Jesus warned: "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." (Matthew 24:11)
So there are many false prophets today. And the chances of listening to a false prophet is very high.
The Bible also warns: "But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
So the way to know a false prophet is if what they prophesy does not come true.
True prophets don't prophesy something vague - like "I see a cloud forming over you", which can be interpreted both ways to mean a dark cloud or a cloud with rain that helps a plant grow. So if something bad happens, the "prophet" can say "I told you so". But if something good happens, the "prophet" can also say "I told you so".
True prophets prophesy something specific like what Elisha said: "Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria... Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it" (2 Kings 7:1-2). And it comes true.
How many prophets are like that?
That's why true prophets are very, very rare today.
It is very easy to be misled. That's why we need to know God's word, the Bible. We test everything against what the Bible says.
If a prophet says anything contrary to the Bible, he is also a false prophet.
We must not be enticed by feelings or by what we want to hear.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
The Bible is truth. You can read it online here: