The Purpose of the Supernatural (And Why I Used to Fear It)

You cannot read the Bible without coming across something that is out of the ordinary or supernatural. We need a good balance of Bible teaching and study—plus the supernatural side of God to make it come alive.

My area of expertise is helping people understand how God might be speaking through the prophetic, supernatural encounters and even dreams and visions.

Noticing the unexplainable

There are some supernatural things in the Bible that you cannot really explain. Think about it. To name just a few:

• The Red Sea parts (Exodus 14)
• Donkeys talk (Numbers 22:21–39)
• Thunder speaks (John 12:27–29)
• Water turns into wine (John 2:1–11)

The foundation for all we do

The main principle and purpose for experiencing the supernatural is found in Ephesians 1:17. This is actually the banner over my life and ministry.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
– Ephesians 1:17 NIV

All of our spiritual experiences, and everything that we do, needs to be laid on the foundation of knowing God better. Also, all that we hear and experience from God should be confirmed in the Bible.

Don’t be discouraged if you are not hearing God clearly, encountering angels or understanding dreams from God. It takes time and practice for these things to open up to us. We live in a logic-based culture that makes it even more difficult to experience the supernatural.

Plan of the enemy

There are those who simply fear the supernatural realm. Many people had nightmares as kids or watched horror movies that caused them to grow up fearing everything supernatural.

That was me, actually.

I was afraid even to see an angel for a long time.

Children’s nightmares are an attack of Satan to cause them to grow up so afraid of the supernatural side of God that they do not want anything to do with it or God.

Supernatural experiences

Sometimes supernatural experiences can be dramatic, and at other times they can be quite natural or even seem coincidental. We need to understand these deeper things of God.

Sometimes you just know that God is saying something. Other times you might sense an angel is there. Sometimes it is more dramatic or obvious, so you will need to take notes and study what you are seeing, hearing or experiencing.

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14 NIV

Practice discerning

It is important that you become sensitive to the spiritual atmosphere around you. Even after all these years, I still take notes after every meeting because this is how God trains me to discern.

For example, I want to know what types of angels are in the room because I do not always see them with my eyes. Most of the time they are cloaked, but it is obvious they are there because of the supernaturally charged atmosphere. Or you can discern what they are bringing from Heaven, such as a prophetic word or healing.

Counterfeit vs. real

God is the creator of all good things. But the enemy will often counterfeit and distort the things of God. We will need to learn to discern what is from God and what is not. Again, this only comes with practice.

If you were being trained to recognize counterfeit money, you would study the real, not the fake. This is why we need to study the Bible, and our own personal experiences.

People ask me all the time: “How do I know if what I am hearing or seeing is from God, Satan, or myself?” There is a simple answer: by prayer and practice.

Jump-start exercise

Here’s a quick exercise to jump-start you into learning to discern and experience the supernatural side of God.

• Ask God to speak to you.
• Write down what you are hearing.
• Study it more in the Bible and/or do Internet research.

Now, go back to the last time you know that you heard God clearly, or He answered a prayer for you—something you know was from God. Take time to study what it felt like, how you experienced it, how it came to you, etc. If you do this on a regular basis you are making Hebrews 5:14 come alive in your life.

God is calling us all to a new level of understanding the supernatural and learning to discern!

Blessings,

Doug Addison

P.S. To go deeper on this, my newest book, Discovering the Supernatural: Interacting with the Angelic and Heavenly Realms in Your Daily Life, is now available for pre-order! It will be released in May 2017, but you can pre-order today and I’ll give you a free bonus, too. Find out more here.

Doug Addison is a prophetic speaker, author and coach. He is known for his Daily Prophetic Words, Spirit Connection webcast, podcast, and blog. Doug’s message of love, hope and having fun reaches people around the world! His powerful, positively funny teaching style and coaching helps open people to discover their destiny and experience God’s supernatural love and power. He and his wife Linda live in Los Angeles, California where he is impacting the arts, entertainment and media industries.

[acf field=”donate”]