The Prophet’s Chair*: Vanessa Chavez

Introducing The Prophet’s Chair*

The Prophet’s Chair is a new series here on The Hunger, where I sit down with prophetic voices to hear their journeys, their lessons, and the heart of God behind their callings.

These are real stories — not polished, not rehearsed — but honest conversations with those who have said “yes” to God in ways that changed everything.

Each interview is a window into what it truly means to carry the prophetic: the cost, the beauty, and the intimacy that comes from hearing God’s voice and echoing it on earth.

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What comes to mind when you hear the word prophet?

Do you picture an old man with a long gray beard, dressed in a tunic, staff in hand, shouting messages of doom and gloom?

You probably don’t picture a hard-working wife and mother — someone whose life was radically transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Neither did I.

Meet Prophet Vanessa Chavez.

The Rescue Mission: How God Rewrote Her Story

Before her prophetic calling, Prophet Vanessa’s life was marked by brokenness.

“I was a party girl,” she says honestly. “My husband had filed for divorce. I wasn’t living at home. I was in a deep depression.”

It was in that dark season that desperation opened the door for a miracle.

“I didn’t want anything to do with my husband,” she recalls, “but I was so desperate that I reached out to him. That in itself was a miracle.”

When he suggested they go to church, Vanessa hesitated. “I remember saying, ‘At this point, I don’t even think God can help me.’ But I was so desperate, I was willing.”

That Sunday changed everything.

“I answered the altar call, and from that moment, everything changed,” she says. “I gave my life to God — and I haven’t looked back since.”

Her voice softens as she reflects:

“It was definitely the Lord… it was a rescue mission for me. The Lord rescued me because I didn’t want to live, and the enemy was planning to take me out.”

She recounts car accidents, nights of drunk driving, and falling asleep at the wheel — moments that could’ve easily ended differently.

“The last thing the enemy tried was depression, where I didn’t want to live anymore,” she says.“But He snatched me out of that pit. So here we are.”

From that moment forward, Vanessa’s walk with God took on a new depth — one that would eventually lead her to recognize His prophetic call on her life.

The Awakening: When Hunger Became Calling

After her rescue, everything changed overnight.

“From that Sunday night,” Prophet Vanessa recalls, “I went home and just started praying.”

What began as a desperate cry quickly became a daily rhythm.

“I had to go into the secret place. Every single day, I’d lock myself in my room, put on worship music, and stay there — an hour, two hours, sometimes twice a day. I was so hungry for the Lord.”

That hunger became the doorway to something supernatural.

“From the moment I was saved, I started getting words of knowledge,” she says, still in awe. “I just knew things — about people, about situations. I even knew Scripture I hadn’t read yet! I was barely saved.”

She laughs softly at the memory, but her tone carries reverence.

“God would tell me things — like, ‘Go tell this person this.’ And I’d think, oh my gosh, what is happening?”

It was in that secret place that she realized something deeper was stirring.

“That was the moment I knew I was different,” she says. “I didn’t see this with everybody. Not everyone felt what I felt. That’s when I knew — this was more than a gift. This was a calling.”

What began in private — those hidden hours of worship and words from the Lord — would soon grow into a prophetic journey that touched far more than her own life.

The Fire: Her First Reactions to the Call

When Prophet Vanessa first began sensing that her encounters were more than a moment — that this was a divine calling — fear never entered the room.

“I was hungry!” she says, laughing. “I didn’t care about anything else. I just wanted to be immersed in His presence. I just wanted to be with Him.”

That hunger burned hotter than hesitation. While many might have run from the unknown, Vanessa ran toward it.

“I don’t remember being afraid,” she says. “I started having dreams — vivid ones — of confronting witches and warlocks. And I wasn’t afraid. I was excited.”

Each vision, each revelation, only fueled her sense of wonder.

“Everything He was showing me right off the bat — I was like, oh my gosh, I’m different! I would get visions of how He wanted to use me. It was the fire.”

That fire marked the beginning of a fearless pursuit — a woman so captivated by God’s presence that the supernatural didn’t scare her; it stirred her.

But even with that fire, Vanessa quickly learned that the prophetic walk isn’t just about power — it’s about discernment, intimacy, and staying close enough to hear God’s voice above all else.

The Hidden Season: When No One Else Saw It

For years, Prophet Vanessa walked with a secret she could hardly share. Though her encounters with God were intense and constant, no one around her seemed to understand.

“Up until this point — and it’s been about eight years since I gave my life to the Lord — no one really confirmed my gift,” she says. “That’s actually how I knew I was different.”

Even among believers, she felt unseen.

“I couldn’t connect to church folk,” she explains. “And don’t get me wrong — I love the church. Jesus died for the church. However, I felt that everything was superficial. I couldn’t share what I was experiencing. They’d think I was crazy.”

Even pastors didn’t always respond well.

“The little bit I would share, I’d get rebuked or corrected,” she says softly. “So I learned just to keep quiet. I couldn’t talk to anybody about this stuff.”

Still, God had her in training.

“The Holy Spirit taught me,” she says. “He led me to certain prophets, YouTube channels, books — and one of them was Apostle Colette [Toach]. I remember thinking, she gets me. She was talking about my life.”

Through online mentors and the quiet guidance of the Holy Spirit, Vanessa began to understand what God was shaping in her.

“Physically, I didn’t have anyone,” she says. “I used to cry out to the Lord, ‘When are You going to send me a mentor? Someone like me?’ But now I know — it was the Lord protecting me. He separated me and hid me until the right time.”

She laughs, but it’s tinged with a kind of holy nostalgia.

“People thought I was crazy — like John the Baptist! That’s how they saw me: the weird one. But I was just hidden.”

Looking back, Prophet Vanessa sees that season of isolation not as punishment, but preparation — God’s way of teaching her what it truly means to be His mouthpiece.

The Cost and the Friendship: What Being a Prophet Truly Means

Prophet Vanessa knows the prophetic isn’t about spotlight or status — it’s about surrender.

“Oh my gosh, it means so much,” she says, her voice full of awe. “People think it’s just prophesying, right? They see it as a glorious thing — and it is. But there’s a price to pay, and it’s a heavy one.”

She’s learned that price well.

“There’s a lot of loneliness,” she admits. “Being misunderstood, rejected, even shut down by the church. People telling you, ‘That’s not of God,’ or, ‘You’re not hearing right.’ You hear so many voices — and that’s where your identity in Christ has to be solid.”

Her eyes glisten as she continues.

“People don’t realize the cost — the dying to yourself, the sacrificing. The Lord will say, ‘You’ve got to give this up.’ And sometimes it’s not even bad things — He’s just separating you, consecrating you.”

But through it all, she’s discovered something more valuable than any title or platform.

“Honestly,” she says softly, “being a prophet means being a friend of God. A friend of Jesus. The relationship is so intimate and so beautiful — He literally becomes your everything.”

Her words spill out like worship:

“He’s your Commander-in-Chief. Your friend. Your comforter. Your vindicator. Your protection. He becomes your everything.”

Then she smiles.

“That’s the part of being a prophet I cherish most. Not the words of knowledge, not the revelation gifts — but how close I get to the Lord Jesus.”

That closeness didn’t just change the way she saw God — it changed the way she heard Him. Learning to separate His voice from her own became one of the most defining lessons in her prophetic walk.

The Stillness: Learning to Discern His Voice

To Prophet Vanessa, hearing God’s voice isn’t about fireworks or volume — it’s about peace that settles the heart.

“I’ve learned that with the Lord, it comes with peace,” she says. “It’s not rushed.”

Over the years, she’s come to recognize the difference between divine direction and her own thoughts.

“When it’s me — my own thoughts — it feels like now, now, now. It’s pressured, like I’m trying to make it happen myself,” she explains. “But when it’s the Lord, there’s grace. There’s peace. He gives you time.”

Sometimes, she admits, God’s instruction can be immediate — a sudden nudge to speak, act, or pray — but even then, it carries a steadiness that feels nothing like panic.

“Most of the time, He doesn’t pressure you,” she says. “He lets you process. He gives you space to really know it’s Him.”

That inner calm has become her compass.

“When it’s me,” she says with a laugh, “it’s impulsive. I gotta do it now. That’s how I know — if I feel that pressure, I’m like, okay, that’s the flesh right now.”

It’s a rhythm she’s learned through intimacy — a knowing that the true voice of God doesn’t push, it invites.

And it’s that peace — that friendship with the voice of God — that shaped how Vanessa now sees prophecy itself, not as fortune-telling, but as revealing the Father’s heart.

The Flow: What Prophecy Really Is

When Prophet Vanessa talks about prophecy, she doesn’t describe it like fortune-telling or prediction. To her, it’s much deeper — it’s a partnership.

“Well, prediction… I feel like there’s room for error,” she says. “Prophecy — it’s different. You just know that you know. It’s inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

She explains that while everyone can make mistakes, true prophecy carries an unmistakable weight — a flow that feels alive.

“Sometimes, we get into our flesh or our mind, wondering, Is that really God? But He keeps speaking. He doesn’t stop.”

Her honesty is refreshing. She admits that prophetic words can sometimes be heavy.

“Sometimes it’s a word of knowledge, or something about the future, or even a warning — and those can be scary,” she says. “I’m like, I can’t say that! I don’t want to be a doom-and-gloom prophet!”

But she’s learned to anchor herself in trust.

“When I focus on me — like, What if I’m wrong? What if it’s just my thoughts? — then I get in His way,” she says. “But when I focus on Him, and not on me, it flows.”

Her confidence doesn’t come from certainty — it comes from surrender

“Every time I step out in faith, He confirms it’s Him. And even when I mess up, the Lord covers it,” she says. “He teaches me through it. Because my heart’s not to mislead anyone — it’s to obey.”

In her world, prophecy isn’t perfection. It’s obedience wrapped in grace — the willingness to speak when the Lord says to, even if your voice shakes.

But even for someone who hears God so clearly, there have been seasons where He felt quiet — when the flow slowed to a whisper.

The Silence: Trusting God When He Seems Quiet

Every prophet knows the weight of God’s silence — those stretches of stillness where God seems to pull back His voice just to see if you’ll still listen.

Prophet Vanessa laughs softly, but her eyes say she’s been there.

“Yes — oof, I don’t like those seasons!” she admits. “That’s when the Lord is stretching me in my trust in Him.”

She’s learned that silence doesn’t mean absence.

“Even when I don’t hear Him the way I’m used to, I have to know He’s still there. He still loves me. There’s still grace.”

In those quiet stretches, she says it’s easy to assume you’ve done something wrong.

“We start repenting,” she says, laughing through the ache. “‘Lord, I repent for this, I repent for that — are You not talking to me because I disobeyed?’ But most of the time, it’s not that. He’s just taking you to another level of trust.”

Her voice grows tender.

“It’s like He’s asking, Do you trust Me when I’m quiet? Do you know I’m still here, even when you don’t hear Me the way you want to?”

She admits those seasons are painful.

“I cry during those times,” she says. “I tell Him, No, I want to hear You! But even then, I keep pressing through.”

And when the silence finally breaks, she says, it always leads somewhere new.

“You come out on the other end in a new season,” she smiles. “Every single time.”

That deeper trust — forged in the silence — has prepared her for every challenge that comes with carrying a prophetic mantle.

The Wound: Loving People Who Don’t Always Understand You

If the silence of God tests her trust, the misunderstanding of people tests her heart.

“I would say… being misunderstood,” Prophet Vanessa says quietly. “And being rejected.”

Her love for the Church runs deep.

“At the end of the day, you love what Jesus loves. You love the Church, you love the fivefold, you love the sheep — you’re a protector of the sheep.”

That’s what makes the rejection sting all the more.

“When you say something or do something out of love for people, and they don’t understand — they reject you,” she explains. “Sometimes they doubt what I say, like I’m not really hearing from God. That hurts me, because I know the relationship I have with my Father.”

Her voice trembles between sorrow and conviction.

“When I speak something that I know is from Him, and I say it in love… and it’s met with backlash — it hurts. The misunderstanding of who you are, the missing of your heart — that’s the hardest part.”

For Prophet Vanessa, it’s not about being right. It’s about being faithful, even when her obedience is met with criticism instead of gratitude.

Yet even in that pain, she’s learned how to guard her heart and protect her peace — not by hardening it, but by staying hidden in God.

The Anchor: Protecting Her Peace and Staying Grounded

Prophet Vanessa doesn’t find peace in people’s approval — she finds it in knowing who she is.

“It’s knowing my identity in Him,” she says firmly. “No matter what happens, no matter who rejects me or misunderstands me — I know who I am in the Lord.”

She’s learned that God uses even the fire to fortify what He’s built.

“He’s trained us up to be put in the fire,” she says. “People don’t know who we are. They reject us. But you stand firm because you already know — you’re called. Whether they agree or not, you’re still called.”

Her conviction is steady, but her compassion remains tender.

“It doesn’t mean things don’t hurt,” she admits. “But it’s a different kind of hurt — one that drives you to prayer. You end up saying, ‘Forgive them, Lord, they don’t know what they’re doing.’”

Identity, according to her, is the difference between breaking and bending.

“If we don’t know who we are — that He’s the one who called us — then people’s opinions will shake us,” she says. “That’s why He allows testing and pressure. It’s to make us firm. So we can say, ‘I am who the Lord called me to be, no matter what.’”

She smiles, resolute.

“Titles don’t define it. DNA does. You can’t change who you are.”

That confidence in who she is has also carried her through some of the hardest assignments — the moments when God’s words weren’t easy to release.

The Refining: Delivering Hard Words with Love

When God asks her to deliver a hard word — one that carries correction or warning — Prophet Vanessa doesn’t take it lightly.

“Oh, I’ve had several,” she admits with a knowing smile. “But honestly, during those times, I was being refined too.”

Experience has taught her that how a word is delivered matters just as much as the message itself.

“It’s up to me to deliver the word with love,” she says. “Because you love the person. You’re praying for them. Maybe it’s a warning or something they need to turn from — you deliver it because you want to see a breakthrough in their life.”

Once she’s released the word, she leaves it in God’s hands.

“You release it, and you leave it there,” she explains. “Whether they agree with it or not, you did your part. It’s not your burden anymore.”

She laughs as she recalls moments when she wanted to circle back and “remind” people of what God said.

“Sometimes you want to go, ‘Well, you know, the Lord said…’” she says, chuckling. “But you can’t control people. You just give them the word, pray for them, and let it go.”

Then, with a playful grin, she adds,

“Because if you’re still thinking about it the next day like, ‘Lord, she didn’t listen!’ — you’re in trouble!”

That gentle humor can’t hide the deeper truth: prophetic obedience isn’t about being right. It’s about releasing what God says and trusting Him with the outcome.

That trust has shaped not only how she ministers but how she lives. Because for Prophet Vanessa, the prophetic isn’t confined to a pulpit — it shows up in ordinary moments, too.

The Everyday Flow: When the Prophetic Becomes a Lifestyle

Prophet Vanessa’s ministry isn’t something she turns on when she’s preaching — it’s woven into her everyday life, showing up in her home, her table, and her words.

She laughs as she describes it.

“I think I get on my husband’s nerves,” she says playfully. “I’ll be saying things, and he’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go again!’”

Her gift follows her even into parenting.

“I tell my kids, ‘The Lord will reveal it to me. If you’re hiding anything, I’m sorry, but it’ll be in a dream or a vision — and if not me, He’ll tell your dad!’”

She chuckles, but her eyes are soft with love.

“We’re protecting this house,” she says. “We don’t take that lightly.”

Even casual conversations can turn prophetic without her realizing it.

“Sometimes we’ll say something to someone, and later they’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, that actually happened!’ And we’ll realize — that was the Lord. It’s just so natural now; it flows out of us.”

That effortless partnership with the Holy Spirit shapes not only how she ministers but also how she prays.

“Sometimes I go into the secret place and say, ‘I want to look like my Daddy. I want to look like You, God. Keep transforming me to look more and more like You.’”

Prophecy isn’t performance for Prophet Vanessa — it’s identity. It’s carrying God’s voice in everyday moments until even her laughter sounds like grace.

That intimacy spills into every part of her walk. Being a prophet hasn’t just changed her ministry — it’s transformed her relationship with God Himself.

The Relationship: How the Calling Reshaped Her Heart

When Prophet Vanessa talks about her relationship with God, there’s no hesitation — only awe.

“I can’t think of being anything else other than what He’s called me to be,” she says. Then she laughs, shaking her head. “I’ve thought about being a pastor, and I’m like, ‘Lord, please never call me to that!’”

She smiles at the thought, but her voice softens.

“It comes with a cost… but I feel honored that He chose me for this. Who am I that He would invite me into this kind of intimacy?”

That intimacy, she says, runs deeper than ministry. It’s survival — born from a lifetime of pain that God turned into purpose.

“Before I gave my life to Him, I was so broken — even as a little girl. Abused, traumatized. I needed something close. The way He is to me — I needed that to survive.”

Her eyes shimmer with conviction.

“And that’s what He wants for everyone,” she says. “He knew I needed that kind of relationship. Everything I suffered, everything I went through — He’s used it for good.”

She leans back, a knowing grin spreading across her face.

“I think about it sometimes, and I’m like — how do people not serve the Lord? You go through all these horrible things, and that’s it? You’re missing out! Because if you gave it to Him, He’d turn it into something beautiful.”

In her voice, there’s no pride — only wonder. Being a prophet isn’t about calling down fire; it’s about being held by love that refused to let her die broken.

That same love is what she now pours out to others — especially those who sense God calling them but feel afraid to step into it.

The Invitation: To Those Afraid of the Call

When asked what she would say to someone who senses God calling them into the prophetic but feels afraid, Prophet Vanessa doesn’t hesitate.

“It can be scary,” she admits. “The unknown always is. But it’s so worth it.”

Her tone carries the steady confidence of someone who’s lived it — the trials, the testing, the stretching, and the sweetness.

“All the trials, all the testing — it’s worth it to just be in a relationship with Jesus,” she says. “Getting to know Him never ends. It never gets boring.”

She smiles, almost laughing at her own joy.

“It’s not like an earthly relationship where you can grow tired of someone,” she explains. “People get divorced because they get bored with their spouse — but this? This isn’t that. There’s so much more.”

Her eyes light up with wonder.

“You say, ‘Lord, I’m hungry,’ and He says, ‘Okay, I’ll give you some — but there’s more.’ More love. More intimacy. More revelation of who He is.”

And in that moment, you can tell — she’s not just giving advice. She’s extending an invitation.

After all she’s walked through — the rescue, the fire, the silence, the cost — I asked Prophet Vanessa to sum up her journey in one word. Her answer carried the weight of every season she’s survived.

The Word: Perseverance

When asked to sum up her prophetic journey in one word, Prophet Vanessa doesn’t hesitate long.

“Perseverance,” she says. “Because that’s exactly what it takes.”

Her eyes grow distant, like she’s remembering every wilderness she’s walked through.

“I’ve had seasons where I felt like I was walking a desert road by myself,” she says quietly. “Just walking and walking toward a destination I couldn’t see. It takes perseverance, because sometimes it feels like nothing’s happening. You don’t see the end. You just keep walking.”

She describes those moments with honesty — the exhaustion, the questions, the longing for God’s promises to manifest.

“You’re like, Lord, You said I’m called, I’m chosen — where is it? I don’t see it. But you keep going anyway. You hold on to what you know is true.”

That steadfastness, she says, is what’s carried her through every trial.

“Okay, I’m called as a prophet, Lord,” she says with conviction. “I believe You. I know it. So I’ll keep walking. That’s what keeps me going — the hunger to fulfill my call.”

Her face lights up with that same fire that’s threaded through every part of her story.

“I don’t want to live and die without doing what I was sent here to do,” she says. “We all have a mission. We all have an assignment. And that’s what gives me perseverance — so that one day, I can stand before Jesus and say, ‘I did what You called me to do.’”

Stay connected with Prophet Vanessa beyond this conversation:

🌿 Read her words at The Prophetic Child.
💫 Follow her on Instagram @thepropheticchild.
💛 Connect with her on Facebook: Vanessa Chavez.

Prophet Vanessa serves under Apostle Francis Macias & Pastor Danny Macias of Fire on the Altar Church.

Her life is proof that even in the desert, God still speaks — and still calls His children higher.

I hope this interview helped you understand the significance of a prophetic life :) Subscribe to The Hunger and follow me.