The Prophet’s Chair: Carmen Ikem
Welcome back to The Hunger! And more importantly—welcome back to The Prophet’s Chair!
This week, I had the privilege of sitting down with a prophet who carries a depth of discernment that you can feel in your spirit the moment she speaks.
One thing I’ve learned while building this series is that a prophet’s greatest fear—outside of rejection—is deception.
And the woman I interviewed today? She knows deception, deliverance, and discernment very well.
Not from theory. From experience.
Meet Prophet Carmen Ikem.
A woman who walked through the fire came out refined and now carries a revelation sharp enough to split truth from counterfeit in seconds.
When She First Realized Her Prophetic Calling
When I asked Prophet Carmen Ikem when she first recognized her prophetic gift, she smiled the kind of smile people give when they’re remembering a long, winding road. She told me it took years before she understood what God had placed inside her.
Growing up, she always sensed she was “different.” She dreamed often, she “just knew” things before they happened, and whenever she faced important decisions — even before she was saved — something in her spirit told her, “Fast. Pray.” She didn’t have the vocabulary for any of it. She didn’t grow up in church and didn’t give her life to Christ until she was about 27. But once she did, everything started aligning.
God began to train her in hearing His voice. She kept having dreams, kept writing them down, kept filling journals before she even knew she’d later become an author. She says writing was simply woven into her life — first reading constantly, then keeping a diary, then documenting everything the Lord showed her.
It wasn’t until she was deep into her medical journey that things shifted. She had worked her way from nursing assistant to LPN, and then finally entered RN school — the moment she says God began to reveal what He was truly doing.
Before she even started the program, God warned her she would face significant warfare, but told her not to quit — that something waited for her on the other side. And the warfare came hard. She spent all 18 months of RN school in constant sickness, with different body systems failing one after another. At one point, it got so severe the staff considered removing her from the program.
But she begged them not to.
“Don’t take me out,” she told them. “The Lord said not to quit. If I pass out, drag me across the floor, but don’t kick me out.”
They let her stay — and she finished.
But finishing came with heartbreak. She had wanted to work in the NICU with babies, but the doctors told her body couldn’t handle the stress anymore. That dream died. She was discouraged, upset… and then God rerouted. After prayer and a conversation with her husband, she moved into home health instead. And that’s when she finally asked God her real question:
“Who am I? What is my purpose?”
And God answered:
“You are a seer.”
She didn’t even know what that meant. She didn’t know what a prophet was. She had never heard the terminology. But the moment God revealed it, the enemy launched a full-scale attack.
A woman she believed was a friend — someone surrounded by trustworthy mutuals — called her out of nowhere and said, “The Lord told me to mentor you in the prophetic.” Carmen, still new to prophetic things, didn’t know to test the spirit. The woman instructed her to stay in the Word but avoid learning anything about prophecy because “God wants to teach you Himself.” It sounded spiritual… but it was a trap.
She later learned the woman was a witch sent to derail her destiny.
For a full year, Prophet Carmen was unknowingly under a spell. It wasn’t until God Himself broke it that she realized what had happened. The Holy Spirit walked her back through the entire year, revealing everything that had gone wrong, the deception she had endured, and the lessons she would carry forward.
After that deliverance, her discernment sharpened instantly. She could spot that spirit immediately — a grace that came through fire.
And that was the beginning of understanding her prophetic identity.
Is Witchcraft One of the Greatest Threats in the Medical Field Today?
As the conversation turned toward spiritual warfare in the medical field, Prophet Carmen didn’t blink when the topic of witchcraft came up.
“Yes, I would definitely say that.”
She went on to explain that the enemy uses the medical field strategically because of how vulnerable people are when they’re sick, scared, or looking for answers. She said you can see the influence of witchcraft “even through the drugs,” through certain practices, and through the spiritual curses that people don’t even realize they’re agreeing to.
She described how many people — including believers — end up stuck in cycles of sickness, confusion, or emotional bondage without ever discerning the spiritual source behind it. They keep going in circles, accepting things as “normal,” never realizing something unseen is targeting them.
She said one line that hit me hard:
“People say what you don’t know won’t hurt you… But it does.”
Prophet Carmen made it clear that lack of spiritual awareness doesn’t protect people — it actually makes them more vulnerable. She talked about how she herself didn’t know what was happening when she came under that year-long spell. She wasn’t reading her Bible, she wasn’t discerning, and because of that, she was an easy target.
Her warning wasn’t fearful — it was eye-opening. She believes believers in medicine must stay prayerful, alert, and grounded in the Word, because the enemy is absolutely active where healing, life, and the human body are involved.
Discerning God’s Voice in a High-Pressure, Science-Driven Environment
Talking about discerning God’s voice in the fast-paced, high-pressure world of medicine, Prophet Carmen didn’t sugarcoat it. She said the only way to survive spiritually in that environment is to stay deeply connected to the Holy Spirit.
For her, discernment isn’t optional — it’s life and safety.
She explained that you have to maintain a real relationship with God: one-on-one time, seeking His presence, reading the Word, praying, worshipping, and keeping your spirit sensitive. Because without that? You won’t be able to tell what’s God and what’s not.
She was very honest about her own journey.
“Had I been in the Word,” she said, “I wouldn’t have gotten into the things I got into.”
For her, the Word of God is the anchor. It keeps your mind clear, your spirit protected, and your heart steady. And in medicine, you don’t always get the luxury of stopping to pray about every decision. You can’t pause an emergency to say, “Hold up, Lord, give me a dream real quick.”
Sometimes you have to move immediately — and the only way to move correctly is if you’ve already been with Him.
Prophet Carmen said that when you stay close to God consistently, you’ll recognize His voice instantly, even in chaotic, high-stress situations. You’ll know without hesitation, “That’s the Holy Spirit,” and you’ll be able to act on it safely, confidently, and precisely.
And for her, that sensitivity to the Spirit is what has protected her over and over again.
How Being Prophetic Affected Her Professionally
Bringing up how her prophetic gifting shaped people’s perceptions at work made her laugh a little before admitting the truth: it absolutely did, and in very different ways.
She explained that her peers initially struggled with it. Many of them only knew “Facebook prophets,” the loud, flashy, social-media type that people use as the benchmark for what a prophet is supposed to look like. Because she wasn’t prophesying online or announcing her calling publicly, some of her coworkers assumed she wasn’t legitimate.
Some even believed she must have attended a prophetic school and simply been told she was a prophet — not realizing God Himself had spoken to her long before she ever began her training.
Prophet Carmen admitted that, because she was still new and learning, their doubt actually made her second-guess herself for a moment.
“I remember thinking, ‘Lord, maybe I didn’t hear You. I don’t prophesy like they do… maybe I’m wrong.’ And the Lord said, What did I tell you?”
It wasn’t until she took Apostle Colette’s course on prophetic types — and learned there are many expressions of the prophetic, including seers — that everything clicked. She realized she wasn’t meant to operate like others. Her gifting had its own lane, and that lane was valid.
But her patients? Oh, that was a completely different story.
They loved her.
They felt something different the moment she walked into the room. They would ask her to pray with them every time she visited. Some would say, “You’re not like any other nurse we’ve met.” Others told her she brought them peace, hope, and spiritual nourishment they had been missing.
To them, her prophetic gift wasn’t strange — it was comforting.
It didn’t clash with her nursing; it enhanced it.
Where her peers saw “unusual,” her patients saw Jesus.
For many of them, she wasn’t just administering care — she was ministering life.
She also shared that the foundation of her balance is staying close to the Lord. She laughed a little and said It sounds cliché, but it’s true — you have to stay near Him to know what’s truly from Him and what isn’t. At the same time, she knows the importance of practicing medicine with integrity. There are standards, protocols, and evidence-based practices every medical professional must uphold to keep patients safe, and she respects those fully. But for her, the key is never allowing those systems to pressure her into compromising her morals.
So she prays. Constantly. She asks God to reveal the truth in every system she encounters — whether the medical system, a religious environment, or anything in between. That’s what keeps her grounded, safe, and discerning. She knows what responsibilities she must follow as a nurse, but she also knows where she draws the line: she will not participate in anything that violates what God has taught her.
She explained that this balance becomes easier when she’s operating within her own company. In her own agency, she doesn’t have to hide her faith or tiptoe around prayer. She can boldly create a space where patients know God is honored — where prayer is welcome, where Jesus is openly lifted, and where the care includes both clinical excellence and spiritual support.
Working for hospitals was different. For years, faith-talk was frowned upon, and it wasn’t always easy to openly say she believed in Jesus or encourage patients spiritually. Things have changed a bit, she noted, but the environment still has limits. That’s why she loves having her own practice — she can serve without compromise.
At the end of the day, her guiding principle is simple: stay close to the Lord, follow His leading, uphold the standards that keep patients safe, and refuse anything that would compromise her morals. That’s how she honors God while still providing exceptional clinical care.
When Medical Ethics and God’s Heart Collide
Prophet Carmen also shared that one of the hardest ethical tensions she ever faced came long before she became an RN. She spent about fourteen years working in a nursing home, and even back then — before she fully understood her prophetic sensitivity — certain practices troubled her spirit deeply.
One of the biggest struggles for her was encountering DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders. She explained that if a patient with a DNR went into cardiac arrest or stopped breathing while she was in the room, she was legally required to stand back. No compressions. No assistance. No intervention.
Even though the patient had signed the form, even though it was “within policy,” something about it never sat right with her.
She said her spirit would feel unsettled every time, but she didn’t yet have the language to understand why. She didn’t know if it was simply human compassion or if it was the Lord putting His finger on something — but she knew this:
It felt wrong to watch life slip away and be unable to act.
She said it felt almost like someone else was deciding the ending for the patient, and she wrestled with that. Yes, patients have rights and autonomy. Yes, DNRs are legal and standard. But she couldn’t shake the sense of, “Who am I to decide this? I’m not God.”
At the time, she didn’t fully understand her prophetic gift or why her spirit reacted so strongly. But now, looking back, she recognizes it was part of the journey of God shaping her sensitivity — showing her what grieves His heart, what challenges her conscience, and what it means to navigate medicine with discernment, not just policy.
When God Defies Logic: Breakthrough Moments in Patient Care
The moment we touched on divine guidance that overrides human reasoning, she didn’t even blink — she launched into two extraordinary stories I won’t forget.
✨ Story One: The Woman With the Non-Healing Foot
Before Prophet Carmen’s own agency was approved, the Lord instructed her to work for another home health company. One of her assigned patients had a severe wound on her foot that refused to heal. Week after week, she packed it, cleaned it, measured it… and nothing changed.
She remembers asking God repeatedly,
“Lord, why is her foot not healing? What am I missing?”
During those visits, she and the patient would discuss God, pray together, and even initiate weekly Bible studies. Carmen eventually bought her a Bible with her name engraved on it for Christmas — a gesture that opened the woman’s heart even more.
But the wound still wouldn’t improve.
Then one day, Carmen arrived at the woman’s home and suddenly had to use the bathroom. She normally avoids patients’ bathrooms entirely — especially since this home had bug issues — but she physically couldn’t hold it.
She went in… and froze.
Sitting on the back of the toilet was a Buddha statue.
She described the moment like this:
“Lord… first the bugs, now Buddha? I can’t do this.”
The Holy Spirit immediately nudged her:
“Ask her why it’s there.”
After wrestling with discomfort, she obeyed. The woman explained that it was an old gift she had kept for years — she didn’t even remember where it came from.
Carmen didn’t want to offend her or get removed from the case, so she waited and prayed for God to show her how to address it.
Later, while praying at home, the Lord revealed the truth:
The Buddha statue was the spiritual block preventing her foot from healing.
During the next visit, Carmen gently shared with the woman what God had shown her. To her surprise, the woman didn’t get offended — she trusted her.
“If the Lord said this is the reason, then it has to go.”
The woman took the statue outside, smashed it, threw the pieces into the dumpster, and then Carmen guided her in renouncing it.
Within a couple of weeks, the wound that hadn’t healed in months finally began to close.
A breakthrough that made absolutely no medical sense — but made total spiritual sense.
✨ Story Two: The Aide With Witchcraft Ties
The second story was even more intense.
Another patient of hers also struggled with illness, and Carmen would pray with her weekly. But then a new home aide started working there — a woman who immediately pushed back against anything involving Jesus.
Carmen noticed something unsettling: every time she made spiritual progress with the patient, this new aide would show up and try to undo everything.
Then it escalated.
The patient shared that she had told the aide about Carmen’s past struggle with fibromyalgia. Instantly, the aide offered Carmen a homemade remedy — something she had “made herself.”
The Holy Spirit interrupted her sharply:
“Do NOT take anything from her.”
So Carmen kept asking questions — following the Holy Spirit’s direction — and the aide eventually revealed proudly:
Her family were witches.
One relative was a high priestess.
She intended to reach that level.
She had named her daughter after an Egyptian god.
She openly rejected Jesus.
Week after week, the aide and Carmen would clash spiritually. Every Thursday felt like warfare. The patient would regress after talking to her. Carmen’s spirit was exhausted.
One day, after praying with her sister and wise counsel, she cried out to God:
“Lord, You have to do something. I can’t keep fighting this.”
The very next Thursday, Carmen arrived for her shift…
And the aide was gone.
Fired. Removed from the home.
God stepped in directly.
Later, Carmen saw the same aide at another house for a different patient. The woman looked at her… then surprisingly told the other patient that Carmen was “a nice person.”
No hostility. No argument. Just silence — like the fight had already been settled in the spirit.
Prophet Carmen told me plainly after sharing her stories:
“There really are witches in the medical field.”
What Inspired Her to Write — And What She Hopes Readers Receive
As we explored her journey as an author, she shared the simplest and strongest reason for writing her story: “The Lord told me to.”
She explained that she never set out to become an author. She loved journaling, loved writing her thoughts privately, but she had zero desire to write anything for other people. Writing, to her, was personal — a place of reflection, not publication.
But after walking through the painful year of deception and spiritual warfare, she was left wounded, broken, and full of questions. In the middle of that healing process, God gave her a simple instruction:
“Write for healing.”
She didn’t even know what that meant at first. She wasn’t thinking about a book. She wasn’t aiming to help an audience. She was just obeying God, one small instruction at a time.
He began giving her scriptures — lots of them. Verses, passages, promises. He told her to write them down and keep them close. Then He told her to create an outline of everything that had happened to her during that year.
She didn’t want to.
She didn’t want to relive it.
She didn’t want to revisit the trauma she had finally escaped.
But God insisted.
So she followed His instruction: collecting scriptures, writing an outline of events, piecing together memories she would rather have forgotten.
And then, when she had everything written down, God revealed why.
“Now write your story.”
Only then did she realize — all along, she had been writing a book.
She didn’t set out to be an author. God turned her healing process into a testimony. And her prayer now is that readers will experience the same restoration, clarity, and deliverance that He brought into her life.
Is Writing a Prophetic Act — And a Prophetic Ministry?
The moment I asked her whether writing is prophetic, she answered with certainty:
“Absolutely.”
She explained that writing becomes prophetic the moment revelation is involved — when God is communicating, unveiling, or instructing. In that way, the very act of putting words to paper becomes an extension of hearing Him.
But she didn’t stop there.
She also sees writing as a prophetic ministry, because God calls certain people specifically to write for the edification of His people. She reminded me that Scripture itself was recorded by scribes who carried divine responsibility — documenting revelation, preserving instruction, and stewarding God’s voice for generations.
To her, writing is both:
A prophetic act and a prophetic assignment.
Discerning What’s of God — and What Isn’t
I then asked her something I was curious about: with her experiences in spiritual warfare, how does she discern which authors are truly hearing from God and which ones aren’t — especially when so many books carry spiritual influence?
She nodded instantly.
She said the Holy Spirit is faithful to check her the moment she picks up a book that isn’t aligned with Him.
“If it’s a no, it’s a no. I’ll feel it immediately.”
She shared a story about someone she knew who wanted her to read his book. She felt a strong internal check even before opening it. The Holy Spirit told her,
“Ask him what the book is about.”
When she did, he described themes and ideas that were spiritually off — fantasy elements and concepts she knew didn’t align with her faith in God. And the Holy Spirit made it clear:
“You cannot read that.”
She told him gently but firmly that she couldn’t go against what God had said.
She emphasized the importance of discernment, especially for believers called to write or lead others. She said people don't realize how easy it is to take on someone else's spirit through their words — fear, confusion, false revelation, or even occult influence — simply by reading what they’ve written.
“You don’t want to open yourself up to something God never gave you,” she said.
She used to read freely, without guarding her spirit. But now, because of her calling, she checks everything with the Lord first.
The rule she lives by is simple:
Not everything is meant to be read — even if it’s popular.
Only read what the Holy Spirit approves.
Blending Revelation With Practical Wisdom in Writing
When I brought up how she weaves revelation together with medical knowledge in her writing, she shared that everything begins with solid research and a strong sense of responsibility. She knows the standards of medical care — the protocols, the nursing expectations, the ethical boundaries — because she’s trained in them. That foundation keeps her grounded.
But writing about medicine through a prophetic lens means she has to make a spiritual shift while she writes:
“What is the Lord saying about this?”
She refuses to compromise her morals or her obedience to God just to fit a medical narrative. Instead, she listens for the Holy Spirit’s clarity. She knows what her job requires — but she also knows when the Lord is saying, “Not this. This isn’t Me.”
When it came to writing her book, she said something that stuck with me:
“The Holy Spirit wrote that book.”
She didn’t want to write in her flesh or rely on her own imagination. She let God guide every chapter, every insight, every revelation. She said when you let the Holy Spirit write with you, He tells you what belongs in the book and what needs to stay out.
She contrasted that with the growing trend of people using artificial intelligence or other tools to write spiritual content — but she said plainly:
“God told me to write the book. He didn’t tell AI.”
She warned that AI can output information without discernment. It won’t tell you if something is rooted in witchcraft. It won’t flag something spiritually dangerous. People can easily pick up something that sounds deep but opens a door spiritually. And without knowing the Lord intimately — His voice, His ways, His character — it’s easy to accidentally blend truth with deception.
Her message was firm:
You must know the Lord yourself.
You must stay in His presence.
You must let Him decide what gets written.
And you must guard your writing the same way you guard your spirit.
Because, as she put it bluntly:
“Witchcraft is everywhere. It’s in the world, in schools… even in the church. You have to be careful.”
The Hardest Chapter to Write — And Why
In discussing her book, she mentioned something I honestly didn’t expect—there was a chapter that challenged her more than any other.
It wasn’t the chapter on deception.
It wasn’t the chapter on spiritual warfare.
It wasn’t even the chapter about being under a spell for a year.
It was the chapter on prayer.
She laughed a little when she explained it, because on the surface, it sounds almost impossible — a prophet struggling to write about prayer? But her reasoning made perfect sense.
She told me that she wrote her book just two months after being delivered from deception. Her walk with God was still fresh, fragile, and being rebuilt. She had been kept away from the Word, kept away from His presence, kept away from prayer for nearly a year. So when God told her to write, she obeyed — but she was still healing.
“My walk wasn’t as deep as it is now,” she said.
She prayed, yes — but not with the maturity, authority, and depth she walks in today. So writing about prayer felt intimidating. She didn’t know how to explain it. She didn’t feel qualified to teach it. She didn’t feel strong enough to model it.
She said every other chapter flowed effortlessly.
“Bam, bam, bam,” as she put it. God gave her revelation after revelation.
But when she got to the chapter on prayer… everything slowed to a crawl.
She struggled. She wrestled. She questioned.
“How is this the hardest chapter? Prayer should be easy.”
In the end, she wrote what she could — the basics — but she avoided including written prayers for the reader. She felt unworthy to lead someone else in prayer publicly when she was still relearning how to stand in it privately.
Later, she told God she wanted to add prayers to a future edition. She felt guilty for leaving them out. But the Lord corrected her gently:
“You did what you were supposed to do for where you were. It was enough.”
She said people constantly tell her the book changed their life — that it sent them running back to God, seeking Him, praying again, surrendering again. One pastor’s wife even mailed her a handwritten letter saying:
“Every Christian needs to read this book.”
And every time someone says that, Prophet Carmen is reminded that God wastes nothing — not even our early steps, our shaky seasons, or our unfinished places.
She ended with something I loved:
“God knew where I was before I did. What mattered most was obedience, not perfection. He can work with obedience.”
Praying for Patients Without Crossing Boundaries
As soon as I asked how she balances prayer with professional boundaries, she explained that the dynamic changed entirely once she began running her own agency.
“Now, I just tell myself — hey, it’s my company, and this is who I am. I’m praying.”
She makes it clear upfront that her agency is faith-based. Nothing is hidden. Nothing is “surprised the client. The people who come under her care already know she is a woman of God, so prayer becomes a natural part of the atmosphere rather than a boundary issue.
But she contrasted this with her earlier years working in other facilities.
Back then, she held back.
People warned her: “Be careful — you can get fired for praying or mentioning faith at work.”
And because of that fear, she often stayed quiet unless a patient initiated the conversation. Sometimes she didn’t say anything at all.
But everything shifted after God delivered her — and after she saw firsthand how deeply patients were impacted by prayer.
She realized that many of her clients couldn’t attend church. They weren’t hearing sermons, worship, encouragement, or Scripture anywhere… except when she walked through the door. That realization changed her whole perspective.
“These people need to hear God. They want prayer. They want to know Him. Who am I to keep Him from them?”
Seeing patients light up, tear up, or find hope through prayer made her bolder. Their hunger for God gave her courage. And she began to understand prayer not as a “risk” — but as part of her calling.
She said something that stuck with me:
“If I were in their place, and the only time I heard about God was when my nurse came… I would hope she prayed with me.”
Now, she prays freely and confidently — because she’s created an environment where Jesus isn’t whispered… He’s welcomed.
A Prophetic Shift in Healthcare: What God Is Doing in the Medical Field
As the conversation turned toward the state of the medical field, Prophet Carmen was quick to affirm that a prophetic shift is happening and that God is moving in profound ways.
For years, she explained, it was uncommon (and often discouraged) for medical professionals to openly express their faith. Praying for patients was frowned upon. Talking about Jesus could get you written up or even fired. Nurses and doctors felt pressured to keep their beliefs silent.
But she says something has changed.
“The Lord is making a shift in that area.”
She sees more boldness rising in believers within healthcare — more people praying, more people openly professing Christ, more people refusing to hide their faith. Where the atmosphere used to be spiritually stiff and closed, God is loosening it, softening it, opening doors.
But she believes the shift goes even deeper than that.
She said God is working on the higher powers — the decision-makers, the administrators, the leaders, the ones controlling policy, money, and culture inside healthcare systems.
Many of them have been hardened, she said — focused more on profit than people, more on efficiency than compassion. But she believes God is touching their hearts:
“He’s turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”
She said God is intentionally cleaning up the medical system — exposing what needs to be exposed, purifying motives, confronting corruption, and pulling down influences (including witchcraft and flesh-driven agendas) that have taken root.
In her words:
“The Lord wants to be at the center of the medical profession.”
And to do that, He’s doing a full spiritual reset — restoring the medical field back to Himself, realigning it with compassion, justice, and healing as He intended it.
She believes the shift is bigger than any one person. It’s a move of God preparing the medical world for revival, glory, and true healing — the kind that flows from both knowledge and the Spirit.
Encouragement for Faith-Based Entrepreneurs in the Medical Field
When I asked Prophet Carmen what advice she would give to faith-based entrepreneurs who sense God calling them higher — especially those who hesitate to call themselves “prophetic” — she offered wisdom that felt like it came straight from the throne room.
Her first instruction was simple:
“Stay true to who you are.”
She explained that when God is developing you, not everyone around you will understand it. Some people may doubt you, dismiss you, or speak against what God is birthing in you. She experienced that firsthand — people telling her she wasn’t a prophet, that she wasn’t hearing God, that she should just fit into the world’s mold of nursing and entrepreneurship.
But she said:
“Don’t compromise who you are just to fit what others think.”
Then she emphasized something she returned to again and again:
Seek wise counsel — truly wise counsel.
Not everyone with an opinion is qualified to speak into your destiny. You need people who know God, who walk with Him, who can discern, and who won’t steer you into worldly logic instead of spiritual obedience.
But wise counsel isn’t enough — you also need fasting and prayer.
She said fasting is what broke the witchcraft off of her.
Fasting is what sharpened her discernment.
Fasting is what helped her separate God’s voice from the enemy’s deception.
“Fasting is huge,” she said.
“Don’t discount fasting. Pair it with prayer and the Lord will reveal Himself.”
She also emphasized staying rooted in the Word. The Bible gives instruction for every area of life — business, faith, medicine, ethics, relationships, and identity.
“Your word gives you everything about godly living,” she said.
You can’t rely on feelings alone; you need Scripture to anchor you.
Then she gave a surprising type of encouragement — something not many people talk about:
God can use unexpected people to lift you.
She shared that God once used a person who wasn't even walking with Him to help her move forward in business. She’s seen God use nonbelievers to open doors, create opportunities, and push His will forward.
“He’ll use it for His glory, even if you don’t understand how.”
Then she delivered what I think is one of the most powerful truths of the whole interview:
Obedience to God must matter more than business success.
She said some people may lose clients or money when obeying God, but if you disobey Him, you’ll lose something much bigger.
“He’s the one who gives us the power to make money.”
“Why follow man when man doesn’t know everything?”
She shared openly how people mocked her during her agency journey:
“Are you still doing that?”
“I would’ve quit by now.”
“Why pay rent for an office with no clients?”
She and her husband paid $800–$900 a month for an empty office for years — no income, no patients, no guarantee. But she stood on what she knew God told her.
And He honored it.
“When you know what you know, you stand.”
That’s how she survived nursing school. That’s how she built her agency. That’s how she kept going when others quit.
And then she ended with this:
“You are set apart.
Set-apart people do not do what the world does.
We’re in it, but we’re not of it.
If you keep your eyes on the Lord, you can do anything.”
Advice for Believers Called to Prophetic Ministry in Secular Spaces
Finally, addressing those who feel drawn to prophetic ministry while serving in secular spaces, she spoke with a wisdom that was at once deeply old and undeniably current.
First, she made one thing clear:
She is not telling anyone to break rules, abandon protocol, or reject the responsibilities of their profession. Excellence is still required. Integrity is non-negotiable.
But then she went deeper.
She said the real challenge isn’t the work — it’s the compromise.
You have to watch for it, guard against it, and refuse to bend your morals just to blend in.
She used the example of Daniel.
Daniel served in Babylon — a completely secular, pagan system — yet he never compromised who he was.
He was present, but he wasn’t polluted.
He worked there, but he didn’t become there.
He was surrounded by darkness, yet stayed full of light.
Prophet Carmen said believers today need to see their callings the same way.
“We are called into these dark places so our light can shine.”
God is intentionally placing His people in hospitals, courtrooms, schools, agencies, government offices, corporations — places traditional ministry doesn’t always reach. These are mission fields disguised as careers.
“If we don’t go, who will?” she asked.
How will people encounter the voice of God in those spaces if His people refuse to step into them?
She said the key is remembering your purpose:
You’re not there to blend in.
You’re not there to adopt the culture.
You’re not there to eat the king’s delicacies.
You’re not there to become what the system is.
You’re there on assignment.
A clean vessel.
A clear voice.
A light in a place that forgot light existed.
Her final encouragement was simple but strong:
“Stay close to Him.
Do only what He tells you to do.
Don’t compromise yourself for anyone.
Know why you’re there — and stay pure in it.”
Final Reflections
Sitting with Prophet Carmen Ikem didn’t feel like just another interview — it felt like stepping into a classroom, a prayer room, and a battlefield all at once. Her story carries the weight of someone who has walked through darkness but came out hearing God more clearly than ever. And her words remind us that calling isn’t confined to pulpits, stages, or sanctuaries. Sometimes God plants His prophets in hospitals, boardrooms, classrooms, and systems that desperately need a voice that refuses to bow.
Her journey is living proof that obedience is louder than titles.
That purity is more powerful than pressure.
And that God is still raising warriors in unexpected places.
My prayer is that this conversation provokes something in you — boldness, clarity, conviction, or even the courage to ask God, “Where have You assigned me?” Because if there is one thing I learned from Prophet Carmen, it’s this:
You can be prophetic anywhere.
Faithful anywhere.
Set apart anywhere.
And God will meet you everywhere.
May her testimony strengthen your steps, sharpen your discernment, and remind you that you are called — even in the places that don’t look “ministry” at first glance.
Welcome to the journey. Welcome to the assignment.
And welcome to The Prophet’s Chair.
Follow Prophet Carmen Ikem:
If you were impacted by Prophet Carmen’s story, her ministry, or her boldness in the medical field, you can connect with her and follow more of her journey here:
📍 Facebook:
www.facebook.com/carmenikem
📸 Instagram:
@carmenikem
📝 Blog — She Broke The Chains:
www.carmenikem.com
🏥 Founder & CEO:
Divine Heart Home & Health Nursing Services, LLC — a faith-based home health agency committed to compassionate, Spirit-led care.
⛪ Church Home:
She faithfully serves under Vineyard Church of Columbus, where she continues to minister, grow, and develop her prophetic gifting.
🕊 Prophetic Covering & Coaching:
She is coached by Apostle Colette Toach and mentored in the prophetic by Dir. Michael and Deborah Anne Velthuysen, who have poured into her growth, identity, and calling.
Prophet Carmen is a living testimony of what God can do with a yielded vessel — in medicine, in ministry, and in every place He assigns His people.
If her testimony touched you, let it move you closer to God. And if you want to keep hearing from prophets, leaders, and believers walking out their callings, follow The Hunger so you never miss an interview.
