Do you have a spiritual gift of discernment and would like to know how to grow and develop it more?
The Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to grow in the gifts God had given to him, and the same is true for us today.
‘Do not neglect your gift…’ (1 Tim 4:14)
Knowing and Growing in the Gift of Discernment
A prophet visited our church in Auckland, New Zealand. He pointed me out in the congregation and said, “You have a gift of discernment.”
A few years later, when we were living in another city, the same prophet visited our church there. He again pointed me out and said, “Has anyone ever told you that you have a gift of discernment of spirits?” I said, “Yes, you did several years ago.”
We all had a good laugh—but he remembered neither the earlier prophecy nor me. He ministered throughout New Zealand and overseas and had prophesied over hundreds of people in the interim.’[1]
A Time of Trial
It is one thing to know that you have a spiritual gift of discernment—it is quite another thing to know what to do with it, and how to use it!
A short time after this prophetic confirmation, I began to struggle in church life. I had not been taught the principle of honoring leaders and accountability in the use of my revelatory gifts.
I thank God that He allowed a time of trial to teach me and bring me through repentance to a place of fruitfulness in the use of my gifts. [2]
Discernment is a powerful gift and a good gift from the Father! (Luke 11:13) Through good stewardship, we can reach our potential, and our gift can be used to bless and grow the church.
8 Ways to Grow Your Gift of Discernment
Here are 8 ways that you can grow your spiritual gift of discernment of spirits. And yes, some of these I have learned the hard way—through trial and error!
1. Source It
True discernment comes from intimacy with the Father.
We must understand the difference between discernment that is from the Holy Spirit and suspicion, which can masquerade as discernment but is actually sourced in our own human nature.
This is a danger that can trip even mature discerners up. The best means of preventing this is our intimate relationship with God.
When we get to know our Father more intimately, we gain the first-hand experience of His love, and that helps us grow in our gift of discernment.
2. Plant It
‘Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.’ Ps 92:13
The Biblical context for growing in our gifts is the community of a church (1 Cor 12).
As with all prophetic people, discerners need to be cared for and pastored in a church environment.
Just as plants need the right environment to grow, we need to be nurtured for us to grow and sharpen our discernment gift.
When we are planted in the life of a healthy church, we can flourish and grow in our gifts. However, we must remember that it will not always be smooth sailing in community life—even in the healthiest of churches.
3. Submit It
It is vital, and a matter of protection for others and ourselves, that we operate in our spiritual gift of discernment with accountability and under God-given leadership.
We must encourage our insights to be weighed up (1 Cor 14:29). As the Apostle Paul said, ‘For we know in part and we prophesy in part.’ (1 Cor 13:9)
The discernment that we receive is incomplete without the insights of others, who will have different pieces of the puzzle and complementary gifts. (1 Cor 12:12-27)
Feedback is also a great tool to help us grow in our discernment.
4. Purify It
It is possible for the expression of a discernment gift to be affected by our response to negative experiences that we have had in our lives.
I received prayer ministry to help me break free of the fear associated with early experiences of demonic encounters. I also received ministry in relation to difficulties with authority. As a result, I have a much more useful gift.
I have also had to grow a great deal in my character—an ongoing journey!
As we develop in our character, in wisdom, and in holiness, our gift of discernment grows and becomes sharper.
5. Study It
Another vital source to help us develop our spiritual gift is to grow in our study and understanding of Scripture.
Find out what the Bible has to say about the gift of discernment:
- Read examples of people who encountered unseen spiritual realities—how did they respond? What did they do as a result of their experiences?
- How and when did Jesus use the gift of discernment to minister to people?
- What does the Apostle Paul say in his epistles about how spiritual gifts operate in the context of church life and ministry?
6. Develop It
As with other gifts, discernment can be developed and strengthened.
The ability to receive a revelation from God is only one aspect of this spiritual gift. Other aspects include:
- Having the wisdom to know what to do once you have received the discernment,
- How and when to share your insight
- How to weigh up what you have received against scripture
- Procedures for submitting an insight, and so on.
Seek to be trained or mentored in the context of a Christian community, where you have safe people who can give you feedback and encourage you on the journey.
Look for good training, along with books and other resources on the topic of spiritual warfare and related areas.
7. Use It
Don’t hold back. Even if you are starting out and tentative, God can use you powerfully. Use your gift of discernment to help guard and grow your church.
If you discern warfare or have a warning, remember that God’s heart is always to redeem and restore. Seek the Father for a promise and His prophetic outcome.
The gift of discernment can also help give you insight as to how to respond and pray for a breakthrough in any situation.
It is only through stewardship and practice that we can grow our spiritual gift of discernment.
8. Persevere With It
In the development of every spiritual gift, there are times of trial.
In some testing times, God may be allowing us to lose confidence in our own ability to perform in our gift. For example, we may have a period when our discernment becomes cloudy, or we may make an assumption that turns out to be in error.
During these times, He is calling us to become more dependent upon Him and to grow in humility.
You may have true discernmen,t but have been misunderstood or feel as though you have been set aside for a season.
These are times to persevere, and not to allow offense or discouragement to divert you from your calling. Wilderness seasons are allowed by our Heavenly Father to help us grow in our character or to direct us into new areas of fruitfulness.
UNLOCKING THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT E-BOOK
Are you sensitive to what is taking place in the spiritual realm?- Have you ever been adversely affected by a negative atmosphere?
You may have the spiritual gift of discernment.
The gift of discernment of spirits is a powerful weapon in times of spiritual warfare and can be of great assistance when ministering freedom to individuals. And yet many who have the gift of discernment have difficulty knowing what to do with what they are feeling or sensing.
‘Unlocking The Gift Of Discernment’ incorporates wisdom from Enliven Blog as well as additional valuable material to help you grow in your gift of discernment.
Related posts:
A Checklist For Developing Your Spiritual Gifts
3 Powerful Levels of the Gift of Discernment (and Signs of Each)
8 Signs You May Have The Spiritual Gift Of Discernment
Notes:
[1] This is quoted from my book, ‘Grow Your Prophetic And Prayer Gifts‘
[2]I tell the full story in ‘Prophetic People In A Changing Church.’ For a brief testimony, check out the Enliven Publishing ‘About’ page.
© Helen Calder 2010
Enliven Ministries: Prophetic Ministry for a Revival Generation
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
Hi Helen. I am beginning to wonder if I have the gift of discernment that manifests itself with people. It seems like I can sense what people are actually feeling or thinking to a certain degree. It’s not always but sometimes it seems like I can sort of read between the lines with people. There has been times when I haven’t wanted to have what seems to be insight into what may be what people are really thinking because it can be painful and hard to handle the reality of it. I also get slight feelings with a few people I know that they may be under oppression as it seems like one guy who practices meditation actually has a slightly different appearance which gives me the impression he’s oppressed. Does this sound like a gift I may have? I also have to be careful as well because I have had mental health difficulties in the past that can confuse my thinking and possibly cause my thoughts to not necessarily be in reality. That’s part of why I’m checking with you here as well to check and make sure what I have been experiencing as listed above is discernment.
Hi Matt, that certainly does sound like an aspect of the discernment gift that you are experiencing, I do have a couple of recommendations that may help:
1. Check your discernment with others in leadership around your life (e.g. church oversight, health professionals) to take care of potential overlap with the difficulties you have had health-wise. With discernment, I never take for granted I’m sensing 100% perfectly anyway, so this makes sense even without the additional problems you have experienced (by the way, I pray you will receive a further release of healing from God in this area of your health)
2. The test for a gift of discernment will include accuracy (i.e. are you hitting the mark with what you sense) and fruit, (is good fruit coming out of what you are sensing and sharing, i.e. are people being drawn to God, protected, encouraged, something helpful taking place, and leaders recognising this)
Hope this helps :-)
I’ve never really put it to the test so to speak, but I get these feelings about people that indicate to me what they are really feeling or thinking. It’s not all the time I must say… And sometimes it can be hard to handle. The truth behind things I guess isn’t always easy to deal with, has that been your own experience? That is if what I am sensing is accurate. It’s almost like sometimes I can very quickly with very little information see what they are really feeling which is probably contrary to what they would want people to know. Can you relate to this?
Hi Matt, yes I know it is not always easy to deal with what you sense in the area of discernment. I believe the best thing is to ask God, ‘What would you like me to do with this insight?’ It should never be a weight that we carry. The answer could be different things, for example, not to do anything except to pray and intercede, and in that release it back to God in prayer. It may be to take (humbly) our insights to someone in oversight who could weigh up our discernment – perhaps it is even confirmation to something a leader is aware of already. Of perhaps it is simply to give us a gift of compassion for that person, or to help them in some way.
Thanks Helen for the information. I notice lately like it seems God has kind of pulled back a little so to speak. I don’t sense his presence very strong right now and I don’t seem to have very much discernment of people right now. Could this be part of God’s plan to not allow us to experience a closeness with him at times for some reason or could this be something I’m doing or not doing?
Hi Matt, yes I know how you feel and I believe the answer would be, it could be either. Sometimes that sense of His near Presence is removed to stretch us in our faith, so that we continue to step out from what we have previously learned of Him without the ‘feelings’, other times He desires us to respond with hunger and press in to Him, and sometimes I have found that a gift will go through a season of being ‘on the backburner’ because it is time for other gifts or aspects to be focused on and strengthened in our lives. Pray about it and see what He says. :-)
This is very helpful! You know the first time i read this i didn’t let it set in and i ignored it cause i was just…lost. Everything that you have mention here is like the story of my current life right now. I am stronger. just like you, in the beginning i dealt with the spirit of fear and i asked my pastor to help and he either doesn’t care, believe me, or doesn’t know what to do cause he blows me off. he is a good guy but i need to grow spiritually and i think God is calling me to this great church my family grew up in. When i say the pastor and church is gifted, i mean gifted! they have classes for people with spiritual gifts! so i am excited and can’t wait to join this Church again if that is where God wants me. I have had this desire to go to this church for years! So I think God wants me there but i am still praying about it.
I just recently didn’t want this gift, i have asked God to take all the gifts he gave me away repeatedly, and in the end after my tears i repent and praise my LORD and he comforts me! He has just stregnthen me so I can endure this wilderness and i am so thankful for this and the gifts. God also gave me a dream showing me he was going to restore me, well thats what I believe it was about. every since the dream i hear a lot about restoration. If you don’t mind I’ll tell you the Dream and see what you think.
Dream: I was sitting in my livingroom on the couch and in the livingroom there is a ceiling fan. My Mom’s Husband was there, he took the end of a broom or stick and stuck it in one of the holes where the lightbulb would go. Then he would twist the stick right to left and brown dust would fall out. Then he turned with the ceiling fan taking a step closer to me and repeated sticking the stick in the hole and twisting it til brown dust came out. Then he turned with the ceiling fan taking a step closer to me standing in front of me and repeated. This time when the brown dust fell out he put himself in front of the dust so it wouldn’t fall on me.
Then End.
I knew it was from God because I could feel it, and i remembered a lot about the dream. The number 3 means Trinity and Resurection. In the Bilbe Trinity is The Father, Son, And Holy spirit. (God) Resurection in the Bible means to restore, or actual raising the dead.
Hello again Helen.
Sometimes it seems like I know what a person needs to say in certain situations in order to calm people down if there is a disagreement or something. Kind of hard to explain. Can you relate to this and is it discernment?
Hi Matt, that is a wonderful gift and sounds like a word of wisdom to me. The gifts of the Spirit all work together, I guess it doesn’t matter about specifically identifying the gifts, most important is giving Holy Spirit the leadership and watch how He intervenes and transforms lives.
Hi, I am seeking to find my giftings and came across your site. I am not sure but I think I might have spiritial discernment. I have a lot of trouble sleeping in hotels and sometimes other peoples houses because I will have terrible dreams and feel the presence of something evil, usually I am tormented with fear in these places. Most of the time I feel I know when someone is telling the truth or not, I always thought it was just me I didnt realise it was a gift of the spirit to know that about peoples motives. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE DISCERNMENT?