Lesson #11 Wisdom

The 4th component of a Word of God is wisdom. Briefly stated, wisdom is valuable instruction that tells the listener about how to use the knowledge he has received from God. In Ephesians 1:17 Paul prays that the saints would receive a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they would know Jesus better. Wisdom helps us to apply what we know and understand and becomes a basis for God to build upon. All words from the Lord become a base that He builds upon. It is necessary to first have faith that God is speaking, and to establish that what was spoken is truth. If there is an element of time in the word from the Lord we seek His heart for the urgency of the matter, never presuming to say that it is for a later time. The next step is to value the word from the Lord for its content, or knowledge. And this is the important link between knowledge and wisdom; value.

Many years ago I was awaked from my sleep by a tapping on the window. This may not seem unusual except that our bedroom is on the second floor. It was the Lord and He asked me to get up, take my pen (as is His usual manner with me) go sit, and write. That early morning when it was still dark outside the Lord asked me to enter into a covenant with Him. He asked that I not only write down what He was saying to me, but that I would believe and stand upon those words, even though I might not understand them. You see, understanding does not precede faith, it comes afterwards. And the thoughts of God are much different from our thoughts, therefore we disregard many of them for lack of understanding. From that day on my faith grew, and the knowledge of God grew with it. By believing His words, I was assigning value to them.

One of the important fruits of standing in faith on what God has spoken is that I realized He always speaks with a purpose. If we will hold His words in our heart (and write them in a notebook so that later we can find what He said) then He can bring us understanding, and wisdom. A good understanding of prophecy that gives wisdom on what to do is found it the account of the battle between the Arameans and the Israelites. God used His prophet Elisha to warn the king of Israel about the Aramean’s battle plans (2 Kings 6:8-12). By knowing what the enemy’s plans were, the king of Israel was able to avoid ambush. Knowledge alone would not avert the enemy’s plans. But wisdom causes the listener to take appropriate action to avoid the enemy’s snares. When God gives a warning in a prophecy, knowing if the undesired event can be avoided is of utmost importance.

One of the greatest thrills is to finally know the purpose behind why God is speaking a prophecy. If we are trained in our personal relationship with the Lord to believe and wait on Him for further understanding of what He has spoken, this training will enter into our ministry to others. We will speak precise and understandable words which have important knowledge, or content, for the listener. Then we will receive understanding of the purpose for which God is speaking. This understanding will lead to wisdom. Once you have come this far in your prophecy you are just a small step away from full revelation on the matter the Lord is speaking of. This is where the Lord wants to bring the prophesier and the listener.
About 30 years ago the Lord gave me an illustration on developing the prophetic word. I had just written a short note of prophecy for someone. Before I could hand it to them the Lord stopped me and shared the following;

“Helen, you are like the servant who feeds his fellow servant his portion in due time (see Luke 12:42). The word of God is like a can of beans, and is the portion you are serving your brother. Don’t just hand him the can of beans. Open the can of beans for him. Then pour the beans out into a pot and heat them up for him. Finally, serve the beans on a plate and hand it to him. That is how you serve your brethren the word of God.”

The Lord was taking me from my first steps of faith and knee-jerk reaction of handing the word to its intended recipient, to a picture of how He would serve the brethren. It is a thoughtful, purposeful preparation of the prophecy. This preparation and service to the brethren will proceed naturally from our own relationship with God and the experience of being served by Him.

One of the greatest hindrances to receiving wisdom about the prophetic word is the thinking that the Holy Spirit lights upon a person with a prophetic word that cannot be understood by the mind. This idea seems to arise from Jesus’ discussion with Nichodemus in John 3:8 where He states that “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Jesus is not saying that God’s word is such a mystery that we cannot understand “where it’s coming from.” Rather, Jesus is building upon an already established prophecy about God’s thoughts being higher than our thoughts (Is 55:9). Paul continues to open this word for us (remember the can of beans?) in 1 Corinthians where he writes about speaking a “message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age . . .“ (1 Cor 2:6). Further, he states that “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (vs 14). These verses help us to see that wisdom comes with maturity, and that we can know where a Spirit-led man is “coming from” if we are also in the Spirit and not in our carnal mind-set.

Application – This week, in your quiet times with the Lord, write down all that He speaks to you. Wait on Him further. Learn to take the steps of service mentioned in the illustration of serving the can of beans, for this is how the Lord wants to serve you. Write down the purpose for which He has spoken, without guessing. If you come to the full revelation of the matter God is speaking to you, highlight it. Rejoice, for the kingdom of God is yours, and it is His pleasure to give it to you! (Lk 12:32)