I hope you are enjoying this series on the Spiritual Gifts and that you are finding out more about your own giftings and that you are getting excited about the gifts God has placed within you.
I’m excited to write about another of my favourite gifts and one that I am seeking to grow in myself and this gift is known as the Word of Knowledge. This simply means, to share information about something that you didn’t already know that the Holy Spirit drops it into your mind to share with someone.
“To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.” – 1 Corinthians 12:8
I love this gift because in a moment it can bring someone into an encounter with God and reveal his heart for them as they hear a word about something that has happened in their life or is going to and which you had no prior knowledge of (this is why it is very closely linked to prophecy). This information can only have come from a God who is intimately in touch with their lives and a God that cares enough about them that he would reveal himself to them in this way.
The fruit (outcome) of a word of knowledge is increased faith for the person receiving it as they realise there is a God that knows them well. It can also bring a great sense of comfort to the hearer as they realise that they are not alone in whatever it is they are going through.
Words of knowledge are also a great way to see if there are people who need prayer for healing. I have written previously on the gift of healing and how to pray for people, but you can use words of knowledge to ask God to show you specific areas that need healing.
If you are at church, school, out with friends etc. you could ask God before you go for a WOK (Word of Knowledge) for healing for someone you are going to meet.
There are different ways that God could give you the WOK:
- Picture. This could be a quick picture in your mind and could be quite vague but don’t discount what flashes through your mind.
- Skeleton. Picture a skeleton in your mind’s eye and then ask God to highlight an area of the skeleton where the pain/problem is that he wants to heal. You could also ask him if it’s a man or a woman and how they did it (as a challenge as you grow in this).
- A word over someone. You may literally see a word or writing over someone as you look at them that might say the name of the condition or a word like depression, suicidal thoughts, anorexia, self-harming etc.
- Moving picture. This is literally like a movie playing as you look at someone and God shows you something. It may be how they hurt themselves and you see it play out just like in a movie.
- Sympathetic pain. You may experience a random pain in your own body for no reason and realise that God is trying to alert you to where a persons pain is. Usually when you’ve prayed for them the pain goes away (phew).
- Dream. God may reveal something/someone to you in a dream.
- Remembering. You might find that you randomly remember a healing story that you have seen or heard before and God is reminding you about it because he wants to do it again.
If you pray and experience any of the above the best thing to do is respond with expectation that God is going to do something (or why would he have given you the WOK in the first place) and faith that he is going to bring about a healing.
Somebody that has inspired me in this gift of WOK is a guy called Shaun Bolz who has an amazingly accurate WOK gift and God is using him as a ‘bridge’ for others to move in this gifting beyond what Shaun currently sees. I have linked one of his many Youtube videos to watch and get inspired by. Watching people encounter God through words of knowledge like this is a beautiful thing to witness.
Shaun has also written an excellent book on hearing from God called ‘Translating God’ which I can highly recommend, there is also a version for children which is proving to be very successful as children who read it are sharing testimonies of how they are growing in this gift too. I love that there are youths being brought up all over the world and encouraged to hear from God for themselves, in fact it’s often easier as children are less complicated and don’t tend to overthink the way we do as we get older.
Lets not forget there is only one Holy Spirit and he’s not a junior Holy Spirit, so why shouldn’t our youth move in spiritual gifts!
Where I think this gift is the most explosive is when you use it on the street, in your everyday life to impact the world around you and introduce people to Jesus.
The word of knowledge is just a starting point and if the word of knowledge is accurate you can bet that God has other things he wants to say to the person you are talking to. It’s all about being open and listening out to the Holy Spirit prompting you. People are generally flabbergasted when you give an accurate word of knowledge and are very open to hearing more about the source of them.
I encourage you today to pray about this gift and see what God will do through you. Pray about getting a WOK for healing too and remember to celebrate every thing God does.
Have fun bringing the kingdom to the world around you!
