Kingdom Calling Blog…

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 (WOK). This simply means, to share information about something that you didn’t already know about a person that the Holy Spirit drops into your mind.

1Cor 12:8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

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 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 a 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 may need healing.

If you are at church, work, out with friends etc. you could ask God before you go for a WOK  for healing for someone you are going to meet.

There are different ways that God could give you the WOK:

1. Picture. This could be a quick picture in your mind and may be quite vague but don’t discount what flashes through your mind.
2. 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 of accuracy as you grow in this gift).
3. A word written 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.
4. Moving picture. This is literally like a movie playing as you look at someone as God shows you something. It may be how they hurt themselves in the first place and you see it play out e.g. like them tripping in the road and twisting their knee.
5. 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 (phew).
6. Dream. God may reveal something/someone to you in a dream.
7. 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 the use of this gift is an American 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, and beyond the accuracy that 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 and often the hearers are in tears as they are overwhelmed by the love of God.

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 (Growing up With God) 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 they are less complicated and don’t tend to overthink the way we often do as we get older.

Let’s not forget there is only ONE Holy Spirit and he’s not a junior Holy Spirit, so why shouldn’t our youth move freely in the spiritual gifts!

Where I think the WOK gift is the most explosive and dynamic is when you use it on the street, in your everyday life to impact the world around you and introduce people to Jesus. Living a life open to Holy Spirit and asking for a WOK as a daily occurrence makes for an exciting life as you partner with God in seeing his kingdom come all around you.

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 even more as they realise that they are known by the God who created them before the beginning of the world. They often want to find out more about the source of the word and this can lead them to encounter the father. What better way to introduce non-believers to God. 

Eph 1:4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

I want to share a really cool story of a WOK that I had during a ministry time at a women’s conference. I was looking around the room and I kept being drawn back to look at the same person. Every time I looked at her I was reminded of a friend I know so I asked God why she reminded me of my friend and I felt him say that it was about encouraging her to sing out in the spirit. I didn’t get chance to share from the front but I approached her during the break and asked if I could share a word. I asked her if she was involved in music (secretly holding my breath for the answer) and she told me she led worship at her church (At this point I don’t know who was the most excited, me or her!). That gave me the courage to then tell her what I felt God was saying. She was really excited and said she was wanting to move freely in to this area of worship and hearing from God 🙂

I then thought I should share the story with the friend who she reminded me of and I got the chance a couple of weeks later. As I told her I also shared with her that I felt God wanted to release her in this area too. As I gave her the word the sense of the Holy Spirit was palpable and I knew God was on it as I told her the story.

The following week she came up to tell me that within the next couple of days after the word God gave her a song to sing over another friend as an encouragement and she was so happy to have such a quick response to the word-how cool is that. I love it when God does this and I encourage you to notice little things like being drawn to someone because they remind you of someone else. Ask God why this is and see what he says.

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.

If you are not sure what your spiritual gifts are this spiritual gift test will help point you in the right direction but it is not the be all and end all on your spiritual gift mix. There can be gifts that are not even developed in you yet that are like seeds in the ground waiting until it’s the right time. As time goes by you may also start growing in one gift and others may not be used so much so your gift mix may vary in different seasons. Ask God about it, speak to people who know you well and to people at your church.

Other Gifts of the Spirit in this series:

Speaking in Tongues

Gift of Exhortation

Gift of Healing

Gift of Mercy

Gift of Prophecy

Gift of Giving

Word of Knowledge

Interpretation of Tongues

Gift of Faith

Word of Wisdom

Discernment of Spirits

Miracles