Part 5 (1/2)
Sister Goiter At a certain charismatic ministers' conference, a woman who had a big goiter on her neck came forward and received prayer. After prayer, she knew that she knew that she knew that G.o.d had healed her. So she stood up in front of this large group of people and began to praise G.o.d that He had healed her, even though she still had this big goiter on her neck. The people praised G.o.d with her and thanked her for her testimony, believing that the healing power of G.o.d was there, working, and would manifest itself. The people at this conference gave this woman mercy and grace even though they couldn't yet see any visible results.
The next year she returned to that same conference, stood up, and testified, saying, ”Tonight is the one-year anniversary of when Jesus healed my goiter.” Yet, she still had this big goiter on her neck. This time, the people didn't rejoice. They didn't praise G.o.d because they thought something was wrong, but they let it pa.s.s.
The following year this woman came back and said, ”This is the two-year anniversary of when G.o.d healed this goiter.” People became upset and went to the conference leaders.h.i.+p saying, ”You must tell that woman to quit testifying because it's obvious that she's not healed. She's making a fool of herself and mocking the things of G.o.d. You need to tell her to quit!” So the leaders.h.i.+p went and told this woman, ”You can't testify anymore until that goiter is gone.”
This woman went to the Lord that night and prayed, ”G.o.d, I know that You healed me. I believe that You healed me that night I received prayer. I know it's been done. But these preachers can't believe unless they see it. Will You please take this thing away so that they can believe what You've already done?” The next morning when she woke up, the goiter was gone, and she testified, ”I told you I was healed!”
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we should just go around testifying about things that aren't manifest. However, I am saying that we need to get to that place where we believe what the Word says G.o.d has already done so strongly that whether we've experienced it yet in our body is immaterial. We know it's true.
Normal I haven't arrived in this area, but I'm coming to a place where things I see on the inside are more real to me than what I see on the outside. It's true.
I remember being in a meeting once where I saw-in the spirit- the Lord walk into the room. Although my natural eyes were closed, what I saw with the eyes of my heart was so real. In fact, I opened up my natural eyes to see if I could see it. I could see everything that was happening as I saw it in my heart, except I couldn't see Jesus.
In my heart, I saw Jesus walk over to a woman and touch her, and she fell flat on her face. Then He walked over to another lady and she just knelt down and lifted up her hand. I saw the Lord start touching people one by one. When I opened up my eyes, I saw all of the physical things happening, but I couldn't see the Lord. In my heart, I could see the Lord. I could see these events happening before they happened in the natural. What I was seeing with my heart was more real, more vivid, and clearer than what I was seeing with my eyes. So eventually, I just closed my eyes because I could see better with my heart than I could with my natural eyes.
This should be normal, not abnormal. We should walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7.) We can get to where we see what G.o.d has done for us by grace. Then we enter into it by faith and begin to rejoice. When you get to a place where you are so lost in what G.o.d has done and you are praising Him for it, then the physical realm will just reflect it nearly as a by-product. You'll get to a place where you can say, ”G.o.d, I know I'm already healed, but wouldn't it be a great testimony to this doctor if they could see and prove it in a test tube?” You don't have to see it to believe. You want it manifest so that other people can see.
We're living far below our G.o.d-given privileges. We have an entirely wrong mind-set towards G.o.d. We believe He could do anything, but that He has done nothing, and we have to beg and plead with Him. There's a better way. Find out what G.o.d has already provided by grace and then just appropriate by faith what is already done. You don't have to labor to make it happen. That's awesome!
”Such As I Have”
This is the reason we can heal the sick. The Bible doesn't tell you to pray for the sick. Although James 5 mentions that if you're sick you should call for the church elders to come and pray for you, nowhere in the Bible are you commanded to pray for the sick. However, we are commanded to heal the sick.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8 There's a huge difference between saying, ”You're healed in Jesus' name. I release the healing power of G.o.d,” and saying, ”Dear Father, if it be Your will, for Jesus' sake, stretch forth Your hand and heal that person.” That's a chicken prayer! It takes no faith to pray that. Nothing is on the line.
We need to stand up in faith and speak like Peter did when he entered the temple with John. To the lame beggar who asked for alms, Peter said, ”I don't have any money with me right now. I left my wallet at home, but...”
Such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Acts 3:6 ”Such as I have give I thee...,” most people would kick these disciples out of their church, saying, ”How dare you say that you have the healing power of G.o.d!”
The Difference The Lord did say: Without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5 I, myself, am not the Healer. It's not my power I rely upon. On my own, I can't heal a gnat. But I'm not on my own. G.o.d said He would never leave me nor forsake me. (Heb. 13:5.) I have the healing power of G.o.d on the inside of me-the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Because of that I can say with Peter, ”Such as I have.” I have the healing power of G.o.d and in the name of Jesus I can command healing in people. This is a completely different approach.
G.o.d has already provided everything by grace. Now we have to get into a position of faith. Instead of trying to believe that it's going to happen, we must believe it's a done deal. It's already been done. You've already got it, so quit trying to get it. Just operate in what G.o.d said He's already done. It's the difference between victory and defeat.
Chapter 13, Mix with Faith.
Faith reaches out and appropriates what G.o.d has already provided for us by grace. We don't have to ask, beg, or plead with G.o.d. He's already supplied what we need. It's just a matter of us believing and receiving.
You may ask what the meaning is, then, of the scriptures that speak of asking: This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the pet.i.tions that we desired of him. 1 John 5:14-15 It's not wrong to ask. G.o.d has already provided everything, so technically you don't have to ask for it. Just believe and receive, command and release the power of G.o.d. The harmony between this is the att.i.tude in which you ask.
A Polite Demand Consider what Jesus said in what's commonly called ”The Lord's Prayer.”
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:9-11 ”Give us this day our daily bread” is a pet.i.tion for G.o.d to meet your daily needs; however, it's not phrased as ”Would You please give us this day our daily bread?” as if you are wondering if and will He do so. No, it's more of a demand. It's similar to a child saying to their mother at mealtime, ”Can I have something to eat?”
What would you think if you were over at my house when my kids were little, and one of them came in, fell on their knees before me, put their hands together, and said, ”Oh father, I'm so unG.o.dly, and I know I don't deserve it, but would you please give me a piece of bread? Could I please have a morsel of food?” If they started begging me like that, you'd surely think that something was wrong in our home.
A child, if they're trained properly, doesn't just come in and say, ”Give me something to eat!” That's wrong too. They might say, ”Could I please have something to eat?” They're asking a question, but there's really no question involved. They know that you love them. They know that you're going to supply. So they are really placing a demand. They are just doing it in a polite, kind way.
I'm not saying that we don't ever acknowledge our need or make a request, saying, ”G.o.d, I need You to supply something.” However, it's not a begging request. It's not a request with a question mark at the end to indicate that you're doubting that G.o.d will provide. Your request is more just a polite way of coming to your Father and saying, ”Father, I know that You've already provided all of my needs. I'm ready to receive Your provision. Can I have it now?”
Beggar or Believer?
It's not wrong to pet.i.tion G.o.d in faith. But to throw a pet.i.tion out there not knowing if G.o.d's going to answer it or not, feeling like you have to grovel in the dirt, begging and pleading, is a religious concept that's absolutely contrary to what the scriptures teach.
Imagine me walking up to you right now and saying, ”After you finish reading this chapter, I'll give you the keys to my car. You can use it to go and do whatever you want.” If I gave you that promise, then after finis.h.i.+ng this chapter you would come up to me and say, ”Can I have the keys to your car?” You could do that in a couple of different ways. You could be thinking, Would Andrew really let me have his car? I don't believe that. I'm not sure it's true. Would he really do this? In that case, you would come up to me and say, ”Can I have the keys to your car?” like, ”Is this really true? Would you really do this?” You're asking out of unbelief. Or you could say, ”Can I have the keys to your car,” in a tone reflecting that you believed my words completely, and then all you're saying is, ”I'm ready now. You said it. Here I am requesting it. Can I have the keys to your car?”
You can say the exact same words, but with very different motives. You could be simply making your polite demand, trusting that what I said is true, or your words could be spoken in unbelief. It's the second scenario, this unbelief, that this teaching is meant to counter.
People pray, ”Lord, if it be Your will, please touch me and move in my life.” It is G.o.d's will. He's already supplied everything. Instead of approaching the Lord as a beggar, we need to be believers who trust His promises, and confidently and gratefully just take advantage of what He's already provided for us. That's a powerful truth!
Cautious, Aware, and Diligent It was this att.i.tude of unbelief that hindered the Jews from receiving G.o.d's provision and entering into the Promised Land.
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:19 Again, anyone who believes that G.o.d's will just automatically comes to pa.s.s has not been paying attention when they read the Bible. It wasn't G.o.d's will for the children of Israel to spend forty years in the wilderness after coming out from the land of Egypt. This happened because of their unbelief (Num. 13,14; Psa. 78:40-41). G.o.d's will did not come to pa.s.s because the children of Israel did not cooperate with G.o.d in faith. They didn't enter into the Promised Land. The generation that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness and never did see G.o.d's will for them come to pa.s.s because of their unbelief.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Hebrews 4:1 This verse is useless to those who say that G.o.d sovereignly does every-thing and nothing happens but what is His will. Hebrews 4:1 is saying you need to be careful, cautious, and aware. You need to be diligent because you could miss G.o.ds will for you. This verse would be a useless statement if G.o.d just automatically did everything and nothing happened but what is His will. Although this doctrine that G.o.d is responsible and controls everything is so prevalent in the church today, this scripture is saying just the opposite. You need to fear-be cautious, aware, and diligent-lest you miss out on something that G.o.d has provided for you.
Harden Not Your Heart For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Hebrews 4:2 This verse perfectly states what we've been talking about. G.o.d, by grace, had provided a plan. He promised Abraham in Genesis 15 that He would bring his descendants out of the land of Egypt and give them the entire nation of Canaan and all the surrounding nations too. (Gen. 15:18-21.) G.o.d made this promise four hundred and thirty years before it came to pa.s.s. When He finally led the people out, they didn't put faith in His purpose and plan so that generation never saw it come to pa.s.s. They died in the wilderness. They came out of the land of Egypt, but they died in the wilderness because of their unbelief.
You have to mix faith with what G.o.d wants you to do. You must listen and obey Him. You have to believe G.o.d in order to see His promises come to pa.s.s in your life.
The Sabbath Rest For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath... Hebrews 4:3 The writer of Hebrews now begins to quote from Psalm 95, which he also quoted back in Hebrews 3.
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. Hebrews 3:15 Here is the pa.s.sage from Psalm 95 being referred to: To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Psalm 95:7-11 In both Hebrews 3 and 4, the writer is making reference back to this scripture that David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Fully, Hebrews 4:3 says: For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
The reference at the end of this verse links the rest that Psalm 95 spoke of to the Sabbath rest that G.o.d took in Genesis 2:2. After He created the heavens and the earth, G.o.d rested from all of His works.