THE GIFT OF A WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:8
A Word of Knowledge is a supernatural revelation or insight given by the Holy Spirit that allows a believer to know something about the past or present of a person, place, thing or a situation that would not have been known through natural means.
In John 1:48, Jesus gave Nathanael a word of knowledge that revealed his exact location; where he was (...under the fig tree...) when he had a conversation with Philip a few minutes before he physically met with Jesus.
In John 4:18, Jesus through a word of knowledge told the woman at the well in Sycar that she had been married five times and was living with another man she was not legally married to (...for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband....)
In both instances, he had never met them before and was not revealing to them what someone else had told him about them, but he revealed it to them through the gift of a word of knowledge (a supernatural revelation or insight given by the Holy Spirit about a person's past or present).
Why was it necessary for Him to tell them things or details about themselves that they already knew? Why tell me my name, home address or phone number? Why not tell me something about myself that I don't already know?
When a word of knowledge is given to us by God, the main focus is not the private detail of a person's life, but what God wants to use the information to achieve in the life of the person receiving the word of knowledge.
Let me share with you 7 reasons why God through the Holy Spirit could give someone "a word of knowledge";
1. To establish a faith connection between the messenger (the one sent by God) and the recipient of the word of knowledge: In 1 John 1: 49, Nathanael had received faith as a result of the word of knowledge he received earlier from Jesus, to believe that Jesus was sent by God after his initial doubts (...You are the Son of God!...)
2. To impart a strong conviction of God’s personal love for the recipient of the word of knowledge: I believe the woman at the well after her encounter with Jesus must have thought to herself, ”God must truly love me, to know so much about my past mistakes and present struggles and yet still reach out to me through His Prophet".
3. To Impart Hope: through a word of knowledge, hope for a better future is imparted and the silent communication from the heart of the recipient usually is, " the God who loves me so much and knows about my past mistakes and present struggles, will not allow me remain in this situation forever".
4. To aid Spiritual Warfare: through a word of knowledge the Holy Spirit can reveal the spiritual root behind present and past afflictions or reveal the hidden plans of the enemy. In 2Kings 6:9, Elisha through a word of knowledge revealed to the King of Israel the hidden plans of the King of Syria.
5. To destroy the limitations of doubts and negative mind-sets: In John 1:46, Nathanael had doubts and a negative mind-set about "something good coming out of Nazareth", but after receiving a word of knowledge from "Jesus of Nazareth", his doubts were cleared, as they say in the military (military parlance) in Nigeria.
6. To make believers out of unbelievers: the men and women of the city of Sycar in Samaria became believers after the woman at the well had received a word of knowledge, "...now we believe not only because of what you have said..."(John 4:39-42)
7. To bring people into Alignment with God’s plan for their lives: In Acts 9:11, God gave Ananias a word of knowledge concerning Paul that brought him into alignment with God’s plan and purpose for his life.
Just like Jesus and Prophet Elisha manifested this gift of the Spirit, you also can manifest the Gift of a Word of Knowledge and spread God’s message of Love, Hope, Faith and Alignment to His people all over the world. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 12:7, the bible calls it a manifestation of the Spirit, given to every man (including you) for the profit of all.
To learn more about the Gift of the Word of Knowledge and also receive the impartation to operate the gift, please click the link below to watch the video replay of the Inspire Prophets Network Webinar(online seminar).
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