After a conversation, a man on the street of Istanbul, Turkey asked me “Do you practice magic?”
Holy Spirit is so cool! We recently arrived in Georgia {a European country close to Russia} and are in month 7 of 11 on the World Race! Through Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Turkey God has been pouring out spiritual gifts in our squad. This blog has some of our experiences with these gifts!
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 is a Bible passage containing information about spiritual gifts used for the common good of everyone!
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
Some lessons I’ve learned about spiritual gifts:
1. These spiritual gifts are available to ALL Christians! Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity and equal to God the Father and Jesus. Together they are God, not separate, but one! When you surrender your life to God by recognizing Jesus as savior, Lord, and leader of your life, Holy Spirit enters your life and wakes up your spirit!
2. Having spiritual gifts does not demonstrate maturity in faith or favoritism from God. Christians can begin speaking in tongues or operating with other gifts the day they become Christians! Since everyone has received the Holy Spirit, everyone has access to these gifts!
3. Life is so much more alive when I am living in obedience and dependence on God! All gifts are available, and He wants to give them to us for the common good and building up the Church! We do not determine the gift or timeframe, but we can boldly ask God to continue revealing Himself and His gifts in us!
4. Do you want the gift or the Gift Giver? The healing or the Healer? This is fabulous reminder! Spiritual gifts are incredible and I will try to describe them! But ultimately they are gifts from a loving, sovereign, all-knowing God. We get to live in relationship and awe of who He is and what He does!
message of wisdom | When preparing to leave Costa Rica, I had a pain in my mouth and on my tailbone (???). I was wondering if I needed to try to find a dentist or a doctor! While our squad was praying for each other in small groups, Kev, a squad mate, heard from God that there was a spiritual reason for my discomfort. He said ” You are staying silent about knowledge and sitting on wisdom.” As I started praying and asking God for more clarity He showed me areas where I need to speak with more boldness, obedience, and trust in Him! My pain went away as I spoke to my team and squad with confidence in the Lord!
message of knowledge | Our English speaking waiter in Turkey walked us out to the street after our meal. I felt the prompting from Holy Spirit to share words with him. They were about who he is, details about his life, what he does, and how God sees him. He was amazed and asked me: “Do you practice magic? Do you read cards? How do you know this?” We had a conversation about God’s love, Jesus’ sacrifice, and Holy Spirit’s power to give gifts, including a message of knowledge! I shared how this is a free gift God has given me to give to others!
{a sign in a Turkish Bazaar, a reminder to keep my soul attentive for entries to talk about Jesus}
While in Turkey, I had a three hour religious conversation with a new friend! M. is a brilliant young Muslim studying in Turkey. His questions, reasonings, and our conversation jumped throughout the Bible, Quran, and personal experiences. I had been learning about Islam while serving in Turkey. Only Holy Spirit’s words and truth helped carry the conversation!
Matthew 10:18-20 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you {we are not promised an easy life}, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
faith | In the Dominican Republic my team and I heard from the Lord that we needed to be nomadic and not get too comfortable in one place! For the month of May we moved from place to place, only staying a few nights in one location. Often we would be praying about where to go next and receive the direction the morning as we were leaving our current Airbnb. God ALWAYS provided a place for us to stay! Even if we were looking for a booking on one of our 9 hour bus rides… Our faith grew from being worried on the first transitions to joyfully waiting until we arrived in the city to confirm housing for that night!
It was also often difficult to hire an Uber in the DR. This Uber Driver, Man of God, and Worship Pastor saw us standing {somewhat stranded} outside the country’s version of Walmart, with our BIG packs. In faith we had given our situation over to God to provide us a ride outside of town. This man of God drove me, Jenna, and Alayna to our final destination while giving us a concert of English PRAISE music.
Paula’s blog “The One Who Richly Provides” is another story of a team operating in FAITH for their housing.
gifts of healing | Josiah’s long term deaf ear was restored to hearing! Lynneal and I were praying for Josiah, but we needed to often trade places for him to hear us from his one receptive ear. Finally I prayed for the Lord to give hearing to his ear. Then Lynneal and I began jumping because, HE COULD HEAR! Josiah wrote a blog “For the body” about his experience and how his healing radically encouraged our squad!!! (His blog may still be blocked from traveling through closed countries).
{The reason for my one sock in the picture: I had stubbed my toe and scraped my foot in the lake, and was wearing one sock while waiting for skin on my sockless foot to heal! God also figuratively blew my sock off with Josiah’s healing!}
Bye, bye allergies! We prayed and Sarah was healed from her tomato, banana, and latex allergies! Her blog “Healing Happens” shares how God delights in healing our small, seemingly common areas of life. Another friend was healed from her major allergies and I am eating dairy and gluten again!
Our leader Ari’s blog has amazing stories of multiple healings within our squad just in one week!
Victoria prayed and my sore throat was healed in the Dominican Republic!
I prayed for a Turkish police chief’s foot. He had stepped on a spore then fell off a rock in the ocean. God healed him! Healings are an incredible revelation of Holy Spirit’s power and love for people.
I do not know why sometimes God heals and other times He doesn’t give the healing we want while we are on earth. The Bible shows how Jesus conquered death and how we are still living in a world broken with pain, sickness, and heartache. I do know that my part of the equation as a Christian is to remember the loving heart and healing power of God, step out in faith, and pray. Please pray and pray fervently for healing. When God highlights someone in your path, PLEASE approach them and be willing to pray!
miraculous powers — miracles | While in Turkey, my teammate, Jenna, was hoping to receive a package from her friend in Germany! We knew the timing might be close…day after day we would check the post office and our mailbox. Then the package arrived the morning of our last day. We would have missed it if we walked out of the back door rather than the front door! Jenna felt so loved by her friend and our Father, and we glorified God with her! I’m still learning what differentiates miracles from other spiritual gifts!
prophecy | Walking around a street market I met a sweet Guatemalan store owner with her newborn baby. She was a Christian and offered to have me hold her baby boy. As I bounced this sweet, BIG baby in my arms, I asked if I could pray over him. I had prayed in Spanish often for Uber drivers or women we met on the street. But this time of prayer was different, with an extended vocabulary and picture of how this little one would honor God in the future.
In Guatemala I also received a picture and prophecy from my friend Karis! How I was helping people break down strongholds and walking alongside them to give the broken pieces to Jesus. The pieces created a beautiful, colorful, stained art cross mosaic.
distinguishing between spirits | The spiritual realm is real and active. In Costa Rica we were in morning SWAT “Spiritual Warfare And Tactics” trainings with a man named Richard. He was teaching us about the reality of the spiritual realm, how to pray Warfare Prayer, and to ask Holy Spirit to help us distinguish between spirits. While writing this, I had a pause in sharing about this spiritual gift. And I realized it was from fear and pride that friends and family back home would think this was CRAZY! When I prayed for spirits of fear and pride to leave, I had the words to write! Realizing demonic spirits try to cloud our thoughts or whisper lies to Christians does not mean that Christians are demon possessed. When we pray for freedom and protection, Holy Spirit can help us distinguish what is from God and what is not. Let’s have a conversation about this or any of the spiritual gifts!
speaking in different kinds of tongues | We are given words that are not from a human language, but languages from God! I received a prayer language in Middle School that has helped me connect intimately with God when I don’t know what to pray or when I want to glorify Him and English words are not enough!
My friend Sarah had one day where Holy Spirit gave her complete Spanish comprehension and conversation. Another friend, Jenna, was praying softly in her specific prayer language and our Turkish host could understand her prayer!
Several friends who are so close to God and operate in other spiritual gifts don’t have the gift of speaking in different kinds of tongues. That is okay! And they are diligent to ask God for a gift of tongues and continual outpouring of all spiritual gifts.
interpretation of tongues | When I was walking through the streets of Guatemala, I felt the necessity from Holy Spirit to pray for my team. As I began praying in my prayer language, English words started simultaneously coming through my mind. Afterwards I typed them out on my phone and shared them with a specific teammate. They were the words she needed to hear.
In normal conversation, yesterday my friend Sarah was able to clearly understand a man who was drunk. This helped us know how to pray for him in the future!
There are multiple stories of Holy Spirit showing up through our squad with spiritual gifts! Below is a video from the men’s team of their time in Turkey!
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit.
Holy Spirit, I knew I had you in America and was beginning to live in bold obedience to your leading. Please continue stirring my spirit to quickly follow you. I want to draw close, experience your love, and proclaim your incredible acts across the world and in the States. Thank you for your patience, direction, and focus on you! Amen
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for myself and our squad to have opportunities and obedience to share the gospel and build friendships! There have been several times I did not share when I could have. Sometimes I went back to speak or pray over someone, other times I missed the opportunity. Please pray for us to walk in obedience as opportunities come!
- Pray for faith and understanding as we share the gospel. Pray for people to have dreams, visions, and miraculous experiences that point them back to God.
- Pray for the Church in America to ask and receive more gifts of the Spirit. {This is my prayer for YOU!}
- Pray for protection and peace over my squad’s families at home. Several parents and siblings are very sick or going through intense struggles right now.
Wow!!!!
To God be the Glory forever and ever and ever.
Jesus!!!!!
Wow Rachel,
Loved the pristine clarity and simplicity of both scripture and the examples of “what do these gifts look like operationally in real life?”
May the demonstration of the Holy Spirits power , by way of these signs and miracles continue to confirm and attest to the simple gospel of Christ’s death burial and Ressurection!
Great share sis, proud of ya and all of I squad.
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
??Colossians? ?4:2-6? ?ESV??
Beautiful testimonies of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and God’s love for people! Thank you for sharing and inspiring us! Saying prayers for you and your squad.
“…I am the Lord, your healer.””
??Exodus? ?15:26? ?ESV??
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]”
??Mark? ?16:15-20? ?ESV??
THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE BLOG!! So clear, detailed, and ENCOURAGING!!!!
Wow thank u Rachel for sharing this post so powerful!! God is sooo good. What experiences u & your team r receiving. I ask for protection guidance & God’s encouragement for u & your team in Jesus name Amen .