The word of knowledge that I was given, which is my personal favorite, seemed very strange to me when I received it. I actually resisted sharing it. In a meeting, we were praying for a couple and their fourteen- year-old daughter. I heard the Spirit say, “Tell the daughter that she is not an accident.” Immediately, I thought about how embarrassing this would be for the daughter and her parents, who were standing in front of the whole congregation for prayer. I assumed she must have been one of the “surprise” children, but I did not want to embarrass the little girl or her parents. Then the Spirit said, “Do it.” When I did, both the daughter and the parents burst into tears and were almost wailing. Concerned that I had insulted them terribly, I asked what this meant to them. They said that their daughter had been the product of a rape, and had found out, and felt that she was not even supposed to be alive.

          This family was new to the church, and knew I could not have known this. That one word instantly healed a major wound in their family. The little girl left thinking that God did know her, and that she was “not an accident,” but that God loved her and He had a purpose for her. The parents left deeply touched by how God had so personally cared about them and that they could rejoice in the victory of this whole situation. The Lord obviously did not intend for the rape, but He is so good that He would use even this terrible thing to bring forth good. I was just an observer to this, but it changed me too because it was a whole new level of seeing just how wonderful our God is.

          Because people come from all over the world to our local church to be ministered to by our prophetic teams, we hear things like this frequently. In fact, they are now so common, they are expected. I think this is normal Christianity. It was what the Apostle Paul said about prophecy—how if an unbeliever came, the secrets of his heart would be exposed and he would fall on his face, declaring that God is certainly among us (I Corinthians 14:24-25). Constant awe and wonder at the great things the Lord is doing, which cannot be credited to men, are normal New Testament church life.

          If prophetic gifts are being awakened in you, this is more valuable than any earthly treasure, as everything from God should be. As we are told in I Corinthians 14:1, “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Cultivate your gifts. Get around others who are growing in them. Go to prophetic conferences where many others will be gathering and the interchange can be extremely helpful. We usually have at least two conferences a year where you not only see the gifts demonstrated, but you can be a part of the ministry teams and receive practical experience. Now many other ministries are also hosting such conferences, which are being used to stir up the gifts in people. In the times to come, the most valuable gift anyone will have is knowing God’s voice.