Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. . . . But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:1,3
How do you start using the spiritual gifts? In some cases, the spirit just flows and it feels natural and you just do it. I’ve heard of people who have spoken in tongues their whole Christian lives but just didn’t know that is what they were doing. For the rest of us, we need to learn how to let the Spiritual gifts flow, and I believe there are ways to “improve” our use of the giftings.
Some people get upset with me when I use the word practice. I’m not saying that the things God is speaking to us are flawed, I’m saying we are flawed. Sometimes we let our emotions get in the way or don’t understand what God is saying logically because we don’t have all the details and then we don’t share the word correctly. If we compared God speaking to us like a radio station, the words are coming all the time and the station broadcasts them clearly. But we are the receivers, and if we aren’t tuned in correctly to the exact frequency, we will get some static or lose parts of the message.
Here are three things I think we need to do to improve our use of the gifts:
1) Work on our relationship with God. These are the normal things you expect like prayer and devotional times, bible study, worship and fellowship. These help us “recognize God’s voice” and will aid us in discerning if the words we are hearing are from him. (John 10:14) Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If it sounds like he wouldn’t have said it, it probably isn’t from him. Use 1 Cor 14:3 as a guide: Is is encouraging, does it build up, does it comfort?
2) Practice listening and repeating. Did you know there was a “school of the prophets” in the time of the judges and kings? It is mentioned a few times in Samuel and Kings. That indicates to me that there are ways to ‘learn’ prophecy. Another section of scripture that is very comforting to me is in Jeremiah 1:6-13. This is where God calls Jeremiah to ministry. He assures Jeremiah that he will be with him and give him the words. Then he actually has Jeremiah practice seeing visions and telling them back to him. Pretty cool! So, get with a fellow believer and ask God questions about them and see what you get. Use your brother or sister to give you feedback on how clearly you are hearing from God.
3) This last one may seem obvious, but START USING YOUR GIFTS. If you don’t use them, you won’t get better. It is like getting a compound bow and arrow for a birthday gift. It works perfectly, but you need to practice using it and aiming before you are good at archery. If you feel like God is telling you something, giving you an impression, or showing you something, just say “Hey, I think God is saying this, what do you think?” I have found that the more I am obedient to God and just give the words or visions I get, the more he confirms the gifts and builds my faith.
Note: This is a very simple overview, if you would like more information, please contact us.
