The Prophet’s Chair: Vanessa Joy Lancellotti
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Hunger and the close of Season One of The Prophet’s Chair.
Don’t worry — I’m ending this season with a bang.
Because after you hear this Prophet’s story, you may start seeing the heart of Jesus in a way you never have before.
In recent years, scholars have examined near-death experiences across cultures and belief systems. Many report light. Peace. A sense of overwhelming love. Some even report encountering a figure they identify as Christ.
The theological implications of these experiences continue to stir conversation among Christian thinkers: What do these encounters reveal about divine presence? About eternity? About consciousness beyond the body?
But for Vanessa Joy Lancellotti, this isn’t abstract theology.
It’s personal history.
When Vanessa talks about the Holy Spirit, she doesn’t sound distant.
She sounds animated.
Curious.
Excited.
“I love waking up and thinking, ‘Okay, what is He going to say today?’”
But that excitement wasn’t always there.
And it wasn’t born out of a platform.
It was born out of survival.
“I was preparing to meet the Lord.”
Instead, she says she encountered Him — radiant, present, overwhelmingly loving.
“He hugged me. I felt so loved. There was no fear. No trauma. Just love.”
Then came the words:
“It is not yet your time.”
That moment became the foundation of her first book, Miracles Really Do Happen!: Jesus Makes All Things New.
But as we talked, it became clear — the encounter didn’t just preserve her life.
It clarified her calling.
And that calling centers around something many Christians overlook:
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
“I Didn’t Even Know If I Had a Gift”
After the aneurysm, Vanessa remembers sitting in a young adults group when someone asked:
“What are your spiritual gifts?”
Her answer?
“I didn’t know.”
She laughed, telling me the story, but at the time, it was heavy.
“I went home and told my husband, ‘I don’t know if I have any.’”
And that moment — that quiet insecurity — exposed something deeper.
Many believers love God.
But they don’t understand how they’re wired.
“It’s not that I didn’t believe in the Holy Spirit,” she said. “I just didn’t understand Him in depth.”
That lack of understanding eventually became the seed for her newest book, He Gives Because He Loves Us: Identify Your God-Given Motivational Gifts.
Romans 12: Different Gifts, Same Grace
When we talked about the foundation of her new book, she pointed back to Romans 12.
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”
She paused on that word.
Different.
“The body of Christ isn’t meant to look the same. God is a God of order. He’s personal.”
Romans 12 outlines seven motivational gifts:
ProphecyServiceTeachingExhortationGivingLeadershipMercy
“These aren’t random abilities,” she explained. “They’re how you tick. It’s how God created you.”
Unlike the manifestation gifts in 1 Corinthians or the five-fold offices in Ephesians, the motivational gifts describe internal wiring — the way a believer naturally responds to people, conflict, or responsibility.
She described it most simply:
“It’s like you’re walking around with a spiritual tool belt… and you don’t even realize it.”
That line stayed with me.
Because how many believers feel frustrated, not because they lack calling, but because they’re trying to operate in someone else’s?
“I Am Healing Your Heart.”
After her aneurysm, while still healing, Vanessa cried out to God for deeper restoration.
And she says she heard Him clearly:
“While you’re focusing on your brain, I’m healing your heart.”
She described seeing a massive heart — the Father’s heart — opened toward her.
“That foundation had to come first,” she said. “Before prophecy. Before anything.”
That statement echoes Romans 12 in a way that feels intentional.
Paul doesn’t begin with gifting.
He begins with surrender.
“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
Vanessa sees the same pattern in her own life.
“You have to learn God’s heart before you can steward His gifts.”
Without that foundation, gifting becomes performance.
With that foundation, gifting becomes love expressed in form.
The Gift That Took Discipline
When I asked which gift stretched her most, she didn’t hesitate.
“Teaching.”
And she didn’t say it lightly.
“Teaching takes discipline. You have to be in the Word. You have to know the Word.”
She emphasized that all gifting must be grounded in Scripture.
“To avoid deception, you have to know the Word of God.”
In an era where spiritual language spreads quickly online, that conviction felt weighty.
The Holy Spirit is not chaos.
“He’s the Spirit of Truth.”
And truth requires depth.
“He Loves Us… and He Likes Us”
Vanessa lights up when she talks about the Holy Spirit.
“I want to be on cloud nine all the time,” she laughed.
But she also admitted something grounding:
“You have to stay in the normal too.”
Counseling people. Showing up for family. Living everyday life.
“You can’t just hang out with leaders all the time. Jesus spent time with everyone.”
Then she said something that felt deeply pastoral:
“He loves us. But He also likes us.”
That distinction mattered to her.
“Sometimes we think love is an obligation. But He likes spending time with you.”
The motivational gifts, she believes, flow from that intimacy.
They are not tools of superiority.
They are expressions of a relationship.
Gifting Is Not the Goal — Love Is
As our conversation closed, she simplified everything.
“Relationships.”
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love others as yourself.”
She referenced Matthew — the sobering warning that some will say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy?” only to hear, “I never knew you.”
“You can have all the gifts,” she said, “but if you’re not loving people well, something’s off.”
Romans 12 says it plainly:
“Love must be sincere.”
The motivational gifts are not about spectacle.
They are about service.
Why “He Gives Because He Loves Us” Feels Personal
He Gives Because He Loves Us: Identify Your God-Given Motivational Gifts isn’t written from theory.
It’s written from lived transformation.
From the girl who once said, “I’m not sure if I have any gifts.”
To the woman who now helps others recognize theirs.
She begins with the seven motivational gifts because, in her words:
“Start with the foundation. Start simple. Then grow.”
Because gifting without grounding fractures.
But gifting rooted in love builds.
Final Reflection
Maybe the question isn’t:
“Do I have a gift?”
Maybe the real question is:
“Have I recognized how God already designed me?”
Because if Romans 12 is true —
You are not spiritually empty.
You are uniquely equipped.
And according to Vanessa:
“He gives because He loves.”
Where to Find Prophet Vanessa Joy Lancellotti
Prophet Vanessa serves under Freedom Fellowship in Virginia Beach. You can connect with her at abundantliving.life, read her testimony in Miracles Really Do Happen!: Jesus Makes All Things New, and explore her newest release, He Gives Because He Loves Us: Identify Your God-Given Motivational Gifts on Amazon.
Subscribe to The Hunger for more conversations like this, and follow Karen Zola on social media to stay connected.
