... at Work in Believers

The Nine Gifts of the Spirit in the everyday lives of believers

 

Wisdom, as a Gift from God’s Spirit, worked in the early Church. It will work in the Church today. As well, this wondrous Gift will work in Spirit-baptized believers out in the byways of life.

 DAY 1—The early Church held to God’s Wisdom. 

•I Corinthians 2:6,7—Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect (mature): yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory

•I Corinthians 1:20—But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

DEAR FATHER, I praise You for the Wisdom You have sent into our lives. I could not function if it were not for this Wisdom. Please let it come upon these I now hold before Your Throne today.

 

DAY 2—The early Church sought men full of wisdom to be leaders.

•Acts 6:3—Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

•Colossians  1:9—For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding

GRACIOUS LORD, my whole family stands in need of Your wisdom. Please release it in us. Give us the wisdom born of Your Spirit to walk in the path of Your calling that is on or lives.

God knows the way of Wisdom and stands ready to make it known unto man. Job 28:1-28

 

Knowledge, born of God’s Spirit, will guide us through the most perilous of times. It will come upon us as a supernatural gift, far above the knowledge developed in the mind of man.

 

DAY 3—The Knowledge of the Lord was rich in the people of the early Church

•Romans 11:33—O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!

•II Corinthians 2:14—Give thanks to God! He always leads us in the winners’ parade because we belong to Christ. Through us, God spreads the knowledge of Christ everywhere like perfume.NIrV®

DEAR FATHER, how I praise You for the knowledge of Christ that You have given us! Our whole fellowship is growing in the knowledge of Him! Oh, let this continue, even till it reaches out to all who are around us!

 

DAY 4—However, knowledge without love can lead us into a wrong path.

●I Corinthians 13:2—And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (agape, self-denying love), I am nothing.

●II Corinthians 4:6—God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ

DEAR LORD, please cause the knowledge of Your ways to grow within my heart and mind. Let that knowledge and understanding make me useful for Your Kingdom. And, please bring the under- standing of Your ways into the hearts and minds of these I hold before You.

We learn to cast down everything that exalts itself against  the knowledge of God. II Corinthians 10:3-5

 

Faith is one of the most precious commodities in God’s Kingdom. By faith, we enter the relationship with God that we call Salvation. By Faith, we continue living in His Kingdom. Through Faith we survive the assaults of the enemy who would do his best to overthrow us and take us from God.

 

DAY 5—Faith works within us to keep us on beam for the vision God gives us.

●Acts 3:16—And His Name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

●Romans 4:4,5—Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

LORD,  I would have no faith if it were not for Your grace. You have made faith the door by which I can know You. And, oh! that faith is increasing in me. I praise You for the wondrous favor You are giving in the gift of faith.

It is faith that makes us whole. Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34 Mark 10:52; Luke 8:48; Luke 17:19

 

DAY 6—From the beginning faith was in the foundation of the Gospel message.

●Acts 14:21-23—And when they (Paul and the company with him) had preached the Gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on Whom they believed.

●Acts 20:20,21—I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shown you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

DEAR LORD, I am facing a problem that holds no hope unless I can believe You. Fear is trying to rule me instead of the faith You have given us. Oh, LORD, please let Your faith become strong in my heart. It’s coming! It’s growing strong in me! I praise Your Name. I rejoice in Your faithfulness.

Abraham is the Father of those who will believe. Romans 4:1-5

 

Healing will come through the energetic release of the Holy Spirit’s power. Given by the Holy Spirit to the Church, we may expect the sick to be healed when believers lay hands on them and pray.

 

DAY 7—Just as Jesus healed the sick, so did His disciples after Him.

●Acts 5:16—There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

●James 5:14,15—Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

FATHER, release in us a spirit of faith. Let it result in the sick among us being healed. Here are these whose names I call before You. Teach us how we can soak people in healing prayer. Let us see more and more of the sick among us made whole.

Jesus gave orders to His disciples to heal the sick.

Matthew 10:8; Luke 9:1,2

 

 

DAY 8—Healings continued in the Church.

●Acts 9:34—And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.

●Acts 14:8-10—And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: the same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

FATHER, as in the early Church, so let healings continue today in our midst. Let our congregation become a place where sick people can come and find healing.

 

DAY 9—Jesus promised signs and wonders would follow. The disciples believed.

●Mark 16:17,18—And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name shall they cast out devils (demons); they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

•Acts 28:3-5—And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

●Acts 28:7,8—Publius owned property nearby. He was the chief official on the island. He welcomed us to his home. For three days he took care of us. He treated us with kindness. His father was sick in bed. The man suffered from fever and dysentery. So Paul went in to see him. Paul prayed for him. He placed his hands on him and healed him.

 

Miracles are possibilities born out of impossibilities. They follow on today in the lives of those who make it their practice to believe God under any impossible circumstance.

 

DAY 10—Peter, once a fearful coward, became a man of miracles.

•Acts 3:6,7—Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

•Acts 9:34—And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.

DEAR FATHER, I believe the energy of miracles comes from Your Throne Here are some people hopeless unless You show Yourself powerful toward them. I call their names before You. I believe in their behalf.  Please show ­Your power in their behalf.

•Acts 6:8—And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders (awesome wonders) and miracles (great signs) among the people.

•Acts 8:6—And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

•Acts 19:11—And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.

LORD, here is a person who has no hope unless a miracle comes upon him from Your Throne. My faith is small, but I know Your power to perform miracles is great. I bring this one—and then this other one—to You.  Thank You for Your miracle-working power in their behalf.

 

Prophecy is the present speaking of the Lord through Spirit-filled believers. There is no reason to believe that this Gift does not continue in the Church to this present age.

 

 DAY 12—Prophets had a great function in the early church.

•Acts 11:27,28—And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

●Acts 13:1,2—Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.  As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

FATHER, let the spirit of prophecy come upon your people with whom we worship today. Call forth your servants for this hour. Give us ears to hear and hearts that will obey. Help me hear. Help me obey.

The early Church acted at the Word of the  present day  Prophets.—Acts 11:27-30

 

DAY 13—Prophets sometimes see the future.

●Acts 11:27-30—And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.  Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

FATHER, we stand in need of hearing from Your Throne, especially in this trying hour. Oh, let the Gift of Prophecy come upon your people. Give us ears to hear, and a heart to obey.

We each find our own place in ministry to the Body of Christ.

Romans 12:6; I Corinthians 12:28,29

 

 

Discerning of Spirits is a Gift of the Holy Spirit that is a great value in the Body of Christ that helps believers overcome the deceptive work of seducing sprits.

 

DAY 14—Seducing spirits will try to lead the Church astray in the latter days.

•I Timothy 4:1—Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

•II Corinthians 11:3—But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

DEAR LORD, we need the strong help of Your Spirit lest we be led astray by seducing spirits. Give us Your help so that the cunning religious devices of Satan won’t overtake us and lead us astray when the hour is becoming so late.

 

Tongues was the first Gift of the Spirit given to believers. The Apostle Paul considered it a valuable gift in his own live.

 

DAY 15—When the Holy Spirit first came on believers, they spoke with other tongues.

•Acts 2:4—And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

•Acts 10:44-46—While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.

•Acts 19:6—And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

DEAR FATHER, I thank You for this marvelous way of communication with You, released in us by Your Spirit.  Please move in the hearts of these around us to open them also to receive this Gift.

Paul’s understanding of this Gift was that it was a valuable spiritual asset.
I Corinthians 14:1-15