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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
word of knowledge	stacey	Sunday, October 26, 2008
Question: Is their any biblical basis for the word of knowledge practice in the word-faith movement? My experience in the beginning of my involvement with the movement was that certain individuals in my church who supposedly had this gift would tell many things about my life that they had no way of knowing otherwise. So much of it was correct in the beginning and was helpful to me at the time since I was not used to hearing from God on my own. Eventually as time went on I started to discern quite a bit of error mixed in with the truth. It was like they would prophesy correctly about 99% of the time and then I would detect a big lie in the middle of all of it. Then it seemed like I was starting to pick up on even more untruths. I had one person give me a word that was so accurate at first. I decided on the spur of the moment to test what she was saying and asked her to expound on a detail she had brought up. Before she would give a word she would always bow her head and start speaking in tongues before she would say anything almost like she would be in a trance. When I asked her about that certain detail she did that then confidently lifted her head and told me the biggest bald-faced lie. I didn't set out test her intentionally-it was a spur of the moment thing. It did set off my alarm meter though. When I then confronted her with the truth she immediately tried to backpedal and weave it in with her original prophecy. She acted embarrassed like she had been "caught". That's when I started to suspect that this practice is not a good thing. Alot of people who think they have this gift it becomes a pride issue with them and they give off the impression that they have a direct line to God that others don't have. I've also noticed that when you discern the truth those same individuals immediately start to distance themselves from you and almost shun you. What's strange is that you haven't really done or said anything to outright make them mad at you it's almost as if something in them immediately senses that you see through it. I've seen quite a few people really hurt from being given false words and then making imortant decisions on the basis of those false words. It can really damage a persons faith. Can you give me your opinion and tell me what you know about this practice?
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Stacey: St. Paul mentions the charism gift of the Word of Knowledge, but the usual interpretation of this gift is improper in the Pentecostal and word-faith communities. They utilize what they call the Word of Knowledge almost like channeling spirits or ESP. Your experience, observations, and gut reactions are very interesting and discerning. You are correct in your observations. Your experiences when you doubt what is happening is typical. Most often such people will backpedal, make some excuse, or walk away. I have been kicked out of a Catholic Charismatic meeting because of the essay linked in the next paragraph. For a more genuine approach to this phenomena I suggest you read the essay, Charism Gifts Building Up the Church. This essay goes into detail about what is and is not proper in the exercise of spiritual gifts. It is written from the Catholic perspective, but you should still get a lot of information from it. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

word of knowledge

stacey

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Question:

Is their any biblical basis for the word of knowledge practice in the word-faith movement?

My experience in the beginning of my involvement with the movement was that certain individuals in my church who supposedly had this gift would tell many things about my life that they had no way of knowing otherwise. So much of it was correct in the beginning and was helpful to me at the time since I was not used to hearing from God on my own.

Eventually as time went on I started to discern quite a bit of error mixed in with the truth. It was like they would prophesy correctly about 99% of the time and then I would detect a big lie in the middle of all of it. Then it seemed like I was starting to pick up on even more untruths. I had one person give me a word that was so accurate at first. I decided on the spur of the moment to test what she was saying and asked her to expound on a detail she had brought up. Before she would give a word she would always bow her head and start speaking in tongues before she would say anything almost like she would be in a trance. When I asked her about that certain detail she did that then confidently lifted her head and told me the biggest bald-faced lie. I didn't set out test her intentionally-it was a spur of the moment thing. It did set off my alarm meter though. When I then confronted her with the truth she immediately tried to backpedal and weave it in with her original prophecy. She acted embarrassed like she had been "caught". That's when I started to suspect that this practice is not a good thing.

Alot of people who think they have this gift it becomes a pride issue with them and they give off the impression that they have a direct line to God that others don't have. I've also noticed that when you discern the truth those same individuals immediately start to distance themselves from you and almost shun you. What's strange is that you haven't really done or said anything to outright make them mad at you it's almost as if something in them immediately senses that you see through it. I've seen quite a few people really hurt from being given false words and then making imortant decisions on the basis of those false words. It can really damage a persons faith. Can you give me your opinion and tell me what you know about this practice?

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

St. Paul mentions the charism gift of the Word of Knowledge, but the usual interpretation of this gift is improper in the Pentecostal and word-faith communities. They utilize what they call the Word of Knowledge almost like channeling spirits or ESP.

Your experience, observations, and gut reactions are very interesting and discerning. You are correct in your observations. Your experiences when you doubt what is happening is typical. Most often such people will backpedal, make some excuse, or walk away. I have been kicked out of a Catholic Charismatic meeting because of the essay linked in the next paragraph.

For a more genuine approach to this phenomena I suggest you read the essay, Charism Gifts Building Up the Church. This essay goes into detail about what is and is not proper in the exercise of spiritual gifts. It is written from the Catholic perspective, but you should still get a lot of information from it.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.