THE GIFT OF DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

Heeeeyyyy y’all and welcome back. We are back again with another weekly blog post. This week I feel led to blog about a gift that is needed now more than ever, the gift of discerning of spirits. It is imperative that we pray for an increase in this gift, daily. This blog post will break down what the gift is and why we need it.

The gift of discerning of spirits:

  • is given to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and the working of evil spirits

  • is a revelation gift designed to increase faith, in order to bring healing and deliverance

  • will help you distinguish when someone is praying their will into your life, instead of God’s will

  • is the ability to determine between what is genuine revelation from God and that which is false

  • enables the believer to discern good as well as evil, the true motive and spirit operating in an individual

It is important to note that Apostle Paul urged the church to practice this gift and to test every prophecy and not despise it. Now, let’s dive deeper into the significance of this gift. The gift of discerning of spirits is the ability to distinguish between spirits that are divine, demonic or human. This gift helps to prevent confusion in the church and in one’s own life- as we are the church (The Ekklesia- called out one’s and set apart), because it guards against false teaching, false prophets and evil spirits. This gift should NOT be confused with suspicion from one’s human view point about another person (side note: unhealed trauma and unprocessed soul wounds often lead to skewed perception-resulting in suspicion about another person/s- this is why it is imperative that we do our inner work and choose to be delivered from the pain and the poison of the past). Inner healing is priority so that our perception is not polluted and so that we can distinguish and properly discern when The Holy Spirt desires to make previously unknown or secret information known to the Believer, to: 1. demonstrate God’s power; 2. create an opportunity to share the gospel, the good news; 3. strengthen the church and God’s children.

This is NOT psychic powers or any new age clairvoyance (this ain’t that) but this is the Holy Spirit SUPERNATURALLY revealing information from God to the Believer, in order to: 1. warn; 2. guide; 3. correct. Somebody needs to read that again because the enemy has tried to keep you tied up to the works of darkness and divination but this week’s blog post is right on time to help you break free and to deliver you into ALL TRUTH. Don’t take the bait of bondage. The Bible makes it clear that God’s people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6, don’t reject what God is revealing.

A Biblical example of this gift in action: when Paul and the other disciples were in the city of Philippi and a slave girl was following them shouting, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” The Bible says that she did this for many days, and it greatly annoyed Paul, so he turned to her and said, “I command [the demon] in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out that very hour” (Acts 16:16–18). Paul was exercising the gift of discerning of spirits because even though this girl was proclaiming truth, it was coming from the wrong source/wrong spirit.

In all of God’s goodness and loyalty, He joins the revelatory gifts (discerning of spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge) of the Holy Spirit and the authoritative power of intercessory prayer, to change lives and shift + affect nations. WOW. Powerful right? Be sensitive to the Spirit and pray about what God is revealing because deception is at an all time high but the gift of discerning of spirits is designed to keep us from the snares and entanglements of the devil. But please understand that this gift is also designed to reveal the good, the ability to distinguish the divine. Isn’t God amazing!!! What a powerful and loving gesture to protect, lead, guide and correct His children, so that we remain in alignment with Him and fulfill our assignments-as we press forward in faith to our destinies. That’s mercy. That’s love.

“to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12: 10-11

It is my prayer that this helped break down the gift of discerning of spirits and the importance of the gift (please feel free to leave a comment and share this blog post with family, friends, bible study groups etc- thank you in advance).

-Sincerely, Sheena M.

Discernment, Equipping, Prophetic InsightSheena McLaurinComment