'The word of knowledge, and the word of wisdom, are frequently used by the prophets. They are tools of the prophets trade; without these gifts they would not have a lot to share, other than perhaps a word of encouragement'.

Words of knowledge are certainly a key part of the prophetic ministry. As one of the tools that the Lord has given us, it's vital that we learn how to use it in the correct manner. In this teaching we'll look at three kinds of words of knowledge and how we can use them wisely.

GOD IS OMNISCIENT.

God is all knowing. Nothing is hidden from Him. The word of knowledge expresses the sovereignty of God by revealling the secret things that only He could know. He knows the secrets of all mens hearts and from time to time He shares some of this knowledge with us. He reveals the secrets of mens hearts for His own purposes.

THE THREE COMPONENTS OF PROPHECY.

Generally, a prophetic word has three components to it. It has a word of knowledge, a prophetic word, and a word of wisdom. Most prophecy has these three gifts working in tandem within it. Put simply; a word of knowledge tells us how things are right now. A word of prophecy tells us how things will be. The word of wisdom tells how to get to the place where the prophetic word has pointed us. All three of these are necessary parts to any prophetic word.

BE CAUTIOUS WITH WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE.

Because of the nature of words of knowledge; that they involve hidden knowledge and possibly the secrets of mens hearts and lives, we should have special care when using them. Could you imagine the damage that could be done if somebody laid your whole life bare in front of everyone? We would see the bad as well as the good. For most of us this would be devestating. Due to this, certain words of knowledge should be handled with extra care.

Here are three things that I have found useful when handling words of knowledge.

1. WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE MAY BE DIAGNOSTIC.

The Lord may be using a word of knowledge to give you some background information into a situation or circumstance. It might not be something that you're supposed to share publicly. God's heart is always redemptive; He always longs to bring life, and He longs for us to speak life to those around us. When you receive a word of knowledge, always ask yourself 'Will sharing this word bring life or will it discredit someone if I give it publicly?'. If God shows you sin, or an area of weakness in someones life how do you respond?

AN INCORRECT USE OF THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE.

When I was in YWAM I did some missionary work in Kenya. During this time, the Lord gave me a word of knowledge concerning our team leader. He revealled to me that her personal relationship with Him was in poor shape, and specifically He said that she had not had a quiet time with Him for three weeks. How did I use this word? One day the leader said something that offended me, so I said 'How dare you question me when you haven't even spent any time with the Lord for three weeks? Because you have not made the time to speak with Him, the Lord will put you in a place where you will have to seek Him'.

The day after this 'word' was given, the leader was paralysed by some kind of illness, and had three whole days laid up in bed where she could do nothing but seek and cry out to the Lord. On the face of it, this 'word' looked like it was bang on. However, this was not what the Lord had intended. He had wanted me to cry out to Him on my leaders behalf, and to look for practical ways to help ease her burden so that she would have the time she needed to spend with the Lord. I acted rashly, and during my time in Kenya the Lord personally punished me for sharing the things that I did. He made me pay double for my error because I had not just struck a fellow team member, but one who was in authority.

ALWAYS QUESTION GOD ABOUT A WORD OF KNOWLEDGE.

I forgot the golden rule for words of knowledge during that time in YWAM; always question God when you have a word of knowledge. This led me to prophesy the problem but not the solution. With a word of knowledge, ask the Lord 'What should I be doing with this? What are your objectives here Father?'. Asking these things will help keep us on the right track.

HARD WORDS.

If you do have a hard word to share; there is a place for hard words. However, they should only be spoken from a place of love. Does the word break your own heart the way that it breaks the heart of the Lord Himself? If the answer is 'no', then I would certainly not speak out the word. If a hard word hasn't broken you, why would you expect it to have any impact on anyone else?

It's useful to get pastoral people involved in such situations as well. Share what you are feeling with the pastoral person, and then follow their lead. Don't be a bull in a china shop. Show some wisdom.

Love is the key to setting people free:

Ephesians 4:15
'Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ who is the head of his body, the church'.

If you want to speak the truth, especially a hard truth, such as a hard word of knowledge with someone, you've got to speak the truth in love. Then the truth will set us free, John 8:32.

IS YOUR SWORD SHARP?

Once I was at a leadership conference in Vancouver, and the Lord gave me a word of knowledge. As I looked at one of the pastors wives, the Lord spoke to me showing me that she had been brought low by the toil of everyday life, and with some unfortunate events. The Lord told me that 'she thought her sword was dull'. I recognized this as a word of knowledge. I asked the Lord 'What are you looking to accomplish in this situation'. The Lord said that he didn't want the enemy to use these circumstances to rob her of the full blessing that she could get at the conference. So I taylored the words that I spoke around the objectives of the Lord.

I asked her 'Is your sword sharp?'. 'No it's not!' was her reply. I said 'That is the wrong answer. The Lord says that the daily grind doesn't dull you as you suppose, it actually makes you sharper!'. This revelation given in love turned around her thoughts and her attitude, and she was no longer frustrated with the Lord and with her bad week, and instead her faith was re-ignited and she was abundantly blessed at the conference! Praise the Lord!

This word of knowledge was clearly diagonstic. Notice that I didn't speak out the information that the Lord had given me, but I did use it to mould the words that I shared.

2. WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE CAN HELP CONFIRM A PROPHETIC WORD.

Words of knowledge are often used by the Lord to help confirm a word. When a word of knowledge is given in a prophecy, it can stimulate the listeners faith to receive the word.

Once, when I was ministering in Alberta, I had a prophetic word for a man. The first part of the word was a word of knowledge. It concerned his gifting as I was shown that he was hospitable, evangelistic and also a teacher. This reminded me of the Alpha Course. So I shared these things with him, and infact he had been the main man in drawing people into some successful Alpha Courses that this church had done. The church cheered as I shared these things. The second part of the word contained both a prophecy, and a word of wisdom. He was being asked to come out of the shadows and not just draw people in but lead the Alpha Courses. This man had struggled with his own ability in this area. He had drawn people in, and now the Lord was opening a door for him to have more responsibility in the work because of his faithfulness. The word of knowledge part of the word was there to give him faith that the rest of the word was from the Lord, and that he should have faith to step out more. The word of knowledge helped confirm the accuracy of the rest of the word.

Sometimes we give a word of knowledge and are unaware of it's significance. At a leaders conference I prophesied over a pastor concerning his church. I saw it as a stronghold; a castle in a commanding position in the community. I also saw that there was a royal flag flying above the castle. In England, when the queen is in residence at one of her castles, a special royal standard is raised. It can only be raised if the queen is at the castle. I used this in the prophecy saying that 'The King is in the House, He is in your fellowship'. As it turns out, this pastor had been working on a sermon for his Sunday morning service and one of the examples he was going to use was the one of the queens royal standard flag being raised when she was staying in a particular place. This was a word of knowledge, and the pastor was so excited about it! It had helped confirm that I had indeed heard the word of the Lord for his church.

JESUS USED WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE.

Jesus, who is our ultimate and most excellent example of how a prophetic person should behave and minister, frequently used words of knowledge.

In the calling of the disciple Nathanael in John 1:47-51 Jesus used a word of knowledge. He said that he had 'seen' Nathanael before he had even met him; he had seen him under a fig tree. He also had some words of knowledge concerning the character and personality of Nathanael. Jesus shared these things and it increased Nathanaels zeal and faith, and he left all and followed Jesus.

In the story of the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus once again uses a word of knowledge to increase faith and gain trust. In verses 17-18 Jesus said this:

'You're right, you don't have a husband - for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with right now. You certainly spoke the truth'.

The result of this word of knowledge was that the woman recognised Jesus as the real deal; a true prophet. In verse 19 she says

'Sir, you must be a prophet'.

This simple word of knowledge opened up the womans heart to Jesus and He was able to speak deeper things into her heart because of her new faith in Him. The word of knowledge had cultivated her trust in Jesus.

These kinds of words of knowledge build faith and trust, paving the way for the prophetic and word of wisdom within a prophetic word to have a greater impact.

3. WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE FOR THE UNSAVED.

Jesus still uses words of knowledge through us to help reach the lost. In my personal experience I have found that speaking words of knowledge to the unsaved opens their hearts to the Lord. Words of knowledge are a powerful tool for unlocking peoples hearts to the gospel.

Once when I was praying for an unsaved friend who was bound up in drugs I had a vision of Jesus. I saw Him with a huge key chain hanging at His side with thousands of keys on it. As I wondered what it meant, the Lord spoke and said 'I have the keys to all mens hearts'. This gave us faith to pray for my friend. We prayed that the Lord would unlock her heart so that she would turn to Him. Sometimes the 'key' is a word of knowledge.

Once when I was working in a glass factory, I was talking to a guy who had a real anger problem because of a recent divorce. As I was talking to him, the word 'cruciate ligament' came to me. So I asked him if he knew what cruciate ligaments were. His response was totally unexpected. He started to cry, and told me that he needed surgery on his knee because of his 'cruciate ligaments'. He kept getting put further and further down the waiting list for surgery, and was having to increase his intake of painkillers to get through a work day. So I prayed with him that the Lord would open a door for him to have surgery. The following week he got bumped up the waiting list and had the necessary surgery done. A few months later he gave his heart to the Lord and is now the most gentle man you could ever meet.

Another time when I was working a night shift I spoke one word to a man. I can't even remember what the word was, but it turned out to be the special love name that his wife had given him. This man fell to his knees and wept for a long time. It turned out that he was having trouble in his marriage. The word of knowledge had opened his heart, and revealled his pain so that I could pray with him.

In England I once worked at a herb packaging factory. During one of the breaks I found myself having a coffee with a beautiful young East Indian woman. As I looked at her I just knew she was pregnant. I told her she was pregnant, and she started to cry. She was fearful of pregnancy for a number of reasons, and was very stressed by the whole idea of having a baby. I was able to pray with her and speak words of comfort. It was a very tender time and I could see that the Lord had met her in a very deep way.

Words of knowledge are an amazingly powerful tool in evangelism. Time after time I have seen the Lord open peoples hearts with a word of knowledge. When I was in YWAM in Africa I saw many people receive the Lord as their saviour after a word of knowledge opened their hearts to him. This is an area where the evangelist and the prophetic ministry can work powerfully together. The prophetic speaks a word of knowledge which opens someones heart to receive the gospel through the evangelist. I have seen this happen time and time again.

In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 Paul writes about this kind of prophetic ministry to the unsaved:

'But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don't understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed (Word of Knowledge) and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring 'God is truly here amongst you!'.

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