Jesus freely gives the prophetic anointing to those He calls to the prophetic ministry—and the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable, “without repentance” on God’s part (Romans 11:29). In other words, God does not revoke the calling or spiritual gifts He gives you, even if you are not fully living for His purposes. He may not be able to use you as He originally intended, but because His gifts and callings are born out of love, He does not take them back.

However, there is a price to pay to walk in the prophetic ministry with integrity, leading you to your highest calling. You begin to pay this price during the process of creation, and it is often costly. If you hope to answer God’s call and walk in the anointing He has reserved for you without falling into error, you will need to make sacrifices along the way.

The question is: Are you ready to pay the price? Don’t answer this question before evaluating the cost. If there is a price to pay for being a true disciple of Christ, how much more for being His spokesperson in a time of cultural wars and a persecuted Church! Be realistic about what you may have to give up to cooperate with the Spirit and go where He wants to take you.

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.” Luke 14:28–33.

Prophets are called to build towers of prayer and serve as watchmen in the Kingdom of God. Likewise, prophets are called to wage war against principalities and powers that seek to hinder God’s will on earth. Do you see how obedience to the call comes at a cost?

I am convinced that many fallen prophets failed because they did not take the time to consider the price to pay for occupying the position of prophet or seek their own deliverance before attempting to deliver others. Before you embark on the prophetic ministry, and to ensure that you do it in the right way, take the time to evaluate the cost.

Reflect on the impact answering God’s call will have on your daily life. You may need to change how you spend your time and with whom you spend it. You may need to change how you spend your money and what you spend it on. You may need to sacrifice many things you love along your journey.

Indeed, sometimes paying the price means giving up close friends (or even family members) who unknowingly hinder God’s plans for your life. Other times, paying the price means letting go of ministry missions you love to embark on the next task God is calling you to.

And paying the price always means letting go of wrong mindsets that the Holy Spirit exposes to embrace the truths that will free you to pursue God’s prophetic purposes for your life.

The Prophets Who Paid the Price: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah.

Most of the prophets in the New Testament, if we count ourselves among them, will never face the persecution that their Old Testament counterparts endured, or even a small fraction of it. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He faithfully delivered the word of the Lord, and it cost him everything.

His family and neighbors turned against him. His peers rejected and insulted him. He was whipped and put in stocks. He was almost killed by a mob of priests. Hananiah, a false prophet, accused him of lying. He was arrested for treason, flogged, and imprisoned in a filthy dungeon. And he learned that the wicked King Jehoiakim had burned his prophetic message that was written on a scroll.

Jeremiah eventually became so depressed that he cursed the day of his birth. Like today’s New Testament prophets, Jeremiah prophesied in a world of darkness. People didn’t want to hear the voice of the Lord, but he refused to be silent in his generation.

Ezekiel also paid a high price for obeying the Lord’s call as a watchman. Though the prophet Jeremiah never married (see Jeremiah 16:1–4) and the prophet Hosea had to redeem his wife from prostitution (see Hosea 1–3), Ezekiel may have paid the highest price of all when it came to personal relationships.

As part of his prophetic message, Ezekiel had to watch his wife die suddenly and was not allowed to publicly show his grief (see Ezekiel 24:15–18). There’s also Zechariah and Isaiah, who gave their lives to remain faithful to the message God gave them. Zechariah (a prophet prior to the one who wrote the book bearing his name) was stoned to death in the court of the Lord’s Temple (see 2 Chronicles 24:21), and tradition teaches that Isaiah was sawn in half by King Manasseh.

While it’s rare for God to call someone to such extreme measures, your heart must be ready to pay any price if you hope to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Again, you will likely not face anything remotely resembling what your Old Testament counterparts experienced.

But you will undoubtedly face persecution, intense spiritual warfare, and various trials as you fulfill the office of prophet. Some seem to pay a higher price than others to accomplish their prophetic destiny.

To fulfill your prophetic call, it is essential to be prepared to pay any price, knowing that God Himself will reward you. Take the example of Job. He lost his children, his home, his wealth. He suffered from a painful illness.

Job also cursed the day of his birth, but he endured the suffering, and God rewarded him double. The promise is even greater for our generation. Jesus said:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

There is no price you can pay that God cannot match…

This text is an excerpt from the book The Making of a Prophet written by Jennifer LeClaire.

We invite you to read the following article: “NO TWO PROPHETS ARE ALIKE”.