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The Power Of God's Word
We saw that the answer lies in believing God exists and He will meet diligent seeker, so we must begin with God's promises, not with our feelings. We also saw that a sick person should confess sin and repent, when prophecy reveals the need, but that true faith rests on the character of God.
Then we asked:
What is the "prayer of faith" (James 5:14) for prophetic healing?
We pointed out that this was based on sure knowledge of the Will of God and on the finished work of Christ on Calvary, because prophetic power is "divine healing," not "faith healing."
From the Bible we then explored:
How do we get faith?
We found that faith comes by an anointed word from God. We can cultivate faith by reading scripture with heart open since we believe with our heart not just our head. We saw the need to listen to teaching & preaching inspired by Holy Ghost and to be open to personal word through Gifts of the Spirit. We must then act on the word when it comes.
Finally we asked:
How should this faith be applied?
Prophets must recognize the authority of god, and faith must be shown by action, by your attitude over time, by allowing it to be expressed in words and by using the anointing of the Spirit. God's desire is not only to heal YOU, but make you a healer of others.
Just how powerful is that Prophetic Word? Is it possible there are some things that it cannot do, some cases, which God cannot heal? To discover the answers to these questions is to see the immense possibilities and scope of Divine Healing.
We notice in Scripture that God's word is creative. The whole of the world was made by the Word of the Living God, which brought into existence, things not previously there under the moving of the Spirit.
Gen 1:2-3
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (NIV)
Creation came about as an activity of the anointed word of God. Faith in this fact will make logically possible the replacement in the human body of missing organs! (HEB 11:3) We have actually heard of this happening in the creation of a new kidney for Mrs. Abernethy of Dungannon, where she had lost a kidney previously in an operation in the same hospital!
Let us observe however, that God's miracles are never un-natural but super-natural. He can speed up or slow down the process of His creation, and a prophet like Joshua, can even stop the stars and moon - but not get rid of them altogether (Joshua 10:12-13). I believe this was proven scientifically in the moon shot calculations at NASA when they looked at the history of the Earth.
Further God can sustain what He starts (Isaiah 40:26) and through prophetic redemption, He can keep a whole nation healthy! (Psalms 105:37). Surely He can meet one person's needs today?
When the prophet speaks a word of God under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit, he can enjoy the same power to create and sustain miracles (Matt 17:20). And Jesus said unto them "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (KJV)
(The point of mustard seed is not just its size but its PURITY. It cannot be crossed with any other seed!)
In the Bible, we see here an important truth for human prophecy.. that Jesus Christ is God's Word in the flesh.
We can deduce from this that God was perfectly demonstrated in action through Christ and He never changes (Heb 13:8). He healed all that came to Him. He had 19 mass healings and 47 individual healings recorded in the Gospels. As he preached in Galilee, nothing was too hard for Him (Matt 4:23). In fact, it is recorded that nothing was too hard for Him.
Matt 9:35
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (KJV)
Further He commissioned all his Apostles also to heal, and not merely to pray for the sick.
Matt 10:1
And when He had called unto him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. (KJV)
When we apply this today, we expect that we should see Him do miracles as we speak forth His words at His direction.
Christ promised this would happen, when He left earth:
Mark 16:17-18
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (KJV)
My friends Len and Ruth Betts were ministering in the Congo, where they had one of their patients poisoned by a local witchdoctor. As the relatives took the body home in a fishing net sling, the power of God came on this couple. They rebuked the spirit of death. The patient sat up and walked home - to the dismay of the heathen!
After Pentecost, this promise proved true in the early church. 5000 believed after the lame man was healed at the gate beautiful and multitudes were healed by the pentecostal visitation of the Spirit.
Acts 5:14-16
And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. (KJV)
Peter, in Acts 9, healed a man after 8 years paralysis and even raised the dead by speaking a prophetic word under the anointing. Missionary work was done through miracles, as Paul and Barnabas found in Acts 19.
Acts 19:11-12
And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. (KJV)
Although this was a special case, similar healings have happened today and God uses this method of demonstrating his power in a world of heathen spirit-worshippers. The same power that was available to Moses and Aaron to out-miracle the occult powers in Egypt, is to be expected in Prophets and Apostles in the church in the last days (Revelation 11:3-6).
This is logically true, because God is eternal and his word does not change under the anointing of the eternal Holy Spirit. Scripture shows that God's word is all-powerful. God does not change and His word will abide when heaven and earth are gone:
1 Pet 1:25
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (KJV)
His word gives us power over all the power of the enemy:
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (KJV)
This is the best security, as the occult battle heats up around the world today:
Isaiah 48:10-11:
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. (KJV)
In Northern Ireland alone, you will know that a blind girl being healed through prophecy, saved our lives in a terrorist situation in Newry.
God wants His Church to use the power of His anointed word, not simply to build hospitals for the sick! The Apostle Paul evangelized by miracles, not building surgeries!
Romans 15:17-19
I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (KJV)
God has put gifts of healings in the church for this eternal purpose, with prophetic functions.
1 Cor 12:28
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. (KJV)
God still wishes to heal today, because that is His nature.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
We are meant to live, sleep and eat the Word Of God and enjoy the Living Word. (Gal 2:20 ) The Anglican Bishop of Malaysia, who asked us to take meetings there, told how he was too busy for a heart transplant operation. The Lord appeared to him one morning, and told him in Hebrew and in his South Indian native dialect, that God was giving him a new heart. Next day, he climbed a mountain with no ill effects and the hospital were amazed at the results of tests on his body, showing the effect of this Divine vision!
God's word anointed by the Spirit is creative. It was the means by which God made the whole universe in Genesis chapter 1. In the mouth of a prophet like Joshua, it could temporarily suspend the normal working of the whole solar system! Jesus promised prophetic power to the words of a believer, that could move mountains (Matt 17:20).
Christ is the Word Of God in the flesh. God was perfectly demonstrated in action in Christ and He is the first-born of God's new creation of prophets (Heb.13:7-8 ) Christ healed all that came to Him and there was no disease beyond His power (Matt 9:35). He wishes His apostles and prophets to continue His ministry (Matthew 10:1, John 14:12).
Miracles should follow the prophetic use of the Word Of God. Christ promised this would happen for all believers (Mark 16:17-18). After the prophetic outpouring at Pentecost, this proved true in the Early Church so that multitudes were healed by Holy Spirit anointing (Acts 5:14-15). We see it operating in the lives of prophets and apostles like Peter (Acts 9) and Paul (Acts 19). In the present period of occult activity, we should not expect God to withdraw His power from the Church at the very time it is most needed (Rev 11:3-6).
God's word is not likely to change under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, because He is eternal. Scripture shows God's anointed word is all powerful and will abide even when Heaven and earth pass away (1 Pet 1:25). His word gives us power over all the power of the occult (Luke 10:19) and this is our best security in times of difficulty and persecution today.
God wants His Church to use the prophetic power of His anointed word, not simply to build hospitals for the sick. Paul use this method in his day to create faith (Rom 15:17-18) and God has put ministries and Gifts of Healing in the Church today with the same purpose (1 Cor 12:28). God has a healing nature (James 1:17) and we are meant to share in this nature now in this world and in Heaven that is to come !
Why then, do some people seem to not respond to prophetic healing ? We will discover the answer in our next Lesson, number seven in the series!