Prayers Of The Spirit: Deeper Knowledge Through Sharing
Study The Word
Philemon 1:6
That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
I want you to look at something powerful in this verse that many people miss! The word of God is revealing a divine principle here about how we grow in our understanding of what God has given us. He says that the communication of your faith—the sharing, the distribution of the gospel—produces something incredible: it produces the “acknowledging” – epignosis – full, complete, accurate and exact knowledge with experience. That means the more you share your faith, the more you interact with the good things that God has already deposited in you,
and interact with the good things that are in you in Christ Jesus, the more you get an understanding of them and a fuller, accurate and precise experiential knowledge of them.
ἐπίγνωσις epignōsis acknowledging – full knowledge, exact knowledge, precise knowledge, deeper understanding, fuller comprehension, experiential knowledge
This word “acknowledging” is epignosis! This is not head knowledge; this is not surface-level understanding! This is full, exact, precise knowledge! A deep understanding! This is a knowledge that comes with interaction and experience of what God has placed inside you! It’s beyond having information in your head that is detached from experience. And listen to this carefully: Paul is saying that this epignosis, this kind of knowledge, comes through the communication of your faith! Think about this: you want to understand more about what God has given you? Then share the gospel! You want to interact with the divine abilities and graces God has deposited in you? Communicate your faith! You want deeper revelation of the blessings in Christ? Begin to distribute the word of God!
Now, this is not a passive sharing, or passive partnership and distribution, but rather you actively participating in the communication of the word of God through preaching the gospel yourself. Not sharing through someone, this is the word coming from and through your own mouth, actively participating and distributing from the study, meditation and mingling of the message within you.
For example, it’s one thing for you to share this article with someone, or a buy them a book that teaches the Word of God and ministers the gospel that I wrote and put together and just hand it to them and walk away – that’s great and there’s a blessing for that. That’s not going to give you epignosis.
But it is another thing for you to study the article, or study the book, get some understanding of the Word that is being taught in the article or book, pray with it and then go and sit down with someone and begin to share with them the message, the teaching and the revelation that is in the book! Ayaa! This is the communication of your faith that the Apostle Paul is referring to here. This is you actively going to speak with your own mouth and sharing your faith with others through your full and exact knowledge of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. So, the more you do this, the deeper your knowledge is going to be, you get it?
κοινωνία koinōnia communication – fellowship, partnership, distribution, sharing, communion, participation
That word communication is koinonia—it means fellowship, partnership, distribution, sharing together, communion! This is talking about your oneness with the faith! You being mingled and becoming one with the faith and with the knowledge of the Word of God! And when you now share from that place of oneness, when you distribute from that place of being mingled together with with Word—what happens? You begin to experience deeper interactions! Deeper relations! Deeper understandings! A deeper relationship with the blessings and all the virtues and all the graces and all the abilities that God has deposited in you in Christ Jesus!
This is incredible! Some of you have been praying, “God, give me more revelation! God, show me more of You please! God, I want to know and understand you more!” And God is saying to you through this scripture, “Go and share! Go and communicate the Word! Go and distribute the gospel that you already have and know, and as you do I will show you more!” Because it’s in the sharing that you begin to interact with these spiritual abilities, these spiritual understandings, these spiritual intelligences, spiritual wisdom, divine graces and spiritual blessings! Ayaa!!
See, that’s why I never run dry, everyday the Spirit of God freely gives to me revelations upon revelations upon revelations, abundantly, rivers of living water flowing nonstop daily. And this is why.
Now, as a child of God it is imperative for you to know and accept that there are good things which are in you in Christ Jesus! And every now and again you have to voice it out – “There are good things which are in me in Christ Jesus, the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, I walk in love!”
When you came into Christ, there were deposits of divine treasures—divine virtues, divine weaponry, divine devices, abilities and graces and blessings! The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that “God has given them unto us by His Spirit.” He has given them to us! Hallelujah! When you came into Christ, you were given something, and you have something inside you given to you by the Spirit of God, you are not empty! But many Christians are sitting on divine treasures and they don’t even know it; living like they have nothing.
Yet they have abilities they’ve never activated! They have graces they’ve never experienced! Why? Because they’re not sharing! They’re not communicating! They’re not distributing their faith! So make up your mind today that you’re going to discover who you are, and what God has given to you, and that you’re going to use it!
The world is waiting for you.
ἀγαθός agathos good thing – beneficial, excellent, upright, honourable, virtuous, valuable, useful
Let’s study further; the phrase “every good thing” in the Greek is agathos—it means beneficial, excellent, upright, honourable, virtuous, valuable, useful! God has deposited beneficial things in you! Excellent things! Valuable things! Useful things! And the way you begin to acknowledge them – understand them, interact with them is through the communication of your faith! The more you share, the more you interact with them! The more you communicate the gospel, the more you have deeper knowledge and experience deeper understanding and deeper relationship with all these magnificent and beautiful treasures that God has given us in Christ Jesus!
Listen, this is why some Christians have been saved for twenty years but still have beginner-level understanding! They know about salvation, but they don’t know about the fullness of their inheritance! They know they’re going to heaven, but they don’t know about experiencing heaven on earth! Why? Because they’re not sharing! They’re not communicating! They are addicted to the religiosity of Christianity. They sit in services, taking notes, collecting information, doing all and ticking all the religious boxes—but never sharing!
And because they’re not speaking and sharing, they’re not experiencing the deeper interactions! They’re not experiencing and growing in epignosis!
But when you begin to share—oh my goodness!—it’s like different kind of lights keep turning on! As you communicate the faith, you suddenly understand things you never understood before! As you distribute the gospel, you begin to interact with abilities you didn’t know you had! You develop deeper relationships with the blessings of God! The sharing produces the deeper knowing! The deeper understanding! The more intimate interactions with the divine virtues of God that are in you in Christ Jesus!
So don’t just wait! Don’t be a spectator! Don’t sit around hoping that somehow, mysteriously, you’ll gain deeper understanding! God has given you the key! Communicate! Share the faith! Share your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ with somebody else! And as you share, watch what happens! You’ll begin to experience manifestations you’ve never experienced before! You’ll begin to understand blessings you never knew you had! You’ll begin to interact with divine abilities that have been dormant in your spirit! This is the divine principle! This is how it works! The communication of your faith produces the knowledge—the full, exact knowledge and experience—of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus!
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, I thank You for revealing to me that as I communicate my faith, I grow in deeper knowledge and understanding of all the good things You’ve deposited in me in Christ Jesus! I refuse to be passive in my spiritual growth, and I choose to actively share the gospel so that I may interact deeper with the divine virtues, abilities, graces, and blessings You’ve placed in my spirit. Thank You that the more I distribute Your word, the more I experience fuller comprehension of my inheritance in Christ, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Speak The Word
I communicate my faith boldly, and as I share the gospel, I interact deeper and deeper with all the good things God has deposited in me in Christ Jesus! The more I distribute the word of God, the more I develop full and exact knowledge of my divine abilities, spiritual graces, and heavenly blessings! I refuse to be a passive recipient but an active distributor; and through my sharing, I experience deeper understanding, deeper knowledge, and deeper relationships with the fullness of God’s blessings in my life, in the name of the Lord Jesus!