Let’s examine Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness to see how the devil often works and how to respond. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. (And you? Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we can never counter the tempter.) After being baptized, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where the devil tempted Him for forty days (see Luke 4:1–2).

At the end of His forty-day fast – almost six weeks – when Jesus was hungry, the tempter continued his assault with three temptations recorded in Scripture. First, the devil said to Jesus:

“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3).

Notice the enemy’s strategy. He typically comes to tempt us when we are in a vulnerable position. It may be during a period of prayer and fasting. It could be during a time of intense spiritual warfare. Or perhaps it’s during a life transition. Temptations in these periods often come with a provoking spirit. This was the enemy’s strategy against Jesus. The devil waited until Jesus was hungry and then tried to provoke Him, saying, “If you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread.” The key word here is “if.” It was almost as if the devil was saying, “Prove your identity by using your power – I dare you!”

The devil knew very well who Jesus was, and he knows who you are in Christ. The devil also knows that you have the authority, in the name of Jesus, to bind – to counter or stop – his evil operations. You have nothing to prove to the devil or anyone else. You only need to obey God with a pure heart.

Remember this the next time the devil tempts you to prophesy to demonstrate your gift – to prove your identity – in the local church or at a conference circuit. You might be tempted to prophesy despite the absence of an anointing from the Holy Spirit, which can harm the saints who hear it and the church body as a whole.

Sometimes, young prophets compete for the spotlight, each hoping to be the one who delivers the most astounding or accurate prophetic word. This motivation is always a mistake and can lead to serious error. Has the tempter ever challenged your call to prophetic ministry? I know he has challenged mine, especially in the early years.

Have you ever felt the need to prove the authenticity of your prophetic gift? Have you been tempted to offer a sign indicating that you are called to prophetic ministry? Hoped that people would call you by a title?

I struggled with this early on. But Jesus clearly showed me that He’s not interested in offering extra signs for validation and doesn’t care about titles. He doesn’t care about proving Himself. Nor does He intend to showcase Himself to soothe my ego. Never let the devil provoke you into misusing or misjudging your prophetic gift. Beyond the provocation, this temptation sought to entice Jesus to use His power to meet His personal needs.

More specifically, the devil tempted a hungry man to perform a miracle to satisfy the flesh. This is a clever strategy against prophets. The enemy tempts prophets to use the gifts of the Spirit to meet their personal needs instead of others’ – because they should trust God to meet their own personal needs.

Prophets who succumb to this temptation often sell (fabricated) prophetic words, anointing oils, and prayer shawls for large sums to saints deceived by glamour or even by a false anointing. Jesus taught us how to respond to such temptations: speak and obey the Word. Jesus responded to Satan’s provocation by quoting Deuteronomy:

“It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Luke 4:4).

In other words, trust God’s Word. He is the One who called you to prophetic ministry, and He will reveal that call to others when He sees fit. He is also the One who provides for all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19).

Never give in to the temptation to prove who you are or to use your gifts for personal gain. These motivations will pull you away from God’s will, which is a dangerous place to be…

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

We invite you to read the following article: “Declaring War on Fleshly Lusts”