Being There
The subject of faith is mystical, undefined, misdefined, and misunderstood in the minds of many believers. Yet, God places great importance on the spiritual substance called faith:
“But without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
“Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth’” (Mark 9:23).
The above-mentioned lack of understanding could also be said concerning divine healing. It is a challenging subject that can seem to raise more questions than answers. I would not be so arrogant as to suggest that I have a complete understanding of these subjects. However, I do know God heals, and I know our faith matters.
Regarding the subject of healing, I believe Scripture teaches that it is released in various ways:
the faith of the individual receiving
the faith and prayers of others through agreement, intercession, laying on of hands, deliverance, and commands
the gifts of Holy Spirit: gifts of healing, the workings of miracles, the gift of faith, discerning of spirits
signs and wonders accompanying the preaching of the gospel
I believe that regarding healings/miracles associated with the gifts of the Spirit and signs accompanying the gospel, the timing is often influenced by 1) the ripeness of the harvest (either individually or collectively; and 2) the corporate and/or regional spiritual atmosphere.
I have said all of this to state that I believe we are coming into another season of healing and miracles associated with the preaching of the gospel and the gifts of Holy Spirit. This always accompanies revival. God will never work a miracle to convince the skeptic and cynical. He does, however, work miracles to confirm His Word and the gospel when dealing with hungry hearts and searching souls.
And miracles are a game changer.
My good friend, Ken Malone, sent me the following testimony regarding this:
“In 1999, a friend, whom I'll call Charles, and I were flying relief supplies to the island of Eleuthera after it had been hit by an intense hurricane. We conducted three such trips together. On each one, we talked about the Lord, mainly regarding the Holy Spirit's miracles on other islands and settlements.
“On one trip, Charles said, ‘Please pray for my dad, Bill; he's in the hospital with internal bleeding.’ His dad had been in the ICU for about a month, and had been given blood transfusions totaling several gallons! We prayed then, and continued to pray for his dad.
“The final trip together ended up being a long day. I woke at 4 AM, went to the airport, and packed the airplane. We returned to the airport that afternoon around 4 PM. When I arrived home, I received a notice on my beeper to call Charles. When I reached him, Charles said, ‘Can you come to the hospital and pray for Dad? They don't expect him to live beyond another 24 hours. A helicopter is coming to take him to Orlando Regional Medical Center.’
“I agreed to do so. I was extremely exhausted, which no doubt contributed to increased vulnerability, and upon arriving at the ICU waiting room, a spirit of intimidation hit me. I felt as though I had no faith whatsoever. Charles’ family and I went into the ICU, and I saw His dad, Bill, in the last stages of death. He was ashen, and his lips were turning blue. He had no faith.
“And at that point, it seemed I had no faith.
“I began telling Bill of the miracles the Holy Spirit had performed in the Cherokee Sound settlement. I then shared about the miracles Jesus performed. Then Bill said in a feeble voice, ‘Ken, stop preaching and pray for me.’
“Upon hearing this, I took him by the hand and began to pray, still feeling no faith. On other occasions, when praying for people I had felt great faith, and God moved. Not this time, however; I felt nothing. The prayer was simple, and after decreeing the Lord's healing over him and rebuking the spirit of death, I couldn't get out of there quickly enough. After the Amen, I left! And the helicopter landed to take him to ORMC hospital.
“As I drove home, the enemy began to torment me with thoughts that this man was going to die. However, I refused to voice these thoughts. When I arrived home, my wife, Cheryl, asked, ‘How'd it go?’
“I simply said, ‘I prayed for him.’
“The next day, around 1 PM, I received a call from Bill's home. It's probably Charles to tell me his dad passed, I thought.
“It wasn't; it was Bill, himself! In a weepy voice, he said, ‘Ken, I need to talk to you.’
“My mind was not computing this, and I said, ‘What room are you in?’
“To which Bill replied, ‘I'm at home.’
“I arrived at his house and was greeted by his wife and daughter at the front door, weeping. As I walked in, I saw Bill down the hallway, weeping so hard he was convulsing. After about 5 minutes of weeping, he composed himself and began telling me what happened to him. ‘Yesterday, when we prayed, electricity came into the top of my head, went through my body to my feet, and went back up and out of my head. I knew right away that I was going to be okay. I didn't know how to tell you at the time. They didn't teach us this in our church.’
“I said, ‘Bill, they didn't teach us this in a lot of churches.’
“Bill then said something that made me feel uncomfortable, ‘Thank you for healing me.’
“I replied, ‘I didn't heal you; Jesus did.’
“He and I talked about all our Lord was doing in him when he said again, ‘Thank you for healing me.’
“I again said, ‘I didn't heal you; Jesus did.’
“After about an hour's visit, as I was getting ready to leave, Bill stood up and said, ‘Ken, thank you for healing me.’
“To which I replied again, ‘Bill, I didn't.’
“He interrupted and said, ’I know you didn't heal me. I know it was Jesus. But you were there!’
“WOW!
“The revelation hit me: We won’t always ‘feel’ our faith. My faith was released by being there, not through what I felt. Faith is doing and obeying. Being where Yahweh wants us, being faithful when we feel no faith, and doing what we know to do is faith. When we do this, God will show Himself strong. Don't wait for a feeling; do what His Word declares: ‘These signs shall follow them that believe…In My name, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,’ (Mark 16:17-18).”
Pray with me:
Father, as we move towards the revival You are bringing, we are reminded that signs and wonders accompany the gospel of Jesus Christ. You have emphasized this, telling us that in this awakening notable, extraordinary, and creative miracles will occur. You will demonstrate through them that You are real, and that the good news we preach is true. We prepare ourselves to obey Your word, reminding ourselves that we must lay our hands upon sick and diseased people, asking for their healing. You will do the work.
Remind believers that we do not need a level of “creative faith” in order to do this. And we don’t need a feeling. We need enough faith to be there and obey. We want to be those who give You opportunities to show Yourself strong in people's lives. So we ask You to prepare the church by reminding them of Mark 16:15-20; and that You use all believers, not just heroes and giants in the faith.
And Lord, we conclude this prayer by remembering to pray for protection over our waterways, water supplies, dams, and ports. We thank You for protecting our nation from the destruction the enemy has planned for us. We also continue to bind the strong man over the Middle East, declaring that the hold of the “prince of Persia” is broken over that region in the name of Jesus. We declare Your will over the Middle East, that the people there are free through the blood of Jesus, and that the veil of deception is being lifted from their eyes. We also pray this over Asia, asking for the Spirit of revelation to replace all deception, leading to the harvest of millions and millions of people.
And finally, we ask You to continue revealing the corruption in our land, especially in our government, and remove it. Send revival, we pray, in Jesus’ name.
Our decree:
We declare that we are Your hands and feet in the earth, even when we don't feel as though we are. According to John 14:12, the works Jesus did, we will do, and even greater works, in His powerful name.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
You can find out more about Ken Malone at Forerunner-ministries.org.