But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. — 1 CORINTHIANS 12:11

The gifts of the Spirit are listed in First Corinthians 12. These gifts belong to the Church, and are manifested through individuals as the Spirit wills, not as man wills. I have had them manifest through me at times, and at other times, I would try to manifest these gifts myself. I would push every button, pull every lever, say everything I had said before, but nothing would happen. Why? Because the Spirit and the anointing weren’t present to manifest these gifts.

First Corinthians 12:8 says, “For to one is given by the Spirit. . . .” No man controls the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit; the manifestation is given as the Spirit wills.

I have been in meetings where people ministered with the word of knowledge or the gifts of healing. The minister would only call out four or five people, because he can’t go beyond what the Lord says to him.

When I ministered to that sinner man in east Texas, the Lord initiated that. Well, why didn’t the Lord initiate something else there to minister to others by a gift of the Spirit? I don’t know; I’m not God. I don’t know everything, but I’m going to stay open to Him and do my best to listen to Him.

I love it when the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit operates through me. If it were up to me, I would manifest them more frequently. And that’s just the reason God doesn’t leave the manifestations up to us—we would be like kids with little red wagons! All we’d want to do is run up and down in front of the house, pulling our wagon and showing off. No, the manifestation of the gifts is as God wills, not as we will.

But if God doesn’t initiate something on His own, I’m going to initiate something by telling people what the Word of God says. I can get them to initiate healing by their faith, because healing belongs to them.

Confession: I’m so glad that healing belongs to me. I’m so glad that I can initiate healing through faith by acting on God’s Word.