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-- © GodSpeak International 2006 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org> --

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Teresa Seputis <ts@godspeak.net> http://www.godspeak.net
Editor: Earlene Bown

Prophetic-School Course #36

Become An Effective Messenger

By Teresa Seputis

Lesson 2
Understanding The Medium And The Target

In our last lesson, I talked about how God expects us go grow in our gifting. I shared how the prophetic often has two parts to it: "God's part" and "our part." God's part is to select a message that He wants delivered and to communicate that mesasge to us in a way where we understand what He wants to say. Our part is to communicate God's message to the intended receiver in a way where they clearly understand what God is saying to them. Most of the time, God allows us to select the precise wording or phrasology to deliver that message. His heart and desire is for us to accurately communicate what He wants said, but He often gives us some leeway to "make mistakes" and to put little pieces of ourselves into that word as we work with Him to deliver it.

I would like to look at some ways that we can improve our communication skills to give better messages, to more accurately reflect what God wants to say, so that more of His power and anointing flow into that word. In order to do that, we have to understand a few things about the message that God is giving through us. The prophetic has many aspects, or dimensions, to it. Two of them are particularly important: the medium and the intended receiver (or target audience).

The Medium

I am not talking about witchcraft or E.S.P. or channeling here. That stuff is of the devil and is to be strictly avoided! When I use the word "medium," I am refering to a technical term that describes what mechanism is used to deliver a message.

A prophecy is usually delivered in either of two ways: spoken or written. Some words are spoken words, given verbally to the intended recepient(s). A few examples are call-out prophecy to an individual, corporate words given over the microphone at conferences, someone standing up in a worship service and sharing an encouragement to the body of believers there. The main characteristic of a spoken word is that the receiver hears it at precisely the same time that the deliverer gives it. There is no time delay. There is no second chance to go back and change something.

Written words are not initially delivered in a spoken manner, they are written down for someone to read. Examples would include words in ministry newsletters, words circulated on email lists or posted to Internet bulletin boards, etc. The distinction between a spoken word and a written word is that the writer has a chance to go back over the word and make corrections or modifcations to it before anyone reads it. The prophet does not have to get the word perfect on the first pass; they can go back and prayerfully review it with the Lord. Then they can make changes to it to get it just the way God wanted it.

There is a second important difference between spoken and written words, caused by the fact that we don't talk the same way we write. Have you noticed that powerful spoken messages often lose something when they are transcribed word-for-word? That is because some of the aspects of the spoken delivery style are lost when the word is written down--such as the volume and tone of the prohpet's voice, the pauses or intentional delays for effect, the response of the other hearers, etc.

It is also because there are different criteria for what makes a good spoken message and what makes a good written one. Most effective communicators don't write the same way that they speak. Snytax and grammar rules become more important in writing. The emotional aspect of non-verbal cues is missing from the written format, which makes things like incomplete sentences and poor grammar become distracting.

Sometimes when a spoken word is transcribed, it needs to be edited or it will lose some of its impact. Some people don't understand the difference between the "message" and the words used to convey that message. They assume each word in the prophecy is sacred; they don't want to change or rearrange it. So they preserve the precise wording of the prophecy, but the message becomes obscured or clouded, and the word loses its power.

Let me give you a very simple example. Verbally it is ok to say "To the battlefront (pause) take me," providing you pause in the right place. But when you write that down and the pauses are lost, it stops making sense and the reader has to expend effort to understand it. You can change the written words to make it clear and easy to understand. You can do that without changing the actual message, simply by fixing yoda-like sentence structure, or poor grammar or bad punctuation. Remember our above example. Spoken it made sense because of the pause. But literally transcribed, it becomes "To the battlefront take me." It would be much clearer to modify it to read, "Take me to the battlefront."

Do you see the difference between the message and the words used to convey the message? The words are not the message, they are just a tool used to communicate the message. The message comes from God and it is sacred, but the words used to construct the message are not sacred, and they can be adapted to communicate the message more clearly.

Our goal is to communicate God's message so that it is accurate and easily understood. We use words to do that. When we speak, we add gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. When we write, we add grammar, syntax and punctuation. The same message is communicated a bit differently when we speak it and when we write it. The medium (e.g., the way we are conveying the message) affects how the message is effectively delivered.

So what happens when we change mediums (say to go from spoken to written by transcribing a word)? Do we want to preserve the precise wording of the mesage, or the precise meaning of the message? Many times it is not possible to do both, because we talk differently than we write. Since the message (the thing God wants to communicate) is more important than the words used to construct that message, we want to make sure that the message is communicated clearly.

A literal transcription often loses clarity and power because we do speak different than we write. If the transcribed version is done word for word, it can become hard to understand. But if you rearrange the words slightly to preserve the meaning, the written form becomes clear and easy to understand. That way, the word keeps its power.

The Target Audience

The target audience is simply the intended receiver; e.g., the person (or group of people) who the word is for. Is it for a specific person individual (a personal prophecy), is it for a small group with some common interest or experience (a corporate word), or is it for the Church at large (a global word)? The way that you deliver the message could change depending on who the message is going to.

This is true in everyday life, and it is also true in the prophetic. We phrase things differently for different receivers. For instance, you would talk differently to a six-year-old child than to a college professor, because they have differing levels of experience and abilty to understand. You would talk differently to a group of construction workers than you would to a group of babysitters, because they have different interests and different life-experiences.

The same is true in the prophetic. The person that God intends the word for will have some influence over how you will compose that word. You want them to understand it and to relate to it, so you have to choose words and phrases that are specifically meaningful to the person the word is for. Our choice of words and vocabulary level will vary from audience to audience. The examples you use to illustrate the Lord's point should also change to fit the target audience.

Newer and inexperienced prophets tend to draw examples from their personal experience instead of choosing examples that are meaningful to the person they are giving tht message to. It is always better to tailor the message for intended receiver. There will be times when God will send you to two rather different groups to give the same message. Since each group is different in the maturity and life-experience, the message may come out a bit differently for each of those groups.

For intance the Lord may give you a message to trust in His timing, and to allow Him to tell you when something should be done instead of constantly sticking our noses into it to see if it is time for us to do something. Let's say that God sends you to prophesy that message to a group of young mothers and also to a group of construction workers. For the first group, you might use the example of baking a cake, and how you can ruin it if you keep opening the oven while it is cooking, because that might keep it from rising. Many of the mothers can relate to that because cooking is part of their day-to-day life and experience. But many of the construction workers would not relate to cooking, because most of them have never baked a cake. So you would need to use a different illustration for them. One that might fit is pouring concrete into a form. You don't keep taking the form off to see how dry the concrete is or it will lose its shape. You leave the form in place for a certain length of time to let the cement dry before you remove the form.

Did you know that words given to a specific individual are different than words given to a group? That is because individual communication uses a whole different set of dynamics than public speaking. We have to make the necessary adjustments in our delivery depending on who the target is. Even when we are speaking one-on-one, the way we talk to different people varies depending on their personality and on our relationship with them. You will be far more formal with a professional acquaintance than you would with a close friend. You will be a bit more reserved with someone who is reserved and more candid with someone who is very open.

God gives us the message and then he allows us to package it for the ones He wants us to deliver it to. Fortunately we don't have to package it in a vacuum. God wants to be involved in the packaging process with us, if we will invite Him into it. We can pray and ask God to help us put it together in a manner that is most appropriate for the recipient. He knows their heart, so He knows when to be gentle, when to be forceful, when to be subtle, when to be blunt, etc. God knows what specific details are most meaningful for a given person, and He is willing to give us those details if we ask Him.

God likes it when when we go back to Him and ask Him to help us do a good job of serving Him, e.g., He likes to be involved in the process. Let me share how I involve Him. I pray things like, "Lord, I know the message You gave me for this person/group. But would you help Me to share it in the way that will be most meaningful to them, in a way where they are most likely to receive it?"

Remember, God gives us the message and we have to deliver it. The goal is to deliver it in a way that clearly communicates what God is saying. We have to understand the message and then we have to figure out how to package it so the person we are giving it to will understand it clearly. That clearness of communication is what makes us become effective messengers.


-- © GodSpeak International 2006 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org> --

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