Spiritual Gifts
Week 08: Power Gifts
Kids are cute, aren’t they? Their chubby cheeks and toothless smiles make them incredibly cute! My friends Morgan and Markus have one of the cutest kids I know. His name is Niall. I remember when Niall was about two years old, he would run around in a diaper with his belly hanging over the waistband of his diaper. It was so cute.
At the time, his favorite toy was a lawnmower called his “mo-mo-mo.” Niall would push that thing next to his dad as he cut the lawn. But he knew—and we all knew—that his toy lawn mower was powerless. It had no engine, no blade, no power. It didn’t matter how long he pushed that thing. It would never make a dent on the lawn because it had no power. It didn't work.
So many of us are pushing through life, feeling powerless. We’ve tried to follow Jesus, but it just isn’t working. We’ve read the Bible, come to church, and done all the “Christian things,” but if we’re honest, many of us feel as if it just isn’t working.
What if this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be? What if Jesus gave us the Spirit so that our lives would have power (Lk. 3:16; 24:49; Acts 1:8)? As John Stott once said, "What we need is not more learning, not more eloquence, not more persuasion, not more organization, but more power from the Holy Spirit.” We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to live our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual gifts are given to manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit within us (1 Cor. 12:7). Some gifts manifest the love of God. Some gifts manifest the word of God. And other gifts manifest the power of God. See the lists below.
Love gifts — serving, guidance, mercy, + generosity
Word gifts — teaching, encouragement, apostleship, leadership, pastoring, + evangelism
Power gifts — prophecy, words of knowledge/wisdom, tongues, interpretation of tongues, faith, discernment, healing, + miracles
In this part of our practice, we want to discuss power gifts. Power gifts are spiritual gifts that manifest God's power — the power of the Holy Spirit. They reveal God's powerful presence in a particular place and time. In other words, power gifts make it so that one could say in response, “It’s like God is in the room.” In the words of Gordon Fee, they reveal “God’s empowering presence.”
Prophecy is hearing God for others (see Prophecy practice). Interestingly, prophecy is the only gift mentioned in every spiritual gift list in the Bible (See Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor.12:7-10, 28; Eph. 4:11). The purpose of prophecy (hearing God for others) is to encourage, strengthen, and comfort others (1 Cor. 14:1).
Words of wisdom and knowledge are two gifts that are quite similar to prophecy. They are best understood as two specific types of prophecy (1 Cor. 12:8; 13:2; 14:6). Words of wisdom and knowledge are specific in nature – meaning they reveal specific information.
A word of wisdom reveals specific information about wise living. It may bring insight or clarity about a life decision that needs to be made. It could be a specific revelation about the next step or direction the Spirit is leading an individual to go. Commonly, this looks like someone sharing, “I think God is leading you to…” or “I could be wrong, but I think God is asking you to…” or “I think God is asking you to step out and…”. In other words, a word of wisdom is a specific insight into one’s life that gives direction about how to live. Receiving a word of wisdom usually requires a step of obedience.
A word of knowledge reveals specific information that couldn’t have been known apart from divine revelation. Usually, this looks like receiving specific information about someone you could not have known unless God revealed it to you. My friend Ben has this gift, and he often shares a name, item, or picture and then asks people, “Does this mean anything to you?” It’s so fun to see people’s response to this gift. The typical response to this gift is, “How could they know that about me? It’s like they’re reading my mail…”
Some are nervous of this gift because they think that it will be used to reveal all of their sins and hidden secrets. However, the purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the church (1 Cor. 14:26). Therefore, words of wisdom will always strengthen and build up someone, never tear them down (1 Cor. 14:3).
Now, a word of knowledge or wisdom may not seem obvious and specific to the one giving the word. Usually, the word is a picture or a metaphor. It may even be poetic. This is to be expected. In Numbers 12:6-8, we read:
“He said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles…”
This means that unless you’re Moses, you should expect God to speak in visions, pictures, and riddles. Paul even says that we should expect to see in part and prophesy in part (1 Cor. 13:9). What seems like a random thought or picture may be a specific word for someone and turn out to be a word of wisdom or knowledge.
God speaks more often in a whisper, not a shout, in pictures and visions rather than prose. My guess is that he does this for the purpose of intimacy. Prophecy is about drawing us closer to Jesus (Rev. 19:10).
When God speaks, he wants us to come close to him, to draw near to him, to understand him better. People shout to keep others at a distance, but they whisper to draw them in closer. I think this is what God is like, and I think this is what prophecy is like.
The gift of tongues is the ability to speak, pray, or worship in an unlearned language (1 Cor. 12:10). This gift has two functions – public tongues and private tongues.
Public tongues is the ability to speak in an unlearned language in public. An example of this is on the day of Pentecost when the disciples stood up and spoke in tongues, and people heard them speaking languages they knew but that the disciples had not learned before (Acts 2:1-8). This use of public tongues is to be understood by the audience or interpreted for them (1 Cor. 14:27-28).
Private tongues is the ability to pray or worship in a language unknown to the speaker (1 Cor. 13:1; 14:2, 4, 14). This gift is for private use and builds up the individual. However, this gift, when used in prayer, also builds up the church. This gift is primarily used in private prayer and worship.
Interpretation of tongues is the ability to interpret what someone said when they spoke in tongues. It is used alongside the use of public tongues when the audience doesn’t know what is said, but the meaning is given to an individual (1 Cor. 14:27). Sometimes, the tongue and interpretation can be given to the same person (1 Cor. 14:13).
The gift of faith is the ability to trust God will do something specific. It is different from blind faith, which ignores reality and chooses to believe God will do anything. This is not the gift of faith. Blind faith is about working up positivity, but the gift of faith is not worked up but given by the Holy Spirit. It is the ability to trust that God will do what he has given them faith for.
We can’t work up the gift of faith to force God’s hand. We can’t just believe something and then expect it to happen. The gift of faith isn’t simply wanting something to happen. This is not “name-it-and-claim-it” spirituality or new age manifesting. This is a Holy Spirit-given faith for God to do specific things he has given an individual the faith for.
Someone with the gift of faith might say, “I sense that God is going to…” or “I just know God is about to…”. The gift of faith is a supernatural confidence that God is going to do something specific. These people seem to know what God will do and have faith until he does it. This gift is often paired with prayer, miracles, prophecy, and healing.
Discernment is the ability to see what is true or false, what’s of God and what isn’t, or what is good or evil. Discernment can take many forms. You can discern a prophetic word. In this case, someone may have a sense that it’s from God or that it isn’t. You can discern good and evil spirits. These people can walk into a room and sense the spiritual temperature, sense an evil spirit’s presence, or sense God’s presence in that place.
Years ago, Ben and I were in Portland and went out for a donut. While standing in line, we looked at each other like we could read one another’s minds. We were both sensing a dark presence. It was one of those moments when the hair on your neck stands up, and you get a cold chill down your back. We couldn’t explain it. It just felt dark in there, so we abandoned the donut shop altogether.
This is what the gift of discernment is like. It’s the ability to discern spirits, prophecies, good from evil, or God’s presence. Those with this gift commonly have gut instincts, like “spidey senses.” But like all of the gifts, the goal is building up the church. The goal isn’t pessimism, negativity, or criticism. The goal is to strengthen and serve the church.
Healing is the ability to pray for someone and see them healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:9, Paul mentions gifts of healing (plural). Why does he talk about “gifts of healing” not “the gift of healing” (singular)? I think this reveals the nature of the gift. Paul is not describing a gift of healing (singular) where someone can heal others at will. Rather, he describes gifts of healing (plural), which is when God gives the ability to heal in certain times and places.
We are all called to pray for sick people to be healed. However, when some people do, they see God work in greater frequency and power. This is a telltale sign that you may have the gift of healing.
The gift of miracles is the ability to demonstrate God’s power through performing miracles. This gift includes praying for miracles to happen, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Those who have this gift often have the spiritual authority to see the miraculous happen. When they pray, things happen.
As I said in the beginning of this practice, the goal of these gifts is to manifest the power of God. The goal of these gifts is to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit. The gifts are about the giver — they reveal who God is and what he is like. The goal in exercising these gifts is to point to God and not ourselves. The goal is to make much of God.
This may be an area you’re gifted. It may be an area you’re not gifted. But it is an area we’re all called to be faithful in. We’re all called to pray for the sick, hear God for others, be discerning, have faith, etc. And at the end of the day, the only way to know if you’re gifted in this area is to step out and do it. So, here we go!
01 – Ask God for gifts. Ask God for gifts. There is a connection between asking for gifts and receiving gifts. If there wasn’t, there wouldn’t be such an emphasis on asking for gifts of the Spirit (Lk. 11:13;1 Cor. 12:31;14:1). We don’t need less of the Spirit, we need more. So ask!
02 – Step out and practice. We are told to grow or excel in spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:12). The only way to know if you have a gift or to grow in a gift is to step out and practice. This week, choose gifts that you’d like to step out and practice.
03 – Stay faithful. Spiritual gifts require faithfulness. We need to keep with it. Even when you don’t feel gifted, keep with it. Keep practicing. Can I let you in on a secret? I often don’t feel gifted in prayer, prophecy, or even preaching. But these are all areas in which I’m called to be faithful as a pastor. When I pray, and nothing happens, my responsibility is to pray until something does (Matt. 7:7-8;Lk. 11:8;18:1). I know I’m gifted in these areas, but I need to fan these gifts into flame and grow in them (1 Cor. 14:12;2 Tim. 1:6). Keep practicing spiritual gifts. Stay faithful.
Recommended reading:The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts by Sam Storms