1 Corinthians 12:1
I am particularly impressed of the Lord right now that we need to be contending strongly for the gifts of the Spirit to operate among us in greater measure. In recent years, we haven’t seen them in the Church like we should. What’s worse, it hasn’t seemed to bother us very much.
But it should bother us a lot. In fact, the Bible says we should “earnestly covet” those gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). Covet is a strong word. It means “to want ardently; long for with envy.”7 If we were truly coveting the gifts of the Spirit, we would be praying for them more than we have been. We’d be like Epaphras, laboring fervently for their manifestation in the church.
Lately, I’ve set myself to purposely cultivate my desire to see the gifts operating in their fullness by meditating on what the Word says about them. I’ve found studying 1 Corinthians chapter 12 to be especially helpful. There, the apostle Paul lists the various operations of the Spirit and says,
“There are diversities of gifts … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”
(verses 4, 7).
Notice that the operations of the Holy Spirit are referred to there both as gifts and as manifestations. I like the word manifestations because it tells us what God intends the gifts to do. They are meant to reveal the presence and person of God, to make Him apparent, evident to the senses, visible, evident, obvious, clear, or plain.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1 – 31
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”