The charism Expressions of Knowledge can address the needs of the person receiving prayer and thus overcome obstacles that can block various types of healing through information shared by the Holy Spirit to the Church. Truth of the Spirit with host Patti Brunner discusses this and more in Word of Knowledge Charism of the Holy Spirit. For video and audio links or to read the script please continue reading.
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Most of the time when I pray for someone for healing the Lord gives me the charism of Word of Knowledge so that I can have efficacy in my prayer. The efficacy comes not only from targeting the need but from the increase of faith when affirmations come forward. Words of Knowledge also have an effect on the person receiving prayer.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit and Word of Knowledge Charism of the Holy Spirit. I am your host Patti Brunner.
St. Paul, who was very familiar with extraordinary or supernatural charisms, listed Expressions or Words of Knowledge along with eight other items in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12[i] as gifts of manifestation of the Holy Spirit. If you break the nine gifts into types, the Word of Knowledge is considered an insight or revelation gift, along with Words of Wisdom, and Discernment of Spirits. Other types of manifestation gifts are the gifts of communication, including Prophecy, Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues and the remaining type is gifts of power: Healing, Faith, and Miracles. When you are familiar with these gifts they are easy to discover throughout the New Testament including the Gospels. For others, they seem to be hidden in plain sight. Jesus used Words of Knowledge in evangelizing the woman at the well towards inner healing by revealing her past to her in the Gospel of John 4:17-27; and to know there was a coin in the fish to pay the taxes in Matthew 17:27, and about the synagogue official’s daughter in Mark Chapter 5:36-40.
The Holy Spirit pours out abundant charisms or gifts of grace upon us as we receive the sacraments and surrender to the Lord. Paul also lists motivational gifts in Romans Chapter 12:6-8, and ministerial gifts in Ephesians Chapter 4:11-12. The Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph #2003 teaches us that “Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also”, it says, “includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments.” The Catechism continues quoting the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” “benefit.”53 Whatever their character—sometimes,” the Catechism tells us, “sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues —charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church.” Referencing 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, the Catechism paragraph concludes saying: “They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.54”
The extraordinary charisms of manifestation listed in 1 Corinthians make it very clear that the Holy Spirit is present and active. Trust me, when these charisms are active there is no doubt in me that God is present. Words or Expressions of Knowledge are generally when the Lord tells you or reminds you of something in the past or something that is current that is hidden in some way. The revelation can be something you could have no natural way of knowing about someone else. I have a friend to whom the Lord reveals information about strangers in restaurants. With the Lord’s permission she can then approach the person and ask them if they will allow her to pray for their need. They almost always say yes. If they don’t, she can still lift them up in private prayer.
The Lord explained to me, “a Word of Knowledge is a personal revelation concerning an event of the past. It can manifest as a word, a picture, even a color. This revelation can be used to trigger a memory that needs to surface so that healing can take place. Sometimes the word can reveal something unknown except to the person receiving prayer that when revealed then builds faith in the Lord’s love and personal care so that healing can take place. These words can guide the prayer leaders to then address particular needs of the person receiving prayer and thus overcome obstacles that can block various types of healing.”
Quite often when I pray with someone for healing, the Lord points out a physical issue. Several months ago I prayed for a woman who asked for courage as she went to see a specialist for a possible bisection of her colon. As I prayed for her the Lord whispered to me “Pancreatic Cancer”. I didn’t speak these words to her; I didn’t want to declare it. I told her I didn’t think the problem was her colon. A few weeks later, I found out she had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer by the specialist.
In receiving personal information about another, discernment is key. The Lord will give confirmation when a difficult word is important to share. When we receive a delicate Word of Knowledge about someone’s past, we must inquire of the Lord if the word should be spoken or just used as a means for prayer. Sometimes, I ask the person I’m praying for about the word I’ve heard in such a way that if they deny it, I can move on without causing distress. This has happened when particular medical conditions are revealed or past abuse. If the person denies a condition, I do not pursue it but pray with compassion. I have found that when the Lord reveals, He heals, so I pray for healing but in such a way that the person receiving prayer can agree with the prayer. Sometimes a word has a meaning for the person receiving prayer that is different than a natural conclusion. And I am not disappointed if the physical healing does not manifest. Often the Lord has inner healing or spiritual healing plans.
One time I was praying with a family who had several needs. As I prayed the Lord told me that their young son had a problem with reading. As I quizzed the family, the dad told me that the child’s teacher had contacted them about the problem. It made a big difference to them to know that the Lord cared about the son’s reading problem and they came back a few weeks later to tell me that his reading had greatly improved.
Sometimes the Lord reveals himself to the person receiving prayer with an overwhelming sense of peace, or tingling sensations, or sensations of heat or cold. Often the Lord then reveals the expression of his Presence to the person praying. What joy it is to ask, “Did you feel that?” By confirming the Lord’s Presence in that physical manifestation the person knows that it really is God that is touching them in that way. Sometimes the peaceful wave of God’s Presence causes the person to have complete relaxation and they may teeter or even collapse. We can read about this happening in scripture. Usually the Lord will reveal this expression to the persons praying so they can gently help the person collapse into a chair or the floor. This is also known as being “slain in the Spirit” or “resting in the Spirit”. I have witnessed this manifestation so many times! I have even witnessed this gift manifesting where whole sections of a crowd collapsed at exactly the same time. When a person has allowed the Holy Spirit to “zap” them it is clear to me that the Lord is directly handling whatever issues need to be addressed and I surrender them to the Lord.
At times, the Lord allows me to feel or sense heat as someone is healed. It is an assurance that the healing is taking place. Sometimes, and this is fun, my hand will feel very hot but the person I am touching feels coldness. Or my hand will be cold but they feel heat. Sometimes the Lord gives me an ‘inside view’ of a person’s body to see a particular blockage or to guide my prayers to a particular need.
Sometimes the Lord has pointed out issues such a worry or lack of sleep. These are easy to verify by the person receiving prayer. When the person affirms the issue the result is two-fold. The person’s faith is built up by realizing that the Lord is attuned to their needs and the faith of the person praying is built up by the affirmation of the Word of Knowledge. The great thing is that what the Lord reveals He can heal!
The Lord explained to me, “The simple revelation of the past allows the blade to separate the marrow from the bone—the Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God. And in this”, the Lord said, “lives are saved; lives are transformed.”
Sometimes the Lord reminds me that the person I am praying for is beautiful or that they are his son or daughter. The Lord often gives encouraging Words of Knowledge that reminds the person how much He loves them using the exact words they need to hear.
Sometimes the Lord uses scripture to encourage them. Sometimes the Lord reveals a root problem that manifests with physical issues. Fairly common is the need to forgive. For more than thirty years, Fr. Robert DeGrandis encouraged us to pray his Forgiveness Prayer[ii]. In the instructions, as you pray through a litany of various people and situation to offer forgiveness, we were told to take note of whomever or whatever came to mind as we prayed this prayer every day for 30 days. I now realize that each time a memory popped up that this was the Holy Spirit’s gift of Expression of Knowledge. By bringing the buried memory into the Light of Christ for an active act of forgiveness, the Lord was healing us from the inside out.
Often priests in the confessional will have the gift of reading hearts. Saint Padre Pio was famous for this gift. This is a special Word of Knowledge where the sins of the penitent are revealed [to the priest confessor]. In this way more complete healing can take place as absolution is given and the penance given can be more efficacious. According to the Lives of the Saints, many saints are recorded with this gift. I have gone to confession with a visiting priest with this gift. For my penance he asked me to pray in tongues. The Lord had given him a Word of Knowledge that I had that gift.
One of my regular confessors has the gift of Counsel. He knows just what to communicate to encourage me in the confessional.
What of those who reject his words of Knowledge? They are free to do so. But they may be rejecting the invitation to come deeper, to come to forgiveness, to come to healing, to come into the Presence of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit and Word of Knowledge Charism of the Holy Spirit. I am your host, Patti Brunner. You can read the script of this episode at PatriarchMinistries.com/201. We invite you to subscribe, it’s free, and to check out some of our previous podcasts and the playlists of the various series available on our YouTube channel or our website PatriarchMinistries.com. And then, come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there is always more! Amen.
[i] I Corinthians 12: 8-10, “To one the Spirit gives wisdom in discourse, to another the power to express knowledge. Through the Spirit one receives faith; by the same Spirit another is given the gift of healing, and still another miraculous powers. Prophecy is given to one; to another power to distinguish one spirit from another. One receives the gift of tongues, another that of interpreting the tongues”
[ii] Forgiveness Prayer, Rev. Robert DeGrandis, S.J.J., The-Forgiveness-Prayer.pdf (livepentecost.com)
