Today, we’re continuing our study of the sevenfold Holy Spirit as described in Isaiah 11:1-5. We’ve already talked about the Spirit of Yahweh and the Spirit of Wisdom. Today, we’re going to talk about the Spirit of understanding.
Here’s what “understanding” really means, and how it benefits you:
In Hebrew, the root of the word used in Isaiah 11:2 for “understanding” means to distinguish between things in one’s mind; to perceive and discern.* Understanding is what gives you discernment. When you have understanding, you’ll see the following things in your life:
You’ll understand what’s going on behind the scenes. You’ll be able to piece together what’s really happening.
You’ll perceive why people act the way they do.
You’ll find it easier to see people and situations with God’s eyes and maintain His perspective.
You’ll be able to discern God’s timing more easily.
The Spirit of understanding, the Holy Spirit, is also where the gift of discernment of spirits comes from. When you have understanding, you’ll be able to discern what spirit is saying or causing things you deal with from day to day.
Understanding gives you supernatural perception. It gives you X-ray spiritual insight into the “whys” of life.
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Sounds like a pretty valuable gift, right? And the great news is that understanding is WHO the Holy Spirit is. He IS the Spirit of understanding; so when you embrace Him and ask Him to fill you up, giving Him full rein in your life, you receive everything He is.
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Including understanding. 🙂
Maybe that’s why King David instructed Solomon with these words:
Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.
Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you”(Proverbs 4:5-9).
I love that. This man David, the only man in the Bible who was described as a man after God’s own heart, said to first get wisdom and then understanding. David, the king of ancient Israel, certainly knew how important it was to understand the behind-the-scenes aspects of every situation. I’m sure that running a nation was no easy task, and a lot of discernment was required.
But your life is no easy task either, so you need understanding and discernment just as much.
Having understanding will protect you from being seduced by evil things, because understanding gives discernment. When someone comes to you who is not operating in pure, holy motives … you’ll know it.
(Sometimes you won’t even know why. You’ll just have a feeling that you’ll need to pray about; but as you pray, the Holy Spirit will show you what you need to know.)
Having understanding will preserve your relationships, because you’ll understand why people act the way they do.
You won’t get angry at your spouse or friend when they say or do hurtful things, because you’ll see the hurts and wounds they have that are causing them to act like that. You’ll be able to respond in a heart of love and compassion, instead of anger.
Having understanding will help you be kind and gentle in difficult situations, because you’ll see what’s really going on behind the scenes. You’ll perceive, by the Holy Spirit, what cogs and wheels are turning the situation–and you’ll be able to roll with it.
Understanding takes so much of the stress out of life! So let’s ask the Father to fill us with His Spirit of understanding, shall we?
Pray this with me:
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before You in Jesus’ name. Father, thank You so much for sending Your Son Jesus to die on the cross for me. Thank You for giving me the free gift of the Holy Spirit, purchased for me with the blood of Your Son. And Father, thank You for giving me all things suited to life and godliness–including understanding and discernment by Your Holy Spirit.
Father God, in Jesus’ name, I ask that You would fill me up with the Spirit of understanding today. I ask that the Holy Spirit would have free rein in my life. Holy Spirit, Father, Lord Jesus–I yield myself to You completely. Please fill me; help me to be fully surrendered to You; and have Your way in me.
Father, I pray that You would give me wisdom today according to Your promise that if any person lack wisdom, we should ask and You will give it to us liberally (James 1:5). And Father, together with that wisdom, please fill me with Your supernatural perception and discernment.
Help me to see people and situations with Your eyes. Help me to understand why people act the way they do and say the things they say. Help me to see what You are doing behind the scenes. Help me to discern what spirits are operating in every situation, and show me how to overcome and see Your victory manifest in every situation.
Father God, please lead me, instruct me, and teach me in the way I should go all day today. And as I go, I choose to wear Your armor:
I put on the helmet of salvation.
I put on the breastplate of righteousness.
I gird my loins with the belt of truth.
I put on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace.
I hold up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, praying always in the Spirit.
And having put on my armor, I will obey You and stand, resting in You and Your Holy Spirit today.
Thank You, Father. Thank You for helping me and loving me. Thank You for taking care of me and keeping me safe. I love You, Abba, and I give You all the glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Do you need understanding and discernment today? Does it encourage you to hear that the discernment and understanding you need are freely available to you in the Holy Spirit? If so, please leave a comment below! I’d love to hear from you.
Amen. So glad Papa used the post to confirm His Word in your heart, LaShawn! I pray He’d continue to pour His understanding and spiritual discernment into you more than ever before and make you sharp spiritually, so you can see like He sees in all situations. 🙂
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your encouraging words! Have a wonderful day! <3
God bless you for this revelation of the SPIRIT. I had been seeking to understand about the seven fold SPIRIT of GOD. The LORD continually strengthen you out of Zion in JESUS NAME. AMEN.
Thank you for your service and help, I will be forever grateful to you, your words are so inspiring, I’m grateful, praise the NAME of our heavenly Father amen, I would love to order the book, vera TATE @gmail.com amen
Since I came across your blog on pinterest I have been hooked. The information was so absolutely needed for me. You put it across in a way that a person can easily understand. Thank you so much may God continue to use you in a profound way, so the body of Christ will grow
Wow, Sharon, thank you so much. All the credit for all the work goes to Papa God! And I praise Him for blessing you. Thank you for your encouragement and for reading, and I pray Papa would continue to dump His mercy and goodness and love all over you and help you just soak in how beloved you are as His daughter in Christ. 🙂
I love this!!! Have been praying and seeking God for more discernment in my life and ministry!! I love the concept of understanding and discernment working together…I lead a Freedom Life Group of 35 plus women…I need much discernment!! ELaine BatesElaine
Wow! 35 women! What an awesome ministry. I pray Papa would pour out so much wisdom, understanding, and revelation not only to you, but also to the ladies you serve, so they can truly walk in the freedom Jesus purchased for them! And I pray Papa would REWARD you for your labor. Your work is significant and He has not overlooked it. He desires to reward you, so I pray He would give you unexpected blessings and rewards TODAY. Thank You, Papa!!!!
I do appreciate that He is the Spirit of understanding, I try to be, and I try to explain it to others who don’t always get it. That hurts me, but pray He will help them want to understand.
Yes, praying for others to have that desire is often the first step. I’ve only been learning this lately. 🙂 We can pray and pray for people to do something or be something, but until they want to, they won’t. So we just have to back up our prayers one step and start where Papa starts. 🙂 And then He does it!
This article opened my eyes, I always felt that there was something amiss, but could not figure out what it was. Had alot of unnecessary arguments with my wife and most of the time they relate to our Bible discussions.
Now I see, I lacked understanding, wisdom and dicernment. Thank you for this information, may God bless you more and more. I am going to pray that the Holy Spirit fill these areas, please do pray for me.
I will also pray for others that may be struggling the same way as I am.
Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. I just prayed for you, and I pray Papa would give you more understanding and revelation than you have ever imagined. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth as you continue to seek Him!
Thank you for reading my blog. Have a wonderful day!
Hello Jamie,
Just read your expose’ on understanding and it’s really blessed me. God richly bless you for availing yourself for the Spirit of God to use. You said you are becoming a missionary? What’s your denomination and will you consider an invitation to Ghana in Africa? Let me know and who knows it can be a way God can connect us for saving souls. Thanks, Isaac.
I have been blessed by your insight. I have been praying about this :discernment and understanding. I purposely came online today, looking for a lead and I’m grateful the Holy Spirit has led me here. I have seen a couple of confirmations here which myself I am aware of:light and darkness have nothing in common. God bless you.
It’s amazing the way God works. I have been struggling with understanding a lot of things going on in my life. I sought out to read proverbs for more insight on what I’m going through. Frisky I ask God to lead me where I need help and the spirit of understanding is what resonates. So I type in spirit of understanding and I’m brought here…… I couldn’t have read anything else so satisfying. God says if we seek we will find and I just found what I was looking for. I pray that God fills me with this spirit that will enable me to put myself in others shoes and get a sense of why they react. It’s really helpful. Please pray with me so that I am filled abundantly with this spirit. It will make my life complete.
Such a PROFOUND REVELATION & CONFIRMATION! Thank you for greater insight–and the faith filled prayers are WONDERFUL!
Amen. So glad Papa used the post to confirm His Word in your heart, LaShawn! I pray He’d continue to pour His understanding and spiritual discernment into you more than ever before and make you sharp spiritually, so you can see like He sees in all situations. 🙂
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your encouraging words! Have a wonderful day! <3
Lord I thank you today for the Grace to know that the holy spirit is available to us at all time…
May wcery pwrson here who reads your work receive all that the Holy Spirit has for them through your mijistry!
God bless you for this revelation of the SPIRIT. I had been seeking to understand about the seven fold SPIRIT of GOD. The LORD continually strengthen you out of Zion in JESUS NAME. AMEN.
Thank you for your service and help, I will be forever grateful to you, your words are so inspiring, I’m grateful, praise the NAME of our heavenly Father amen, I would love to order the book, vera TATE @gmail.com amen
Since I came across your blog on pinterest I have been hooked. The information was so absolutely needed for me. You put it across in a way that a person can easily understand. Thank you so much may God continue to use you in a profound way, so the body of Christ will grow
Wow, Sharon, thank you so much. All the credit for all the work goes to Papa God! And I praise Him for blessing you. Thank you for your encouragement and for reading, and I pray Papa would continue to dump His mercy and goodness and love all over you and help you just soak in how beloved you are as His daughter in Christ. 🙂
I love this!!! Have been praying and seeking God for more discernment in my life and ministry!! I love the concept of understanding and discernment working together…I lead a Freedom Life Group of 35 plus women…I need much discernment!! ELaine BatesElaine
Wow! 35 women! What an awesome ministry. I pray Papa would pour out so much wisdom, understanding, and revelation not only to you, but also to the ladies you serve, so they can truly walk in the freedom Jesus purchased for them! And I pray Papa would REWARD you for your labor. Your work is significant and He has not overlooked it. He desires to reward you, so I pray He would give you unexpected blessings and rewards TODAY. Thank You, Papa!!!!
I do appreciate that He is the Spirit of understanding, I try to be, and I try to explain it to others who don’t always get it. That hurts me, but pray He will help them want to understand.
Yes, praying for others to have that desire is often the first step. I’ve only been learning this lately. 🙂 We can pray and pray for people to do something or be something, but until they want to, they won’t. So we just have to back up our prayers one step and start where Papa starts. 🙂 And then He does it!
This article opened my eyes, I always felt that there was something amiss, but could not figure out what it was. Had alot of unnecessary arguments with my wife and most of the time they relate to our Bible discussions.
Now I see, I lacked understanding, wisdom and dicernment. Thank you for this information, may God bless you more and more. I am going to pray that the Holy Spirit fill these areas, please do pray for me.
I will also pray for others that may be struggling the same way as I am.
Thank you
Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. I just prayed for you, and I pray Papa would give you more understanding and revelation than you have ever imagined. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth as you continue to seek Him!
Thank you for reading my blog. Have a wonderful day!
You have a great ability to teach the Word with simplicity. Thank you…:-) Much love
Hello Jamie,
Just read your expose’ on understanding and it’s really blessed me. God richly bless you for availing yourself for the Spirit of God to use. You said you are becoming a missionary? What’s your denomination and will you consider an invitation to Ghana in Africa? Let me know and who knows it can be a way God can connect us for saving souls. Thanks, Isaac.
I have been blessed by your insight. I have been praying about this :discernment and understanding. I purposely came online today, looking for a lead and I’m grateful the Holy Spirit has led me here. I have seen a couple of confirmations here which myself I am aware of:light and darkness have nothing in common. God bless you.
It’s amazing the way God works. I have been struggling with understanding a lot of things going on in my life. I sought out to read proverbs for more insight on what I’m going through. Frisky I ask God to lead me where I need help and the spirit of understanding is what resonates. So I type in spirit of understanding and I’m brought here…… I couldn’t have read anything else so satisfying. God says if we seek we will find and I just found what I was looking for. I pray that God fills me with this spirit that will enable me to put myself in others shoes and get a sense of why they react. It’s really helpful. Please pray with me so that I am filled abundantly with this spirit. It will make my life complete.
I received this in Jesus name wonderful
Amen thanku Ps Jamie. our Lord God we receive Your Word wisdom understanding discernment to be blessed to be a blessing.