Ultimately, the best way to find out if a man is truly called of God as His prophet is to ask God himself for a spiritual witness. After all, religion is a matter of spiritual understanding and experience, and this question deals with one of the most important issues of organized religion: how God manages His affairs on the earth and through what administrative structure(s) He operates.

Having said that, it is worth noting that God is God in part because of His consistency. Although all powerful, He is not arbitrary in His dealings with His children. Therefore, we can look at how He has called prophets in the past and identify certain patterns that should help us to identify at least whether a man fits the prophetic patterns. If not, we will have less confidence in his claim to his holy calling.

Here are some questions that you should ask regarding a man’s being called of God:

• Did he claim that the call came from Deity, even though the calling itself may have come through another person in a position of authority?
• Did he receive priesthood authority to act in God’s name?
• Does he offer revelations and pronouncements from God that he considers binding on the people he leads?
• Does he teach universal truths that cross cultures and political boundaries?
• Does he address social issues in clarifying and sometimes radical ways?
• Does he both maintain and reform status quo religion?

Other questions might include these:

• Did he go through some sort of spiritual preparation for the calling?
• Does he now or did he have a major weakness or trial to overcome?
• Does he have opponents who do not believe his calling as prophet?
• Does he have both a reliance on and a willingness to expand sacred texts (scripture)?
• In what ways does he testify of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of mankind?

But here we repeat: ultimately, the best way to find out if a man is truly called of God as His prophet is to ask God Himself for a spiritual witness.

Sources

Where Have All the Prophets Gone? Scott R. Petersen

The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mircea Eliade, s.v. “Prophecy”

The Holy Bible