1 Corinthians 12
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
What gifts do you believe God has given you and what work of the ministry is he/has he led you into.... Do you have any examples to share :)
The scripture says he, the Holy Spirit gives severally as he wills. I was taught not to seek the gift but to seek the giver and if you do that the gift will come in due course. So I never struggled over the gifts. When it was the Holy Spirits time he would give what he decided was to be used.
I have the feeling that we have to earn the use of them from the point of view the Spirit is not going to give gifts to people that are immature and unteachable. As the gifts come supernaturally we have to learn to hear from the Lord in the spirit realm or nothing is going to happen.
I remember on one occasion when I was speaking at a meeting and at the end invited people what wanted prayer to indicate as such. I had this feeling I was not to ask people what they wanted prayer for. I had to discern. The first couple I prayed for the word incest came to me. I did not name it in the prayer because I didn't want others to know about their sorrow. As I prayed the wife broke down in tears. After the meeting, I went up to them and said in private "It was incest wasn't it. " She said yes and although I had not used that word when praying she knew that I knew what it was.
I have much more confidence in praying for people if I can use discernment as I know that I have hit the spot.
Like the young man who was unconscious in hospital and was expected to be a vegetable for the rest of his life. God spoke to me and said to go and visit him and pray for him and leave a cloth under his pillow. I went with two others and we did this and three weeks later he walked out of hospital whole.
And then there was the time at our church's first annual conference where I had been appointed as a support for a senior minister. He preached on rejection and asked people to come forward if they wanted prayer for deliverance from it. (I had been delivered from it the previous year). I started at one end of the line and he started at the other end.
There was just one problem. I had no idea what to pray. I stood in front of the first person dumb. Then the words came by the Spirit. He breaks the power of canceled sin and sets the prisoner free. So that is what I prayed and the person went flat on their back. I did this for the second person and the same happened. With the third before I had finished saying it he went flat on his back. With the next person, I had hardly put my hand on their forehead and they were down. The next one I stood in front of them, and before I had touched them and said anything they went down. it continued like that. I only had to stand in front of them and they were down.
The power of the Spirit was so powerful in that room our involvement was minimal. All we had to do was what he said to do and he did the rest. After the meeting there was a lot of happy people.
