Here in North Wales, summer is in full swing. The sun is high, the valleys are green and full of life, and – if you listen carefully – you can hear birdsong, the bleating of lambs and the noise of us working on our latest home project!

Our new shower room began with the usual chaos, dust and noise. Eventually, after a great deal of work, it was finally finished.

As I accumulate more tools and learn new do-it-yourself skills, I’m reminded that God has also provided us with what we might call the power tools of the Spirit: supernatural gifts that enable us to minister the love and power of God to others.

Many of these gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians 12, including gifts of healing, faith, miracles, prophecy, words of wisdom and words of knowledge.

When I’m working on a building project, I sometimes need the help of plumbers, electricians or other people with skills that I don’t possess. In a similar way, God gives different gifts to different people so that we can work together and accomplish His purposes.

Getting the Job Done Together

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains that the gifts of the Spirit are not given for our own status or recognition. They are given for the benefit of others:

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
– 1 Corinthians 12:7

Each person has something valuable to contribute. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul encourages believers to make room for different people to participate as the Holy Spirit leads them.

This is something we endeavour to practise through Spirit Lifestyle training. Rather than one person doing all the ministry, everyone is encouraged to listen to the Holy Spirit, step out in faith and learn how to minister to others.

A testimony shared by Spirit Lifestyle group leader Jo Moysey provides a wonderful example of how several spiritual gifts can work together.

A Testimony of Healing and Freedom

Jo leads a group in Eastbourne, England. She recently shared what happened when her church life group watched the healing episode from The Normal Supernatural Christian Life series.

Jo wrote:

“On Thursday night, our church life group met in our home to watch The Normal Supernatural Christian Life. We watched the episode on healing.

“As we stepped out in faith and began praying for healing, a lady in our group shared that she had been suffering with pain in her body for many years. She had experienced severe nerve pain in her face since 2011 and nerve pain in her neck following a skiing accident in 2003.

“As we prayed and released the healing power of Jesus over her, I sensed that she was carrying deep anguish in her heart and that it had been there for a long time.

“I began declaring Psalm 25:17 over her:

‘Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.’

“The lady realised that God was inviting her to release the anguish she had carried for many years. Something painful had happened to her that she had rarely spoken about, but God was gently bringing it into the light.

“As she released the anguish in her heart, she also commanded every evil spirit to leave in Jesus’ name. We continued to pray and commanded the pain to leave her body.

“The following morning, I received a message from her saying that the nerve pain in her face and neck had gone. She could hardly believe it because the pain had weighed her down for so many years.

“She messaged me again to say that she felt as though she was walking on air. That’s my King Jesus!”

The Gifts Working Together

Notice what happened during this time of ministry.

First, the whole group stepped out in faith and prayed for healing. Jo then received what could be described as a prophetic insight in the form of a Scripture and spoke it over the woman.

As the Scripture was shared, it became a word of knowledge that connected with something specific in the woman’s life. She recognised what the Holy Spirit was highlighting and responded by releasing the anguish she had been carrying.

Prayer for inner freedom and deliverance followed, and the woman later reported that the long-term pain in her face and neck had gone.

The ministry flowed through several different expressions of the Holy Spirit:

• faith
• healing
• prophecy
• a word of knowledge
• wisdom
• inner healing
• deliverance

All of this took place as ordinary believers listened to the Holy Spirit and worked together.

Some people mistakenly believe that they can only ever operate in one spiritual gift. However, Paul’s teaching is not intended to restrict us to a single gift. Instead, he encourages us to make room for the diverse gifts of the Spirit to be expressed through different people.

The focus is not on identifying ourselves by a particular gift. The focus is on loving the person in front of us, listening to the Holy Spirit and using whatever He provides to help them.

A Safe Place to Learn

One of the most valuable aspects of practising the gifts of the Spirit in a group is that everyone has the opportunity to participate.

It becomes a safe place to learn with the Holy Spirit.

In many churches today, the challenge is not that too many people are competing to use spiritual gifts, as some were doing in Corinth. More often, the challenge is encouraging people to begin at all.

People may worry about getting something wrong, looking foolish or not hearing God clearly. This is why simple faith activations can be so helpful. They give everyone an opportunity to take a small step, listen to the Holy Spirit and put what they are learning into practice.

We do not need to have everything perfectly worked out before we begin. We learn by stepping out in humility, remaining accountable to Scripture and keeping our attention on loving and serving others.

God has provided the tools. He has placed different gifts within His people. As we learn to work together, we can see His love, freedom and healing released into the lives of those around us.

So, let’s pick up the power tools of the Spirit—and get the job done together.