The Journey of Faith

THE JOURNEY OF FAITH
Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you. Matthew 9:29
SCOTT MCCONAUGHEY

Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you. Matthew 9:29

by Scott McConaughey Copyright 2007 by Scott McConaughey 20/20 Publications Printed in the United States of America All commercial rights reserved solely by the author. Any part or this entire book may be reproduced and used to edify the body of Christ without permission of the author but may not be used for commercial gain. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Contact Information: Scott McConaughey Ministries Pastor Scott McConaughey P.O. Box 3754 Helendale, CA 92342 Email: scottmcconaughey@yahoo.com Web: www.scottmc.org/
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH ....................... 2 CHAPTER 1 THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF FAITH .... 10 CHAPTER 2 THE FIERY TRIALS OF FAITH ....................... 20 CHAPTER 3 THE VIOLENCE OF FAITH.............................. 24 CHAPTER 4 THE CONFESSION OF FAITH ......................... 33 CHAPTER 5 ADD TO YOUR FAITH ..................................... 43 CHAPTER 6 MIRACULOUS FAITH ...................................... 47 CHAPTER 7 THE JOURNEY OF FAITH ............................... 58
INTRODUCTIONFOUNDATIONSOFFAITH Perhaps our greatest need in these last days is to learn how to walk in ever increasing levels of faith in God. My wife Glenda and I have learned many incredible lessons of faith in our decades of devotion to Christ. We learned a great deal when we served as missionaries together for over twenty years. Then God started taking us to higher levels of faith development! Most books on faith include tons of illustrations and ounces of principles. While we have loads of faith stories, this book weighs heavily upon the principles and includes only a few illustrations. As you apply the principles God has taught us, you can write your own book of illustrations. These principles are tried, tested and true. They always work when applied to your life over time. They will help you grow in faith that pleases God and bears fruit for His glory. Faith development is a journey that can be radically enhanced by understanding its pathways. By Gods grace, we plan to give you that revelation in these pages. It is vital to recognize a few basic truths that are foundational to understanding the journey of faith. Walk by Faith in Gods Word & Voice For we walk by faith, not by sight. II Corinthians 5:7 God calls His people to walk by faith in His word and not by natural reason. The word of God must be understood by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to be blind to natural reason living so that we can have spiritual sight. The Pharisees of 2
Jesus day operated by fallen reason and thought they could see. Jesus told them that they were blind1. They studied the scriptures diligently but did not see God in Jesus. God also calls us to walk by faith in the revelation that comes to our spirit man which we know as His voice. God speaks to our spirits through many ways including a still small voice, conscience, dreams, visions and impressions. God can also speak to us through dark sayings, signs, wonders, circumstances, people, nature and countless other ways. God speaks through the word and the Spirit. There have often been two camps in the body of Christ made up of those who emphasize the word of God and those who emphasize the Spirit of God. We need both camps to merge. The word of God may be likened to a concrete aqueduct that has foundations, structures and gates. The Spirit of God may be compared to the water in that aqueduct that flows in the boundaries established by the concrete walls and iron gates. In order to get the life giving water to the people in the desert where I live, we need both the concrete and the water. Gods Spirit always moves within the boundaries of His written word. Gods written word can not be properly understood or applied without the Spirit. We are called to walk by faith in Gods written word as illuminated by the Holy Spirit. We are called to walk by faith in Gods revelatory voice that comes in the various ways the Holy Spirit communicates to us confirmed by the word. As we develop 3
and learn to embrace both the word and the Spirits communication, our faith will grow supernaturally. Mans Responsibility on Earth The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORDS; but the earth He has given to the children of men. Psalm 115:16 God rules in His perfect sovereignty and infinite power in His heavenly realm sometimes called the third heaven. His will is always accomplished in the third heaven. There is no sin or rebellion in His third heaven domain. God delegated the stewardship of the earth realm (1st heaven) to mankind. His will is not always accomplished on earth because man is allowed to choose to obey God or rebel against Him. Gods will can be accomplished on earth with the agreement of people on earth who believe in Him and obey His voice. God made covenants in His word that determine the boundaries through which He always works in relationship to mankind. He is faithful and will always keep His covenants if we meet the conditions. Gods word also contains commands, promises and principles that teach us how to do His will and please Him. Each individuals responsibility is to seek to know God and follow His commandments to fulfill his or her personal stewardship while alive on earth.
God has Magnified His Word Above All His Name For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Psalm 138:2 God has exalted the revelation and boundaries of His written word above all His name. His name includes all of His attributes. This means that God cannot exercise attributes like His sovereignty or His infinite power on earth if it were to break His own word. God cannot violate or set aside His word and remain holy and true. God will always honor His written word in relationship to mankind on earth. Gods word is completely dependable all the time for every person everywhere. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16,17 Gods word, through holy prophets of old, has been carefully recorded and kept in a book we know as the Holy Bible. The bible is God breathed. The Spirit of the Lord gave anointed men wisdom to record the words of God over a 1,500 year time period. Those inspired words are profitable for mankind to study, understand and obey. The living word of God equips us to walk with God and accomplish all of His good pleasure. It is Gods pleasure that we walk by faith in His word.
Gods word declares that all mankind will have to stand before God one day and give account for the life lived on earth. This judgment is absolute according to Gods word2. God is just and will judge perfectly on that day. We know that He will judge those who are alive today based on their response to the work of His Son Jesus Christ. For those who believe in what the bible says about Jesus and put their faith into action, they will experience everlasting joy in the presence of the Lord. Those who reject Jesus and live according to their own beliefs will experience everlasting torment in fiery judgment. Judgment will also bring about degrees of rewards to those who are faithful and obey Gods voice. There are special rewards for martyrs and those who have so diligently followed the Lord through many persecutions3. God will eternally reward those who persevere and walk in higher levels of faith. This fact may motivate us to pay a price and suffer some momentary light afflictions in order to obtain a good standing in heaven. God Partners with Man to Accomplish His Will Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 Gods word declares that He does nothing in the earth unless He reveals it first to prophets. The implication is that God needs the agreement of someone alive on earth to enter the earth realm in the way He wants. This is because God has given the responsibility 6
and authority of what happens on earth to mankind. God honors His order established in his word and asks the permission of man to enter the earth realm. Imagine that you rented a home from a landlord. You pay your rent on time and keep the property up. If a respectful owner wanted to come inside the house you are renting, he would knock on the door and ask your permission to enter. You could invite him in or tell him to take a walk. Your lease gives you certain rights and privileges. The owner can not simply barge into your home because he is the owner. But the owner does have rights as well. If you are negligent in paying the rent and are a poor stewardship of the property, the owner might eventually use legal means and get the sheriff to evict you. A tenant has legal rights and so does the owner. The earth is the Lords4. God owns the earth and everyone on it will be held accountable by Him for their lives on earth. God has given the earth into the responsibility of people living on the earth. There are various levels of authority and responsibility given to people. God will righteously judge each one according to what he or she has done. When God wants to come into the earth that He owns, He knocks on the door of someones heart and asks permission. When a person begins to hear God in some fashion, faith is required to receive and act on the word. God does not intrude into the affairs on earth without seeking agreement at this time. If we give 7
agreement and let God in, we experience His partnership in some fashion. In addition, we can petition God to come into our realm in special ways and do things for us. There are many things we can ask God to do, but they all require faith for God to move on our behalf. God loves to listen to His children and work with them to meet their needs. He will always work in agreement with His written word which encourages us to ask, seek and knock to obtain answers to our prayers. God cannot accomplish everything He wants to on earth in every person or situation. Gods word gives each person the free will to choose His will or not. Individuals must choose to believe and obey Him so that He can do everything He wants to through their faith. We all must learn how to walk in agreement with God and partner with Him so that He can accomplish what He wants in and through us. This brings Him glory and enables us to find our destiny as we walk by faith and not by sight. Satan is constantly speaking lies to people and has to have agreement with man to move in the ways he wants to on earth. Every person ultimately makes choices as to whose voice they will follow. If they believe Satans lies and follow him, they live in the kingdom of darkness and are influenced by that realm in various degrees. Satan often influences people to operate under intimidating fear which is a counterfeit form of faith. If we choose to believe the truth of Gods word found in the bible and live by faith in Gods written word and His voice, we will be 8
part of the kingdom of God. We will be influenced by the Holy Spirit and used according to the level of our calling, faith and obedience. It is vital that we learn to tune into God and tune out and bind the signals from the enemy.
God has created some people who are more gifted to hear His voice and be His mouthpiece to others. When a prophet or prophetic person speaks an accurate message in the name of the Lord, we are responsible to handle that word reverently because God is speaking. God will confirm those prophetic words in His written word and may give many other confirmations as well. He is after all the author and finisher of our faith and loves to build us up so that we can experience His glorious pleasures!
CHAPTER 1 THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2a Jesus Christ is the living word5. As the author of our faith He is the initiator of all true faith. Jesus is the sower spoken of in His parable6. The sower sows the seeds of the kingdom which are words or messages from God. Jesus sows these words into the field of humanity. His voice centers on the written word of God found in the bible, but God also speaks through various prophetic forms that are confirmed by the word of God. Individual hearts are like soil. Jesus taught us that there are four general soil conditions of the human hearts that hear His words: 1. HARD HEARTS: There are hardened hearts who do not receive His words because they are hardened by sin and rebellion. Those seeds never penetrate peoples darkened hearts. 2. SHALLOW HEARTS: Shallow hearts receives the word seed briefly but do not provide deep root for it. When hard times come, the seedling withers and dies. 3. CLUTTERED HEARTS: Cluttered hearts do not keep control of weed seeds of worry, the love of money, the cares of this world and so forth. The word seedling gets choked by the thorns and does not bear fruit. 10
4. GOOD HEARTS: The only heart condition that receives the seed and brings it to fruit bearing maturity is the good heart. A good heart is characterized by loving God and desiring to please Him in all things. A good heart is tender and willing to yield to the direction of the word. The good heart will nourish the word seedling and allow time for it to grow strong. God helps those with good hearts mature the word since He is the finisher of our faith. God wants each of us to continuously prepare our hearts to be good soil to receive the planting of His word so that He can take us from one level of faith to another level of faith7. Faith Comes by Hearing, Hearing Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 Jesus is always sowing His seeds of faith through the written word and through His prophetic voice. Preachers and teachers that speak Gods word under His anointing are used by God to sow seeds of His word. To grow in faith, it may be helpful to listen to various media presentations of good preaching and teaching of Gods word. God also speaks to human hearts through dreams, visions, conscience, intuition and many other forms. Paul taught us that faith comes by hearing, hearing. He was not stuttering when he repeated the word hearing. The first hearing refers to the 11
various ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks. The second hearing is the confirmation and understanding of the word of God. It is possible to study the word of God diligently and not hear or understand what God is saying through obvious scriptures. Years ago I met a rabbi scholar on an overseas plane ride. I talked with him openly about Jesus and questioned him about his understanding of the bible. He was a brilliant man and said that he greatly enjoyed reading the epistles of Paul. I cherished talking with this man and greatly respected His scholarship. Perhaps he will be with the Lord forever, but he did not grasp the central message of the New Testament that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. This devoted man read the gospels, but he did not hear the Spirit in that word so that it could implant genuine faith in his heart. Some zealous Christians take a passage of scripture and confess the promises and believe that they will receive them. This has been called the name it and claim it method. It is possible to name and claim something God is not saying to you at that time even though it is written in the bible. Sometimes God will give us what we name and claim even though it is not His highest will or His perfect timing8. Jesus is the author of genuine faith and we are to be His living epistles filled with the life of His word. The apostles devoted themselves to prayer first and then to the ministry of the word9. The ministry of the word that they focused on was based on the leading of the Holy Spirit that they received during prayer. 12
God has given me a great deal of revelation so that I could write many books to help believers grow in knowing Christ and following His ways. When I am asked to speak, I feel a solemn responsibility to release the now word of the Lord to the people. Consequently, I devote myself to prayer and wait on God to show me what scriptures He wants me to minister. At times, Ive been nervous because God doesnt speak anything until the last minute. This keeps me humbly dependent on the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, I have diligently prepared the message I felt God wanted me to give only to be interrupted by a heavenly vision during the worship time before the message. God has enhanced or totally changed the message several times over the years. The best messages have come after God does this especially through open vision experiences. Faith comes by hearing the Holy Spirit and gaining understanding and revelation of it through the word of God. This takes effort on our part to steward and understand what God speaks to us through fervent prayer and bible study. The Work of Faith Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. John 6:29 Jesus said that a main work that we needed to do is to believe in Him who was sent. We have to work at developing our faith. The work consists in a few basic components. 13
First, we must change our mindsets according to the Lords command to repent and believe10. We must turn from our selfish ways and turn wholly to God. As we change, we need to develop the field of our heart with the fear of the Lord. We must set the intent of our heart with a focused desire to hear God and obey Him. Developing the heart includes repentance for things the Holy Spirit reveals to us that are hindering our hearts from hearing. Anything we do that violates His word and is part of our flesh nature needs to be dealt with at the cross as we plow up the fallow ground of our hearts11. Second, we must be devoted to prayer. Prayer prepares our hearts to receive the living word. Prayer includes worship, praise, meditation, waiting on God and quiet reflection. We must pray in the spirit and with understanding. Finally, we must read, meditate and study Gods word found in the bible. Some will be led to read books and listen to messages by others, but everyone should study the bible on their own. If we do these three basic things, we are doing the work of faith or sowing to the Spirit. The bible promises us that if we sow in the Spirit, from the Spirit we shall reap everlasting life. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good 14
to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:7-10 A farmer prepares the soil, sows the seed, waters the seed and keeps the weeds and wild animals out until the harvest. The human heart is somewhat like the farmers field. We must prepare our hearts by humbling ourselves, casting off all worry, doubt and the cares of this world. We must yield to the Holy Spirit and receive the seeds implanted as He speaks to us during times of prayer and bible reading. We should study carefully the things He highlights to us during our devotional time. As we steward the things Gods speaks to us through meditation and obedience, God will increase our faith step by step, line upon line and row upon row12. The harvest will be great. The enemy knows this and tries to bring us to such a point of discouragement that we lose heart and let go of faith. We must not lose heart or we can lose the promises of God. It takes diligent work to hold onto God in faith for things He has spoken to you about. We have to pray those key promises over and over again and increase in our trust that God will bring them to pass.
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Increase Your Hearing and Faith And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:15,16 When the peace of God rules our hearts the spiritual faculty of hearing increases. We must meditate on the word of God and allow it to dwell deeply in our hearts. We must worship Him with joyful singing and spiritual songs. Worship brings us into the presence of God where we often encounter His voice as we keep our hearts open to receive. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 20,21 You can also increase hearing and build up your faith by praying in the Holy Spirit. Praying in tongues sows into the spirit realm so that you can reap a harvest of fresh revelation from God. Paul said that he prayed in tongues more than all the rest13. As a result, God gave Paul enough revelation to write nearly one half of the New Testament.
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Praying in tongues can become a religious fanatical exercise also so Jude and Paul exhort us to keep ourselves in the love of God14. We should be led by the Spirit to pray in tongues. There was a thirteen month season many years ago where God gave me the leading, grace and time to pray in tongues four to six hours daily. That season lifted and I dont pray in tongues that much now. When I really need to press in and get a word from God, I will start sowing by praying in tongues and eventually God will release a revelation. Paul taught us that tongues was a doorway into revelation. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? I Corinthians 14:6,7 Paul didnt speak in tongues publicly without interpretation. He prayed in tongues before the meetings so that when he came he had a fresh revelation, words of knowledge, a prophecy or a teaching. This has been the model the Lord has had me follow in my public speaking and writing ministry. Add to praying in the Spirit, worship and consistent bible study with meditation and you will soon receive revelation from God so that you can grow in your faith and build it up. If You See It You Can Possess It And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are -- northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all 17
the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. Genesis 13:14-17 When God says lift up your eyes in the bible, it often refers to looking at something with the eyes of faith. When you experience revelation of the word of God the Holy Spirit is opening your eyes to see a truth, principle, command or promise. The revelation becomes alive to you because the Holy Spirit is sowing a seed of faith into your heart. Just as Abraham was told to walk through the land he was promised by God, we must walk through the word God gives us. This journey can be arduous and painful at times, but it is the walk of faith. As you pray and worship God, He will speak to you about some matter or give you prophetic vision so that He can guide you by His eye15. Whatever God reveals to you so that you see it you can possess it if you believe and walk it out. If you fail to walk it out because of unbelief or whatever, that seed will not bear lasting fruit. Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you. Matthew 9:29
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When we persevere in faith, the Lord will touch our eyes and we will see things we never saw before. Whatever we are believing for, in Gods perfect time, we can experience His touch and the manifestation of our faith will be fulfilled just as Jesus said it would. The Lord has sown seeds of faith in many hearts to believe Him to do the works that Jesus did and greater works by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself said that those who believed in Him would be enabled to do greater miraculous works than He did16. We have contended for that for over ten years and yet have not fully achieved what He said. Do we give up? Do we say the bible is not true? How do we make it through the journey of faith when the results are not what we had expected? Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Whatever you have significant faith for will be tested by fire. In between the first and last chapter of faith come incredible fiery trials.
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CHAPTER 2 THE FIERY TRIALS OF FAITH In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1:6-9 Faith is a gold-like substance in the inner man of the believer. That valuable spiritual gold is tested by fire. The modern word for testing gold is to assay. When the chemist assays a piece of gold under hot fire he is seeking to find out the exact substance. What is the quality of the gold? How much impurity is in the gold? When God assays the faith He authors in our hearts, He is seeking to find out the quality of it. Is it mature? Is it pure enough to meet His standards? Is it mixed with our weed seeds of doubt, worry and the cares of this world? Because He is the finisher of faith, He alone knows when faith has fully matured. He will scoop the dross of impurity off the top of our spiritual tanks when purifying faith through fiery trials. He will cleanse us until He sees Himself in the pure reflection of our golden faith17.
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Through Faith and Patience We Inherit the Promises And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Hebrews 6:11-15 (underlining mine) Abraham patiently endured twenty-five years of testing before Isaac, the promised son, was born. Abrahams life is a pattern as the father of faith. Faith is incomplete without the Holy Spirit working the fruit of patience into your life. Patience is enduring faith, holding on to the promise of God through thick and lots of thin. Enduring faith keeps believing and confessing that God is faithful and that He will fulfill His promises. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-5 Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:3 KJV 21
Trials, tribulations and testing come in the journey of your growing faith in order for the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of patience. Patience performs a maturing and completing work in the believer. It is the finishing school of the Lord so we may be perfect, complete and lacking nothing. Young believers often do not understand the long journey required to perfect faith and patience. Apparent delays can become extremely discouraging and many have lost heart and failed to hold onto Gods prophetic promises. If we understand this process we can do what James and Paul admonish us to do: Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer (Romans 12:12). Press Through Tribulations to Enter Higher Levels of Gods Kingdom And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:21-22 (underlining mine) The third heaven realm, the kingdom of God, where God reigns from is the place where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing that Christ paid for in full18. We live in the first heaven realm on earth which includes our natural atmosphere. The second heaven realm is the spiritual atmosphere overlapping the natural and is somewhat of a barrier between us and Gods third heaven 22
realm. The second heaven has angelic and demonic activity operating in it. In order to access the third heaven realm to obtain our promises and bring them into our natural realm experience, we must ascend through prayer and obedience and break through spiritual enemies of God who resist us. It is somewhat like climbing a mountain pathway that provides gravitational resistance. All the benefits Christ paid for at the cross are at the top of the mountain! It requires strenuous effort to ascend Gods holy hill. The angels of God will help us as they are empowered by our fervent prayers and prophetic acts. It is worth the effort to pay the price to obtain Gods gold. Glenda and I have experienced many trials, especially financial ones, and have been empowered by God to break through and find the way of escape and provision19. God has always refined us and our faith. He has been faithful to provide for all our needs and give the revelation we needed to walk by faith in Him as we seek His kingdom first. The devil is allowed to resist us to a degree. Through those tribulations that come as we are pressing in, we can enter the kingdom of God and take hold of promises through effective fervent faith and Spirit led obedience. We must pull promises down into our realm of experience. Often this happens through holy violent activity.
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CHAPTER 3 THE VIOLENCE OF FAITH And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12,13 God sincerely wants us to obtain what Christ purchased on our behalf. However, it requires acts of violent faith and spiritual warfare on our part to take hold of our provisions and benefits20. God gave Israel the Promised Land in the natural realm, but seven demonized nations had established themselves there. God gave Joshua the leadership over the army to take courage, follow His voice and take the land through violent physical warfare. This warfare was led by the Angel of the Lord, the Lord of Hosts. They had to obey the Angel in order to be successful. God has given us many spiritual covenant blessings, destinies and privileges in Christ Jesus which is our spiritual Promised Land. The enemy has established strongholds in our minds and in the second heaven realm that we must war against to break through and obtain our covenant promises21. The Lord of Hosts will guide us and be with us as we believe and obey His voice. As our minds are renewed by the living word and we follow the Holy Spirit, He will enable us to overcome and obtain all that Christ obtained for us. There are many aspects to holy violence to obtain the objects of faith. John the Baptist lived a life of holy violence. This included a separate-from-the-world lifestyle, fasting, intense devotion to 24
prayer and the study of Gods word. John was in community with disciples that also sought God diligently. According to Jesus, John was the greatest man ever born. John performed no miracles, but His violent prayers prepared the way in the spiritual realm for Jesus ministry to come forth. Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. Jeremiah 1:9,10 Jeremiahs call is a pattern for holy violent prophetic ministry. Jeremiah was given tremendous authority through the release of Gods words. He was able to do holy violence over nations and over kingdoms to root out wickedness, pull down demonic powers, destroy the enemys works and throw down their exalted strongholds. He was also able to build and to plant with prophetic decrees. We may not be office level prophets, but Jesus said that we have authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19). We have authority over all the power of the enemy! That is enormous authority. We have the authority to root out sin in our own lives. We can pull down mental strongholds and renew our mind by the word of God. With the full armor of God22, we can stand strong and violently against Satans attacks on our lives and our promises. 25
God has given you a powerful destiny to bear fruit on earth for His glory and take some territory for God and your family. The enemy is definitely going to try and keep you from all that God has for you, but Gods angels are available to help you breakthrough. We also have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us pray as we ought23. Your God given territory includes righteousness, peace, joy, divine health and prosperity. You have the authority to take possession of your inheritance and trample on the enemy as you do. This will happen through prophetic intercession. Prophetic intercession is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to show you what to pray and partnering with Him to pray the prayers and make the decrees He leads you to make. It does require that you learn to hear His voice and see in the spiritual realm what He is saying24. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, meditating on Gods word, extended times of worship and waiting on God in quiet prayer will help you develop these spiritual senses25. Fast and Pray through Delays Then he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter 26
days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come. Daniel 10:12-14 Daniel humbled himself by fasting and prayed twenty-one days over Jeremiahs prophetic word about the end of their 70 year captivity. We know that Daniel consistently prayed at least three times per day. God released the revelatory answer on the first day but the messenger angel encountered spiritual warfare resistance in the second heaven which delayed the breakthrough. This passage teaches us the importance of fasting and praying through until we receive the breakthrough revelation. Often we need to humble ourselves by fasting as the Spirit leads to increase the power of our prayers. Fasting is an act of spiritual violence. Our consistent faithful prayers empower angelic activity and make breakthroughs possible. If we only pray once or occasionally, we may not be doing our part in the partnership to enable angelic activity to break through with Gods answer. Most Christians fail to obtain aspects of Gods promises because they get discouraged or do not understand basic spiritual dynamics including the need to pray and fast through delays. Revelation and Vision Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. Proverbs 29:18a Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18a KJV 27
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6a These verses teach us that without revelation and knowledge, we cast off restraints and are destroyed. The governing influence of the word of God and the Holy Spirit provide heavenly restraint and empower us with zeal and discipline. Godly restraints are boundaries and guidelines that keep us pure and focused on accomplishing what God has called us to do. When we cast off the yoke of heavenly restraints and wander into sin, the enemy is given the opportunity to yoke us to sin and direct us down a pathway of deception and corruption. When this happens, we must violently break it off. We must repent, confess our sins and die to self. We must yield to the Holy Spirits leadership and allow Him to govern our daily lives. Sometimes we need anointed members of the body of Christ to lead us in violent deliverance prayer to get free. Revelation and visions of God enable us to grow in relationship with Him and walk yoked with Jesus. As we behold Him, we are transformed to become like Him26. He opens our eyes to see the destructive nature of sin. We run from sin and gladly take the yoke of Jesus to walk in partnership with God when we have clear vision from above. Revelation establishes purpose and clear direction for our lives. Revelation encourages us that God is with us and wants us to bear fruit and accomplish goals for His glory. When we have no revelation or vision, we often waste time and drift off course with God.
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Without revelation and clear direction from God, we may follow some well meaning Christian leaders with great enthusiasm and still end up off course. We may follow our own vision or selfish goals with tremendous energy that simply wears us out and leaves us spiritually empty. In order to get true revelation and vision from God, we need to humble ourselves and pray with violent intensity which may include fasting. The Lord led me into a long extended fast and instructed me to do the last seven days water only in order to break through the enemies camp. It was extremely difficult and I could hear demonic voices trying to talk me out of it near the end. Upon completion, God gave me a powerful revelation of Christ on the cross as I broke the fast with communion. I wept for a long time and was exhausted. God immediately opened new doors of ministry and flooded finances to us that had been mysteriously held back. It was amazing! High Praise Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment -- this honor have all His saints. Psalm 149:6-9 There is a place of prophetic worship known as high praise that does holy violence against the enemys kingdom. The worship team at our church often moves into high praise which is an 29
extremely powerful form of intercession. As we agree and sing praises to our God, He releases His angels and empowers us spontaneously to wreak havoc on His enemies. God will use various aspects of high praise to defeat the enemy including scriptures, prophetic acts, singing, shouting, percussion, dance and banners in the midst of this violent warfare. The Lord has enabled me to become a worship leader as well and has graced me to love extended prophetic praise and worship. In some services, He leads us to build a fire of intimate worship while in others there is intense prophetic praise and songs of the Spirit. Only by completely following the leading of Gods Spirit can we rise up in the Lord to this level of kingly warfare. King David stepped into this kind of praise 3,000 years ago and we are called to discover this radical praise and worship as well in order to advance Gods kingdom27. We must learn to move by faith in the Spirits leading at deep levels to do what He shows us to do. He has led me to do some radical dances, when I was younger and more physically fit. They have tremendous power when done in tune with Gods Spirit. Some strongholds can only be broken through anointed dancing! Weeping Intercession The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:17-19 30
There is a violence in weeping intercession and crying out to God that has great power in the spiritual realm. If you follow the Holy Spirit diligently, He will lead you to advance Gods kingdom into places where the enemy will resist and try to afflict you with various trials and troubles. As we cry out to God and weep before Him, our prayers are given tremendous power to breakthrough. Paul said that when he was at his weakest God was at His strongest. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. II Corinthians 12:10 When we are weak from the stresses of persecution, spiritual warfare, disappointments and various tribulations, we cry out to God and often simply cry our tears. Many times in the past year, my wife Glenda and I have been broken before the Lord and reduced to tears. In those times of utter desperation, our simple short prayers often have more power than all the loud intercession of days when we felt strong. Some intercessors weep often and God is using their tears to perform violent warfare and water His prophetic words. If you carefully read Psalm 69, you will understand that zeal for the Lord and His house will bring you into intense conflict with the enemy and his resistance. Many people avoid this level of conflict by simply living a moderate Christian life. But those who are zealous like Jesus run into great trouble as all hell breaks loose to stop them. In those times of great trial, our weakest prayers are often full of heavenly violence. 31
The Holy Spirit enables us to groan and our whole being cries out a prayer to God in times of great distress. After we have prayed every prayer we can think of we recognize we no longer know how to pray and we need the Holy Spirit to help us intercede28. In our weakness, He can be so strong. Only God can truly produce holy desperation and brokenness and contriteness in the human heart. If you fully abandon yourself to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, He will eventually lead you to seemingly impossible places where you will be broken and contrite before Him. In those weak moments, your tears and heartfelt whispered prayers will shake the kingdom of darkness and God will move mightily on your behalf29.
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CHAPTER 4 THE CONFESSION OF FAITH But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10 Paul outlines the principle of believing and confessing in this vital passage. What we believe in the inner man must be given verbal expression to become complete. Just as faith without works is dead, inner belief without outward expression is lifeless. Believing and confessing are continual actions. We must keep believing and keep confessing until we obtain the desire of faith. If we keep meditating on Gods word and confessing the truth of it out loud, our own heart will hear and our faith can be built. There is tremendous power in our confessions. A confession of faith is a verbal declaration of an inner belief. It is like signing a contract. If you make an earnest strong confession it approaches the level of a vow or verbal contract. The most powerful level of confession is to make a decree30. The tongue has tremendous power in steering the rudder of the ship of your life. Verbal confessions have the power of life and 33
death31. We must be careful what we confess since we will be judged by our words. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:33-37 What is in the heart is going to come out of the mouth. If you listen to someone long enough, you will know what is in their heart. Words confessed can give legal rights to God or Satan to do things that influence your life. Many of us have once prayed, Lord, do whatever it takes to burn all the flesh out of me! That prayer is recorded and gives God the legal right to release His fire to burn all the flesh out of you. If you confess, I feel terribly sick, I think Im going to have a heart attack, you may be giving legal right to the enemy to give you a heart attack. Having lived by faith for many years, Glenda and I have learned to confess the promises of God related to His provisions. There have been many times where those confessions were in the face of dire circumstances and tremendous lack. We kept declaring that God is our Father and that He will provide for all of our needs according 34
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus32. It is extremely powerful to confess the word to overcome doubt and all the attacks of the enemy who tries to fill your mind with lies. God created us in His image and requires that we prayerfully declare things so that they can happen. You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways (Job 22:28). The ancient man Job understood that making declarations was essential to seeing things established. Light represents Gods favor and revelation. God has shown favor to Christians by giving us His Holy Spirit so that we can receive His light, declare the things the Spirit gives us and the grace to wait to see God establish them for us. The Same Spirit of Faith And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak (II Corinthians 4:13,14). The principle of faith is clearly confirmed in this passage. What we believe, we speak. God has given us the same spirit of faith that Jesus walked in so that we can do the works of Jesus and even greater works33. An important aspect of these greater works is to speak what we believe and expect it to come to pass. When we speak the word God has sowed into our hearts, it activates angelic activity on our behalf. Once while ministering at a church, the Lord spoke to me that He was going to heal left knees. When I spoke it out, five people responded and came forward. Then God indicated that a person 35
with hot hands should pray for them. A woman who had never ministered healing came forward with hot hands and I told her to lay hands on the left knees and say, Be healed in the name of Jesus! When she did, all of them were instantly healed. Because we followed Gods counsel, He supplied His might! Anointed voice and Spirit led action activates the angelic realm since they recognize and obey the voice of His word34. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, he believed that it would instantly dry up35. His disciples were astounded at how quickly the fig tree withered. Jesus must have heard the Father tell Him to curse the fig tree since faith comes by hearing the word of God. Jesus responded to His disciples amazement by exhorting them to believe what God says to them and boldly speak it out expecting His power to back them up. Jesus told us that if we had faith in our hearts, without doubting, we would have whatever we say36. We are created in the image of God who spoke everything into existence. When God leads, we will have the anointing and power to speak and have whatever we say. This is a tremendous anointing that we must seek. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is essential in development. We all can develop like a long distance runner. I decided many years ago to run a 26.2 mile marathon. At the time I was completely out of shape and 30 pounds overweight. I started jogging that day and trained vigorously for about nine months. At the end of that time I successfully completed the Atlanta marathon on Thanksgiving Day. After that I ran many marathons and trained 36
to run in longer runs including a fifty mile trail ultramarathon in the mountains. Developing the capacity to run fifty miles for a person of reasonable age and athletic ability is actually much more mental than physical. Ive seen people in their sixties and seventies complete fifty and one hundred mile trail races. There may be reason to question their sanity, but it is possible for humans to achieve much more than they think they can accomplish. Because we are created in the image of God, we have creative power in our confessions. The capacity to flow in higher levels of power can be developed like learning to run longer races. We dont have to be physically fit to flow in miraculous power but we do have to be spiritually fit. We need the mental attitude that we can do it and persevere through all the trials to get there. We all have to learn to run the race with endurance to move in higher levels of faith. What a tremendous encouragement to know that we have the same spirit of faith that empowered Jesus to walk and only do what He saw the Father doing. It is not enough to simply believe, we must confess and declare what we believe. We see Gods example of the spirit of faith in the life of Abraham. The Father of Faith Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of 37
Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations) in the presence of Him whom he believed -- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, So shall your descendants be. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarahs womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness. Romans 4:16-22 (underlining mine) We must believe the words of God in our heart and then speak them forth. Abram was without child when God changed his name and declared that he would be the father of many nations. Every time the father of faith told people his new name, Abraham, he was declaring the word of the Lord over him that it was his destiny to be the father of many nations. God calls those things in His heart which do not exist in the natural realm as though they already did. That is because they are alive in Gods heart and mind. God had a perfect vision in His mind of Abraham becoming the Father of many nations through thousands of years of human history. What God envisioned had the potential to become real if Abraham would believe and confess His prophetic word. 38
At the time God spoke to Abraham about his prophetic destiny, the patriarch did not have any children. It was humanly impossible for Abraham to conceive children through Sarah. God said that he would be the father of many nations as He showed Abraham the stars and changed his name. Abraham looked at the stars and caught the vision. He may have reasoned that if God could create the universe of stars, certainly He could do a creative miracle in their bodies and enable them to have children and father nations over time. Abraham got into agreement with God and believed the name change and consistently declared his destiny by declaring his new name. Abraham did not look at the deadness of his own body or Sarahs. He did not put faith in the facts of the natural realm. When He looked at the stars, Abraham was often reminded to put his faith in the word of God and spoke it out giving glory to God. God reckoned it to him as righteousness. We are reckoned righteous through faith in Jesus finished work and making confession of our faith unto salvation. This is a pattern of life in the Spirit. God speaks to your heart and you receive it. Then you begin to pray and declare what God has said and He brings it to pass in His time. Abraham saw the beginning of Gods word over him birthed through Isaac twenty-five years later. When God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac on the altar a few years later, Abraham so believed Gods promise that he had the conviction that God would raise Isaac from the dead if needed. This led Abraham to make faith declarations on the journey that God honored. 39
And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. Genesis 22:5 (underlining mine) And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. Genesis 22:8 Abraham held onto Gods promise to bring nations through Isaac who became a prophetic type of Christ. Abraham declared to his servants that he and Isaac would return after worshipping God. Abraham also told Isaac that God would provide for Himself the lamb. Abrahams decrees were soon fulfilled and ultimately Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God whom the Father offered up on the cross. Anointed prophetic words and bible promises that God quickens to your heart are things that exist in the heart and mind of God for you. They are living seed words with spiritual power to be made manifest in the natural realm if they are received and nurtured by faith and the appropriate works including confessions of faith. It is the heart and mind of God for all mankind to come to repentance and be saved. But only those who hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and respond in faith receive the life giving seed of His word in their hearts. Hardness, shallowness, cares and worries can keep that seed from bearing fruit. So it is with biblical promises and prophetic words. We need to receive those living seed words into the good soil of our hearts and water them with prayer, 40
thanksgiving, meditation and confession/proclamation until they come to pass. The Violent Prophetic Sword Comes out of the Kings Mouth Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:11-16 Jesus Christ, the Word of God and King of Kings is pictured in this prophetic vision returning to earth on a white horse to judge and make war in righteousness. A sharp sword is seen coming out of His mouth to strike the nations. Many saints are riding with Him on white horses. The sword that comes from Jesus mouth represents prophetic words and decrees. This is a key picture of the way God is going to judge and make war by the release of prophetic words through His people who agree and ride with Him. God puts the sword of 41
His words in our mouths to judge and make war in righteousness through prophetic decrees. He is the King over kings. We are being made as priests and kings unto our God37. God wants you to pray His word with holy violence as a demonstration of your contending for the faith He has authored in you. This requires that you read, study and meditate on the word of God so that God can highlight promises to you. The sword of the Spirit is the confessed word of the Lord out of your own mouth. It does powerful spiritual warfare to tell Satan, It is written. just as Jesus did38. When you are involved in spiritual warfare, ask the Holy Spirit for a verse of scripture to pray. That revealed verse will be the sharp sword of the Spirit that will defeat the enemy every time. Mature faith in Gods revealed word is the means by which God releases supernatural supply from the heavenly realm into the earthly realm. God has magnified His word above all His name and will always back up His word with His infinite power. We must believe the word in our hearts and keep confessing and declaring it until the manifestation comes in Gods time.
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CHAPTER 5 ADD TO YOUR FAITH But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:5-11 Peter exhorted us to add to our faith Christ-like character qualities. We must diligently pursue the development of virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. The Holy Spirit enables us to bear the fruit of Christ-likeness as we walk with Him governed by His leadership39. Some believers who have moved in powerful faith did not add selfcontrol and have had some major moral failures. Developing faith is not a competition and should not become unbalanced over character development. While both should be pursued, it would be 43
wiser to develop character before miraculous faith so that you do not fall once you start to flow in Gods power.
Faith without Works is Dead What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another 44
way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:14-26 Someone once said that we are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is not alone. Faith includes walking in the good works that are part of our God ordained destiny40. Good works flow out of our faith. James clearly teaches us that works demonstrate our faith. When God speaks to you to give $500 to fund an orphanage and you believe it is God, your faith is useless unless you write the check and put it in the offering. Faith is not intellectual assent. Faith is a tangible spiritual substance that grows in our personal convictions as it matures. Faith seeks Gods will and then yields to do His will once revealed. Living seeds of faith are incubated in our spiritual wombs to be birthed in season. God seeds revelation in my spirit to write specific books. I often nurture and carry those seeds for a few years before they are birthed into a book. When its time to birth, it can be a painful push to bring it forth, but this is part of the good works the Lord has for us. We dont gain Gods approval by works of faith but rather we position ourselves to experience His blessings and His partnership when we walk in faith and obedience. Faith Works Through Love For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:6 45
And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. I Corinthians 13:2b We must add love to our faith above all other virtues. We must develop our passionate love for God and people by the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was moved by compassion for hungry people and got into faith to bless bread and fish to miraculously feed over five thousand people41. One of the greatest modern examples of faith working through love is in the ministry of Roland and Heidi Baker42. I had the opportunity to travel to Mozambique and visit the main orphanage run by Iris Ministries. The tangible love of God saturated the ten acre compound. Over 400 children live there, go to school and worship God. Dozens of children gathered around us and gave and received love. It was incredible. Baby orphans are brought to the orphanage infected by the HIV virus. Physicians check them on a regular basis and document their progress on charts posted to the walls. Staff members and visitors love the babies, hold them, pray over them and speak life over them. We saw dozens of pictures of babies with physicians reports attached that confirmed that they no longer had any signs of the HIV virus. Faith worked through love and healed them. We got to hold some of those precious children. They blessed us with their love and touched our hearts forever. Faith works by love and we must pursue love and add it to our faith!
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CHAPTER 6 MIRACULOUS FAITH Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Galatians 3:5 It is not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith that God supplies the revelation of the Holy Spirit and works miracles through faith. We must pray and earnestly seek the Lord for revelation and then act on what we hear. The Holy Spirit flows His might when we obey His counsel43. The hearing of faith often comes by a word of knowledge. Before I minister, I ask the Lord for words of knowledge and direction as to what persons He wants to touch. The Lord will often give me a specific piece of knowledge that will result in a miraculous healing. The gift of healing moves slowly to provide healing over a period of time, but miracles usually happen instantly. After moving in the word of knowledge and seeing people instantly healed, some ask for prayer for specific other ailments hoping for a miracle. At those times, we pray the prayer of faith but seldom see instant healings. One older man came to me and told me the Lord said if he received prayer from me that his blind eyes would be healed. At that moment, the man had the hearing of faith. I felt no faith at all but I agreed with him, laid my hands on him and simply declared, Be 47
healed in the name of Jesus! Glory to God, the man was instantly healed. He had the hearing of faith and I clearly did not. God supplies the Spirit and works miracles by the hearing of faith. Years ago I had a dream that gave me instructions from God on how to solve a financial crisis we were experiencing. I believe it was a word of wisdom. Because I have learned to act on revelation, I immediately followed the instructions from the dream and within thirty days our financial situation was miraculously turned about. The Gift of Faith To another faith by the same Spirit. I Corinthians 12:9 The Holy Spirit releases the gift of faith upon some in the body of Christ. The gift of faith is a supernatural release of God faith to a person to accomplish a specific purpose at a specific time and place. So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24 Jesus taught us that this supernatural gift of faith has the ability to cast mountains into the sea. God doesnt want us going around 48
casting mountains into oceans, but whatever miracle He wants to accomplish through us, He can give us the supernatural gift of faith at that moment to work through us to make it happen. The gift of faith rests on us for a brief time to accomplish Gods purposes and then lifts. This gift operated in the Old Testament as Daniel shut the lions mouths by faith and Samson did might exploits by a supernatural faith that came upon him. Elijah and Elisha walked in supernatural faith as they performed miracles by the Spirit of God. Jesus and His disciples walked in this gift of faith from time to time. That gift is available to us at the Spirits leading. The apostles wanted to grow in this kind of miracle faith and asked Jesus to increase it in them. Increasing Miracle Faith And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, We are unprofitable 49
servants. We have done what was our duty to do. Luke 17:510 Jesus taught in this parable about the beliefs, attitudes and actions we must have in relationship to miracle working faith. First we must believe in the power of supernatural faith. This kind of faith enables us to do whatever God wants us to do so that we can say to a mulberry tree or any object to be cast into the sea and it will obey us. This kind of faith comes upon us and it is as if God Himself is talking through us. Jesus tells us that our attitudes must be as humble servants who put God first in every aspect of their lives. Those who increase in miracle faith are servants of the people as well. Jesus teaches this parable to show us that our actions must include ministering unto the Lord as we wait on Him. We worship, pray and praise Him to give Him spiritual food and drink. We must minister unto Him until He is full. We offer up our lives to him fully as living sacrifices and we wait on His direction. According to the parable, when the master is full, he will then feed the servant food and drink. Gods food and drink is living revelation that gives us keys to the kingdom. Those keys properly turned enable His incredible power to flow through miraculous faith. God may speak to us to spit in the dirt, make mud cakes and rub them on a blind mans eyes. As we do this in faith, the power of God will flow to restore his sight44.
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When God gives us direction with supernatural faith to release prayers or miracles of some kind, Jesus parable teaches us that we must maintain the attitude that we are unworthy servants, only doing what our Master commanded. Otherwise, pride can begin to take hold of our lives as we think we are the source of power that caused the miracle. God works through us, but the power and anointing belongs to Him. God gives specific mantels accompanied by one or more angels to accomplish His will. All the gifts are to be used to glorify God and minister His life and love to people in need. Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still! And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him! Mark 4:39-41 Jesus demonstrated the gift of faith as He rebuked the wind and it obeyed Him. Jesus only operated by the unction of the Holy Spirit, but He was a pure channel through whom God accomplished all of His good pleasure. We must seek to become pure vessels so that God can flow through us in supernatural faith any time He wishes. As we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will conform us to His image and we will have the anointing come upon us to walk in these levels of faith as the Spirit wills.
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The Prayer of Faith Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:13-18 The prayer of faith can accomplish miraculous results, but it usually takes longer and more than one time of prayer. James taught us that the prayer of faith was similar to Elijahs persevering prayer to pray in the rain that God promised to send. This kind of fervent breakthrough intercession is supposed to be carried by the elders in church. Elders should have developed enough spiritual maturity to be able to understand the need for persistent prayer to bring in many healings. The sick person is instructed to go to the elders and receive the prayer of faith. He is also instructed to deal with sin issues as appropriate so as to prevent any barriers to the healing coming. The wise elders will anoint with oil and pray as many times as needed over the course of time to see someone healed. 52
This is not to be a superficial ritual prayer. Some people anoint with oil as if it is a magic potion. Oil is a symbol of the anointing and can provide a point of contact for Gods ministering power to flow. Elders should anoint with oil in obedience to the word of God and lay hands on the individual releasing the power of the anointing residing within their spirits. The prayer of faith will eventually save the sick person if we pray like Elijah did. We simply can not take no for an answer. When we pray over people, sometimes we have to pray three, four or more times to see the healing manifest. Some have not received their healing and we have had to grow more in depth with God to flow in His power at greater levels. Some times we have had to fast and pray. When the healing does not manifest and the person dies, it is important to go to the Lord and ask to be taught what happened. It is important to learn through apparent failure. Glenda and I have inquired of the Lord after disappointment and He has faithfully given us instructions in order to grow and move more in His power. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How did the fig tree wither away so soon? So Jesus answered and said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:20-22
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Jesus took all limits off believing prayer. In order to move into that level of faith we need to persevere in our prayers and wait on the Holy Spirit to anoint us with the gift of faith. This is a difficult lesson for new believers because we tend to want to simply pray it and believe God for it to happen instantly. We would be much better off spending hours worshipping God and waiting on Him for directions as to how exactly He wants us to pray. When He supplies the power of the Spirit through the hearing of faith and we experience the tangible sense of His anointing present, then we can pray and see miraculous faith manifest. Jesus recognized when the power to heal was present and when it was not. He could do no mighty works in some places because of their unbelief and hardness of heart45. Miracle power only works in complete agreement with the presence of the Holy Spirit and His anointing which is often manifested due to the presence of special healing angels. When those angels arrive into a meeting room, we can often feel the shift in the atmosphere and learn to recognize that the power to heal is present. Without that power to heal present, we can pray the prayers of faith but the result will probably not be instant or miraculous. Learning to move in the timing of God and in agreement with what He wants to do is one of the keys to seeing miraculous power manifest.
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Climb Gods Mountain And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-WillProvide; as it is said to this day, In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided. Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son -- blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. Genesis 22:14-19 (underlining mine) The father of faith climbed a mountain in obedience to Gods word to offer up his son Isaac. God was painting prophetic pictures of the Father offering up His Son Jesus and declaring that the provisions of the Lord would be found in the Mount of the Lord. Abraham experienced revelation of Gods name, Jehovah Jireh, The Lord Will Provide. He had to climb a mountain and lay everything down to get that revelation. The mountain in the spiritual realm is called Mount Zion. It is the habitation of the Lord where His throne room exists. We are called to ascend into that holy hill by faith that must be purified along the journey so that we can enter into deeper aspects of His provisions.
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Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Psalm 24:3-10 (underlining mine) As we journey up the mountain in search of the King of Glory and all that He has for us, we must clean our hands, purify our hearts and be delivered of idols. God deals with our stuff on the journey of faith. Like mountain climbing in the natural, many do not make it to the top. Some dont even try to climb and most rest and stop before they reach the top. God is rising up a hungry passionate Jacob generation that will not give up until they get to the top, into the Mount of the Lord. They want all that God has accomplished for them in Christ and they will pay the price and get cleansed of all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. As they complete the journey, the King of Glory will come into their experience and enable them to have great victory and triumph in Him. Every provision for Christians is available in the Mount of 56
the Lord. We must ascend through faith and obedience and take hold of it for the glory of God!
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CHAPTER 7 THE JOURNEY OF FAITH Who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had. Romans 4:12b Abraham walked a long journey of faith in Gods voice and leading. He believed the prophetic promise of God and Sarah also obtained faith to conceive seed46. Faith development is an ongoing journey. Many people give directions to locations by landmarks. I prefer computer maps and well defined directions. God has given us both through the life of Abraham and others as well as the teaching of the New Testament. Lets summarize and review the steps of the journey of faith that will provide you landmark directions to help you on your journey. 1. We are called to walk by faith, not by sight. II Corinthians 5:17 2. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of your faith. Pray and look to Him to speak His words to you. Hebrews 12:2 3. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. We must hear the voice of the Holy Spirit confirmed by the written word of God. Romans 10:17 4. Developing faith takes work. John 6:29 58
5. We can increase hearing God by praying in the Holy Spirit. Jude 20,21 6. You can possess what you see in the word and the Spirit. Genesis 13:14-17 7. Faith goes through fiery trials to be proved genuine. I Peter 1:6ff 8. Through faith and patience we inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:9ff 9. Tribulations come to produce patience. James 1:3 10. Through many tribulations we enter and take hold of the kingdom of God. Acts 14:21,22 11. Violent action is often needed to breakthrough to higher levels of obtaining promises from God. This includes prayer, fasting, high praise, weeping, prophetic decrees and so forth. Matthew 11:12,13 12. With the heart one believes and with the mouth one confesses unto the fulfillment of the word. Romans 10:9,10 13. We have the same spirit of faith that Jesus walked in available to us. II Corinthians 4:13,14
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14. Abraham is Gods model as the father of faith. He believed God and made declarations about Isaac. Genesis 22:5-8 15. The confessed word of God is the sword of the Spirit that does spiritual warfare. It is faith in action and has great power. Ephesians 6:12ff 16. Add to your faith Christ-like character, but especially love. II Peter 1:5-11 17. Miraculous faith is a gift that comes from God. I Corinthians 12:9 18. We can position our hearts to receive words of miracle faith by ministering unto the Lord until He is full and then waiting on Him to speak to us. Luke 17:5-10 19. When we hear counsel from God and act on it, we will see His might come through for us. The angelic realm is activated by anointed voice. Isaiah 11:2 20. We can all pray the prayer of faith and persevere in it to see people healed. James 5:13-18 21. Ascend Gods holy hill so the King of Glory will come in and release His kingdom power. Psalm 24
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Conclusion: Faith Pleases God But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:5,6 Walking on the journey of faith pleases God. It honors God when you believe His word and make faith declarations. God will greatly reward those who diligently seek Him, hear His voice and do His will. Glenda and I have been on our faith journey together for over 31 years now. We were missionaries for over 20 years and then God took us into even higher levels of faith development calling us to completely depend upon Him for our supply without consulting any people or having normal jobs. The journey has been difficult and the tribulation tremendous, but by Gods grace we are learning to trust Him at deeper levels and are believing Him for great things in the days ahead. One of the greatest rewards of walking by faith is watching our six children follow in our footsteps. They are devoted to the Lord, hearing His voice and going to the places He shows them. There is no greater joy for a father than to see his children walking by faith in Gods truth. Our heavenly Father delights to see us walk in truth as well. God loves us and has provided everything we need to walk on this journey. We have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, the living word of God in the bible, the intercession of Jesus from the throne room and the accompaniment of angels to help us on our journey. Be greatly encouraged beloved and walk by faith! 61
Endnotes:
1 2
John 9 Revelation 20:11-15 3 Revelation 6:9-11 4 Psalm 24:1 5 John 1:14 6 Matthew 13:18-23 7 For detailed teaching, see my book, THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE HEART 8 Psalm 106:15 9 Acts 6:4 10 Mark 1:15 11 I John 1:9 12 Isaiah 28:10,13 13 I Corinthians 14:18 14 I Corinthians 13:1 15 Psalm 32:8 16 John 14:12-14 17 Malachi 3:3 18 Ephesians 1:3 19 I Corinthians 10:13; For detailed study, see my book, FAITH FOR FINANCES 20 See my book, SPIRITUAL WARFARE TRAINING for detailed study on this topic. 21 For detailed study on covenant blessings, see my book, PERFECT LOVE 22 Ephesians 6:10-18 23 Romans 8:26 24 Habakkuk 2:1 25 For detailed teaching, please see my book, ABIDING IN THE ANOINTING 26 II Corinthians 3:18 27 See my book, ASCENDING UNTO ZION, for detailed study. 28 Romans 8:26 29 Psalm 39:12; 56:8,9; 126:5 30 For detailed study on prophetic decrees, see my book, THE POWER OF PROPHETIC DECREES 31 Proverbs 18:21 32 Philippians 4:19 33 John 14:12-14 34 Psalm 103:20
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35 36
Matthew 11:14 Mark 11:22-24 37 Revelation 1:6 38 Matthew 4:1-11 39 Galatians 5:22,23 40 Ephesians 2:10 41 Matthew 14:14-21 42 www.irismin.org/ 43 Isaiah 11:2 44 John 9:6ff 45 Matthew 13:58 46 Hebrews 11:11
Contact Information: Scott McConaughey Ministries Pastor Scott McConaughey P.O. Box 3754 Helendale, CA 92342 Email: scottmcconaughey@yahoo.com Web: www.scottmc.org/
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