We are beginning to move right into our activations at this point since by now the basic understanding and step by step process is probably becoming somewhat familiar to you. You will notice that with each successive week, we are introducing new variations and challenges that are designed to help you continue to stretch and exercise your spiritual gifts "muscle". We also suspect that you are finding that once you receive the teaching and scriptural foundation for moving in the particular weeks exercise, that you can now take time freely during the activation period and work with the particular exercise until you begin to feel that you are getting a grasp on the use of your "eyes" (seer mode), your "ears" (hearing the Lord's Voice in your spirit), and your "knower" (that feeling of just knowing something although you can't really describe just how you know - but you do).

We would encourage you to not rush the activation portion of each week but rather allow the Lord to take you as deep as He would choose to build that sensitivity and recognition of His Voice in the midst of you. This is the primary purpose of this course. Having said this, we are now ready to begin Week 4's activation.

THIS WEEKS ACTIVATION - RECEIVING A WORD FOR A GROUP OR PERSON WITHIN A GROUP

DESCRIPTION:

Today, the Lord is emphasizing more and more the concept of Body Ministry. This is what the Lord intended rather than for the select few who are mature (pastors and leaders called to 5-fold ministry) to have to carry the whole responsibility of ministering to the needs of the people. This not only will place a real burden on leadership, depriving the saints of the ministry the Lord intends for them to be able to receive, but it is not scriptural in total. Remember what we are told in Ephesians 4:11-12(KJV):

"11 And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ".

Although we know that those called to the five-fold ministry certainly do minister to the saints, they cannot possibly meet the needs of all who need ministry and therefore they are to equip the saints to do the real work of the ministry. The saints are the ones called to lay hands on the sick and see them healed, to raise the dead (both literally and figuratively), to heal the blind eyes, to see the brokenhearted made whole, and to see a lost and desperately hurting world come to know the hope and saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matt. 10:7, Jn. 14:12).

In this week's activation, you will be given an opportunity to receive a Word of Knowledge for someone in the group or for the group as a whole.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this week's activation is to give you an opportunity to function in a manner so as to facilitate your ability to enter into Body ministry either for an individual or a group. You will not be looking for a "word" of prophecy or a lengthy interpretation, but rather a simple Word of Knowledge that will connect with the whole group or an individual within the group. This means you may "hear" "John's arm" or "Shirley's shoulder" for the sake of prayer and healing. Or you may hear "repentance of heart attitudes" for the group as a whole if God is wanting to deal with some things within those of your group. You may receive a Word of Knowledge for someone in the group and not know who the word is for, but upon speaking the word, the intended recipient will know and identify themselves to the rest of the group. We do not want to place limits on what the Holy Spirit may say but rather encourage you to simply listen to whatever He says and then be faithful to speak this to the individual or group.

In this exercise, we feel you will discover that receiving a Word of Knowledge is quite easy once you just relax and rest in the faith that God is faithful to communicate and that He usually wants to speak to you more than you want to hear. He will then be faithful to minister to the needs that are on His heart and you will be used as a conduit for His power.

STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF THIS ACTIVATION:

(This process remains essentially the same as activations from Week 1 & 3).

1. Understand That We Will Share Christ Within Us

   Since we are all saved, we have Christ living within us. Let's allow him to minister to us, through us, and to and through our brother or sister in Christ. 1 Peter 4:10 says "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms". We want to be good stewards of God's grace so let's be willing to share Christ within us with our brother or sister.

2. Stir Yourself Up Spiritually

   How do we stir ourselves up?

   1. First, be convinced that it is the Lord's will for every believer to move in the Gifts of the Spirit. Next, be persuaded that you have at least 1 of the 9 gifts. Eph. 4:7-8 tells us: But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

   2. Realize that no believer is perfect and it is OK to make a mistake. Another look at Jesus' disciples will prove this fact as we saw in our teaching material.

   3. Just know that we all learn by doing

   4. Praying in the Spirit acts as a catalyst to receive the mind of Christ so that our human spirit can receive thoughts, impressions, pictures, etc. from the Holy Spirit

   5. We activate the gifts by faith and grace, therefore it is our responsibility.

3. Sanctification - Activation Prayer

   Pray this prayer with your group as you begin:

   Dear Lord, In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, I come before Your throne. I am washed by the blood. Christ lives within me. Not just in part, but in my whole being. I bring every thought of my mind and soul into captivity to the mind of Christ. I will be open to be led by the Holy Spirit to receive a thought or impression from You for this group or for an individual in this group. I will gladly share just what you show me, without adding my own interpretation to it. I will not doubt it nor question it, I'll just be willing to give it. I am a believer, and I expect to receive. I thank You for giving me a word of knowledge from the throne. Amen.

   This prayer releases people from any guilt, fear, condemnation and sense of unworthiness. Since fear and feeling unworthy are the two most hindering factors to people moving in the mind of Christ, this brings a release.

4. Prayer Of Covering And Protection

   The purpose of this short and specific prayer is to bind any hindering or religious spirits and to release faith and anointing. Feel free to use whatever words you choose for this but it does not have to be long and involved.

5. Now, Be Silent And Listen, Look And Feel

   One of the members of the group should agree to be the lead off person and go first. Now relax because this is going to be fun and it will continue to help you "tune in" to the Holy Spirit. Once you go silent, give yourself about 45 - 60 seconds and during this time, look and see what pictures form in your minds eye (the eyes of your heart), listen to what you may "hear" in your Spirit and pay attention to what sense you may have in your "knower".

   Again, here is an explanation of these different modes:

   1. If you are a "seer", you will see pictures in your mind readily. These pictures may require interpretation but you are to give exactly what you see in your mind for now. We will deal with interpretations later.

   2. If you are a "hearer", you will "hear" what the Spirit says. This will not usually be an audible voice but for some of you it could be - on rare occasion. Normally, you just feel like you are hearing something. In actuality, you are not hearing anything audible but you still feel as if you are hearing what you receive. Once you hear, you simply share what you hear the Spirit saying to you for your partner.

   3. If you are a "knower / feeler", you just seem to know something and it feels right but you could not explain to anyone how you know.. you just know! It is like a built in sense of "what is". If you are a knower, you will recognize this pattern. If you are a feeler, you may actually feel something. For instance, God may give you a word of knowledge of a physical healing He wants to do by allowing you to briefly feel the condition that God desires to heal in your own body. This is called a "physical word of knowledge".

6. Now, Give Your Word Of Knowledge According To The Spirit's Leading

   This is the doing part for which we have prepared ourselves. Now is the time to, one partner at a time, speak or specifically describe EXACTLY what the Holy Spirit showed you, being cautious not to add any of your own interpretation.

   We also want to re-state our caution from the activation for Week 3 which is: "God does not usually give us judgmental, negative, harsh, corrective, or directive words when we are just learning to move in the prophetic. For the scope of these exercises, these types of words will be STRICTLY OFF LIMITS. If you believe you receive one of these types of words during the activation exercise, assume you have heard wrong and go back to the Lord and ask Him for a different thought from God for your group."

   Remember, you will not be looking for a "word" of prophecy or a lengthy interpretation, but rather a simple Word of Knowledge that will connect with the whole group or an individual within the group. The group can then take the opportunity to pray with them and see the Lord minister to their need.

   Continue to rotate and do this as long as you wish but at minimum until each person has had the opportunity to share what they received. In most cases, many in the group will receive both individual as well as corporate ministry.

7. Follow-Up

   It will become obvious as this exercise continues that first one, then another in the group will identify with something received by a member of the group. It may be for them personally, or a situation they are connected to, or it may be for everyone in the activation group.

   It is usually helpful and encouraging to discuss how your faith is increased to believe God for this type of "word" after completing this exercise. Do this and listen to the reactions from the member of your group.

APPLICATION

Imagine yourself on a prayer team or ministry team. How would you use this technique in ministering to a group of people who come up for prayer? Imagine yourself standing in the midst of a group of those waiting to be prayed for when someone on the ministry team calls out your specific situation by Word of Knowledge and then asks you to some forward for prayer. Would your faith be increased to believe that the Lord had you personally in His mind at that point in time? Absolutely! Since your faith would be increased as a result, your faith mixed with the faith of the one ministering to you would likely result in you receiving what God had for you at that moment.