Gift of Discerning of Spirits (XI)

This series would not be complete without me explaining in more detail the gift of discernment of spirits (which I have often spoken).  Personally, this gift began to manifest itself early in my prayer life and was a definite help when trying to understand the source of what I was praying for or against. 

A helpful explanation comes from a website called “Truth or Tradition: “The manifestation of discerning of spirits is God or the Lord Jesus Christ revealing to you information about the presence or non-presence of spirits (including both angels or demons), and sometimes including the identity of demons present, whether or not you may cast them out, and providing the power to do it.

Discerning of spirits is a manifestation of the gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:10). Some people are by nature very perceptive and discerning, but that is not the manifestation of discerning of spirits.  It is not a natural ability. The manifestation of discerning of spirits involves information and power that flows from God or the Lord Jesus to the believer via the gift of Holy Spirit in that believer. No matter how naturally perceptive a person is, he will not be able to accurately discern the presence of a demon and will certainly not be able to cast it out. It takes the revelation and power of God to do that.

There are many ‘spirits’ in this world, including angels, evil spirits, and the gift of Holy Spirit within Christians. Via the manifestation of discerning of spirits, God or the Lord Jesus is able to inform the Christian if a person is saved, unsaved, or under the influence of a demon. Because of the spiritual battle that rages around all of us, the most common aspect of discerning of spirits is dealing with the demonic forces of this world.”

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (1 John 4:1).

Do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment.  Stop judging only by what you see, judge in the right way.  Look beneath the surface then you can judge correctly.  (John 7:24).

There are a number of instances of the gift in operation during prayer for others in my book.  One of the most dramatic was the story of Merrilyn (pages 202-205) with the spirit of murder I encountered. 

In addition, remember the demons that were identified in various dreams I have recorded on this site (i.e., Power of the Gift of Tongues and Stabbing the Enemy).  These too are illustrations of the gift in action.  Likewise, angels have been identified in dreams, but they are usually less obvious.  For instance: A Dog Named Torah (was that an Angel)? and the Amber Glory of God dreams.  I am sure you can identify such spirit sightings in your life, also.

There is another facet to the gift that I want to mention, and it is explained succinctly from the website gotquestions.org.  I found this definition useful:

“The gift of discerning spirits, or distinguishing spirits, is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Like all these gifts, the gift of discerning spirits is given by the Holy Spirit, who disperses these gifts to believers for service in the body of Christ. Every believer has a spiritual enablement for a specific service.

There are certain believers, however, who have the spiritual gift of discerning spirits—that is, the God-given ability to distinguish between the truth of the Word and the deceptive doctrines propagated by demons.”

Do you see this different aspect to the gift?  It is the ability to decipher a false teacher aka a false teaching from the word of truth.  I liken it to an unmasking of the person or instruction.  This has happened a few times (not to mention at my own church) but as I was visiting other churches. 

While visiting another church, sitting and waiting for the teaching to start, the Holy Spirit pointed out who was a false teacher on the stage before he began teaching.  It was truly an uncomfortable feeling and it urged me to pray that this discernment was disseminated throughout the body of believers as well.

Remember too, that the enemy can disguise himself as an angel of light to deceive us.  This gift helps unmask his identity and his intentions. 

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14).

It does not happen frequently, and I do not see a demon or angel around every corner.  But when needed, the Lord has identified through the gift of discerning of spirits information that I needed to know at the time.  It is a powerful gift to have in our arsenal and I encourage you to seek the Lord for this gift.

PRACTICE POINT:  Can you remember an incident when the gift of discerning of spirits operated in your life?  Record the memory in your ‘book’, perhaps the Lord will speak further to you about the situation. 

BONUS POINT:  Seek the gift of discerning of spirits and ask for an opportunity to see it in use through you.