Some people are not able to differentiate between the Lord and God! The Lord is the way to God, if you are seeking God, you need the Lord to guide you to God. If you are seeking Hope, you need the Lord to give you peace to find Hope. The Lord is not going to lead you to hopelessness. You need to understand why it takes faith for a person to trust the Lord. That person will often think that the Lord is not interested in prospering him. If it were true, then the Lord would not be God. The Lord will begin by encouraging a person to trust Him. It is the person who has to will to trust the Lord. The Lord will not force anyone to trust Him. How then do you begin to trust the Lord? The Lord will start by giving a person a calling! What is a calling? It is a command to start doing the Lord’s will. How does the Lord call a person? It depends on what the Lord has commanded that person to do! If you have been called to be a minister, the Lord will give you a gift to have a foretaste of His calling upon your life. I was called by the Lord to be a prophet. The Lord gave me the gift of prophecy. I was told by the Lord some things that were to happen later! I was afraid of the ability the Lord had given to me and was not able to understand the purpose at that time. If I had rejected the Lord, I wouldn’t have found God. I would still be a carnal man. I have accepted the Lord’s call upon my life, and have experienced the goodness of the Lord at another level. The Lord’s calling is not to be taken lightly. If you are in the Lord’s will, you will be called. The Lord’s calling is for every man. You cannot say, I have never been called by the Lord! The Lord has something He wants every man to do for Him. If you want to know what the Lord’s calling upon your life is, then you need to start seeking now! How do you begin this journey? You need to stop all doubt. The Lord will not work with doubt. Doubt is of the enemy and if you are doubtful, you will have rejected the Lord’s calling upon your life. If you have faith, you will start on this journey.
If the Lord calls you to Him, He will entice you to draw closer to Him. If Moses had not been enticed by the Lord through the burning bush which was not being consumed, then he would not have drawn closer. He had a desire to see the Israelites be set free from bondage in Egypt. That was the Lord’s calling upon his life; a prophet over Israel. Moses had a desire to see a free Israel even before the Lord called him and he had tried to take matters into his own hands yet he was not able to progress in his own will. When he accepted the Lord’s calling, he found that it was already the Lord’s desire to set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt through him. The Lord will always give you desires that are in His will at the time of His calling upon you. If you are called by the Lord, you will find that the Lord’s call upon your life will tally with your own desires. If your own desires are not tallying with the Lord’s calling, then it is not the Lord calling you. The Lord always will place His desires in your heart before He calls you. When you receive the Lord’s calling, you will start experiencing a lot of peace upon your life. If you were called by the Lord, it is time that you start obeying Him. It is a good thing to obey the Lord. If you are in obedience to the Lord, you will start experiencing blessings upon your life. At a particular time, the Lord will give you gifts to help you do His will. These are gifts from the Spirit. Let us discuss these gifts in detail.
The first gift that the Lord gave me was the gift of the word of knowledge. I was desirous to know who was speaking to me; was it the Lord, or was it a cursed spirit? I was told by the Lord; “It is I, Jesus”. I immediately understood that it is possible for me to know if I am listening to the Holy Spirit or not. If I was not given the gift of the word of knowledge, I wouldn’t be able to know who I was listening to. If you accept the Lord’s will, you will need the Lord to give you some of the gifts of the Spirit depending on His will. If you are a prophet, you will need the gift of the word of knowledge even before the gift of prophecy is given to you; Why? The Lord will need you to recognize his voice early! If you do not have the gift of the word of knowledge as a prophet, you will be deceived by the enemy. If you are called to be an evangelist, you will need the gift of administration. The gift includes the gifts of oratory, authority, love, encouragement and peace. This is what an evangelist will receive from the Lord to enable him do His will. A pastor will need the gift of encouragement that includes the gifts of authority, love, peace, teaching, the word of knowledge and discernment of spirits. An apostle will need the gift of prophecy that includes the gift of the word of knowledge, teaching, love, oratory, authority, discernment of spirits, and healing to enable him be an effective apostle. A miracle worker will need the gift of faith that includes gifts of the word of knowledge, love, discernment of spirits, and healing. A helper will need the gift of giving which includes the gifts of love, giving, encouragement and peace. A prophet will need the gift of prophecy that includes the gifts of the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, understanding, interpretation, peace, teaching, discernment of diverse kinds of spirits, authority, oratory, interpretation of tongues and diverse kinds of tongues.
A person who has received these gifts from the Spirit is doing the Lord’s will. If a man is not doing the Lord’s will, He will not give him these gifts. If you ask the Lord to give you a specific gift, you will not receive that gift if it is not in His will for you to have that gift. If you are a minister and are desirous of the gifts that are from the Spirit, start by doing the Lord’s will. These gifts will be given to you as you abide in obedience to the Lord. It is not an issue that you should go and declare a fast over. Just do the Lord’s will and He will give you these gifts. A man who has been in the Lord’s will for a short time might think that the Lord will give a person all these gifts at the same time! The Lord will give according to your obedience to His word. If you have been in the Lord’s presence for a short time, you might think that He will not give; however, the Lord gives and is the giver. If the Lord is able to give to even the unbelievers, what about his own children? He will give and you do not need to become anxious as to why He has not given at your timing. He has His own timing, it is not what you should become anxious over. At the time I was called by the Lord, He gave to me the gifts of the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom at the same time! The gift of the word of wisdom is what I needed to be able to stop staying at home. I had to go into isolation with the Lord, if I had not gone into isolation with the Lord, I would not have received the gift of discernment of diverse kinds of spirits. I had to withdraw to a place where I was able to listen to diverse kinds of spirits. This training is what a prophet needs. These spirits are the ones that are often able to deceive many ministers. The Lord allowed me to listen to them without telling other people what they were saying. They would have confused me and the people that the Lord wanted to reach out to. This is what can happen when a man has to interact with people during the time of training. The Lord has enabled me to learn how these spirits deceive. They are all cursed to be in hell at the time the Lord has set.