Prayer is by the Spirit

If prayer isn’t by the Spirit, then it isn’t truly prayer. The Holy Spirit wants to help you to pray. He is the One Who enables you to seek the face of God, the One Who graces you with the desire to know Jesus in greater depths.

Everything that is spiritual is by the Spirit. Prayer is no exception.

All prayer is initiated by the Holy Spirit. This, of course, does not mean that you cannot, of your own free will, approach the throne of God. This simply means that if there is a desire within you to seek the Lord, then it was the Holy Spirit Who helped to cultivate that desire within you.

One must be quickened before he can call upon the Lord.

“So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.” – Psalm 80:18 (KJV)

Prayer is a spiritual act, initiated and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit. And only those who are living in the Spirit can truly be guided by the Holy Spirit in spiritual matters.

“But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” – 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

The Holy Spirit helps you to pray by giving you the desire to pray, giving you the understanding to pray, and empowering you when you pray. The initiation, action, and results of prayer are all by the Holy Spirit.

It is by prayer that we involve God and exchange our weaknesses for His strength. It is in prayer that we yield to the will of God. It is in prayer that we become surrendered to the Holy Spirit.

Let the Holy Spirit give you the desire to pray. Follow His leading and let Him make you a person of prayer—one who lives in moment-by-moment divine fellowship.

Prayer is by the Spirit.

For more on this topic, you can watch my teaching, “Jesus Reveals What Most Get Wrong About Talking to God,” on YouTube by clicking here.

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Sooner Than You Think

You’ve been waiting, praying, and maybe even worrying a little bit - but what if the miracle isn’t as far off as it seems? For several years my wife Jessica and I were believing for God to give us a child. Our only option at the time was a medical procedure we could not afford - so all we could do was believe God for a miracle. Some days we were filled with hope and we imagined our lives as parents. Other days, we were afraid to hope because we didn’t want to be disappointed. Finally we decided this: We’ve cried our tears, from here on out, only faith. 

6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. - James 1:6-7 (NLT)

I would rather go my whole life believing for the miracle than to give up even one day too soon. I wonder how many gave up in the night on the miracle that waited for them in the morning. On a seemingly ordinary day like any other, we found out that Jessica was pregnant. Nine months later Aria was born. 

7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)

Only God knows what tomorrow holds for you. I dare you to believe God for the miracle. By the way, our precious Aria believed for a miracle too. Now she has her baby sister, Lilian.

For more on this topic, you can watch my teaching, “The Life-Changing Power of Praying Without Ceasing,” on YouTube by clicking here.

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The Next-Level Christian

Salvation is free, but the anointing will cost you everything. When you get saved, you lose your unsaved friends. When you become anointed, you lose your lukewarm friends. There is a price to pay for the anointing. All of us have the anointing within us, but not all of us walk in the anointing.

“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” - 1 John 2:27 (KJV)

The anointing is God’s power. We all carry God’s power, but not all of us live in such a way that His power can flow through us to help those around us. 

If you desire God’s power to move through you, then you must count the cost.

The anointing oil, which was symbolic of God’s empowering presence, was created from olive oil. The olives used for the oil had to be shaken from their trees and then crushed. So two things had to happen before the oil was produced: a shaking and a crushing.

If you want God to use you, you’ll have to be okay with Him shaking you from the familiar. God loves you too much to leave you in mediocrity. So He’ll shake the systems upon which you rely, He’ll shake the relationships that hold you back, He’ll shake the circumstances that limit your potential in Him. 

Don’t expect that your life will go just as you want it to go. Expect that your plans will be disrupted. Expect that you’ll find yourself in situations that require much faith. After all, if where you are doesn’t require faith, you’re not in the will of God.

And after you are shaken from the familiar, you will be crushed, put under pressure to be processed. Here’s the thing: pressure can only reveal what’s already within you; it can’t produce what’s lacking. Only the Spirit-filled produce power under pressure. 

So if you want God to use you, if you truly want to walk in the anointing, you must die to self. God must process you before He can use you. Now, sadly, because we live in the day of social media, anyone can create an online platform. And because anyone can create an online platform, anyone can skip the process.

But ministry is more than influence; it’s service. We’re ministers, not public figures; servants, not celebrities. We’re called to preach God’s Word, not our political preferences or personal opinions. Ministry is not a promotion; it’s a death to self. Put your desires on the cross and leave them there.

But the reward is beyond worth it. Our reward is that we will please the Lord. Our reward is knowing that Jesus will reap the reward of His suffering - lost souls.

So if you want the anointing, die to self. The Holy Spirit can’t fill you if you’re full of yourself. Your prayer should be, “Lord, spend my life for your glory.” Count the cost. Lay it down. Let God’s power flow through you.

And remember that the anointing doesn’t come through striving; it comes through surrender.

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Unlock God’s Plan for Your Life

God wants to use your life for His glory. As a Spirit-filled believer, you carry the potential to become a vessel for God’s purposes. So what’s the key to being used by God?

To answer that, I want to take a look at the story of Jesus miraculously feeding a multitude.

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (John 6:5-7)

So there was a need. By all natural standards, the situation seemed impossible to overcome. The crowd was too big, and the supply seemed inadequate. But then something became available.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. (John 6:8-11)

A little boy offered to the Lord his food supply - five loaves of bread, two fish. Concerning the boy’s offering, Andrew asked a fair question: “But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Jesus, seeming to ignore Andrew’s doubt-filled question, answered confidently, “Tell everyone to sit down..” Tell everyone to sit down? Jesus didn’t even address the doubt behind Andrew’s question. He simply responded with action, with demonstration.

Now the Bible tells us that that there were more than 5,000 people present - the men alone numbered 5,000. Let’s be conservative and assign only one child and one woman to each man. So at least 15,000 people were present and in need of food.

A big need; a seemingly small supply. But the need was met, and the crowd was fed. 

The boy offered what he had to Jesus - his five loaves of bread and two fish. Here’s what Luke’s gospel records Jesus doing with the bread:

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. (Luke 9:16)

So what can we learn from this most remarkable story? 

The boy’s meal was not enough to meet the need. The boy’s meal needed to be surrendered to Jesus before it could be distributed. Jesus broke the bread before He multiplied it. In the boy’s hands, the food was not enough. 

In our hands, our lives are not enough to meet the needs of the world’s masses. But in the hands of Jesus, our nothing becomes everything. Brokenness precedes usefulness; surrender precedes the miraculous. 

There is no limit to what God can do with a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Put your life in the hands of God. Surrender. Let Him break you, mold you, create anew. Tell Him, “God, if you can use nothing, here I am.”

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Flowing with the Holy Spirit

Trying to fight the Holy Spirit makes you miserable. Trying to force the Holy Spirit makes you frustrated. But when you flow with the Holy Spirit, there is peace and joy. When it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit, don’t fight or force; just flow.

You can’t stop what He’s doing in the earth, so you might as well get on board, lest you become miserable.

You can’t force Him to do that which is outside of His will, so don’t even try. People waste so much time trying to live in their own strength and by their own will.

Live at the pace of the Holy Spirit, and things fall into place. This is not to say that you won’t have trials or experience heartache. This simply means that when you’re walking in the Holy Spirit, there is a flow, a peace, and a joy.

 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

We belong to Him. We are alive in Him. So let’s live like it.

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The Crucified Life

“Your dreams are about to come true." 

“Your breakthrough is on the way.” 

"The toughest times come just before the greatest blessings.” 

“God is getting ready to catapult you into greatness.”

Statements like those find their power by pulling on a person’s deep longing to be successful, wealthy, put-together, respected, and otherwise well-positioned in life. In fact, the Word “breakthrough” has become a Christian code word that means “The day I never have any more struggles.” We have sermons that give you steps to a better you and keys to success in this area or that area. It seems that every message you hear is about how your dreams are just within arm’s reach. But the reason we have so much preaching on climbing mountains is because we don’t have the faith or power to move mountains. And we lack faith and power to move mountains because we lack the preaching of the cross.

Sadly, many are promising a life without troubles, trials, sacrifice, or commitment. Honestly, that’s just contrary to what Jesus told us:

John 16:33

In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Sure, the blessings of God abound in the life of every believer. He prospers, provides for, protects, and loves His people. God does not despise the prayer request. God does not become angry with His child’s request for a blessing. God loves to bless His children. But one thing we should all remember is this: God’s cause takes precedence over the believer’s comfort.

Mark 8:34-35

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.

Jesus spoke those challenging words just after prophesying His own death. His disciple Peter was resistant to the idea of Jesus giving His own life on the cross. The Lord rebuked Peter, saying, “Get away from me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Get away from me Satan? Those harsh words exposed the source of Peter’s resistance to the cross. No, Peter was not possessed, as it’s well-established that Christians cannot be demon-possessed. 

But he was being influenced by Satanic thinking. Resistance to the cross is Satanic. Think of how the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Satan offered to Jesus a cross-less path to glory. Yet Jesus, filled with both the Word and the Spirit, overcame the temptation to deny the cross. He chose instead to deny Himself. 

A cross-less gospel is a Christ-less gospel. The gospel is not about self-improvement; it’s about self-abandonment. It’s not about our dreams; it’s about God’s will. We must stop trying to build what the Word of God has told us to crucify.

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Planted by the Hand of God

Salvation is free, but the call of God will cost you everything.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. (John 12:24, NLT)

When you lay down your life for the call of God, you become like a seed planted in the ground. When you are planted by God, you may, at times, find yourself in dark and lonely places; but your life will be used of God to bring forth a harvest. 

Seeds are those who say to the Lord, “Spend me for your glory.” So here’s a question for you: Will you let God bury you? Will you let God take you to places that you may not want to go? Will you give up your own plans and ambitions and exchange them for God’s perfect will? 

Will you become a seed in the ground that others might hear the gospel? 

Paul the Apostle wrote of a daily death to self, and that’s exactly what it will take to be used of God. May you become a life planted, that Jesus might reap the reward of His suffering - a plentiful harvest of new lives, of souls.

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The Potter's Hand

The rebellious nature has been crucified with Christ, but it seems that the rebellious nature often tries for a resurrection. We surrender things to God and then try to control them again. We place things in His hands and then try to hold them for ourselves again. We put things on the altar and then try to pull them off. We tend to forget that God is the potter, and that we are the clay.

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ (Isaiah 45:9, NLT)

This is why we so desperately need the help of the Holy Spirit; it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can truly learn to surrender. 

Let God break your will and mold His. Let God reshape your thinking to be like His. Allow God to fashion your nature, your character, your speech, your thought patterns, and your conduct. Don’t fight Him. 

Realize that God’s vision for your life will often contradict your vision for your life. But considering the fact that you surrendered your life to Him when you got saved, can you truly say anymore that it’s “your” life?

Don’t fight the process. Don’t resist the movement of the Potter’s hand. Let Him break what needs to be broken. Let Him remove what needs to be removed. Let His desire take shape in you. 

Indeed, we are just the clay; He is the Potter. 

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Welcome the Holy Spirit

In the modern Church, the Holy Spirit is often treated like He’s a liability rather than the very power to truly grow the Church. In many cases, He’s barely tolerated, when He should be sought after and honored.

The Holy Spirit was present at the founding of the Church, because He is the key to a powerful Church.

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. (Acts 2:1-4, NLT)

We need the Holy Spirit. Programs cannot replace power. Strategy cannot replace Spirit. Methods cannot replace miracles. We must do away with clever-sounding excuses that limit the Holy Spirit’s influence in our churches and ministries.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit, our preaching is just self-help, our worship is just entertainment, our evangelism is just marketing, and our gathering is just a club.

No more superficial encouragement; the hour calls for supernatural empowerment. The hour calls for a remnant that is unashamed of the Holy Spirit’s work. Stop trying to explain Him and just embrace Him. Be bold. And let it be known that we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe in His power to convict the heart of the sinner and to heal the disease of the afflicted. We believe in miracles, in healing, in casting out demons, in speaking in tongues, in manifestations of power. Yes, we believe in the power of pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit.

Some are surrendered just enough to be blessed by the Spirit but not enough to be transformed by the Spirit. But it’s time to surrender all. It’s time to acknowledge that we are utterly helpless without Him - that we need the Holy Spirit.

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Do you need spiritual leaders? What the Bible says about "Spiritual Covering"

You’ve heard it said, “I love God, but I’m not into organized religion.” This sentiment, though seemingly noble and virtuous, fails to take into account the fact that everything God does is orderly, structured, intentional, and organized.

Consider your body. Your body consists of various systems - nervous system, skeletal system, and so on. Your body lives in an ecosystem on a planet that moves through a solar system. 

In fact, the Church is described as an organized body of believers:

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12, NLT)

People have this idea that the Church shouldn’t be organized or structured, that the Church’s ministry projects shouldn’t be too large, that the Church shouldn’t function on systems. But it’s not only possible to be both led by the Holy Spirit and organized - it’s necessary. For the Holy Spirit Himself always brings order.

But let’s get down to it: one of the reasons that people don’t want to accept the fact that the Church is a system is because they don’t like the idea of God delegating authority to other human beings. This dislike of spiritual authority might stem from hurt or a bad experience. But the Bible makes it clear that God has given us spiritual leaders, not to control us, but to guide us in our spiritual growth.

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (Hebrews 13:17, NLT)

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12, NLT)

Spiritual authority is a protective covering, not a controlling lid. We can benefit from the wisdom, guidance, and love of those who are more mature in the faith. If we want to reach our full spiritual capacity, we must be rid of this unbiblical notion that we don’t need each other. 

Now I understand that some immature or insecure leaders abuse their positions of ministry. (Hint: if anyone ever tells you that you’re cursed or that you’ll never fulfill God’s perfect will if you leave them, that’s manipulation.) 

But we mustn’t allow the abusers of power to keep us from benefitting from leaders who are genuinely loving. All of us have room to grow, and, therefore, all of us can benefit from God’s system of Church authority. 

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The Key to Being Used by God

God wants to use your life for His glory. As a Spirit-filled believer, you carry the potential to become a vessel for God’s purposes. So what’s the key to being used by God?

To answer that, I want to take a look at the story of Jesus miraculously feeding a multitude.

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (John 6:5-7)

So there was a need. By all natural standards, the situation seemed impossible to overcome. The crowd was too big, and the supply seemed inadequate. But then something became available.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. (John 6:8-11)

A little boy offered to the Lord his food supply - five loaves of bread, two fish. Concerning the boy’s offering, Andrew asked a fair question: “But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

Jesus, seeming to ignore Andrew’s doubt-filled question, answered confidently, “Tell everyone to sit down..” Tell everyone to sit down? Jesus didn’t even address the doubt behind Andrew’s question. He simply responded with action, with demonstration.

Now the Bible tells us that that there were more than 5,000 people present - the men alone numbered 5,000. Let’s be conservative and assign only one child and one woman to each man. So at least 15,000 people were present and in need of food.

A big need; a seemingly small supply. But the need was met, and the crowd was fed. 

The boy offered what he had to Jesus - his five loaves of bread and two fish. Here’s what Luke’s gospel records Jesus doing with the bread:

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. (Luke 9:16)

So what can we learn from this most remarkable story? 

The boy’s meal was not enough to meet the need. The boy’s meal needed to be surrendered to Jesus before it could be distributed. Jesus broke the bread before He multiplied it. In the boy’s hands, the food was not enough. 

In our hands, our lives are not enough to meet the needs of the world’s masses. But in the hands of Jesus, our nothing becomes everything. Brokenness precedes usefulness; surrender precedes the miraculous. 

There is no limit to what God can do with a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Put your life in the hands of God. Surrender. Let Him break you, mold you, create anew. Tell Him, “God, if you can use nothing, here I am.”

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The River of the Spirit

Wherever the river of the Holy Spirit flows, there is abundant life. It’s true that the Holy Spirit gives to us a divine energy that never weakens. It’s true that we have all the power we could ever need, already within us, because of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us unto holiness, inspires sincere worship, cultivates love, leads into the depths of prayer, reveals the Word of God, and so much more.

John 7:38

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”

Indeed, the Holy Spirit is that river of life.

If ever there is a moment when you feel tired, wearied by the demands and responsibilities of life, you can come to the river. At the river of the Spirit, life grows. At the river of the Spirit, there is refreshing for your soul. This river, this mighty flow of God’s unstoppable power, rushes through the chaos and clears away the spiritual hindrances of life. Shame, anger, guilt, sin, fear, depression, and confusion are washed away by the streams of the Spirit.

But here’s the reality: many believers are not experiencing the life-giving effects of the Holy Spirit’s power simply because they are afraid to jump into the river. Some say to the river, “Flow  just far enough to refresh me but not enough to take me. Holy Spirit, move in my life enough to bless me but not enough to challenge me.”

Whether it be for fear of loss of control or a hesitation about total abandonment, some simply sit along the river banks. Unsure of where the river might take them, they choose to remain dry. They can see the river. They may even be somewhat refreshed by the mist that hovers about the atmosphere. They may even sip from the river now and then. But one cannot experience the flow of the river until he jumps in.

It’s time to stop hesitating. It’s time to say, as the Psalmist said, “As the deer panteth for the waters, so my soul longer after thee!” It’s time to stop sipping from the river; it’s time to jump into the river.

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The Crucified Life

“Your dreams are about to come true."

“Your breakthrough is on the way.”

"The toughest times come just before the greatest blessings.”

“God is getting ready to catapult you into greatness.”

Statements like those find their power by pulling on a person’s deep longing to be successful, wealthy, put-together, respected, and otherwise well-positioned in life. In fact, the Word “breakthrough” has become a Christian code word that means “The day I never have any more struggles.” We have sermons that give you steps to a better you and keys to success in this area or that area. It seems that every message you hear is about how your dreams are just within arm’s reach. But the reason we have so much preaching on climbing mountains is because we don’t have the faith or power to move mountains. And we lack faith and power because we lack the preaching of the cross.

Sadly, many are promising a life without troubles, trials, sacrifice, or commitment. Honestly, that’s just contrary to what Jesus told us:

John 16:33

In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Sure, the blessings of God abound in the life of every believer. He prospers, provides for, protects, and loves His people. God does not despise the prayer request. God does not become angry with His child’s request for a blessing. But one thing we should all remember is this: God’s cause takes precedence over the believer’s comfort. So let me just be real with you - many are deceived by a false gospel that requires nothing of them.

Mark 8:34-35

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.

Jesus spoke those challenging words just after prophesying His own death. His disciple Peter was resistant to the idea of Jesus giving His own life on the cross. The Lord rebuked Peter, saying, “Get away from me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Get away from me Satan? Those harsh words exposed the source of Peter’s resistance to the cross. Resistance to the cross is Satanic. Think of how the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Satan offered to Jesus a cross-less path to glory. Yet Jesus, filled with both the Word and the Spirit, overcame the temptation to deny the cross. He chose instead to deny Himself.

A cross-less gospel is a Christ-less gospel. The gospel is not about self-improvement; it’s about self-abandonment. It’s not about our dreams; it’s about God’s will. We must stop trying to build what the Word of God has told us to crucify.

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Becoming a Vessel of Healing

Heroes of the faith are reflections of the glory of God, but they are only reflections. While we can receive impartation, wisdom, and inspiration from those who have gone before us, we must aim to imitate them only in this one regard: ourselves becoming reflections of the brightest light.

We must look to reflect Jesus.

Jesus was the greatest healing minister of all time. All others are only flawed imitations, myself included. So, when it comes to ministering God’s healing power, we must look to Jesus as our bright and pure example.

Jesus had a prayer life.

Jesus prayed in seclusion.

After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. - Matthew 14:23, NLT

Jesus prayed in the morning.

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. - Mark 1:35, NLT

Jesus prayed at night.

46After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. - Mark 6:46-47, NLT

Jesus prayed often.

But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. - Luke 5:16, NLT

There is no substitute for prayer. There is no substitute for God’s healing power. Either you pray or you don’t. Either you carry God’s healing power or you don’t.

If you want to have Christ-like power, you must have a Christ-like prayer life. If you want to heal like Jesus healed, you must pray like Jesus prayed. To move like Christ moved, you must live like Christ lived. A prayer life is key to the healing ministry.

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Make Room for the Lord

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. - Luke 5:1-3, NLT

Jesus presented the Word of God with such a magnetic anointing that large crowds would gather to hear Him preach. Because of the press of the crowd, Jesus was unable to address everyone effectively.  So He looked for a place from which He could effectively teach. That’s when the Lord took notice of two empty boats.

Jesus stepped into the boat, and, as He did, He asked Simon to push the boat into the water. Simon obliged.

After teaching the Word, Jesus told Simon to push the boat onto the water and cast his fishing nets into the water again. Simon was at first reluctant but then obeyed Jesus.

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. - Luke 5:5-7, NLT

Simon had worked all night for a catch but caught nothing. But because He let down his nets in response to the command of Jesus, there was an abundance. Simon was likely exhausted from the night before – and likely discouraged. But what couldn’t be accomplished by man all night was accomplished by the Lord in a matter of moments.

Even Simon’s business partners, James and John, were blessed by Simon’s obedience toward Christ. And those around you will also be blessed at your obedience toward Christ – including your family and loved ones.

To top it off, Simon, James, and John were then called by Jesus to become His disciples. Can you imagine that? The failure of the night was likely forgotten in the joy of their newfound abundance and calling. How quickly things can change when Jesus comes on the scene!

But I can’t help but ask this question: what would have happened if the boats were not empty?

Sure, the call of the disciples was an important part of the sovereign plan of God, but you cannot forget the element of free will. People miss their opportunities everyday. Think of the rich young ruler who many Bible scholars say could have been a disciple of Jesus had he only given up his riches.

My point is this: have you left room for the Lord in your life?

Do you give Him time in prayer, the Word, and worship? Do you live attentive to the inner witness of the Holy Spirit?

You see, dear reader, the Lord will step into the lives of those who make room for Him. And, once there, the Lord will challenge you. Once you make room for the Lord, He will move on your behalf and then challenge you to forsake all and follow Him.

Think about it. The Lord had just blessed the disciples with an abundance of fish. Then He asked the disciples to leave that blessing and follow Him. Often, God will bless you just to test you. And, often, God will bless you just to show you that He is your source – that you need only to follow Him.

Once Jesus had stepped into the empty boat, He made a request of Simon – namely, to push the boat out onto the water. This is how the Lord works: He will challenge those who make room for Him. He will test those who seek Him. And He will bless those who by faith obey Him.

Have you made room for the Lord to challenge you? Have you given Him a place to speak into your life? Are you ever quiet enough to hear His voice?

Make room for the Lord. Once He’s on your boat, everything changes and rapidly so.

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Divine Brokenness

Before God will use you, He will break you. Before God will bless you, He will test you.

I mean that the carnal nature must be broken. God will use circumstances and challenges to change you. He will use pressures and problems to process you.

Challenges have a way of making us cling tighter to the Lord. I think of Jacob who, upon having his hip broken, held tightly to the Lord.

When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
– Genesis 32:25-26

Of course, we later discover that the “man” with whom Jacob was wrestling was actually God.

When wrestling with you, when dealing with you, God will sometimes break you. I don’t mean that He will harm you. I mean that He will break you in the same sense that a wild horse is “broken”. He will tame your unruliness by making you need to lean on Him.

God wants to bless you. God wants to use and anoint your life for His glory. God wants to change your nature. God wants to give you a new name. But first, He has to break you.

Why?

It’s because the broken lean on Him; the broken cling to Him.

Jacob was alone. Jacob was facing pressure (His brother was pursuing him). Yet that loneliness and pressure positioned Jacob to meet God face-to-face.

Don’t fight the process. Don’t resist what God is doing.

You may find yourself alone. Perhaps you’re reaching out for help, and nobody seems to be reaching back. Often, the invitations of God are disguised as the rejections of man.

You may be facing pressure. Your circumstance may make you uncomfortable. But pressure makes you desperate, and desperation drives you closer to the Lord.

Could it be that God is using your current predicament to get your attention?

We don’t want to find ourselves in the place of challenge, pressure, loneliness, and heartache. But that is the very place where God will meet us and deal with the flesh. That is the place of brokenness where we receive true transformation from a true encounter with God.

Embrace it. Let God break you.

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The Divine Challenge

Dear reader, I want to give you a simple challenge, a practical and immediately applicable truth that will help you to become more like Christ each day. King David understood this simple principle:

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” - Psalm 1:2

God’s Word is the law, and Jesus is God’s Word.

We must fix our minds upon Christ. The eyes of your heart must lock a gaze upon the majestic countenance of Christ.

For all our toil and strain, we so often come up empty. It’s not complicated. It’s beyond human effort and exhaustion. Stop struggling. Be still. Just think upon the Word of God. Be still and look at His face by meditation on the Word.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” - Proverbs 23:7

Think about Christ, meditate upon Him, and you will become more like Him.

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” - 2 Corinthians 3:18

We are changed in His presence as we behold Him.

You can’t get more of God. All that God was, is or ever shall be abides within you. When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you, He comes in fullness. If you’re hungry for that ‘something more’, you will discover it when you realize this: it’s not about how much you have of God; it’s about how much God has of you. And one of the many ways that we can surrender more of ourselves to Him is our thoughts.

I am being completely honest with you when I tell you that, when I am awake, not more than 5 minutes can usually go by without me giving a thought to the Lord. I live in an awareness of His presence. I am looking forward to the day when I can get that down to 1 minute.

It’s possible to surrender the mind to the beauty of Christ. I encourage you to take up this challenge today: Think of Christ more today than you did yesterday. Do that everyday and you’ll see transformation.

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All My Nothing

When it comes to surrendering self to God’s masterful use, many believers become anxious. The stubborn believer is another topic for another time. I’m writing about the believer who wants to be used for the glory of God but can’t seem to break through to the next phase of ministry. Perhaps the greatest fear, the biggest hindrance to being used by God, is this nagging idea: I’m not fit for God’s use.

It is that negative thought which causes the aforementioned anxiety.

When I was eleven years old, I used to read of how God used people like Kathryn Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, and Smith Wigglesworth. You don’t need to know who they are. I can tell you that they were people who were used mightily of God. Millions of people have been impacted by their lives in either a direct or indirect way.

Specifically, I used to watch Miss Kuhlman. She had such a divine energy about her demeanor, such a profound and genuine spirituality. I wanted that for my life and ministry. But, deep within, there was this thought: I’m not fit for God’s use.

I would read of Bible characters – Moses, King David, John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle. Everything within me would cry out for God to do in our modern day what He did in the Old and New testaments. I would think, “Why can’t God move now as He did in the book of Acts?” I would become stirred at that radical notion. My passion would become stirred, but then it would be immediately stifled into despair the very moment that I recalled the intrusive and discouraging thought, “I’m not fit for God’s use.”

I would check off a list of things I lacked: no notoriety, no charisma, no strong gift, no powerful sermons, and no idea how to start in the ministry.

But, dear reader, I would soon learn the source of these things I lacked. Everything – from the charisma about your person to the power that backs your preaching – is not given in a single moment. Sure, all of it is deposited at salvation. But a great anointing is like a seed. When it is planted in you, it lacks nothing, but you must tend to it in order for it to take on a useful form.

And nothing can tend the anointing like this one key – this one key that is found in the following portion of scripture:

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough moneya to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.  – John 6:5-13

In the natural, what was offered by the young boy wasn’t enough to finish the job. It was, by all natural accounts, lacking, unfit, and useless. As an eleven year old boy, I used to look at that young boy in the scripture and think, “If Jesus can take his nothing and use it, then Jesus can take my nothing and use it too!”

I use the word “nothing”, because, compared to what the world needs, we have nothing to offer. It isn’t enough – it’s relatively nothing. But that’s what Jesus does: He uses nothing. God spoke to nothingness and caused all of time, matter, and space to come forth into existence. It’s in the nothing that God moves. The “not” in “I’m not fit for God’s use” is where the “I AM” finds a place. Thus, you can say, “I AM fit for God’s use.”

God uses broken vessels. When it comes being used by God, it’s not about how gifted you are, it’s only about how surrendered you are. The key to the anointing is surrender. Put your nothing in the hands of Jesus, and it will soon become all that you need.

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The Secret to Anointed Ministry

Unless you’ve gone out of your way, you’re reading these words on a digital screen. Your eyes are scanning across these letters that are presented upon a plain backdrop. What you don’t see, and what you’re not currently thinking about is this: behind this simple-looking display of words is a complex combination of technology that works to achieve the visual. This display shows up on your computer or device screen, and you don’t have to understand it to benefit from it.

That’s the nature of ministry. People come and receive without knowing what it took for you to become God’s display. The public’s benefit was cultivated in your private struggle

God does His most effective work in you in the secret place.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” – Psalm 91:1

What is the secret place? It is privacy. It is seclusion.

The secret to anointed ministry is how you treat the secret place, your private time. There must be a place and a time that you set aside for worship, prayer, and devotion to God’s Word. There is no substitute for what you do in the secret place.

I often marvel when someone asks me, “So how do you prepare for a service? Do you pray an extra hour or two before the service?” I answer by telling them, “Before each service, I rest, because I live in preparation. You can’t live an unhealthy lifestyle, exercise for a few minutes and expect to get a good report from a medical checkup. I’d be in trouble if I depended upon an hour or two if I wasn’t living in this daily.”

Last-minute study spurts can’t replace a lifestyle of devotion to God’s Word in the secret place. A quick prayer before you preach cannot do what a lifestyle of private prayer can do.

All true ministry is an overflow of the secret place. We must fill as many private moments as we can with prayer and the reading of God’s Word. If instead the secret place is filled secret sin and secret laziness, how can one expect to walk in public power?

There is no shortcut. There is no formula. There is no practice of skill that can bring about the anointing. Either you carry the power upon you or you don’t. And whether or not you carry the power is entirely dependent upon whether or not you walk in the presence. And the presence of God is known in its greatest depths in the secret place. Therefore, the anointing on your life comes from the secret place.

Sound too simple? Sound too easy? Good! Like salvation, being anointed is not dependent upon our effort but upon our surrender to the Lord. That’s really it. That’s really the key.

The secret to anointed ministry is the secret place of prayer and devotion. It’s that simple. All else flows from there.

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3 Keys to Befriending the Holy Spirit

When I first learned the wonderful truth of the Holy Spirit’s personal nature, I desired to cultivate a friendship with the mysterious third Person of the Trinity. I found everything about His essence to be alluring, magnetic. As I examined the scriptures, I sought for clues and insights to His nature and personality. I wanted to understand His every nuance, familiarize myself with His every quality.

In search of the Spirit, I turned the pages of the Bible. My inner being would become lit with joyful anticipation. My eyes enjoyed the glimmer of every truthful word. In the Old Testament, I saw the Spirit hovering over the face of the deep and so gloriously displaying His power that men trembled in fear, in awe. In the New Testament, I saw this same Spirit gently descend upon Christ as a dove, raise Jesus from the dead and assist the Apostles in the book of Acts.

As many do at that point, I cried, “Lord, I want more of you!”

I would soon be encouraged by this revelation: The believer does not need more of God. All that God was, is and ever will be came to dwell in the believer at the very instant of salvation! When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes in fullness, not in partiality. For how can the eternal be divided? Half of infinity is, after all, infinity. It is both a logical absurdity and an anti-scriptural error to conclude that the Spirit is given in portions.

The issue is not how much the believer has of God but how much God has of the believer. At salvation, we surrender the will, and we spend the rest of our natural lives giving away and dying to self.

Therefore, it is our goal, not to obtain the Holy Spirit but to fellowship with Him – to befriend Him. And when we are given to this friendship, everything changes and progressively becomes as it should. The entirety of our spirituality is summarized in our interaction with God’s Holy Spirit.

So how does one go about the cultivation of this friendship? How can such a lofty idea become a present reality by means of practical application? How can we reduce this to everyday living? Though I am certain there are many more, I have discovered at least five keys, which I first wrote about in my book, “Carriers of the Glory”. But for the sake of this article’s length, I’ll go over just three keys.

#1 – Dependency

I travel across America and other nations preaching the gospel and praying for the sick. A couple of years ago, I received a phone call from an enthusiastic pastor. The pastor had called me in order to invite me to minister at his church. We spoke the usual chatter that finds itself in such a conversation. But, while nearing the end of our call, the pastor said something that shook me!

He spoke casually, “Brother David, I’m glad to be finally having you at my church. We’ve been waiting to bring you in.” My curiosity moved me to ask, “And for what specifically were you waiting?” He replied, “Well, I know you minister the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I wanted to wait until my people were ready for that next level.”

I don’t imagine that my response was entirely appropriate, but I guess I would, in this case, plead “Righteous Indignation”. I was forward when I asked, “And why on earth do you think the people shouldn’t hear about the Holy Spirit until they’re at the ‘next level’?”

He replied, “Well, brother David, I don’t want to freak people out.”

Dear reader, think about that.

Much of what we do in life and in ministry requires no spiritual power. Much of what we start is founded upon the natural. So if we don’t need the Holy Spirit to start it, we don’t need the Holy Spirit to sustain it; and that’s not a good thing.

The Holy Spirit is not a reward for the spiritually elite (if ever there was such a faction). He is not a prize for those who become spiritual; rather, He is our only hope at ever becoming, at ever even desiring to become spiritual.

The Holy Spirit is not a special guest speaker or a special event. The Holy Spirit is not a private prayer partner Who prays for the sick in back rooms, as to avoid frightening the visitors. The Holy Spirit is not a style of ministry; He is the cornerstone of all ministry.

If we are to befriend the Holy Spirit in a more meaningful way, we must become dependent upon Him – I mean desperately dependent upon Him.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.” - Romans 8:11

I love that verse, and it’s of popular use. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit within us. However, think about what the verse implies in passing: the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit to raise Him from the dead. If Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit, how much more should we?

We must move from treating the Holy Spirit like a liability and move to depending upon Him as our source. Depend upon Him; He knows best how to build a church, how to raise disciples and how to win the lost. We don’t know better; He does.

#2 Reverence

Now, to be fair, I’ll grant this: many have good reasons to become nervous when people use cliche suggestions like this:

“Let the Holy Spirit have His way.”

“We can’t be so structured.”

“We need to leave room for the Holy Spirit.”

Those points are valid. But different people mean different things when they say such phrases. In fact, people often just really mean to say, “I’m going to get wild and you’re a religious bigot if you try to stop me.” We must note that, spiritually speaking, being free is not the equivalent of being loony.

Now don’t misunderstand me. At my miracle services, whether you attend in person or watch via television, you’ll see people speaking in tongues, trembling under God’s power and even being slain in the Spirit (often even in the crowd, out of my sight). Believe me; I love the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I love when the glory of God manifests in tangible ways.

But if those who shy away from the Holy Spirit need to learn dependency, then those who insist on hand stands and dog barking need to learn reverence.

Reverence in any friendship is key.

So we must understand this: The Holy Spirit did not come to make you senseless and silly; He came to make you spiritually sharp. He came to empower world evangelism.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

The Holy Spirit’s power can be ministered with class. There’s a beautiful, gentle air of Heavenly elegance about a move of God. He is not chaotically bizarre.

He is both classy and unifying. Sure, there are things that He does that will make you uncomfortable. But, in the church overall, there needs to be more reverence for the Holy Spirit.

#3 Trust

The Holy Spirit has helped me to grow in my trust for Him.

I recall a challenging week where I was fretting over lack of ministry finances. I did extra fundraising, but I wasn’t even getting close to what was needed. So, after I had exhausted all effort, I became anxious. The ministry’s financial needs were rising, and, at least for that week, the donations were dropping.

It was one of those “Lord, how are you going to do this?” moments.

I prayed and paced – paced and prayed. Suddenly, the Spirit spoke to my heart, “I’m going to take care of this need. Just trust me.” Those words were comforting, but I didn’t have the faith, in that moment, to receive them.

Thankfully, the Lord showed Himself able. One of my ministry donors was willing to help with the dip in donations and promised to send a check. I was immediately relieved. Despite my wavering, God was faithful.

But there was a deeper issue. The Holy Spirit again spoke to my heart, “Why did you have peace when a man promised to meet your needs but continue to worry when I promised to meet your needs? When you can trust in my promise more than you can trust in a man’s promise, I will be able to trust you with a greater measure.” “Lord”, I wondered, “How will I know when I trust you this way?” I heard in my spirit, “When you are just as relieved in hearing my promise as you are when you see a check.”

Since then, I’ve grown in my trust of the Holy Spirit. And, dear reader, He wants you too to grow in this kind of trust. And in trusting Him, you will experience a greater level of friendship with Him than ever before.

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