling with. That strategy also needs to help you handle things better next time.

That strategy may also involve finding different ways to share prophecies and may even mean you have to bite your tongue in church (but we’ll come to that).

Pastor Rejects A Prophecy: What To Do Instead

The first thing to do when your pastor rejects a prophecy is to pray and deal with any negative feelings you have.

But we need a strategy to get specific and ask God for wisdom.

There are 3 main parts to this strategy:

Let’s follow them through now.

Pastor Rejects A Prophecy: 1. Reset The Past

If you are to find a new way forward, you first need to recognise where you are now.

That means you need to understand where you are with the gift of prophecy and deal with any negative emotions you have toward the person who hurt you.

Understand That Spiritual Gifts Require Maturity

Spiritual gifts require maturity to operate well in them, particularly in the gift of prophecy:

First you need to hear God’s voice correctly, then you need to interpret and understand what he says.

And finally, you get to share it with others. Even the tone of your voice may affect how they receive it.

Be honest with yourself and acknowledge that you are growing in your faith and in this gift (just like everyone else).

Understand that it’s possible that you made a mistake and upset someone and that’s why they rejected you.

It’s also possible that your prophecy was correct but the person you shared it with was not in a place to be able to receive it.

Forgive Whoever Hurt You

Regardless of whether you made a mistake or not, there is one thing you can do: forgive.

Forgive the person that hurt or rejected you or your prophecy.

Not only does God command forgiveness in the bible, but he knows what’s best for us too.

I know from my own experience that refusing to forgive someone who rejected me only hurts me, not the other person.

And unforgiveness leads to repressed anger, bitterness and depression.

Sadly, I have seen more than one friend go down that path, resulting in further damage to their relationships. Some lost their faith in God, others ended in divorce or worse.

Don’t let that happen to you: forgive and ask for God’s strength to do it.

Pastor Rejects A Prophecy: 2. Rest In The Present

Whatever happens to us, no matter how we get hurt, we can always come back to God.

Recognise That God Is Good

Begin by recognising that God is good and he gives good gifts to his children.

If you are a believer in God, then you are his son or daughter through Jesus’ death on the cross for you.

That means that he loves you and wants the very best for you.

Here are two bible verses to remind you of this truth: