The Role Of Obedience In Healing

We have spent the last three lessons talking about obeying God because we love Him. We have discovered that obedience might be difficult at times, but God expects it of us if we want to be trusted with His power and authority.

Those three lessons have all been leading up to this one. Here is what I am asking you to consider doing. I am asking you to consider making a covenant with God that goes like this: "You are the boss, I am the servant. Whatever You command, I will obey. I give up my rights to any say in the manner; I will do Your will."

I am asking you to consider making this covenant with God today. Covenants are not something to take lightly because God is with you now and if you make this covenant, He is going to hear it and He is going to hold you to it. You might want to come back later and say, 'Oh, I changed my mind, I was just kidding. Now that You are making the request, I was just kidding.' But if you make a covenant with God, He won't let you "change your mind"--He will hold you to it.

In this covenant, you are basically saying, "Lord, I give up my rights to You, You call the shots and I will obey You." That is what I am asking you to consider doing with God.

If you do, it will be the foundation from which you will be able to move forth and do the things Jesus did.

Jesus had to do something similar to this covenant when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. The first thing that happened was Jesus got baptized, the Spirit came down on Him in the form of a dove, and God's power for doing miracles was released to Him at that point.

Then immediately, the Holy Spirit took Him into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days. Satan tempted Him in three areas. The first temptation was to turn rocks to bread where the devil was trying to get Him to use the power and authority of God for His own gains and not for God's purposes. He turned that down. He said, 'No, we are going to do God's will'.

The second temptation was where Jesus was on top of the temple and Satan told him to throw Himself off, and the angels will keep Him from falling. The temptation was to defy the law of gravity and impress everybody, sort of like, "Look at me, I' special. Look at how God protects me. Look at me, aren't I great?" In short, the temptation there was to use the anointing of God for His own glory instead of for God's glory--and Jesus would not do that either.

The third temptation was where Satan took Him up to a mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms and glory of the world. Then the devil told Jesus that He could skip the crucifixion and suffering and still possess all the kingdoms of this world. All Jesus had to do was to fall down and worship the devil, and he'd give it to Him. In short, this temptation was to get your power from some source other than God, or to use it for some purpose other than God's will. And Jesus refused that, remaining completely submitted to the Father's will because He loved Him.

Jesus came out of the wilderness after those three temptations. This is what the bible says, in Luke 4: 13-15 'Now when the devil had entered every temptation, he departed from him until more opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and news of Him went through all the surrounding region and He taught in their synagogues being glorified by all.' In short, He started doing all the miracles and healings and power stuff.

There is an important key here. Before God would trust Jesus with that authority, Jesus was tested. Likewise, there is a very good chance God will bring a test into your life once you make this commitment to obey Him; He will test you to see whether or not you are serious about obeying Him.

The test is not usually easy; I want you to understand about what kind of commitment we are talking about. But, here is the thing: Jesus is not unhappy that He chose to do it the Father's way. It was hard to go to the cross; He did not want to go to the cross. He was in the garden praying, "God if it is possible let this cup pass from Me." But once He completed God's will, then all power and glory was given to Him and He was restored to His place in heaven. It is hard, at times, to serve God---but it works out for the good.

Something similar happened to me with that "desk" that I never got because I had to give the money for it away. It was hard for me to give up at the time, but it did not take long to get over it and stop missing the desk. In fact, I purchased another roll-top desk later on, it was much cheaper and not as fancy, but it met my needs at the time.

Over the years, my "desk" needs changed, and my idea of an "ideal" desk changed accordingly. I needed something really big, with lots of drawers and pull-out work surfaces. I had become partial to oak and dreamed of a great big huge solid oak executive desk. When I set up my GodSpeak office in my house, I went out and priced one. It was really expensive; it was several thousand dollars. So instead of getting my "dream desk," I used a little formica kitchen table as a desk, and kept my stuff in cardboard boxes under the table.

Guess what God did about a year ago? God gave me my "dream desk." One of the branches of my friend's company was going out of business and they gave the office furniture away to employees and their to friends and relatives. My friend asked me if I wanted to come get a desk. Most of the furniture was already claimed, but there was one desk that was so big no one wanted it. And it was the type of solid oak executive desk that I really wanted. So, the same God who asked me to give up my desk gave me one even nicer 15 years later, when I needed it for the ministry. God is not a ogre or a "meanie." If we can trust Him and obey, He will reward us with something much nicer than what He asks us to give up.

Let's take this back to the realm of praying for the sick. Yes, God will call you to costly obedience so that He can trust you with His power and anointing. But you will eventually find the cost is well worth it.

There is an incredible joy that comes when you lay hands on the sick and see them healed. There is an excitement that comes when you see the power of God move through you; leading people to the Lord. The first time I led a witch doctor to the Lord in Nigeria, I was just in tears. He had seen the power of God, and decided that God was more powerful than the god he served, and he changed sides. It was awesome. Nothing is as wonderful as what God will do through you.

Yes, it is hard to obey when God asks you to do something costly. I kind of made a joke story out of my struggles to give my "desk money" to Ron for the ring. The truth is that it was very hard for me to put my finances to the point where God could spend my money His way. If there is some area of your life that He wants to spend His way, you will need to let Him--that is the commitment I am going to be looking for. What I want to do is to invite you to commit yourself to God.

A covenant is just an agreement. There is God's part and there is your part. I am not saying this lightly, but I believe God is telling me to offer this covenant. He is inviting you to enter into this covenant with Him even as you read this lesson. God wants to enter into a covenant with you where God is the boss, not you. You are the servant and you are committed to serve Him once He shows you clearly what He wants you to do. That is the covenant that God is looking for. Are you willing?

If you are, that means He can call the shots in any area of your life and command you to do whatever He wants to do. You can take your time to make sure it is really God, but once you are sure it is Him, you are committed to obey. If you are willing to make that commitment to the Lord, I am going to give you a simple prayer. Once you pray this prayer, an exchange of rights takes place, and you no longer to have the right to say "No" to God. Are you ready?

This is the prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want you to be Lord and boss of my life. I recognize you as the one who is control, and I am willing to enter into an obedience covenant with You. Lord, You are the boss, You are the master, I am your servant. God, whatever You command me to do, I will obey You.

Lord, empower me to keep this. If You command me to do something impossible, then You have to supply the supernatural power to make it doable.

Lord, Your will. I will do Your will. You are the boss, and I commit to obey You and I give up my rights to You, right now. I call You Lord and Master. May Your will be done in my life.

I pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Hallelujah. Now Lord, just come, just come with Your presence, Your power and Your anointing and meet those who just prayed this prayer.

If you prayed that prayer, then the Lord is going to begin to release empowerment into your life. Because you have made this commitment, He is going to touch you and release His power and anointing upon you; He is going to be speaking things to some of you, He is going to be showing you things. Look expectantly to Him, for He will meet you.