u/conradrocks

I have had conversations with some people who talk about seeking God so their gifts will increase. While this is true, I believe this is a slippery slope. They want the platform, the anointing, and the open doors, but not really the Lord Himself.

This may seem subtle to a few, but it is something that bugs me, and I believe, like I said, it is a slippery slope. Jesus taught that when you seek God in secret, you will be rewarded openly.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Mat 6:6)

This is how it works, but I believe we need to check our motives.

When I was praying for hours a day, my gifts were really ramped up. But I wasn't praying for my gifts to increase; I just seriously enjoyed fellowshipping with the Lord. Prayer wasn't a chore—it was something I couldn't wait to do! When I first encountered God on my living room floor in 1995, everything changed, and I wanted to know Him more. Seeking God seemed to be on autopilot. My gifts were definitely ramped up, but I wasn't seeking God for the gifts—I was seeking Him for the fellowship.

Some of the people I am talking about, who were seeking God for the gifts, are getting in the spotlight and building a bigger presence, yet they are beginning to compromise in certain areas. They are slowly taking their eyes off the Gift Giver and placing them on the gift itself.

So, examine yourself regarding this: why are you seeking God? If your gifts waned, would you still seek God for who He is?  

Today, my wife and I do street ministry, and words of knowledge often play a part in that. Over several decades, I have learned that not everything that looks like a word of knowledge necessarily comes from God.

I have identified four possible sources of spiritual or inward information. This is my personal framework for discernment.

1. Your own heart

The first possible source is your own heart, imagination, desires, fears, or internal monologue.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” — Jeremiah 17:9

A lot of people do not know the difference between their own thoughts, their heart, and the Holy Spirit. Because of that, they assume that every strong internal impression must be a word from the Lord.

The Bible tells us to commune with our own hearts (Psalm 4:4). We need to become familiar with what is already happening inside us. If you don’t recognize your own fears, desires, assumptions, and imagination, you may mistake them for spiritual revelation.

This is where the Word of God becomes essential:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword…piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.” — Hebrews 4:12

We learn discernment through practice. Hebrews 5:14 speaks of mature believers who have “their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” You develop discernment by repeatedly testing your impressions against Scripture, examining the fruit, and learning from the times you get it wrong.

2. Information coming from the other person

This part is based more on personal experience than on an explicit biblical teaching, so I hold it more loosely.

When I was young, my dad and I played what we called the “projection game.” He would visualize something, and I would try to identify it. I would usually get it right the first time, less often the second and third times, and then I would start totally missing it on the fourth try.

Whatever was happening, it taught me that we should not automatically assume that every piece of accurate information comes directly from God. Human beings communicate through words, expressions, body language, expectations, and possibly in ways we do not completely understand.

Jesus sometimes perceived what people were thinking in their hearts (Luke 5:22; Luke 9:47). That looks a lot like projection to me. This is simply one possibility I remain aware of when testing an impression.

3. A demonic spirit

The third possible source is demonic.

The Bible clearly warns about familiar spirits, divination, mediums, and other counterfeit spiritual activity (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Acts 16 tells us about a girl who had a “spirit of divination.” What she said about Paul and Silas was technically true, but the source was wrong—and Paul eventually cast the spirit out of her (Acts 16:16–18).

That is important: accurate information does not automatically prove that the source is God.

Some people visit psychics or séances and believe they are speaking with dead relatives. From a biblical perspective, we should not assume that such an experience is genuine communication with the dead. It may involve deception by an evil spirit.

I used to explain “familiar spirits” as demons assigned to particular families for generations. I got this from demons carrying out the curse to the third and fourth generations of those who hate God (Exo 20:5; Deut 5:9,10 Num 14:18).

4. God Himself

The fourth source is God.

Jesus said:

“The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” — John 5:19

He also said that He spoke what the Father had taught Him (John 8:28). Jesus lived in perfect dependence upon the Father.

For example, Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree before Nathanael came to Him (John 1:47–49). This was in the spirit. New Agers would call that remote viewing. Jesus also did unusual things under the Father’s direction (john 5:19), such as making clay and putting it on a blind man’s eyes (John 9:6–7).

I believe these accounts teach us to pay attention to what God is doing in the Spirit instead of relying on formulas.

Jesus also said that the Spirit of truth would guide His disciples into truth and show them things to come (John 16:13). Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Have you ever had a dream, and then when it comes to pass it rushes to your remembrance? That could be the spirit of Truth showing you things to come! Pay attention and test it against scripture (Heb 4:12).

We should desire to be led by the Holy Spirit—but we must also test what we receive:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” — 1 John 4:1

“Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.” — 1 Corinthians 14:29

So, to summarize, these are the four possible sources I consider when something appears to be a word of knowledge:

1. The heart.
2. Information projected from the other person.
3. A demonic or familiar spirit.
4. God revealing something through the Holy Spirit.

Again, this is a discernment framework developed through decades of experience—not a replacement for Scripture.

The next time you hear someone give a word of knowledge—or you are trying to operate in this gift yourself—remember that supernatural accuracy alone does not prove that something came from God. Test the source, test the fruit, compare it with Scripture, and remain humble enough to admit when you may be wrong.

I hope this helps someone.

Casting out demons still happens. If you do outreach long enough, you are going to run into it. That should not surprise believers, because Jesus said it would be one of the signs that follow them: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;” (Mark 16:17 KJV).
Last year we cast out three demons. Two of those were at tent outreaches. People would walk toward the tent because they saw the 'free food' and 'prayer' signs. The would walk straight toward the tent and then turn around like something inside them did not want to get any closer. This happens more than people think.

When they did come up and we started talking about Jesus or offered to pray, sometimes people would begin manifesting. We prayed with them because they wanted deliverance. Confession and repentance often play a part before freedom. Thank God they were delivered.

We also had one situation in a rest home where we were praying for one lady, and another lady in the room started screaming, her face got contorted, and we ended up casting the demon out of her too.
This is part of ministry. I am not saying every strange moment is a demon. I am saying after years of praying for people, talking about Jesus, and doing outreach, I have learned that deliverance is not some weird side issue. It is one of the signs Jesus connected with believers ministering in His name.
So when people say deliverance is not happening today, my first question is how much outreach are they actually doing?

I stopped giving myself entertainment as an option, and I discovered how much time is actually in a day

I’ve been experimenting with a simple rule:

Either allow yourself to be bored, rest, or produce something.

That’s it.

No scrolling.
No games.
No random videos.
No entertainment just to avoid silence.

My options are basically:

• Stare at the wall
• Sleep or genuinely rest
• Pray, think, walk, exercise, study, write, organize, work, or create something

At first, boredom feels uncomfortable because your brain is used to constant stimulation. But when you refuse to immediately escape it, something changes.

Eventually, doing something productive becomes more appealing than doing nothing.

I’ve also discovered that there is an incredible amount of time in the day. I can get important things done and still look at the clock and realize that I have hours left.

Scrolling doesn’t only consume time. It fragments your attention and makes the entire day feel shorter.

I’m starting to believe that boredom is not the enemy. Boredom may be the doorway to creativity, focus, and meaningful work.

My new rule is:

Be bored, rest, or produce—but don’t mindlessly consume.

I’ve been using Hermes Agent lately, and honestly, I really like it.

In my experience, it seems to be good at figuring out how to do things and actually getting them done. Personally, I’ve had a better experience with it than OpenClaw, though that’s just my opinion from using both.

One thing I’m starting to notice, though, is that free models are useful, but they don’t seem to perform nearly as well as the paid models when the task is new, complicated, or requires a lot of reasoning.

I’m not knocking the free models. I actually think they have a place. But it seems like when I’m trying to do something I haven’t done before, I’m better off using a stronger paid model first to figure out the workflow, solve the problems, and get the process dialed in. Then, once the task is understood and the steps are clearer, maybe it can be handed off to a free model.

I’m still experimenting with that.

Right now, my OpenAI $20/month plan has been working pretty well for me because it gives me something stable. With OpenRouter, I felt like it could blow through money pretty fast if I wasn’t careful. I’ve also been using the free DeepSeek Flash option Hermes (Nous) has right now, and between that and my OpenAI plan, I feel like I’m in a decent place.

But the main thing I’m seeing is this:

Free models are good for some things, but when you’re trying to break new ground, they seem to run into walls faster. Paid models seem better for figuring things out, and free models may be better after the workflow has already been established.

Is anybody else running into the same thing?

Are you using paid models to “figure it out” first, then switching to cheaper or free models once the process is clear? Or have you found a free-model setup that performs well enough for agent work from the beginning?