By Oyewole O. Sarumi
Dear beloved, I don’t know if you have noticed this new “revival” within the Body of Christ today. I have noticed that across continents and cultures, one recurring phenomenon defines much of contemporary Christianity: movement. Yes, a generation in spiritual motion.
Nowadays, it’s a fad of “growth in spirituality” when believers boast of movement from conference to conference, from prophet to prophet, from prayer mountain to prayer mountain.
They travel cities and nations seeking “a word” even though they carry their Bibles. They queue for personal prophecies. They sow special seeds. They climb literal and symbolic mountains and are proud to share it as testimonies of spiritual growth and encounters. I have discovered that despite all these noise and movements, beneath this religious activity lies a quiet exhaustion and frustration.
Beloved, I have interviewed several believers. Many of them are weary. They have attended the crusade. They have fasted and prayed through the night, jumping from vigil to another early morning meetings. They have given sacrificially. They have waited. Still, the expected breakthrough appears delayed.
In response, an assumption quietly forms: perhaps the issue is location. Perhaps God answers more quickly on a mountain than in a bedroom. Perhaps the “anointing” is stronger in another ministry especially from a friend testimony or advice. Perhaps the right prophetic voice has not yet been found. So, the movement continues without end.
Let me tell you, the Scripture confronts this restless assumption with sobering clarity. In Lamentations 3:37, the prophet Jeremiah asks: “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?” (KJV)
This single question dismantles the idea that human utterance determines divine destiny. It invites believers to return to theological stability: God is sovereign over outcomes. No voice creates reality unless God has ordained it.
As a pastor and theological teacher, I write not to dismiss prophetic ministry, which has biblical foundations, but to recalibrate our confidence. The issue is not whether God speaks. The issue is whether we have begun to trust men more than the God who speaks.
Divine Sovereignty and the Limits of Human Declaration
The modern Christian environment often elevates the “declaration” above the Divine word in the Bible. Yet Scripture consistently establishes that authority belongs to God alone. Jeremiah’s rhetorical question in Lamentations underscores divine sovereignty: nothing materializes outside God’s command. This echoes Isaiah 46:9–10: “I am God, and there is none like me… declaring the end from the beginning.”
There’s no prophet, no matter how gifted, possesses independent creative authority. None! Even in the Old Testament, prophets were not originators of destiny; they were messengers of what God had already determined.
In Jeremiah 1:9, God says to Jeremiah: “Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” The prophet’s power derived entirely from divine commission. He could not manufacture outcomes.
The same principle appears in the New Testament. In Acts of the Apostles 3, Peter heals a lame man, not by personal authority, but “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” The apostle explicitly clarifies in verse 12 that the miracle was not by his own power or holiness.
Therefore: If God has not decreed it, no prophet can bring it into existence, and if God has decreed it, no human can obstruct it. This is not fatalism. It is theological realism.
Modern biblical scholarship consistently affirms this understanding of sovereignty. In fact, contemporary research in biblical theology emphasizes that prophetic speech in Scripture functions as covenant enforcement, not as destiny manipulation. The prophet announces what God has already willed.
When believers believe that their destiny depends on finding the “right” prophetic voice, they subtly shift trust from God’s decree to human mediation. That is idolatry, and it is spiritually dangerous.
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer: The Secret Place, Not the Stage
When Jesus taught about prayer, He redirected attention from public spectacle to private communion. In Matthew 6:6, He instructs: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
Notice what Jesus did not say. He did not instruct His followers to search for a mountain. He did not recommend chasing itinerant voices. He did not prescribe geographical relocation.
He directed them inward, to the quiet place. If prayer in the secret place appears unanswered, why assume God has relocated to a more dramatic setting? The omnipresence of God invalidates the idea that He is more available in a conference hall than in your bedroom.
Psalm 139 affirms: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? … If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.” God’s presence is not intensified by volume, geography, or celebrity.
Scholarly studies in practical theology consistently observe that private devotional life correlates more strongly with long-term spiritual maturity than participation in high-intensity revival events. While gatherings have their place, transformation typically occurs through consistent, hidden communion.
Jesus Himself modeled this. Before choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12), He spent the night in solitary prayer, not at a public event. If the Son of God relied on the secret place, why have we grown suspicious of it?
The Psychology of Chasing Prophetic Words
Let me reiterate this fact: Repeated movement from prophet to prophet often reveals not spiritual hunger but spiritual anxiety. So, my submissions is that behind constant searching may lie: impatience with God’s timing, fear that heaven has forgotten, distrust of God’s character, and comparison with others’ testimonies.
The Scripture repeatedly addresses impatience. In Hebrews 10:36: “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
Therefore, waiting is not punishment. It is formation. For example, Abraham waited decades for Isaac. Joseph endured imprisonment before promotion. David was anointed king long before he sat on the throne.
Contemporary research in spiritual formation confirms that delayed gratification strengthens resilience and faith stability. Impulsive spirituality, seeking immediate confirmation, often correlates with emotional volatility.
The danger emerges when desperation replaces discernment. If a believer is determined to receive a word at any cost, eventually a voice will speak. But Scripture warns: In 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.”
Beloved in the Lord, not every spiritual utterance originates from the Holy Spirit. When Saul could no longer hear from God, he sought a medium (1 Samuel 28). His desperation led him into forbidden territory. The lesson is sobering: spiritual impatience can produce spiritual compromise.
The Sufficiency of Scripture
One of the quiet tragedies of modern Christianity is the subtle replacement of Scripture with personalized prophecy from church leaders who have replaced Christ in the lives of their congregants. I realised that the Bible declares itself sufficient because in 2 Timothy 3:16–17, we read that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God… that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Please note that the Greek word for “thoroughly furnished” (exartizo) implies complete equipment. This does not negate the gift of prophecy described in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Rather, it establishes hierarchy because all prophetic impressions must align with written revelation.
The Bereans in Acts 17 were commended because they examined the Scriptures daily to verify Paul’s teaching. If the apostle Paul welcomed scrutiny, no modern prophet should be exempt.
Recent biblical scholarship emphasizes canonical primacy, the principle that all spiritual experiences must be evaluated against the total witness of Scripture. Experience is secondary; revelation through the Word is primary above any other utterances. So, when believers neglect Scripture while pursuing prophetic words, they invert God’s design.
Faith Defined: Trusting Character, Not Chasing Volume
Any disciple of Jesus know that Faith is not frantic searching for louder confirmation. They know what Faith is: A settled trust in the character of God. Period.
In Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” From this verse, please notice what faith is not: It is not repeated verification. It is not constant prophetic reinforcement. It is not emotional intensity. Why? Because Faith rests on what God has already revealed.
Abraham believed God before circumstantial evidence appeared (Romans 4:20–21). Job trusted God amid silence. The psalmist declared in Psalm 27:13: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.”
May I once again state that Trust precedes manifestation. Modern longitudinal studies on religious resilience indicate that believers who root their confidence in doctrinal conviction rather than episodic experiences maintain steadier faith through crises. Hence, Faith matures when it survives silence.
God Is Not Competing With Men
Another subtle distortion is the perception that God must validate Himself through dramatic human intermediaries. We all know that our God does not compete for airtime. He is not striving to be heard over amplified microphones. He is not threatened by other voices. His Word stands independent of human enhancement.
Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 55:11 declares: “So shall my word be… it shall not return unto me void.” When God speaks, fulfillment is not contingent upon repetition.
Elijah encountered God not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a still small voice (1 Kings 19). God often operates in quiet assurance rather than spectacle. The culture of spiritual sensationalism can obscure the simplicity of divine faithfulness.
Returning to Simplicity
Christianity began in simplicity. Jesus invited fishermen, not religious elites, to follow Him. The early church gathered in homes. Spiritual power flowed through ordinary obedience. Apostle Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “I fear, lest by any means… your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Spiritual complexity often arises from insecurity. We add layers because we fear simplicity is insufficient. But Scripture calls believers back to just these: Pray. Trust. Wait. Anchor in the Word.
Psalm 62:5 states: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Expectation belongs to God, not to personalities.
The Pastoral Appeal: Stop Running, Start Resting
As a shepherd of God’s people, my appeal is not to abandon prophetic ministry. It is to abandon dependency on personalities, because they have their place, but they should not replace Christ in your life.
Remember this:God knows your name. He knows your address. He knows your timeline. Our Lord Jesus declared in Matthew 10:30 that even the hairs of your head are numbered. If He knows that detail, He has not misplaced your destiny.
If heaven appears silent, silence does not equal absence. The cross itself looked like divine silence for three days. Yet resurrection followed. Waiting is not rejection. Delay is not denial. Silence is not abandonment.
Isaiah 40:31 assures: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” The Hebrew word for “wait” (qavah) conveys intertwined hope, like strands of a rope being twisted together. Waiting strengthens connection.
Let us stop exhausting ourselves in constant movement, and note that stability strengthens faith.
Trust the Only Voice That Establishes Destiny
As I end this piece, the question remains as piercing today as it was in Jeremiah’s time: Who speaks and it happens if the Lord has not commanded it? There’s no declaration that can overrides divine decree. There’s no prophet that manufactures destiny. There’s no program that intensifies omnipresence.
The God who hears in secret still reigns in sovereignty forever. The Father who sees in private remains attentive in silence if only you will know Him for yourself.
In this regard, I admonish a quick return to the foundational practices: Enter your room. Shut the door. Pray. Open Scripture. Trust. Wait.
God is not confused about your location. He is not searching for you in conferences, mountains or in any prophetic abode. He has not misplaced your file in heaven. He is the only One whose Word establishes your reality here on earth. Hence, when will you stop running, and start trusting Him who cannot fail those who anchored their entire life on Him?
Beloved, and it is in that trust, that you will discover the quiet strength of a faith anchored not in voices, but in the eternal God who cannot fail. I pray that for someone reading this piece, it’s going to be a new day in your Christian journey. Maranatha!!!
(Note: This article was inspired through a short post on True Christian Faith Group WhatsApp Platform titled: “Stop Running From Prophet to Prophet. God Is Not Confused About Your Address” by Ibunkunoluwa Lawal.)
Prof. Sarumi, a Bible Scholar, write from Lagos
