In this episode, we explore the different gifts of the Holy Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12 and what it means that the Spirit distributes different gifts to different people. While some people may have a particular charism or seem especially gifted in areas such as healing, prophecy, wisdom, or knowledge, that doesn’t mean we can’t ask God to help us grow in other spiritual gifts. The same Holy Spirit is at work in all of us. Through prayer, learning, practice, and the guidance of others, we can become more open to how the Holy Spirit wants to work through us. Instead of assuming a particular gift “isn’t for us,” we can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the gifts He has already given us and courageously seek greater openness to His gifts so they can be used for the good of others. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What Gifts of the Holy Spirit Are Available to You?
1 Corinthians 12:4-11. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
I wanted to go over this scripture today because someone brought it up in my mentoring group. I think it's something we should talk about. I don't have all the answers. I am not an expert on theology or on the Bible. So what I'm going to give you right now is what I've learned over the past several years.
Yes, there are different kinds of gifts from the Holy Spirit. We just went over some of them in this verse. There's wisdom, the gift of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gift of healing, the gift of miraculous powers, the gift of prophecy, another distinguishing between spirits, and another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and also the interpretation of tongues. So these are all gifts that are given by the same Holy Spirit. The question in my mentoring group is: this says the Spirit is given to each one for the common good. To one is given this gift and to one is given that gift. Meaning that some of us are given certain gifts, but that we don't all have the same gifts. And what I've learned over the last few years is that, yes, it's true. The Holy Spirit gives each person different gifts. So somebody might be really good at healing. They might have a charism of healing, or they might be really good at prophecy, or they might be really good at messages of wisdom or messages of knowledge.
And that's amazing. And also, just because you weren't given, or don't feel like you were given, a special gift for healing, it doesn't mean you can't become amazing at that gift. It doesn't mean that God can't give you more of that gift. And I think that that is actually proven in this scripture where it says, all these are the work of one and the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us these gifts. And every single one of us has the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
That means every single one of us has access to every single one of these gifts. I was listening to Mary Healy one time at a HOPE conference, who was saying that even though some people are given a charism of healing, if you want the gift of healing, ask God for the gift of healing every single day. Practice praying for people for healing. Read books on healing. Dive all into healing if that's a gift that means a lot to you or that you want to develop.
And the analogy I feel like the Lord gave me last night was that everybody is born with innate talents. Some people are really good at sports. And then there are other people who weren't blessed with the gift of sports at all. Let’s take basketball as an example. Did you know that Michael Jordan did not make the varsity basketball high school team at first? That prompted him to practice more, and now some people say he is the best of all time. There is a woman I heard speak at a conference who was a runner but wanted to do triathlons. She didn’t know how to even swim. Two years later, she is winning a medal at the Olympics. Just because they weren’t born being really good at it doesn’t mean they couldn’t develop the skill.
Again, they're gifts, so they come from the Holy Spirit. However, you can develop those gifts by asking the Lord for them, by practicing praying for them or praying over people for them. That's what the Encounter School of Ministry was all about.
It was teaching us about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then activating us in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not just one, but in all of them. We practiced asking God for a word and then releasing it.
And was every single word that we released perfect and straight from God? Absolutely not. But when we released the word, we asked for feedback. We asked, did that resonate with you? Did that make sense? Did you feel like that was from the Lord? And sometimes they'd say yes, and we would grow because we'd know, what did it feel like when we heard that? What did our body react to when we heard that word? And then if they say no, that's not a bad thing either because we grow from that as well.
We learn from that feedback. Yeah, I really didn't feel strongly about it, but I released it in faith that it might be from the Lord. And the Lord is going to bless our efforts.
He's going to bless our desires and our wants. So if we want to develop one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit or multiple gifts of the Holy Spirit, all we have to do is call upon the Holy Spirit because the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living inside of each and every one of us. And that is amazing.
That changes everything. When you know that, when you really know that through the depths of your soul, that changes everything. You can become invincible because you know that the Holy Spirit is inside of you and that he's protecting you and that he's leading you and that he's supporting you in all the ways that you want to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
So yes, it is true that the Holy Spirit, as the Bible says, gives certain gifts to certain people. And it is also true that each one of us has the Holy Spirit living inside of us. So if we hear about a gift we would like to develop, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for it, learn about it, practice it, and maybe find a mentor who is especially gifted in that gift. And then they can mentor us, and the Holy Spirit will reward our efforts and our desires.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, I want to thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit, Jesus. I want to thank you for dying on the cross and then going up to be with the Father so that we could all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Lord, I ask that you increase our desires for the Holy Spirit, that you show us which gifts we have, which ones we've already been blessed with, and also give us the courage to ask for the ones we want and to practice and learn about the ones that we want that we may not feel like we have. I ask that you help us really embrace the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Help us to know what that means for each one of us. We love you so much, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus'holy name, amen.
Thank you so much for... Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day.
Today's word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email catholiccharismaticprayergroup@gmail.com. Today's word from the Lord is, “Open and see my glory. Open and see how you can help others. Open to me for infinity.”