I came across your blog while seeking answers concerning the gift of discernment. I would like to get help in understanding the gift because there’s a lot I am going through and sometimes it becomes so overwhelming. 

Overwhelming? Oh, yes! I can relate. Having the gift of discernment can definitely feel overwhelming at times.

The gift of discernment (aka discerning of spirits) is a very challenging gift to have. Many people have no idea what to do with it and they often feel alone. What they experience seems so weird or odd that they are afraid to tell anyone. If they do mention it to someone close to them, often that person has no idea what they are talking about – which teaches them to not talk about it anymore for fear of being rejected or judged for being abnormal.

Let’s talk about this gift and try to normalize it for those who are uninformed.

Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:10). No instruction manual is provided with this gift so you learn about it through life experience. This forces you to draw close to God and ask HIM to teach you about this gift.

This gift gives you the ability to discern good from evil (or truth from deception) and especially the spirit behind something. Sometimes it is similar to intuition but it usually comes with more information. Discerning the spirit behind something can come in many ways – it might be something you see, or something you hear or something you feel. Or a combination of seeing, hearing or feeling. It can also just be an inner knowing.

Have you ever met someone and immediately you got a bad feeling about the person? They looked like a nice person, but everything inside of you was saying, Watch out! Be very careful – this person is not trustworthy. That was discernment giving you information to protect you. Chances are this was confirmed later by their behavior or attitude toward you, right? Or you saw them hurt someone else and you realized your discernment was accurate.

The number one danger that those with the gift of discernment have is to talk themselves out of their discernment. They assume they are wrong or that they are being judgmental of someone they just met. So they ignore or dismiss their misgivings and then they suffer the consequences.

If this is you, please stop right now and say, “Holy Spirit, I am sorry for ignoring the warnings you have given me. I have not honored this gift you gave me. I apologize. Please help me to pay attention to the things you are showing me. I didn’t realize that it was YOU telling me to be careful.”

Some of us have a stronger gift of discernment and we can perceive angels, demons, etc. in the unseen realm. Some see these beings as shadows or lights. Some feel them as energy or a presence. Some hear them in various ways – words being spoken, sounds of movement or wings, etc. Many with this gift can also discern things about people – they can perceive someone’s gifting or calling, or they can perceive areas of unhealed wounds in their soul. And they can also tell if someone has a demon attached to them.

As you can imagine, discerning things that are invisible, that no one else seems to notice, can make you question your sanity. Am I going crazy? I know too much. How come no one seems to have this gift? How do I know if I can trust what I am perceiving? Is it accurate?

First of all, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I started this blog to help people like you and me – to help us know we are not alone in this gifting. There are many of us and in fact, the Lord is increasing this gift because we need it more now.

The biggest question I get is – What do I do with the information I receive? Is it accurate? Should I take action on it or tell other people what I perceive?

The only answer I have is this – ASK GOD. Become very familiar with the Holy Spirit inside of you. Talk to the Spirit every day. Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us and teach us (John 14:26). This gift forces you to rely on Holy Spirit to show you what to do with what you are receiving from this gift. And that’s a good thing! 😊

So whenever I perceive something, I say in my heart/mind, Holy Spirit, what is this? Do I need to do anything with this? And I wait. It can be hard to do this in a busy, noisy place, but I do my best. And if it is a very strong impression then I try to get away by myself for a minute so that I can discern what, if anything, I am sensing I should do.

Many times I do not sense that I need to DO anything. For a long time this bothered me. Why am I receiving information if I’m not meant to ACT on it? I would ask. But then God showed me that this is just part of the gift. Some people can perceive a lot more detail when they hear music because they are musicians – they hear things that I don’t. Some people perceive a lot more detail when they look at paintings because they are artists – they see things I don’t. It’s the same way with this gift – I perceive things that other people don’t. I don’t usually share what I sense – unless I am talking to someone who also has discernment.

I have discussed this gift with many people who DO have discernment – that’s how I know I am not crazy and I am not alone! That’s actually the best advice I can give you – ask the Lord to bring you 1 or 2 people who have this gift so that you can share your experiences and learn from each other. That helped me learn a lot when I was first exploring this gift – I wrote about my experience in the Introduction on this blog. When you share what you sense with someone who has the gift, it’s such a good experience. You don’t feel weird anymore. 😊

The second thing that really helps is to pursue inner healing for yourself. Often we can get overwhelmed by what we sense because of our own wounding. If I have a lot of unhealed fear or anxiety in my soul and I encounter another person who is struggling with fear or anxiety – WHAM! Suddenly I am drowning in fear or anxiety! And I don’t even realize why. My senses are so overloaded that I can’t think clearly. This could happen with any strong emotion – fear, hate, anger, lust, depression, grief, rejection, etc.

The more you become healed on the inside by receiving God’s love for you and what He says about you, the easier it is to discern what is your stuff and what is someone else’s stuff. Then it doesn’t feel so overwhelming because you are no longer triggered so easily by other people. After you have been healed, you can then use this gift to help others heal – that’s a very powerful and redemptive experience. When you see how your past suffering helps someone else find freedom from the same things that used to plague you, it helps give purpose to your pain.

I hope this article has helped bring some clarity to this topic. Keep in mind that people use the word “discernment” differently. Some use it to mean having wisdom to make a good decision. Some use it in the Catholic community when they are talking about someone discovering their calling in life or ministry. Because of the different uses of this word, it can be hard to find books or articles on this topic.

Here are a few I can recommend:

Seeing the Supernatural: How to Sense, Discern and Battle in the Spiritual Realm by Jennifer Eivaz

The Veil by Blake Healy

Discernment: The Essential Guide to Hearing the Voice of God by Jane Hamon

The Discerner: Hearing, Confirming, and Acting On Prophetic Revelation (A Guide to Receiving Gifts of Discernment and Testing the Spirits) by James Goll

Sometimes this gift is considered part of the prophetic giftings. Some say it is part of being a Seer. This gift can be used to help people with inner healing and deliverance. It is very helpful when dealing with spiritual warfare too. There’s so much this gift can do to assist the body of Christ.

Don’t be afraid. Ask Holy Spirit to teach you and pay attention to what you sense. There are many articles on this blog that describe experiences I have had that might encourage you. You can use the search feature at the top or side to search by a specific word or phrase. You can also look at the Directory for a list of all the articles by name.

Feel free to post your question or comment below – that way we can all learn from each other! I look forward to reading your thoughts and responding to your questions.

Related posts:

• Feeling in the Spirit – What Do I Do With It?
• Spiritual Senses – Which one is your strongest?
• How to See the Unseen Realm
• God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
• How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
• Spiritual Protection from Dark Forces & Evil Spirits
• Spiritual Cleansing: Taking a Spiritual Shower Each Day