I’ve learnt something over the years: when God shows you something, it can be a little bit like receiving a spiritual jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box.

You know something is there. You can sense it. But in the early days, you don’t always understand exactly what you’re looking at.

Ever since I came to salvation and was baptised in the Holy Spirit, I’ve had an ability to recognise when something — or someone — wasn’t quite right. I am not referring to the gift of suspicion :)  

Christians and pastors would simply rub me up the wrong way.

And I don’t mean because they sang too loudly or wore questionable ties. There was something deeper going on.

Learning to Recognise the Voice of God

In those early years, I didn’t always understand what God was showing me.

Sometimes I would feel uneasy about a person, only for years to pass before the truth eventually came out. At the time, I couldn’t explain it. I just knew something wasn't right.

Over time, however, God taught me to recognise His voice more clearly: sometimes through a quiet impression, sometimes through a strong inner knowing, and occasionally with something that felt rather more like spiritual thunder.

The Bible speaks about the Holy Spirit revealing things that natural human understanding simply cannot uncover by itself.

The Three Revelation Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The three revelation gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 are the word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits.

These are supernatural gifts of knowing.

And before anyone gets too excited, I’m not referring to the modern circus act where someone casually announces your date of birth, car registration number, blood type and possibly your grandmother's favourite biscuit.

I’m talking about the genuine manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

Word of Knowledge

A word of knowledge is a supernatural revelation of facts, events, or truths concerning the past or present that could not be known by natural means.

It reveals information.

Word of Wisdom

A word of wisdom concerns future events, God's plans, or divine direction for dealing with a situation.

It doesn’t merely reveal something. It shows what God intends to do.

Discerning of Spirits

Discerning of spirits is the supernatural ability to recognise what is operating behind a manifestation, action, or situation.

Is it the Holy Spirit? Is it simply human emotion? Or is there something darker involved?

That distinction matters enormously.

A Land of Coconut Trees and an Extraordinary Day

Around the year 2000, I hosted the New Wine Conference in Kerala, India.

Getting there was an adventure in itself. I wrote in my free book about how God told me I would go to “A Land of Coconut Trees” to preach. It is a remarkable short read!

And if you've ever been to Kerala, you'll understand why I gave it that title. There are coconut trees everywhere. I mean everywhere. You could probably trip over one if you weren't careful.

But during that particular conference, something remarkable happened.

On the first day, someone handed me a book. I took it away and read it that evening.

The following morning, I woke up speaking in tongues.

That alone was a rather unusual way to begin the day.

But things became even more extraordinary during the conference sessions.

When the Prophetic Gifts Manifested Powerfully

That day, I began experiencing something I had never known quite like that before.

I seemed able to know what people were thinking.

I could see through people.

It was as though, for one extraordinary day, God had given me a glimpse of how Jesus Himself operated during His earthly ministry.

Now, before anyone starts thinking I’m claiming to be Jesus, calm down. I'm most definitely not. I still lose things in my own house.

But the experience was extraordinary.

I’ve never experienced that manifestation again in quite the same complete and powerful way. Yet from that day onwards, I believe that particular gift began to mature.

And over the years, it has become sharper.

Seeing Through Glass

Nearly four decades later, I believe that gift is far more developed than it was in those early days.

A few years ago, God gave me a dream in which He told me I would see things as though I were looking through glass.

That is why, when I enter certain churches, I can often sense the spiritual condition of what is happening there.

I can see who is genuine and who is not. I can recognise who may cause trouble and who appears genuinely called by God.

I can see who is running ahead of their calling. 

I see many things.

But only what the Sovereign God chooses to reveal.

And that distinction matters.

In my free book True Miracles Stories there is a chapter on examples of when God has spoken to me or revealed something.

Why I Still Test What I Believe God Has Shown Me

When I call out someone, including preachers, I take seriously what I believe God has shown me. You can take it to the bank.

Not because you can trust me, but because God is true!

But you should still test what I say.

“Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

There is always the possibility that I could misunderstand something. Nobody should blindly follow a preacher, prophet, evangelist or blogger with a suspiciously large opinion of himself.

God has given you a brain. Use it.

Still, much of what God shows me remains with me. Not everything is meant to be spoken publicly.

Why Christians Need Spiritual Discernment

If you cannot distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit, you are in danger.

Jesus warned about blind guides leading the blind — and eventually both ending up in the ditch (Matthew 15:14).

Sadly, there are plenty of Christian platforms filled with people claiming to see clearly while leading others straight into a spiritual pothole.

Again, for those of you who struggle to tell the genuine from the counterfeit, you are in serious danger. You may already have followed blind preachers who claim they can see — and Jesus warned us exactly where blind guides eventually end up: in the ditch.

That is why I would encourage you to read my free blogs and books and enrol in the free Bible School courses. You’ll find real examples of the genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation — not smoke, mirrors and religious theatre, but the real thing.

That is why discernment matters.

You do not have to accept every preacher, prophecy, miracle claim or manifestation placed in front of you. You are allowed to question things. Even me.

You are allowed to reject what does not line up with truth.

And you are allowed to follow God, even when everyone else seems to be applauding someone you believe the Holy Spirit has warned you about.

Read the Scriptures. Test what you hear. Learn about the genuine gifts of the Spirit.

That is why I would encourage you to read my free blogs and books and enrol in the free Bible School courses. You’ll find real examples of the genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation — not smoke, mirrors and religious theatre, but the real thing.

Anyone claiming they can teach you how to hear the voice of God or how to prophesy is, in my opinion, either a thief or a liar at worst — or seriously deceived at best. You cannot teach someone to manufacture the supernatural.

The Holy Spirit is not a formula, a technique, or a £99 online course. You don’t buy a manual, follow five easy steps, and suddenly start hearing God like you’ve switched on a spiritual radio. God is sovereign and the gifts of the Spirit operate as he wills, not as we will it to happen. 

When people compete with each other, I know they do not have any experience with God. It's not a competition about who hears from God more often or more clearly.

That’s not how the gifts of the Spirit work. That's the way of God.

And never forget this: not everything with a microphone is a message from God.