Click here to view or download class notes for this session (PDF).
This is a special double-length seminar on some more advanced issues in the healing ministry. In these sessions we review some basics about our giftedness from God, then discuss blessing and cursing, how can we develop a greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and how we can see more people healed under our ministry. (To watch or listen to the teaching on healing from our first course, click here.)
1. REVIEW OF HEALING CONCEPTS.
1.1. You’re a gifted person!
1. First, you need to recognize yourself as a gifted person. Remember that God has given you a supernatural deposit of grace. When we study 1st Corinthians 12, we see that the “manifestation of the Spirit” is given to each person for the common good.
2. Remember that it’s biblical to pray for miraculous demonstrations of God’s power. In Acts 4, recall how the Church asked God to make them bold. The way God was going to do that was by doing healings, signs, and wonders through them.
3. It’s biblical to desire spiritual gifts! In fact, we’re commanded to do so! We are commanded to “earnestly desire the best gifts” and so on (1 Corinthians 12:31).
4. Finally, God says we are responsible to develop what He has given us. We are responsible to steward the supernatural deposit of grace within our own lives. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:14: "do not neglect the gift." It’s our responsibility to avoid false humility and develop the grace God gave us.
1.2. Ministering in the tangible power of God. Remember, the Spirit is not an “energy” people can manipulate. However, God’s presence affects our surroundings, and He can work in ways that seem strange to us. People react to His presence and to the anointing.
We’ve talked about people experiencing things when they pray for the sick, or when they’re being prayed for, such as warmth, electricity, and so on. They may also cry, tremble, fall, and experience other manifestations.
1.3. About Jesus’ healing ongoing ministry. Why do we believe that Jesus can still do today what He did then?
The Bible says Jesus is the same, yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He cannot change.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus still heals through the ministry of His church.
God stills heals today because He loves people just as He did 2000 years ago.
Our experience: we’ve seen healings and miracles in our own lives.
1.4. Principles for building faith for healing.
Remember that God’s will to heal you is revealed in the Word. Be sure to study what God says about Himself. Don’t get your information about healing from questionable sources.
Healing reveals God's love and compassion. And Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. If you’ve seen Him, you’ve seen the Father.
Healing was released to us through the grace of Jesus Christ. Jesus was willing to suffer for us, and through His grace we can have healing released to our bodies now.
Healing is received in many different ways– but each gives glory to Jesus. There are many avenues through which healing comes. We looked at ten different ways that healing came in the Scriptures.
We said that faith for healing can grow as we reject the enemy’s decree. People need to understand that it’s the enemy who wishes to do them in, not God.
1.5. Who can be used to heal? We’ve said that all believers may be used in the Gifts of the Spirit, including healings. Jesus encouraged us (John 14:12) that the one who believes would do the works that He did, and even greater works.
An important key is to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord, learning to minister to Him and commune with Him.
All ministry in the supernatural flows out of an ability to sense what the Father is saying and doing, then stepping out in faith.
We talked at length about ministering in the love of Jesus and ministering with wisdom.
1.6. Avoiding formulas with the 5-Step Model. We’ve discussed how we need to avoid "methods" or formulas, because sickness can arise from many different causes. In the New Testament there was no one healing “formula.” Therefore, we need to be led by the Holy Spirit.
We taught on prayer using the 5-step prayer model. The five steps are:
(1) the interview: in other words, what’s wrong?
(2) the diagnostic decision: what is causing this illness?
(3) the prayer selection: how am I going to pray?
(4) the prayer engagement: listen to the Spirit and engaging with the person.
(5) post-prayer directions: these are meant to help people maintain whatever they have received during the ministry time. (“Go and sin no more.”)
2. UNDERSTANDING BLESSINGS AND CURSES.
2.1. The reality of blessings and curses. The idea of “blessing and cursing” may seem strange to us, but it’s a very real spiritual dynamic, mentioned in the Bible hundreds of times. Experience confirms this also. A person can speak blessing or cursing, and a person can also experience blessing or cursing. You may be able to call to mind biblical examples of people who were blessed… or who were under a curse.
God said through Moses, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live…” (Deuteronomy 30:19). As you can see, it’s possible for people to experience either one of these dynamics.
With experience, you’ll note that there are times when a person seems to be suffering from the effects of a curse. You may come to believe this because you sense the Holy Spirit is telling you, or because the person’s background alerts you to that possibility. Remember that one of the steps in our prayer model is a diagnostic decision, in which we seek to hear from the Spirit about what exactly is giving rise to a person’s condition.
In order to minister healing or deliverance to people effectively, we need to understand and deal with this topic. But we need to make sure our investigation is Scriptural. I know people can have their own ideas about these subjects – sometimes from other religions, or even from the occult. But we belong to Christ. So, our relevant question is always the same: What does the Bible say?
2.2. What is a blessing? What is a curse? Let's begin by talking about what a blessing is. The Bible uses this word in different ways. Sometimes the word “blessed” or “blessèd” simply refers to being happy. In that sense of the word, blessing or blessedness is a state of happiness that we’re enjoying because of our situation.
We’ve recently looked at Psalm 1. It begins like this: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly…” (Psalms 1:1a). What that really means is this: “Oh the happiness of the man, etc.” In other words, this person is experiencing happiness in his life because he’s done certain things.
In this sense of the word, you can be blessed without even knowing it. Remember the Beatitudes. Jesus said, to give just one example, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). From Jesus’ perspective, you should rejoice now, because your future condition is wonderful, whether you know it or not. Your situation is better than you have realized.
But, of course, there are other places where the word blessed means something else. When we use the word blessing in that other sense, we’re referring to a supernatural release of something, really at least four things, into a person’s life. I would list them as follows:
Life;
Favor;
Help; and
Protection.
A blessing is a supernatural impartation of life and favor upon our lives. It may be easier to observe blessing than it is to talk about it, but when we are blessed, things go well with us. When we are blessed, God is not only with us, but it becomes obvious to others that He is also for us.
In Genesis chapter 39, we read about Joseph’s time in prison. The Bible says, “…the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy… the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (Genesis 39:21-23, emphasis added).
The opposite of that experience is a curse. Cursing is when four very different things are released into a person’s life:
Death;
Opposition;
Hindrance; and
Destruction.
This is the opposite of what we see when someone is blessed. Instead of life, there is death. Instead of favor there’s opposition, and so on. Instead of God causing you to prosper, God may actually be working against you.
In Isaiah 63 the people had turned against God. We read this: “…they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10). How frightening that is!
Many of you have heard of the “curse of the Law.” If the people of Israel were to disobey God, the Law of Moses described a set of terrible curses that would come upon them (see Deuteronomy 28). It’s sobering to think that the Lord Himself could oppose us.
Now, before we go any further, I want to ask you to please be careful when you’re talking about these things – and especially be careful speaking about these things when you’re ministering to people. It’s easy to offend people, as you can imagine, by saying that they are under a curse. You may understand that the person is a victim, but the person may not immediately understand what you’re getting at. So, be gracious and be cautious in how you discuss these things with people.
2.3. How is a blessing released? Let’s dive deeper and look at different ways a blessing is released into someone’s life.
1. A blessing may be spoken by God. I think this is obvious. God is love, and God is good. He wants us to enjoy Him and enjoy life. His kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. The Apostle John tells us, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2). This is God’s intention towards us.
We often find God Himself speaking blessing directly over a person’s life. He did this the first time in Genesis 1 when He created Adam and Eve.
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28, emph. added).
Notice what seems to have been attached to the blessing:
Fertility;
Ability;
Productivity;
Leadership.
God blessed other people, too, so that they would experience His favor, and be marked for Him. He blessed them so they would prosper in the midst of their environment. It meant that they would stand out. God blessed many people, including:
Noah
Shem
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Jesus blessed the children who came to Him
And He blessed His disciples also.
God blesses people because He wants them to experience blessedness and joy. There may be many different manifestations of a blessing, but they all flow from being in relationship with God, and from having Him release His life into your life!
2. A blessing may also be spoken by one person to another, under God’s leading or command. You may recall that it’s common for people to be blessed by another person. God has used people to bless other people. In the Bible, we see people being blessed by priests or prophets. A human being might be the one speaking, but God can certainly release His blessing to people through that means. When God so leads, people can bless other people on God’s behalf.
Many of you have heard of the Aaronic Blessing, in which the priests would bless the people of Israel. The Bible says in Numbers chapter 6:
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
‘The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.’
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
(Numbers 6:22-27)
God is saying there that He will bless people powerfully… through men! Also, very mysteriously, God says that this would cause His Name to be placed upon them.
Is this a reality? Consider that Jewish people are about one-fifth of one percent of the world’s population. If that’s the case, can anyone explain how it is that Jews have won over 20% of Nobel Prizes? I think a good part of your answer can be found in Numbers 6.
In the Bible, recall how when the patriarchs were dying, they spoke blessing over their children. They prophesied over them and released blessing from God. Moses did the same.
3. A blessing may be spoken by one person over another under the power of the person’s soul.
God seems to have created us in such a way that we can be helped by the words of others. This is a form of blessing as well. If we receive these well-intentioned words, we will be more likely to prosper. These words may not be coming directly from God, but receiving words of affirmation and encouragement seems to be a powerful means of lifting us above discouragement that would hinder us.
Encouragement isn’t quite the same thing as a supernatural blessing commanded by God, and yet it’s possible that the Apostle Paul’s ministry wouldn’t have been such a success or would have been delayed without the encouragement he received from Barnabas.
Think about that with me. What exactly are we saying when we tell someone, “You are such a blessing!”? Think about someone who has been a blessing to you. What is it that makes you say that? They have somehow uplifted your human soul. Perhaps they’ve even helped you to see something of God’s goodness.
Now, as we know, God has also placed people in families and in other relationships. You are more likely to receive the power of blessing or cursing through authority figures. It’s precisely because they have authority over your life that their words come to your soul with greater impact. The Bible tells us, “It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior” (Hebrews 7:7 ESV). Because of our relationship to them, we are more likely to accept their words, and receive their opinion of us. Their words have the ability to create a palace or a prison for your soul. Who has this power? You can easily remember the three P’s:
Parents;
Pastors, or spiritual leaders;
Professors, or teachers.
God intended this authority for good, but we have often misused it. It’s so important that we speak life to people who are under our authority. Speak kindly, speak well, speak encouragingly. Speak God’s Word. Speak words of grace!
One more thing here. Believers who agree with God’s Word can bless you as well, if they are agreeing with God and praying for His blessing on you. We are told to bless and not to curse. This means we wish for and pray for God’s favor on others. I wish I had time to dwell on that idea, but maybe we will hit it again in a subsequent week.
4. A person may also receive blessing by positioning himself to receive a blessing.
There are a number of things we can do to release favor from Heaven to us. God wants us to value what He values. He wants me to learn to walk in His ways. He wants to encourage me to take godly action that will bring blessing into my life. So He tells us in His Word how to be blessed.
God says, “those who honor Me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30). He says, “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you…” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
There’s an obvious example in Malachi 3, where God promises to open the windows of heaven to those who tithe. In the New Testament, in Luke chapter 6, Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you…” (Luke 6:38).
Some promises of this type are reciprocal. That means they can release either blessing or cursing, either one, depending on your actions. God told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you…” (Genesis 12:3a). Think about that!
Let me encourage you, as you study the Word, to notice places in which God is promising His people a blessing. Let’s walk in the blessing of the Lord, and enjoy it! God delights in blessing His children!
2.4 What are the signs of a curse? We’ve talked about blessing a bit, but what are the signs of a curse? This is a hard subject because, again, we don’t want to casually suggest that people are cursed. Saying that someone is cursed is a weighty thing – and obviously distressing to people. So, again, I ask you to always be gracious when talking about these things.
We might see things in a person’s life that could indicate the operation of a curse, and yet it might not be the case at all. We need Holy Spirit discernment and sometimes a bit of discussion in order to know what we’re dealing with. We can’t immediately assume that every problem is a curse, just like we don’t assume every problem is a demon. “Oh, how sad, the Devil took him out!” “Uh, no, he was 106 years old; maybe he just died.”
But there are some things that may indicate a curse at work. I said that a curse releases several things:
Death;
Opposition;
Hindrance; and
Destruction.
A person suffering from a curse will be unable to prosper. There will be repeated frustration, and an inability to make continual, forward progress. There may actually be the consuming of what little the person does have. There will be unexplained defeats even when it doesn’t make sense. The person may have every advantage, on paper, as we say, but he will be hemmed in and unable to break out of those vicious cycles.
In the curse of the Law, Moses captures this sense of frustration. He warned the people, “In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see” (Deuteronomy 28:67 ESV). How good to know that in Christ Jesus we can be set free from these things and experience God’s blessing instead.
The late Bible teacher Derek Prince had an extensive deliverance ministry, and he compared his observations with the curses found in Deuteronomy. He came up with a list of seven common markers that might indicate a curse:
Mental or emotional breakdown;
Repeated or chronic sickness;
Barrenness and related problems;
Breakdown in marriage and family relationships;
Continuing financial insufficiency;
Being “accident-prone;”
A history of suicide, unnatural deaths, or untimely deaths.
Let me repeat: we’re not saying that everyone who experiences these things is under a curse. But there will be times you will want to pray in that direction and see how God leads you to pray. Perhaps you may be led to ask the person about their background.
2.5 Causes of curses. Derek Prince also had a great thought about how curses arise in a person’s life. He wrote:
The operation of blessings and curses in our lives is not haphazard or unpredictable. On the contrary, both of them operate according to eternal, unchanging laws. It is to the Bible, once again, that we must look for a correct understanding of these laws. In Proverbs 26:2 Solomon establishes this principle with respect to curses: “A curse without cause shall not [land].” Behind every curse that comes upon us, there is a cause. If it seems that we are under a curse, we should seek to determine its cause. Then we shall be in a position to take appropriate action against it. This will also silence that nagging question, “Why do things like this always happen to me?”
That’s very well said, and when we study the Scriptures, we get understanding of how these things can begin to operate.
1. Idolatry. When God commanded Israel not to have false gods, He said, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me…” (Exodus 20:5). Notice that in the case of idolatry, God allows iniquity to be at work in a family line for several generations.
2. Is there such a thing as a generational curse? This is a commonly asked question. How, and why, are subsequent generations affected by someone’s sin? Does God punish children for the sins of the fathers? After all, I thought God didn’t do that!
These are my thoughts. When we come to faith in Christ, God makes us new creations in Him. However, while repentance deals with my guilt and my relationship with God, the question of iniquity is difficult.
I think of iniquity as sin we've been practicing until it twists and deforms our character. There’s a difference between falling into a sin and being someone who practices those things habitually. I was drunk a few times but I was not a drunkard. Maybe this will help us: everyone sins, but not everyone is wicked. The word wicked comes from the same root as the word wicker... it means you've been twisted by sin... just like wicker is twisted!
People who have iniquitous patterns in their lives frequently pass down those behaviors, regardless of whether they are forgiven through Christ. Their thinking and their lifestyles need to change; they need practical sanctification, which takes time. If all my life I've been a hot-tempered, screaming, angry person, there's no way that will not affect my children. It's the only way I know how to behave, and I will have to overcome that through the Spirit's help. In the meantime, my kids would be learning that behavior, just as I probably learned it from my own father. Look at the pattern of deceptive behavior we see in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, these are things to guard against, even if we’re in Christ.
King David was a mess as a father, and he reaped what he sowed in his own life. His own son slept with his concubines. God said the sword would never leave David's house because he committed murder. And violence and death remained in David’s family. How much of that was God's judgment and how much of it was learned behavior is hard to say. And yet, we know that God is always able to order things in such a way that each one of us remains responsible for his or her own sins.
Now, perhaps this was necessary due to the limitations of the human race before Christ. In order for evil not to take root in Israel, God might have had to do this so that evil families would not continue. There was no deliverance ministry and, although Israel was in covenant with God, the New Birth, with all its blessings, was not available.
In the case of the demonic realm, we’ve discussed how demonic infestation can be passed down through the family line. After a person comes to faith, those demonic spirits will seek to harass a person and come back to their "old house," as Jesus taught us.
All of that to say, when we come to Christ after a life of sin, or when we come to him out of a troubled family situation, His grace is available -- but we need vigilance against our own flesh and the enemy's attacks! I definitely think that God can through repentance break the cycles of generational sin and curses. And we’ll talk about that in a few minutes.
3. Carnal and other sins. In addition to idolatry, there are other sins that can subject people to God’s disfavor and opposition. These include things such as:
Dishonoring our parents;
Bloodshed and other forms of injustice;
Various forms of sexual sin;
Bribery;
Theft.
You can read about these things and a few more in Deuteronomy 27. When it comes to sexual sin, especially, our society is a mess. You may remember that the evil prophet Balaam was not able to curse the nation of Israel on behalf of the King of Moab, because God’s blessing was upon Israel. However, right after this, the people of Israel committed sexual sin with the women of Moab and worshiped their gods. Once this happened, the King of Moab’s goal was achieved to some extent. Having sinned against God, Israel had torn down their own protection. Solomon said that a curse without a cause doesn’t land on people. And Israel’s sin had made it possible for God’s judgment to be released against them.
Antisemitism will also release a curse upon someone. Remember how God told Abraham, “I will curse the one who curses you.” There’s also Scripture to suggest that selling hard liquor to people will bring a curse upon you.
Let’s remember that ultimately sin itself has brought judgment and cursing on the human race. We understand from reading about the Fall of Man that the earth is no longer as productive as it was.
All these things are additional reasons why we must become students of the Word of God, as best as we are able. We aren’t under the Law of Moses, but we’re still commanded to be holy. We must know what pleases God and what displeases Him.
4. Witchcraft and word curses. Just as we saw with blessings, curses can also be released in a different way, through the words and actions of other people. We spoke in LITS-1 about how demonic witchcraft works. In witchcraft a person speaks spells or incantations in order to curse others. This involves summoning demons to work against the person whom they are trying to curse. A person who is not in Christ may not have much defense against these things, aside from the sheer mercy of God. People in a country like ours may scoff at this, but many people around the world understand the reality of this, and its power.
Of more concern for most people is the power of what we often call a word curse. We can think of this as the opposite of the ministry of encouragement. I don’t want this to come across as magical thinking, because it’s not. But it will be helpful to think of words that people speak as seeds. People can speak words that demean others: swear words, insults, hurtful teasing about appearances or deficiencies, hurtful nicknames, calling people names, calling them stupid. Today, I think most of us understand how powerful and how crippling it can be when a child is on the receiving end of such speech, especially when it comes from an authority figure such as a parent or a teacher.
In this sense, a curse is anything spoken or written against an individual or a group that contradicts God’s Word, or God’s Will for that person or group. It can release demonic power to bring about the thing spoken – especially when a person takes it to heart.
I do have a lesson, later in this course, about the power of the tongue. But for now, let’s just say that when people accept such words, they become self-fulfilling prophecies. A person is told, “You will never amount to anything.” That’s bad, but it becomes worse when the person believes it, and agree with it – so that he now confesses, “My father was right about me; I will never amount to anything.” Such a person must choose to turn from that, believe God’s Word, and stand upon God’s Word instead in order to rise above that. But the danger is real. The Bible says, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 18:8).
2.6 Freedom From Curses. These are disturbing things to be sure. How can we help people get free from these things? We could study this topic for hours and to be honest, this is farther than I planned to go into it. So let’s get a very simple framework for helping people get free of these things and hopefully get beyond them in their lives.
We want to help people do three things: repent, renounce, refuse. Each one of these is important, and there is a specific order to them, as perhaps you can see.
The first is, very simply, to repent.
When the gateway for this problem, this demonic influence, whatever it is, is a question of sin, we need to be able to lead the person in repentance. We want to make sure that there is nothing that can cause a curse or God's disfavor to come upon a person. Remember, Solomon said that a curse without a cause will not alight on you, will not land on you. Repentance is where we begin because it’s an acknowledgment by the person that he has deviated from God's will and God's ways.
This can be the hardest part, because we know how people wrestle with pride and shame. It can be difficult to acknowledge in front of others that something in their lifestyle, maybe something they cherish, is offensive to God. It may be even more offensive for a person to hear that this behavior that they perhaps enjoy is causing problems in their lives.
You may need to show them the Word of God, and lead them in an appropriate prayer, asking God's forgiveness for whatever the particular sin is, and telling God that with his help they are turning away from it. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you. In general, you could always help them to pray something like this:
Dear God, I recognize that what I have done is wrong, and it's against your will. I ask you to forgive me, and I ask you to give me your grace and the help of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation in this area in the future.
Very simple!
The second R is the word renounce, or renunciation.
We know that speaking something out loud serves to reinforce it in our own souls. It also serves as a declaration to all who are listening, especially to spiritual powers who may be present. God doesn't need to hear our voice, per se, because He knows our hearts. But people in the room and demonic spirits or powers in the heavenlies can hear our authoritative declaration about this new path that we are choosing to walk on after we repent.
This is especially important when someone is suffering from a word curse. If a person has been victimized by damaging words, it’s good help her declare God's word over her life. The Holy Spirit can help you to find Scriptures that cancel out and are the opposite of the damaging words that she has received and built her life upon.
“In the name of Jesus, I say that I am not worthless, I say that God loves me.” And then the person can recite after you or read out loud from the Scriptures some passages that speak of how God cares for us. The more a person does that, the more likely it is that over time she will have her mind renewed, so that her belief and her confidence are in what God says about her, rather than what the enemy or sinful human beings have said about her.
I am being deliberately vague here because there can be so many different kinds of situations where you will want to lead a person in this kind of praying.
The third R is refusing or resisting, if you like.
Do you know in James chapter 4, the Bible says to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). We know, too, from Jesus’ teaching that when an evil spirit is cast out of a person, it will circle back to see if it can regain access to the person’s life. We have to be honest with people and tell them that when they come to us for prayer, especially when they come for deliverance prayer, we are not doing magic. Their problems are not 100% finished. In fact, in some cases the battle will continue at the same level for a time, perhaps even intensify.
It’s critical that we tell people the truth, that they must learn to resist the devil for themselves. They must do what they can to rid themselves of attachments to their sinful lifestyle. It could be a relationship, it could be an object worship, or something else, but it needs to go. The person must also do what he can to reduce exposure to those tempting situations.
And the person has to learn to resist in his thought life. When a thought comes to us, we may need to refuse and resist it and say: I refuse to accept that thought or that temptation in the name of Jesus. The person will then need to speak the Word of God instead, and call out to God for help.
I think that after we learn to resist the enemy in this way for a time, his attacks will decrease in severity and in frequency. Let’s face the fact that we are stuck with temptation until we are changed from mortality to immortality, but it can get easier over time. The Bible tells us that when Jesus resisted the devil, the devil eventually left him, to wait for an opportune time (Luke 4:13).
But part of what we must go through in this age is God training us to be victorious over the enemy’s temptations. I believe those are not just temptations to sin, but temptations to think according to the devil’s decree. His temptation is not just him trying to seduce me to sin, but to believe lies, and to give up! We have to refuse and resist the devil's decrees in our lives, and instead believe God's report about who we are, and about our destiny in God.
2.7 Some concluding thoughts on curses. As we’ve said in other contexts, rely on the Holy Spirit to show you what is causing a person’s difficulty, and how to proceed. But I thought it was important for us to begin to understand some of these dynamics. Let me recommend that you do your own word study in the Bible on both blessing and cursing. It’s a much bigger area than what we can cover even in a teaching of this length.
3. HOW TO HEAL MORE PEOPLE.
3.1 Preparing for a dramatic public ministry: going in reverse! As we approach the end of the age, we must prepare for our public ministry to look more and more like the ministry we see in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts. This will happen in several different areas as God puts us in reverse – what I mean by that is God turning us back to our first love and turning us toward a focus on outreach and power evangelism.
What can we expect? We can expect what we see in the Book of Acts.
Reversal (turning back to Gospel basics)
Supernatural boldness;
Spontaneous Spirit-led preaching;
Supernatural direction for ministry venues (the “where” of ministry);
Divine appointments with prominent people (the “who” of ministry);
Divine set-ups for dramatic healings and deliverances (the “what” of ministry).
Reaction
Challenge to our ministry from religious individuals and organizations;
Challenge to our ministry from demonic spirits;
Active persecution.
Results
Increase in the anointing for healing and miracles;
Angelic deliverances and ministry released on behalf of the Church;
Divine favor with the common people ;
Formation and sending of new teams.
3.2 How to Heal More People. One of the key ministries at the end of the age, especially with the urgency on the Father’s heart for us to gather the Harvest, is the ministry of healing. Aside from being a channel for the Father’s compassion, few things will make an opening for the Gospel like a healing. Healing must be one of the principal things at which we excel in the last days.
The question is this: how can we be more effective in healing ministry; how can we heal more people? Here are some simple points for study, reflection and prayer.
1. Simply desire to heal more people. To begin to heal more people, it can be as simple as that. Scripture tells us to covet spiritual gifts: “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts…” (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Do we do that? Or are we content to live without a powerful healing anointing in our lives? Are you stirred in your heart about it?
If we do not desire to see people healed AND that we would be the ones to heal them, it is unlikely we will see many healings in our ministry. The word “desire” there as you know means to desire earnestly and pursue, to be zealous. Don’t be “OK with” God using you to heal. Pursue it from Him.
2. Be increased in your compassion. “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed’” (Mark 1:40-41).
Go before God and ask Him to increase your compassion for the lost and the sick. Repent of any harsh words, negative words or jokes you might have spoken about people or people groups. Racism and evangelism never mix.
Something that will help you here is to take a fast from criticism. For 30 days, commit to not criticizing anyone. When you do this, you might be amazed at how much critical talk has been coming across your lips. It will re-sensitize you to the need to be kind and gentle in the way you speak.
3. Be increased in your healing anointing. The Bible teaches us that “ye have not, because ye ask not” (see James 4:2). There is no way to receive a healing anointing or to increase in the healing grace God has given you other than to put yourself at the feet of Jesus and ask Him for it.
Do you really care whether people are healed? Then pray, fast, and weep until your heart is empty of self and God can entrust you with an anointing because you take no credit and give all the glory away.
4. Pray the apostolic prayers of the New Testament for yourself. Obviously, we’ve just had an entire night where we spoke about praying the Word. But it’s an essential discipline in this arena. You need revelation from God, and you need understanding of His ways if you’re going to function in healing. So, you need to be praying for yourself the two big prayers that Paul gave us in Ephesians.
“Lord, let me know, let me experience the love of God which surpasses knowledge, so I can be filled up with all the fullness of you!” (see Eph. 3).
Be praying for yourself the biblical prayers that will give you insight into the ways of God. The Bible teaches us that the people of Israel saw the acts of God, but Moses knew His ways, and that’s very different (see Psalms 103:7). If you know God personally, and know God’s ways, you will know better how to proceed in many different ministry situations.
5. Look to people with powerful healing ministries. Study the lives of great men and women of God who were used to heal in the past, or who are being used by God today. Pay particular attention to the temptations and the pitfalls they faced.
What about receiving impartations from people? Is this biblical? Yes, absolutely. Paul told the Romans that he longed to be with them, so that he could impart to them some spiritual gift (see Romans 1:11). You can read about that in Timothy’s life also. In Numbers 11, God took some of the anointing that was upon Moses and put it on the other elders, and they prophesied. So, it is possible that a person could, if led by the Holy Spirit, pray for you and you would receive a gift or receive an increase in your gifting.
So, yes, receive impartations for increase in healing grace from servants of God who are used in healing but only under certain conditions:
You are led by the Holy Spirit to do so;
You are reasonably sure that church leadership approves;
That servant has a proven healing ministry;
That servant is humble and fears the weight of what he is carrying.
6. Be renewed in your own mind about healing. How can you pray for healing for others if you are not sure in your heart that it is God’s normal, usual and customary will to heal the sick?
This may be review for most of us, but learn, and even memorize the scriptures that relate to healing in both Testaments. Renew your minds to those truths. Be a little stronger about what you listen to. Fear, unbelief, and doubt (I think nowadays they call it FUD) is your enemy.
I would even say, don’t listen anymore to people on the radio who teach against these things. Is there a cessationist preacher on the radio, someone who denies that the things of the Holy Spirit are for today? Turn him off. After all, what can that person teach you about the Book of Acts that you will be able to use on the streets? Probably not that much.
Do the same thing with passages dealing with deliverance. Frequently read the healing and deliverance stories of the Gospels and Acts.
I personally know one minister who has been powerfully used in healing and evangelism in a number of countries and he does something interesting. He said that he reads through the Gospels every week. So, he literally reads his way completely through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each and every week. I would say his mind is renewed to God’s Word in these areas, so that it is not hard for him to believe for people’s healings. He also has the Cross and therefore the love and the compassion of God always in his thinking.
So, on that topic I would also say to study carefully the passages which speak to us of God’s love and faithfulness toward people. Let your heart be renewed to how much God loves people. The worldly mind falls into two major errors about God’s disposition toward men: (1) God doesn’t love me; and (2) God loves me and He overlooks my sin. [Repeat that!] Avoid these errors and be able to counter them with Scripture when people recite them to you.
3.3 Developing Sensitivity to the Spirit. Focusing in a little deeper, a primary way to start to heal more people is to make sure we are developing sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Remember how often we’ve discussed that Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. In order to imitate Him, and start to see some of the results that He saw, we must have the same mind. We must become increasingly sensitive to the Spirit’s heart and voice.
1. Pray ahead of time for events… and people. I love how Jesus sent out the 70, two by two, to every place that He was going to visit. That meant that Jesus had 35 places in His spreadsheet that He planned to visit. He already had God’s direction to go there, and I had no doubt that He was already praying for these places and for the people He and His disciples would encounter there. We need to do the same.
Are you going to be in church, are you going to minister in some capacity? Pray for the place, pray for the flow of the event, pray for the people who will be there, pray that everyone whom God wants to be there will be there. Prepare the ground in the spirit, like a farmer prepares the soil to receive the seed.
2. Flow in the compassion of Christ. In Matthew 9:36, Jesus says, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” We need to ask the Lord for His compassion for people, but then also respond to it.
When you are in a gathering, look for the compassion of the Lord. Whom do you feel drawn to? For whom do you feel the Lord’s compassion? When you feel the Spirit tugging on you to go towards a certain person and pray, follow that leading. Now, if you are only ever praying for the nicest-looking people at the church, you need to question your heart. I hope we can discern between the compassion of the Lord and other things. Follow the movement of the river of God’s compassion. The compassion of God can open the door to the intervention of God. Remember that God sees all, but there are times when the Lord is not only seeing, but looking at someone, and wanting us to look as well, because He has a good intention for the person at that moment.
3. Keep flowing in the Spirit’s move. Ask yourself what God is doing in the meeting. And don’t fight it. A time of ministry might not be proceeding as you liked, or as you had hoped. But if the Spirit is moving in a certain way, flow with Him and don’t fight Him. We are developing sensitivity to what He is doing. We are not asking Him to develop sensitivity to what we are doing.
This is also why you might hear a person say, “Holy Spirit, I bless what you’re doing in this person.” If God is moving on a person, it’s not that you have power together with the Spirit to help them. No, it’s that God is already doing something, and you are agreeing with Him.
Let’s not ask ourselves what the Spirit has done in the past, or what you’ve learned He can do and likes to do in general. The question is always, “God, what are you doing TODAY? What are you doing right NOW in this room? Because I want to partner with you in what you’re doing right now.”
Don’t be bossy or pushy with the Spirit. We are servants of the Lord.
4. Move out in your anointing. Begin to make yourself available to God to heal people. Ask Him to make opportunities for you and to supernaturally lead you.
Make a practice of praying in the Spirit throughout the day to become not only edified but also sensitive to the Spirit’s Voice. Remember that Jesus did what HE saw the Father doing.
Be brave, and quickly seize opportunities to pray. When you learn of an illness, don’t say, “Oh! I’m so sorry, yes, I will be sure to pray for you!” Instead, say, “Hey, do you mind if I lay hands on you and pray for you right now?” Christians fail to really pray for each other all the time, but you can take this approach not only with Christians, but of course with anybody. Use the 5-step model and listen to God’s Voice for direction as to how to pray.
As God uses you more and more you will also recognize your own administration of healing gifts. For example, I know that in my own life, God uses me through authoritative commands, words of knowledge, and through the power of God being released. He may use you differently. The more you cooperate with Him, the more you will know if God uses you more regularly in laying on hands with power, in giving verbal commands, in having words of knowledge for healing, etc. When this begins to happen you will have even more confidence.
5. Safeguard your anointing! Safeguard your anointing, not only by praying in tongues, but by keeping yourself unspotted from the world. Guard your heart with all diligence. Forgive quickly. You especially want to do these things if you are preparing to minister. The enemy will come at you to tear down your trust and confidence. Our confidence is not in ourselves, don’t misunderstand me, but the enemy seeks to introduce condemnation so we will become spectators rather than participants in what God is doing.
Walk in the fear of the Lord and in practical holiness, especially if God uses you powerfully. You must behave in an exemplary fashion in front of others. It isn’t necessary to laugh at every joke, nor to go where others go. Let no flies get in your ointment.
This should probably be a separate heading, but avoid pride like the plague. Don’t take credit for anything. Defer all credit and give all glory to God. Even Jesus said, “The Father who dwells within Me, He does the works.” When God uses you, it is amazing, and sometimes people will be amazed at you. They might start bringing people to you because they know you have a healing anointing. This is blessed ground, a wonderful privilege, but it is also dangerous ground for you. Be careful, and be hidden in Christ so that people see Jesus, not you.
6. Keep close to God. This is connected to everything we’ve said up to now, of course. Remember that the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If it becomes clear that God is using you, be sure to take no credit.
But also, and this is very critical, but we must avoid King Solomon’s problem. Do not take signs and wonders as God’s endorsement of everything you do. God will often heal people because of His compassion for them even if you are not living right. This is a tremendous potential deception for our hearts. Remember, we want to hear Him say, “Well done!” and not the other line, which is “I never knew you.”
Continue to do the things that got you close to God and made you useful to Him in the first place. NEVER let the demands of ministry or the successes of ministry pull you away from your fasted lifestyle and prayer.
The first apostles devoted themselves to the Word of God and to prayer, not to engaging in Christian activities and ministering 20 hours a day. If you must concentrate your efforts on anything in the last days, concentrate on knowing Jesus, loving Him, and personally serving Him rather than thinking that your “ministry” stands as a substitute for your personal ministering to Him. Remember that it was as they ministered to the Lord and fasted that apostolic grace was released and a Holy Spirit-empowered mission to unsaved people groups was birthed.
7. See healing and the miraculous as your normal lifestyle. You remember how Peter described Jesus’ ministry. He said, “you know… how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (see Acts 10:36-38).
This was Jesus’ normal life. It was His default setting. Going around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil. We need to stop seeing the miraculous as miraculous. Sure, the miraculous involves miracles, but in the English language the word “miracle” has come to mean something out of the ordinary. Something rare, something strange. Not in Scripture. The word “miracle” doesn’t mean that at all in the Bible.
The word dunamis, which we’ve spoken of, which means power (as in God’s supernatural power) is also used for the word we translate as “miracles.” So, a miracle in the Bible wasn’t necessarily something rare and miraculous, it simply meant that God had released His power into a situation. And God is never running out of power, which means He’s never running out of acts of power. If we can learn to see the miraculous as something that’s not miraculous but as something that God does all the time, we will see more people healed, and more people coming to faith as they see the reality of God, and that God is alive today.
