The Word of Knowledge
1 corinthians 12:1
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Also John 10:27,My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me
Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 for thorough understanding
Operating in the Word of Knowledge
Word of Knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8)
Knowledge is defined by dictionary.com as;
- acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition:
knowledge of many things.
2.familiarity or conversance, as with a particular subject or branch of learning:A knowledge of accounting was necessary for the job.
3.acquaintance or familiarity gained by sight, experience, or report:
a knowledge of human nature.
4.the fact or state of knowing; the perception of fact or truth; clear and certain mental apprehension.
5.awareness, as of a fact or circumstance:
He had knowledge of her good fortune.
Word of knowledge :Supernatural revelation as to a piece of knowledge which would be naturally unknown to the recipient.Or A supernatural revelation, or insight into the divine will and purpose, often given by the Spirit to solve perplexing problems and situations
We will now look in more detail at the word of knowledge. It is the Supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit of a certain fact or facts. These facts can be about the past or the present. It is a word from the Lord that the recipient would have no other way of knowing. It is an instant word for a particular time or person or to accomplish a special purpose.There is no academic or intellectual requirement to receive the word of knowledge. It is a gift operating purely in the spiritual realm. As it is a gift it is unearned.
Ways of Knowing
In the Christian tradition there has always been a distinction between ‘reason’ and ‘revelation’ as ways of receiving knowledge.
Human reason is a God-given gift in which all people share. The faculty of reason can be developed through education (from informal socialization
processes in early childhood, to the more formal education of the school system).
However ,Revelation is understanding which is directly given as a gift from God to believers and includes an understanding of the scriptures (as the Holy Spirit brings insight) and the revelatory gifts. Simply put, reason comes from ‘inside’ the human mind, revelation is given from ‘outside’ by God. The word of knowledge is in this second category.
Bible knowledge can be a matter of reason (merely reading and understanding the text) or revelation (reading the text with revelation given by the Spirit).
Word of Knowledge in Scriptures
Mark 2:8
“At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions amongst themselves”
Jesus knew what they were thinking and saying.
Luke 1:41
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the child leaped within her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among woman and blessed is the fruit of your womb’.”
Elizabeth received the word of knowledge about the baby Mary was carrying.
John 1:42,And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, You are Simon the son of Jona: you shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
John 1:47-48
“When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he said of him ‘Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit’.”Nathanael said to him, From where know you me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
Jesus knew Nathaniel.
There are many examples of the word of knowledge in the scriptures. Here are just a few more:
1 Sam chs 9-10, 1 Kings 14:2-3, 2 Kings 5:20-27, 6:8-12, John 4 18-29, Matt 9:4, Acts 5 1-11, Acts 10:19.
The word of knowledge can be received in different ways. We will look at these now.
FEELING REALM
Physical Symptoms
The word of knowledge can be received through simply feeling the pain as a physical symptom. This is most often felt in association with the gift of healing. Have you ever heard a minister say “The Lord wants to heal left knees and the pain is just about here”? Often the minister simply feels the pain in that area of her own body. Here is a recently observed example of this:
A young man was playing the keyboard as part of the worship team. Suddenly he got a very severe migraine. He recognized that this may be a word of knowledge, so he stopped playing and asked “Has anyone here got a really bad migraine headache? If so we need to pray with you”. Two people responded, received prayer and the young man went back to playing his keyboard… migraine headache completely gone!
Of course, as with all revelatory gifts discernment and common sense are necessary… a pain in the chest might be a word of knowledge or it might be a heart attack!
Empathetic Feeling or the sensing realm
Sometimes a word of knowledge is received as an empathetic feeling. An overwhelming feeling which is not related to our circumstances, often experienced in a ministry situation. Whilst praying with someone there is a strong feeling of sadness, or heaviness, or joy. That is the word of knowledge as the Lord allows us to feel something of what the other person is experiencing. Here is an example of empathetic feeling:
It was a large gathering with several thousand in the congregation. Suddenly one lady started to cry, she wept for a long time. When asked by surrounding friends why she was sobbing, she pointed to a certain man who was part of the large platform party and said “I’m weeping for him, he doesn’t know the Lord”. Here the word of knowledge operated to bring about intercession for a person.
WITH THE MIND OR PERCEIVED
A word of knowledge can also be received through the mind. The mind and thought processes can be used in a number of different ways. It can be through meditation and study of the scriptures, or God may address the mind through dreams and visions or perhaps through a clear word or thought. Here is an example of God using the mind:
Example
A ministry team member was praying with a man, and as he prayed he received a word of knowledge in the form of a picture of a feather floating in the wind. With the vision came the word lightness. The ministry team member shared the word of knowledge and prayed that all heaviness would leave the man. Later he confirmed the word of knowledge, saying that all the previous week he had felt weighed down by circumstances and the heaviness had lifted with the word of knowledge and the prayer.
Spiritual intuition
This is when we receive a word of knowledge in the deepest part of our being. We can’t explain in words how we received it, we just ‘know’ it from deep within our being. All we can say is ‘we know, because we know, because we know’, it is deeper than our rational thought.
…..Visions
….. Dreams
…..NOSE
SMELLING
…….MOUTH
TASTE
…..Ears ,Hearing audible voice
The form of revelatory gifts may include:
an impression of words {rather like when you’re grasping something that you’ve half-forgotten};
audible words;
visions { concrete sight – solid and real};
visible words;
scripture that jumps out of the page ;
pictures {a visual impression};
a chance remark, secular printed word, situation or object infused with God’s presence;
Dreams;
physical sensation in your own body;
or sanctified hunches .
Word of knowledge/Prophecy
Acts 21:10-11 After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’
HOW TO CONNECT TO COLLECT INFORMATION FROM HEAVEN
John 3:27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven
1.Must keep his commandments ,see John 14:21,John 14:31,John 5:19-20
- Must be in the spirit to receive informations from God ,see scriptures John 4:24, Revelation 4:2,John 3:6
#Ways to get into the spirit
1.Through Prayer,see 2kings 3:15 ,psalm 100:4
2.Through praises and worship songs,Psalm 100:2 ,Psalm 100:4
3.By Reading or Preaching the word Word ,see John 1:1 ,John 14:6
