By Jeremy Lopez
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Have you ever wondered about words of knowledge and how people receive this gift from the Holy Spirit? As an evangelist, I have seen this gift operate in the United States and across the globe! First, let’s name what a word of knowledge is:
Word of knowledge: A spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit that allows believers to receive divine knowledge about a person, event, or circumstance, for the sake of the Kingdom of God!
When you have a word of knowledge for another person, within seconds and minutes, it can open their heart to the love of God instantly! We see in John 4, Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, uses the gift of knowledge when He meets the woman at the well:
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’
Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’
‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet.’” John 4: 10-19 NIV
Do you see how in a moment, the woman at the well had her heart opened to Jesus and the truth that he offers? Because of a word of knowledge, Jesus is able to turn a conversation for good because of the WOW factor of the Holy Spirit!
Through the gift of the word of knowledge, Jesus speaks to the past and the present.
Word of Knowledge in Deliverance
One of my favorite stories about the gift of words of knowledge comes from a few years back. I was doing deliverance on someone for about 10-15 minutes, but nothing was shifting.
I stood in the back to take some time to discern and hear what the Lord wanted to do. A few demons had come out of this man, but I discerned he had several more.
All of a sudden, I got this image, of an 8-year-old boy with a family member standing beside him, with his hand on his shoulder. I knew in the moment, through the Holy Spirit, that the man on the floor experiencing demonic oppression had been abused by the man in the picture I saw.
I said, “When you were 8 years old, a man abused you. Who was that man?”
He immediately responded and said, “My uncle!” The man then began to cry uncontrollably and shortly after, this man was freed.
The revelation I received through the word of knowledge opened things in the spirit for this man to be set free. Why did God give me that picture? Because God loves people!
Words of Knowledge in Acts
We see more about words of knowledge active in the Bible in the book of Acts! Read this incredible story about how God gave Peter a word of knowledge that helped the apostles discover theft in the New Testament.
“But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property.
He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” Acts 5: 1-5 NLT
Jesus wants to empower you through the Holy Spirit to operate with the gift of words of wisdom. It isn’t to have a one up on someone or to become a psychic, it’s given as a tool to help people find freedom from the lies and the bondage that they’re trapped in.
Caleb Wampler
