Prophetic Voices: Hindsight is 20/20

Ricci Johnson-Wilson

February 13, 2026

The last two weeks, I’ve focused on the impact of Prophetic Voices in this hour.

First, was the message titled “Staying the Course Amid the Chaos.”  In that message we discussed the importance of us, the JA/Prophetic intercessors, filtering through the chaos and staying on the path God set before us.

Next was the message entitled “Divine Guidance in the Devil’s Triangle” (aka the Fog of War). In this message I incorporated the purpose and preparation of a prophet to the nation using our example of Elijah in 1 Kings 18. The heart of Elijah’s message, and any prophet to the nation, is the call to repent and return to God. We did not read Elijah doing much teaching although, we could glean from his actions the revelations of God that he brought to the nation of Israel.

Today, I want to cover how we, the intercessor, can recognize the voice of the Lord and become more effective prayer warriors through proper discernment of prophecy and the importance of praying a “fence” or “hedge” around the Word of the Lord. This is an important topic as we cover Prophetic Voices.

The Impact of the Interwebs

There are many internet prophets (again, the Lord’s title not mine) and they are leading people off course. I really believe that in most cases, unbeknownst to them, they are causing division and strife in the people of God. At times, I also believe they are intentionally trying to shift the course of our nation through what they are releasing on certain people and topics. We read an example and warning of this in Jeremiah 28. After my first message on this subject, I received several messages from intercessors who laid their hearts bare on this issue. I appreciated their transparency as they shared the vast number of voices they were listening to and how that had impacted them, I was deeply touched by their humility as they realized the risks as well.

The pressure of performing on the vast stage of the interwebs is incredible. I’ve seen one social media influencer (as they call them) after another spiral out of control as they empty everything they have of themselves on the internet for their two seconds of fame. They face addiction, struggle with infidelity, anxiety disorders, deep bouts of depression, even suicide as they try to keep up the pace of their quest for fame.

Unfortunately, those in the Church are not exempt from these experiences. Just because a person is a Christian, does not mean that the desire to perform for the interwebs does not exist within them.

Dr. Voddie Baucham, a wonderful pastor and man of God who passed away two weeks after Charlie Kirk, fought against his own board regarding the broadcasting of their weekly church services to the interwebs. Why? Because he was called to minister to his flock, the ones he could lock eyes with while he spoke. The moment the camera turns on, he’s now ministering to the multitudes, a flock he does not know but feels responsible for.  He added, the church as a whole was at risk of performance-driven messages coming from pastors seeking to please man rather than God. That’s not to say messages should not be shared and people encouraged, but we are just now beginning to see the impact of opening the door to the interwebs.

Voddie’s concern was valid. There is an added dimension of the role of the interwebs on the message.

When it comes to a prophet and the messages they release, the role of the interwebs can be catastrophic to both the Church and the nation in terms of intercepting the plans of God as I shared last time.

The prophet has one primary role, to be God’s spokesman. They will be held accountable for everything they declare as “thus saith the Lord.”  Whether it is or isn’t, if they are declaring that it is, He will hold them and the hearers accountable. (Jer 14:14, Jer 23:16, 21, Jer 28:15, Jer 29:9, 31, Ez 13:6-7)  

As God’s spokesman, it’s critical a prophet’s “thus saith the Lord” is never influenced by outside sources. Outside sources confirm, but they should never influence.  

Prophets still serve as His Mouthpiece:

A vision is a revelation from God. A Prophesy is a Word from the Lord. That’s why when a prophet releases a Word, as “from the Lord”, they better be sure they are not being influenced by outside sources.  Instead, they must penetrate the arena in which God has placed them with the pure Word of God! They need to be sure they are praying into that word. God speaks to His prophets to turn the hearts of the people back to God, to bring His heavenly will, here on earth. Last week I talked extensively about God using prophecy to brings us out of the fog.

Prophets are only vessels, servants of the Living God, but the way they serve is to be His mouthpiece.

Just like the prophets of the Old Covenant, the prophets of the New Covenant have a role. And so does the Church!

1 Corinthians 14:1-6

14 Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy ([a]interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).

2 For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].

3 But [on the other hand], the one who prophesies [who [b]interprets the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching] speaks to men for their upbuilding and constructive spiritual progress and encouragement and consolation.

4 He who speaks in a [strange] tongue edifies and improves himself, but he who prophesies [[c]interpreting the divine will and purpose and teaching with inspiration] edifies and improves the church and promotes growth [in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, and happiness].

5 Now I wish that you might all speak in [unknown] tongues, but more especially [I want you] to prophesy (to be inspired to preach and interpret the divine will and purpose). He who prophesies [who is inspired to preach and teach] is greater (more useful and more important) than he who speaks in [unknown] tongues, unless he should interpret [what he says], so that the church may be edified and receive good [from it].

6 Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in [unknown] tongues, how shall I make it to your advantage unless I speak to you either in revelation (disclosure of God’s will to man) in knowledge or in prophecy or in instruction?

 What does this tell us about the New Covenant Prophet?

  1. They interpret the divine will and purpose of God
  2. They engage in teaching with inspiration of the Spirit
  3. They edify and improve the Church
  4. They promote growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness and happiness

The Prophet is to help teach and train the Church in preparation for whatever struggles they face. The inspirational messages are not the motivational speeches; they are messages that take the Word of God and help hide it in the heart of the Church to equip them. They inspire them to pursue God and amid great persecution, to overcome, and never give up!

About those hearers…

The Church has a responsibility too. When we read the Word, we should read it like it was written personally to us. When it says, “to the Church at Corinth” we should read it as “to the Church in America.” And we should continually ask ourselves, “what is He trying to develop in us?” Then apply it!  

Another element is discernment. The Church has a responsibility to use discernment, especially in this hour. 

1 Corinthians 12:10

10 To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight ([c]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.

Paul is working on developing the gifts of the Spirit. Particularly, discernment in the Church. There were a lot of ‘prophetic’ voices pulling the Church of Corinth this way and that… Paul’s trying to get them back on track. This passage is just as relevant for us today.

How does he do this? He teaches them about prophecy and how to view prophecy.

A key is discernment. What does “discern” mean in this passage? The Greek is diakrisis, a noun, and it means a thorough judgment, a discernment (conclusion) which distinguishes “look-alikes,” or things that appear to be the same. 

Diakrisis is a noun, meaning, we must actively pursue it as it designates the God-given capacity to separate, evaluate, and reach sound conclusions about what is true, right, or spiritually authentic. It appears three times in Scripture:

  1. Romans 14:1 – Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [but] not to doubtful Here the apostle exhorts believers to welcome the “weak in faith” while avoiding “passing judgment on his opinions.” Discernment governs fellowship: the church must distinguish between essential doctrine and disputable matters, preserving unity without surrendering truth. In the last century, this has been taken out of context and used to foster a “social gospel” over Truth keeping people in the “weak in faith” state rather than embracing and developing them in spite of their rough opinions.
  2. 1 Corinthians 12:10 – To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. Here,  diakrisis is “distinguishing of spirits” and it equips certain members to detect counterfeit revelations, false teachers, or demonic influences, safeguarding congregations from doctrinal corruption.
  3. Hebrews 5:14 – But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Here spiritual adulthood is marked by senses that are “trained to distinguish good from evil.” Discernment matures through consistent exposure to “solid food,” in other words, deeper biblical instruction.

Diakrisis must be sought after, and as we mature, it will be developed within us to enable us to digest the meat of the Word of God. This includes modern day Words. God has not silenced His voice because it’s 2026. In fact, after His death, resurrection and ascension, He sent us Holy Spirit to guide us on this journey and help us detect counterfeit revelations, false teachers, and demonic influences. It takes time for this to be refined, however. And prayer and study of the Word, along with the learning from the errors we make along the way, all serve to aid us in the refining process.

Life Application

As hearers of prophecy, when we hear terms such as “I heard the Lord say” or “I sense the Lord saying” or “the Lord says” our diakrisis or discernment must kick in. We have to filter it through His Word because God will never contradict Himself. Paul was teaching this lesson in the midst of his message on the Gifts of the Spirit. Discernment, or Diakrisis is a gift and as intercessors, it would behoove us to pray for God to give us this gift, especially if we are going to pray, believe, stand on, or act on the prophecy. As listeners, we need to think critically and filter it through the Word of God. It’s okay to ask questions. Is what is being declared as “thus saith the Lord” influenced by outside sources? Internet resources?  Perhaps inside information from close associates? Are there personal offenses? Why? We have a responsibility to pray into that which is from the Lord.

Praying A Fence Around Prophecies…

How do we handle prophecy? I remember receiving dreams or visions many years ago and I’d call my mom concerned or excited and she would respond with, “now honey” (I’m 57 and she still calls me “honey”) “honey, did you pray to see what the Lord is saying?” At other times she would say, “now honey, there are certain words God does not want you to explain just yet, He wants you to put them out there and let them rest on the Church or the nation like a blanket. The revelation will then begin to sink in and do its job.” Still at other times she would say, “release it now, by doing so, it becomes activated.”  It takes time to learn when and what to do at any given time.

Mom teaches us that praying over prophetic words again and again, is like placing fence around what God is doing. It protects it and allows it to mature and be released.

Personally, I like to do a lot of teaching around a word or dream the Lord gives me because I believe what the Lord says in Ecclesiastes 1:9, there’s nothing new under the sun. There are many examples in His Word that help bring revelation and understanding to prophetic words today. There are other times, such as the message “The Year of Open books” or “The Kairos Season, Exposing the Corruption within” where there was not much teaching, only the revelation itself that needed to be release so we could pray.

The Trauma of 2020

Let me give you an example from my own life wherein God was developing me, forcing me into a time of setting aside outside influence, and forging a level of discernment in my life I desperately needed.

January 14, 2020, I had a dream that I awoke to an Associate Press release and this is what it said. “Donald Trump has lost the 2020 Election!”  That single headline was it, but my heart sank. I was flying out to our Portland Gathering that morning and quickly sent a note out to our e-news to encourage them to pray, and if at all possible, to join us in Portland. To my knowledge, I was the only prophetic voice who said this the entire year. I was really attacked by someone I deeply respected who told me I missed it on this one. Because of my respect for them, I feared they were right. As a result, I said nothing more. In that moment, I allowed another person not to influence what God was giving me, but I did allow them to silence what God was giving me.

As the year progressed, in spite of the BLM chaos in the streets, the defund the police campaigns, covid, the lockdowns, and so on, what I heard from my favorite political commentators and what other “internet prophets” were saying, all the signs seemed to indicate that the 2020 Election was in the bag. The chaos was waking people up. The lockdowns were provoking people to revolt against the democrat party. It was going to be a Red Tsunami in November 2020.

I really questioned whether or not the dream was from the Lord. Still, I prayed, but I prayed alone.

Then, November 4, 2020, the morning after the election, the headline appeared: “Donald Trump has lost the 2020 election.”  Biden had won, I felt sick, I thought I’d prayed enough, I heard the chaos was waking people up, victory was ours…the prophets all said…. Yet there it was, my dream fulfilled. I was heartsick and I cried out to God. I felt responsible.

On social media, what followed was a flurry of videos from people trying to convince us that it would be overturned. Hope was semi-restored. Again, I questioned the dream, perhaps it was a warning, not an actual event. I felt this was His mercy… we could pray this through… we would not have to live out a Biden presidency.

Then January 6th came, they unleashed a false flag the democrats today liken to 9/11 and the election results were confirmed by the Senate.

Again, another flurry of social media posts… more historical accounts wherein elections were overturned listing even later dates, some as far as March, continued to be proclaimed by our favorite internet conservatives, the Q movement, and even prophesies about Trump continuing his Presidency dominated the interwebs and encouraged the masses. Everyone except me and Mom. I did speak there’d be a return, a Red Sea Moment, Mom spoke about a second term, but the nightmare of living under State Capture with Biden at the helm was quickly approaching.

January 20th came and went, and Biden (and his autopen) was inaugurated, the national guard stood at attention to protect the event from us awful insurrectionists, while his few dozen guests sat 6 feet apart. To the nation, he was declaring that a dictatorship was upon us. To the Cabal, he confirmed, state capture was complete.

Backtracking to a month earlier, in December of 2020 I had another dream, I saw Trump in Florida. He was looking out over the nation; it was in chaos. He turned his right toe toward DC and began to walk. With each step, the ground beneath him was broken up, shattered even, and a trail of fire was left in his wake. He was literally blazing a trail from Florida to DC. I knew he was headed to the White House, and he would finally take what was rightfully his. I thought for sure those internet prophets and those unprecedented bits of history were about to be fulfilled!

In that moment, I did not pray to see what the Lord was saying, instead, I rejoiced.

It took me a long time to understand the timeline of what God was showing me and the mistakes I made over the course of that year. I desired confirmation from outside sources whom I did not know, because I feared the end result of a Biden Presidency. The Lord had already shown me what the two presidents would produce and sure enough, we saw Biden, on his first day in office, proceed to implement exactly what the Lord said he would do, and that terrified me even more. So, when similar words were sent to me that provided confirmation from the interwebs that Trump would take back the office he clearly won, sometime in the first three months of 2021, I rejoiced and rested in that instead of seeking the Lord for clarity on what He was showing me. I also did not consider what he was trying to do in Trump, the Church, our nation, and even in myself through this season.

When I send out warnings about the interwebs and internet prophets, again, a title the Lord gave them, I am not standing in judgment, I am crying out from one who learned some painful lessons. My desire is to see a purification take place in the prophetic movement and in the Church before we sink into a permanent state Paul warns Timothy about:

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (AMPC)

3 For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold,

4 And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

The 2020 Maturation Process:

In January 2020, the Lord showed me the AP Press release in a dream because He wanted me to know that when this election was stolen, it would be successful because of the media influence. He did not want me to waver. Beginning in December of 2020, the Lord would proceed to show me through a series of dreams, and a vision, that there was serious voter fraud occurring.

I saw hard drives pulled out of storage containing proof of theft using the dominion voting machine (I believe we will see this from the Maduro arrest.) I saw indictments signed, over 200, but where are they today? In mid-2021, while on a walk with Karen, we turned a corner and I had an open vision. I saw file boxes, more than I could count, with voter fraud papers brought out into the open. (We are seeing this in Georgia right now.)

The Lord was showing me how the fraud was taking place, but I didn’t fully realize it until the exposure came. The Lord showed me that judges were going to cover it up and try to stop the release. We need to pray over this and not let up.

Today, we are seeing the evidence come forth, from ballots to machines, it’s coming out! That tells me that the dream of the two judges who are on the fence about releasing the information for fear of chaos. This must also be prayed over, they need faith to trust the public with the truth! The truth must be known, free and fair elections are at the heart of the democratic process of this Constitutional Republic!

As intercessors, we called to provide a hedge of protection. We need to protect the revelation, the Word, the dream, the vision, and in doing so, we are partnering with the Spirit of the Living God to accomplish His will in the earth. Daniel was a perfect example of one who prays prophetically through the lens of the Word of God. (I did an entire message on this issue, “Viewing History Through the Lens of the Lord”)

Back to the dream in which I saw Trump walk from Florida to DC, the Lord was showing me that Trump could have legally walked straight into the White House and taken the office of the Presidency back. However, the shattered ground he walked on, the flames of fire that followed showed me that, even though the office of the President was rightfully his, it would tear the nation up and likely lead us into a civil war if he took this step. I believe he knew this and that’s why, even though he did not concede the election, he chose not to actively retain the office. Why? He could not bear to see the nation he loved so deeply ripped apart by a civil war. It was 1 Kings 3:16-38 moment, where Solomon judged between the two women who both claimed the baby was theirs. Solomon, in a moment of great wisdom, called for a sword to cut the child in two that he might give each woman a portion. The mother, the one who loved the child, was willing to see him raised by another rather than have his life ended. The woman who was not the mother was all too willing to see the child cut in two. Trump, in his love for the nation, chose to have it raised by another for a season rather than see it ripped in two by his selfish desires and in return, God gave him a nation that was ready for him to lead. A nation of people who finally, experientially, understood what he was saying about the Deep State and the Democrats.

God used this time to refine the prophets, humble the church, prepare the nation, and equip Trump for Trump 2.0.

The Failures of the Prophetic Voices in 2020

Many internet prophets never reconciled the issue between their prophecies that Trump would win (which he did, it was stolen) and that he would govern another four years. The failure of the prophetic voice in America in 2020 left deep wounds on the Church and their leaders. Pastors, good, Bible teaching pastors have a terrible taste in their mouths when it comes to the prophets because their people were so devastated over the 2020 loss and did not understand how it was possible that so many prophets could be wrong.

This is where the refining of the prophets comes in. In 2020, it was easy to see that Trump would win. He was up in the polls, the fake news continued to lie, but he was clearly so far up in the polls, the only option they had to beat him was to unleash a virus, create chaos in the streets, and then while people were distracted, implement widespread voter fraud. Kind of sounds like what they might be trying to do today in preparation for the 2026 election doesn’t it? We should keep our eyes open in 2026.

In 2020, the internet prophets filtered their prophecy through the lens of the interwebs. Social media was ablaze with the international populist leaders who were winning in their nations. (Trump is a populist) and this had a significant influence on the internet prophets. “Internet mining” became a thing, and many prophets today are getting exposed for engaging in this sort of activity. This is where you mine social media apps for everything from personal information to international news sources, to disgruntled influencers, and that gets processed and incorporated into your “prophecy.” This is a very dangerous practice, it reeks of deception, and can lead to divination, and I’m thankful the Lord is bringing exposure. 

The Purpose and Call of the Prophet

The prophet is called to view the events in front of them through the lens of the Lord. We are called to seek His voice first, and when He speaks, even though we may not understand it, pray it through until we do. We must stand on it, even when it’s unpopular, because it is not our word, it’s the Lord’s. We honor and respect the Word of the Lord, we do not shape and mold it to fit narratives, gain favors, or please the people. Just like Pastor Baucham said, you aren’t called to please those people on the interwebs, you are called to stand on the Word and ensure your flock learns it well.

They say hindsight is 20/20, my deepest cry has been that the voice of the prophet, the heart of the Church, and the people of this nation, truly learned from 2020. That we, the intercessors, will develop discernment—diakrisis—it will protect us and help us view what is being said out there through the lens of the Lord instead of our own. If we can, if we do, it will help us navigate this season in history in ways we cannot even imagine.

Blessings & love,

Ricci Johnson-Wilson