Scripture: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me. (John 10:27)
Scripture: "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing." (John 5:19-20)
Scripture: "Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
Scripture: "Truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will even greater things." (John 14:12)
Dear Friends,
May the peace and presence of the Holy Spirit be with you today and always. How wonderful to live in His peace, even in the midst of storms. And how amazing that the Lord of the universe WANTS to share with us His Heart for the people in our lives.
So, today I want to talk about "words of knowledge." Words of knowledge are a gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12:4-8. What are they, how do we receive them, how do we give them and how do we grow in them? These are the questions we will look at today. First, you MUST believe that Jesus is the King who comes off His throne to come to YOU. He WANTS to speak to YOU. and He wants to use YOU to speak to His people.
What is a word of knowledge? It's a revelation supernaturally given to you by the Holy Spirit for someone else. It's a piece of information that you would have had no way of knowing unless it had been given to you by the Holy Spirit. Why is it given? It's given to show Jesus' Heart to a person, His love, and His power. Generally, if a word of knowledge is given, the grace is given to heal. What do I mean? Let me give you two examples. Sometimes you may experience a physical pain that is not yours. What do I mean by that? I went to get a massage from my friend who is blind. As I walked into her home, I got a sharp stabbing pain in my right knee. I knew to ask her if she had knee pain. I "knew" it wasn't my pain. She, in fact, had missed her door and rammed her knee into the wall. So, I knew it was a word of knowledge, and because I know that when God gives you a word, usually He gives the grace for the healing. I prayed over her knee and her pain left immediately. We got to talk about how much God loved her and cared for every little detail of her life. It was a precious moment. My second example was not a physical pain, but a very quick thought. It was a little picture that flitted through my mind. It was just a simple number. It meant nothing to me. But I was with someone who had asked for prayer, so I asked her if it meant something to her. It was a huge, breakthrough moment for her. God was speaking directly to a deep issue in her life. And that brief thing that flitted through my mind, showed her that God heard her, cared deeply about her, and was with her. One word came as a physical pain and the other as a picture in my mind. Two things happen when a word is given and is accurate. First, it builds the faith of the person receiving the word, that God is hearing them and cares about them, and it builds the faith of the person who gives the word. They both grow in their confidence that God is speaking and they are hearing correctly.
How else are words of knowledge given? Besides feeling a physical pain and seeing a picture, sometimes I have just had a very strong impression that I was supposed to do something. (It could be a slight impression as well.) In one case, I was nudged to send a certain book to someone. It made no sense to me so I blew it off. By the third time I was strongly, internally nudged to send this book, I just did it, having NO understanding as to why. (And I was quite sure that person would think I was nuts!) The one who received the book was very impacted by it. It had very clear meaning to him. So often, words of knowledge that come by impressions (and every other way) just need our obedience, NOT our understanding. Again, a word of knowledge obeyed is for the person who receives it. The Lord is always trying to bring His love and healing to His people. And so much healing comes from feeling known and loved by God.
Sometimes we 'read" a word of knowledge. I was recently praying for a friend and when I pictured her, I saw a particular word, in capital, bold letters, over her head. As is often the case, it meant nothing to me. My job was to give her the word. Something that needs saying is this: DO NOT ADD TO OR LEAVE OUT ANYTHING IN THE WORD GIVEN. Don't assume you have an interpretation if it was not specifically given, even if you may have a hunch. She asked me to interpret. I was only given this picture of a boldly displayed word. It would have perhaps been harmful to "guess" at its meaning. Similarly, don't add a word or leave out anything. It makes no difference if it means something or even makes sense to you. Just give what you have been given, and remember, if the Lord gives a word of knowledge, usually He has also given the grace for whatever healing is indicated. If it's pertains to an event in the future, continued prayer will reveal all in His time.
There are times when a word of knowledge is unexpectedly spoken. You can be speaking and suddenly you are speaking words about something you were unaware of. The only time that happened to me I was suddenly offering to pay for a pilgrimage for someone! God is SO funny! I was as surprised as the person. But it resonated so deeply in me, that I knew it was absolutely His plan.
These words from God's Heart can also come from dreams and visions. It may be about you or someone in your life. I have had some very interesting things given in this way. There was a time when a very interesting word was given to me about learning to pray the Word in darkness. After several months, I saw it play out in the life of someone I loved very much who began to experience a very difficult season of darkness. All I could do was pray, and it was a very powerful season when I learned to pray God's Word at a level I never had known before. It was one of the most powerful times of my life, AND one of the times I felt like I was praying completely by Braille! God prevailed powerfully, and I consider that time one of the most profound spiritual times in my life.
There are probably other ways words of knowledge can be given, but these are a solid beginning. These are some typical ways we get words of knowledge, but what do we do with them? First, we NEVER forget that a word given from God's Heart is to show His love and His power for the one in front of you. Sometimes the Lord gives a word for someone who is not a believer. When the Kingdom shows up, what an awesome opportunity to introduce the King! But this takes RISK doesn't it? Always, under any circumstance, it takes risk. One day I was in the big grocery store in town and I felt like the Lord was telling me to ask the young woman about her stomach issues. Imagine my joy at that prospect. (And yes, I am now known as the woman who prays in the grocery store.) I walked through the line internally battling with God about this when she suddenly started telling me about her stomach issues! WHAT?! Even then, I was still battling, especially because there was suddenly a line of people behind me. I chickened out and went home. And because God is incessant, He bothered me about it for 3 days. So, wouldn't you know, 3 days later, the one moment I had forgotten about it, I was ready to check out at the grocery store and guess who's line I landed in. This time I asked her about her stomach and it had not improved. Again, there was a line, but this time I checked out and pulled my cart over and waited. After a few moments ,the line cleared and I had time to ask if I could pray with her. I have no idea if she received healing, but I knew God wasn't going to let me off the hook until I obeyed. I'm slow, but I DO finally come around!
All that to say, Jesus is ALWAYS speaking. He is ALWAYS looking for ways to show up in the lives of His children. He WANTS to use YOU to show Him (His love and His power) to your world. By the way, you're what He's got!! You already have Him living and speaking in you. What we need to grow in is 1) PAYING ATTENTION, 2) getting better and better at recognizing Him in words of knowledge given, and 3) appropriately giving it for whomever it is intended. And THAT is a whole subject in itself...appropriately giving a word of knowledge. We will continue this teaching because it is so fun and so important.
For today, get a journal and ask the Lord to pour gasoline on the fire of the Holy Spirit already living in you. Ask Him to awaken you to the words He's giving, and to increase this gift in you. As I write this I am praying for an increase and an impartation for each of us. How exciting to be used to bring an experience of His love to someone! And how incredible to be used to bring healing. He is just as excited to pour His love through you as you are to receive! Get ready for breakthrough, dear people of God. In our lifetime, has the world ever needed an encounter with Jesus more than now?
Come with your questions; we will continue to explore this realm of the prophetic. And I am so glad that you all were so amused by my curtsy story. NEVER have I received so much feedback about anything I've written! I am glad to have brought some entertainment into your worlds. Perhaps if they ever let us out of quarantine, you can come for a lesson! And let me tell you how crazy I felt writing that story to you. But again, obedience. Years ago, I heard Mother Angelica say, "God wants to use the ridiculous so He can do the miraculous." Casually I said, "Oh I can do that!" And here we are! I love you people. Isn't it SO much fun to have each other as we learn Kingdom living together?
Declaration: We bless You, Lord, and thank You that You are always speaking to us. We thank You that we are daily getting better at recognizing Your voice. We are carriers of the living God and we live intentionally, always seeking to bring His love to whatever person or situation is in front of us. Our lives are bringing You glory, Lord, and we thank You that it blesses You when we bear great fruit for the Kingdom. WE thank You that it is Your great joy to continually fill us to overflowing with Your Spirit. Blessed be the mighty name of Jesus, now and forever!
I am asking the Lord to wrap you precious people up in His love.