Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told the apostles in Acts 1:8 (NLT), “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Jesus promises a gift that would give them comfort, power, strength and encouragement.
That gift is the Holy Spirit, and that promise is also for us today. The miracle-working power gifts of the Holy Spirit have continued since Jesus made that promise to His apostles. They have a purpose, and that purpose is to bless the church of Jesus Christ.
The spiritual gifts must comfort a believer. The spiritual gifts were not intended to correct or attack others. They must not lift up the person with the gift. All the gifts of the Spirit must exalt our God. The apostle Paul tells us that these gifts are a demonstration of the Holy Spirit. The gifts prepare us to be ready to challenge and defeat the actions of Satan.
There are nine power gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we must understand what they are and how they operate. They’re listed into three categories of three each. There are three revelation gifts: first is the word of wisdom; second, the word of knowledge; third, discerning of spirits. Next, we have the power gifts that “do” something: first is the gift of faith; second, the gift of healing; third, the working of miracles. Then we have the utterance gifts; they speak something: first, prophecy; second, unknown tongues; third, interpretation of tongues. Every believer must understand and seek these gifts to bless the church.
To seek these gifts, we must start off by exercising our faith. Now what exactly do I mean by exercising our faith? As we know, any exercise program must have a consistent series of activities. Seeking the gifts requires us to take action. To exercise our faith, we need to establish prayer in our lives. Secondly, we must read and understand what God’s Word tells us about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Reading the Word of God will inspire us to have greater faith. The combination of prayer and reading God’s Word must take place daily to prepare us to experience the power gifts of the Spirit.
When we seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we must remember that whatever we pour into our thoughts and actions will impact the results we are seeking. God has a reason to make the gifts of the Spirit available to His people. He wanted to bless us and provide greater blessings to His church.
God has called us to receive these gifts. If you are seeking the gifts of the Spirit, you will need to be focused and faithful to prayer and God’s Word. When we seek the spiritual gifts, we must wait on the Lord and have patience to receive.
A word of caution to those who are seeking the gifts: Never wait for a feeling of the Spirit. Because we are made of flesh and blood, our feelings will get in the way. When you ask for a gift from God, never expect a feeling. God is giving us something better than a feeling.
He has given us faith. Faith produces results. The results of feelings are uncertain, but faith is a spiritual fact or proof.
David Friend is an award-winning author. He has written several books on Quality Christian living. He is a teacher, pastor, business owner and veteran.
