Is it necessary to consult a prophet when you are ready to marry?

Question:

Is it normal for a girl to go to Pentecostal prophet to consult on whether or not she should marry the man who has asked her? In fact, her mother, also Pentecostal, insists on taking the girl to a prophet because she does not like the boy who asked the girl’s hand in marriage. Is this similar to going to a fortuneteller? From what I know, this gift of prophecy is for use in the church, to build up the church, not to decide the fate of a possible marriage. I would appreciate your advice. Thank you. God bless you.

I suppose her mother has a few reasons to be concerned about her daughter’s future marriage to this man. This is natural because she is a mother and I think she wants the best for her child. If the mother does have doubts, then, she should sit down with her daughter and discuss it with her, sharing her point of view instead of trying to manipulate the situation with this spiritual twist. I have encountered situations where people, not wanting to take responsibility for their decisions, end up going to a “prophet” which ends up being more like a fortuneteller. I wrote more info on the the subject in this article, “How do you know if you have the gift of prophecy?“.

I am reminded of a case in the Bible when Ahab sought out advice from a prophet. He searched for a prophet who would tell him what he wanted to hear. When he discovered the solidarity among all the prophets of Judah, where Jehoshaphat was king, he was upset and asked for other prophets, hoping to find one to tell him what he wanted to hear. Ahab was told about Micah, a prophet who only prophesies doom and gloom. As we can see, Ahab did not care about discovering the truth from the prophets, he just wanted to use them and their authority to verify his own desires. As Ahab’s servants were taking Micah to the king, they were instructing him on how he should speak to the king, telling him what he wanted to hear. Ironically, Micah did exactly what he was told to do. He did not tell Ahab the truth when he prophesied. Ahab realized that what Micah was saying was not the truth and he asked Micah to prophesy again. Micah did and this time he told the truth, that Ahab would die if he went to battle like he wanted to do. Ahab grew very angry with Micah because of the prophecy and he had him thrown in prison. Things happened just as Micah prophesied and Ahab was killed. This story is found in the Old Testament book of II Kings chapter 22. The reason that I share all of this is to show how a person can “use” a prophet to justify his or her own desires without really caring about the truth. If this is what the girl’s mother is doing then she needs to repent of her motives and actions.

If the girl has doubts about marrying this man or if the mother has good cause for them not getting married then she, the mother, needs to sit down with her daughter and talk with her instead of trying to manipulate the situation under the guise of “prophecy”.

Another important piece of advice is to go and visit with the pastor of the church and discuss the matter with him because according to the definition of the word “prophet” is pastor, or one who builds up the spiritual life of the Church.

Translation by: Erik Brewer