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Speaking The Word Brings Increase

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FranklinB

Speaking the word of God brings increase in every area of your life. When you understand the process God has supplied you with to receive whatever you may need in this life you will have a greater appreciation of the word of God. 2Peter 1:3 says, God has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. How has God given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, by his word. The process of receiving what God has given us by his word is found in Mark 4:26-28 it operates on the principle of sowing and reaping. Your spirit is the soil, in the parable of the sower in Mark 4 in verse 15 it says the word is sown in the heart/spirit. The word of God is the seed. And the word of God is also the water by which you water the seed. In 1Corinthians 3:6,7 notice it says, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." So, hearing the word is both planting and watering. The first time you hear is planting and all other times is watering.

Notice what God told Joshua in Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that though mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Notice how you have success and make your way prosperous, by keeping the word in your mouth. Need healing plant and water the seed of God's word for your healing. Proverbs 4:20-23 says, "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear(including your mouth) unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." That word health is translated as medicine, remedy, cure. See the process, incline thine ear(which would have to include your mouth), let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in the midst of thine heart-in other words plant and water the seed. For the healing you need is in the seed. Every seed has the fruit of itself in it.

So, when you see what God has said about your healing you speak(plant) that. Now, I know people have a lot of negative things to say about speaking the word, but the word speaks of those that don't believe in speaking the word. In Isaiah 8:20 it says, "If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." So, God expects you to speak the word. For it is the water which makes the seed yield it's fruit. In Isaiah 55:10,11 God says, "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

In 1Corinthians 3:9 it says, "You are God's husbandry", that word husbandry means farm. God wants his seeds planted in your spirit. God wants you to reap a harvest of success, prosperity, healing, but you have to follow the process. As in Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the profession(confession) of our faith without wavering." See, when you believe the word you can't help but speak it. As 1Corinthians 4:13 says, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed , and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak." The thing you need is in the seed and you bring it forth. You as God's farm causes the seed to yield it's fruit. When the word is in you and you speak it forth it comes out and becomes the thing you need. In other words it becomes like Jesus the word made flesh. Like Jesus said in Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

And let me just tell you the process does work in the area of healing, I know it worked for me. When I found out about the process I put it into action. When something hit my body I went and found out what God said and all through the day I kept it in my ears(by my mouth), I kept it in my eyes, and I kept it in the midst of my heart(spirit). And in a matter of time I reaped my harvest of healing. Just like it worked for me it will work for you. Let's just look at the characteristics of a seed-1. A seed does not discriminate, it works the same for anyone. 2. A seed has the inherant ability to produce something. 3. Every seed has the fruit of itself in it, in other words a rose seed has roses in it, an apple seed has apples in it. And God's word being seed has to have the fruit of itself in it. And the seed let's you know what is in it. God's word of healing is healing seed and therefore has the fruit of healing in it. So when you follow the process you put the ability of the seed to work. And the seed is powerful. Now think about this for a moment, in the natural God put his power in seed form. In Genesis 1 it says that God said, "Let the earth bring forth ..... and all the trees, grass, and herbs came forth. But, now God doesn't have to say let the earth bring forth you just take the seed and put it in the ground and the thing in a matter of time will come forth. Well, that's the same thing He did in the spiritual, his word is spiritual seed and according to Romans 1:16 the word of God is the power of God.

You have to speak in line with God's word if you want to see God's word manifested in your life. In Isaiah 53:5 it says, "The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed." 1Peter 2:24 says, "By whose stripes ye were healed." Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law." Notice in Romans 10:10 it says, "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." There are 2 key words in that verse one is confession which means to say the same thing and the other word is salvation which is translated as healing, deliverance, preservation, soundness. So, what you say is important. All of those things come by what you say. And the Bible tells you that, Proverbs 12:6 says, "The mouth of the upright shall deliver them", Proverbs 14:3 says, "The lips of the wise shall preserve them, Proverbs 12:18 says, "The tongue of the wise is health(medicine)." So, what you receive from God is going to be in line with what you speak.

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drifter

This really sounds like word faith/ prosperity.

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AbideinHim


"This really sounds like word faith/ prosperity”

This sounds like teaching right out of the Word of God to me. If you can find anything in this teaching that is unscriptural, please state your case. Jesus taught us that the seed is the Word, and that the Word sown in good ground will bring forth much fruit. Also, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

The Power of Proclamation - Derek Prince
https://youtu.be/BFNLsZz_DRw

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StirItUp

Brothers,

Unfortunately I must agree with brother Nigel here.

I was trained as a young believer in the whole Word of faith movement and by no means deny there was some solid teaching and good principles taught, however their teaching does not line up with the whole of scripture in context and especially not with the epistles, written by the apostles, the chosen and called disciples personally taught by Jesus.

Look at the fruit / teaching of most of the movements leaders today. Are they not fraught with error?

Most of the scriptures in the OP are taken from parts of passages that, when read as a whole, mean something different.

If you read Romans 10, for example, you will see it is about the preaching of the gospel, the word being the message of Jesus Christ and the confession being the great confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I could go on but won't.

All I ask is that we expound the bible in a gospel centered, Christ centered manner, as exemplified by the epistles.

I always say:" If it was good enough for the apostles it is good enough for me."

We must not add to or divide the scriptures to suit our favorite doctrine but interpret it in context and receive the message as it was written, as a whole.

God bless,

A
AbideinHim

Brother William,

There is no debate that many in the Word of faith movement got off into error especially along the lines of the prosperity message, but what about the article that was set forth in the post that was labeled as Word of faith teaching, where is the error in this particular message?

If you listen to the teaching by Derek Prince on "Proclamation of the Word”, it sounds like Word of faith, doesn’t it? Yet it has nothing to do with WOF Movement, but has everything to do with the scriptural basis of the proclamation of the promises of God to effect change in our own personal lives, and in a broader sense to bring about change in our regions and even nations. We are merely agreeing with what God says, and declaring what He says.

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Gloryandgrace


When I read the post red flags were waving.

Mike is absolutely right to pull back on the reigns so that we do not negate the word of God by anathematizing everything that resembles the falsehood within W.O.F.

Who disagrees that the word of God is to be quoted, believed, adhered to over and above our feelings, fears and sufferings? I'd say no one. People want and need healing and it comes by way of the word mixed with faith, there is no error in such teaching.

But word of faith is not "just the word". If you read Franklins post it carries all the tell-tale signs of W.O.F teaching.

First off, to be very clear, this not in anyway to be construed as an attack upon belief in healing, confessing the word of God or Franklin himself. It is also not another tedious rant against W.O.F. I've written plenty of those.

What I wanted to bring to your attention is how the faith/healing/confession is said to operate.

If you read Franklins post, you will notice that the believer is assumed to handle the word of God, promises of God, faith and confession all very autonomously.
The idea behind such vernacular is that we operate with the tools God has given us, these tools function for us as a hammer in our hands, or a saw or something under our direct control.
It is the introduction of this autonomy from the outset that has sabotaged W.O.F. teaching from its inception.
It is this element that poisons the whole mixture.

Without going into a very long post, suffice it to say, the resulting 'autonomous acting of the believer' removes him from the necessary relational aspects of genuine Christianity in order to bring the Christian to act upon mere principle/law. All of W.O.F. works this way. Because of this, the terrible doctrinal errors and errors in practice begin to manifest. God is no longer guiding, he is simply validating the desires and needs of the believer. God is not able to say No, to anything, but all "no" is confined to the devil. A distortion of the person of God, a distortion of the working of the devil and a Christian not learning how to relate to God in all areas of their life result.

The issue then is not "believing to be healed", the issue becomes "how the healing is affected?" Genuine Christianity teaches our healing, deliverance and blessing are all relational. With W.O.F. it is all principle, law, confession, autonomous action, self-will, personal desire.
When you overlay all the above with biblical vernacular it hides the true intent of our adversary...keep the Christian away from truly knowing God as God is, by using the word of God to serve human self-will. The Sheep coat is a 'man of faith and power', the wolf underneath is 'a self-willed man using God to acquire what he wants for his own kingdom'.

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drifter

I wasn't trying to be offensive or contentious. It's just that the article sounded like a classic word faith/ prosperity teaching to me. My problem is that in word faith words are given an almost metaphysical power, and an intimate relationship with Jesus takes a back seat to things (even if they are good things like healing etc.)

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FranklinB

Thank you Abideinhim for taking the time to read this article, I'm glad someone got the message intended.

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Gloryandgrace

Hello FranklinB:

I read your post 3 times and I considered what you said very carefully.

This is a discussion board and at times some posts are scrutinized more than others, I did so with yours.

If you take issue, please reply.

I took the time to note the vernacular used and as it stands can easily be assimilated into any motivational speaker, Church of Christ Scientist and probably others.

Why? Because your description of obtaining what you need is based solely on 'working the word' as W.O.F. say it. You don't need Jesus for any thing you've said, you only need a metaphysical connection, not a God-given relationship with Jesus Christ.

Please receive this in the spirit it is intended, I'm simply remarking that such teachings put man in the place of God, where instead of God's relating to us via Christ and the covenant, God seems to simply be the 'operative force' used to fulfill the need.

My intention is not to question your sincerity or intent, I read that you were healed and God be thanked for that.

Brother, do you attend a W.O.F Church?

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FranklinB

Thank you gloryandgrace for taking the time to read this article. What is this so called "Word of faith. And I would never suggest that you don't need Jesus. Because without him you can do nothing. Thank You!

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Gloryandgrace


Hi FranklinB: Word of Faith is a formulaic manner of handling the word of God in order to obtain what the word of God offers to those who have faith. It's like a quid-pro-quo, I give a little faith, I take a little blessing.

Are you familiar with Kenneth Copeland? Jerry Sevelle?, Kennth Hagin Jr.? Paula White? and other lesser forms such as Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyers? These and several other Tv ministries tailor their ministries according to what 'blessing is received by faith'.

The rub has always been their willingness to quote scripture and promote Jesus Christ at the expense correct exegesis of scripture and Jesus Christ's sovereignty.

Thanks for the response, let me know what fellowships you attend?

L
Lysa

Speaking the word of God brings increase in every area of your life.

I do have a problem with the word of faith folks but I tried it and like you said, it worked! Here is my story, wild as it sounds!!...

I'm sitting at home one night and my chair faces down the hallway and I was never up this late but about 10:30 I saw a mouse come scurrying down the hallway. Praise God I've never had a mouse problem, so I had to go out and by some mouse traps and set them.

Nothing happened. I could hear that thing digging into something. Around the fourth day, I was praying before I went work, like, "God please do something with that mouse!" (because it kept eating all the peanut butter off the mouse traps and I kept resetting them.), And it occurred to me (Spirit-led prayer?) to say, "In the name of Jesus, I command you mouse to bite that peanut butter and die today, in Jesus' name." :)

I came home from work and nothing. When I got up in the middle of the night, the mouse lay dead. So you tell me! I prayed "today" and that mouse was dead before 24 hours was up.

Now, do I go around commanding things willy nilly? No. But that time, a still small voice said command it and I did.

I stand amazed at our God and the little things He cares about because I care about them!! Praise His holy name!!

God bless,
Lisa

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narrowpath

See how dangerous the WOF teaching is, you can even kill mice with it! Just kiddin...:D

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AbideinHim

Thanks for the testimony Lisa.

Sure the Word of God Works, and even the world and success motivational speakers use faith principles to get what they are after, but this is very dangerous, and just because someone seems to be successful in this world by thinking and speaking right doesn’t mean that God is blessing them, and they could end up in hell if they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

However, when we believe and speak the Word of God according to God’s will, then we can speak to the mountains in our life and see them removed. After all, Kenneth Hagin did not write Mark 11: 23, 24, but when he received a revelation of that verse, he was miraculously healed off of a death bed as a young man.

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MrBillPro

Lisa, did the Mouse Trap give the Glory to God? :-)

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TMK

There is little doubt that when I learned to pray with more faith and authority I saw things begin to happen.

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rbanks

I haven't been on here lately but thought I would make a comment...

I believe that without faith it is impossible to please God. I believe in the Word of God and in speaking it and proclaiming with a heart in tune with Gods will in humble obedience to God.

But I encourage you brethren to reread what brother Marvin wrote in his posts. His first post was full of Godly wisdom that I really appreciated... and am very much in agreement with.

Brother Marvin thank you for your insight from your relationship to God. I have listened to B.H. Clendennen over the years and he has was a tremendous man of faith but for the same reasons you posted, he also saw the errors of the WOF movement.

Thanks again....blessings to all!

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drifter

I'm not trying to downplay the importance of pure speech or speaking God's word.

Do I believe in healing and miracles? Absolutely. I was a heroin addict for 6 years and I've been clean for 5, God healed me of drug addiction and I have no desire whatsoever to go use. He also healed me of severe depression and suicidal thoughts. But it wasn't because I repeated scripture verses over and over or made "positive confession". Jesus had pity and compassion on me and helped me when I was at the end of my rope.

Sometimes we ask for healing or financial blessing and don't know that He has a purpose in denying us these things because He uses trials to purify us. I've told God, "Lord Jesus, all I want is to know You, and if You have to take away my health, so be it, if You have to take away my job, my apartment, and put me out on the street, do it, do whatever You have to to bring me closer to You!"

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Lysa

by TMK
There is little doubt that when I learned to pray with more faith and authority I saw things begin to happen.

Exactly, Todd! Thank you for sharing that!

And I debated about even putting this on SI because I knew there would naysayers! But that's ok, I knew there would be those who understood.

God is good and He is leading His dear children along!

(edit) I am not word of faith but a person doesn't have to be to believe the Bible and take it at It's word! "Come boldly to the throne of the Grace..." (just one scripture)

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MrBillPro

In James 4:3 it say's...You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. In my opinion, "probably" most WOF or Name It And Claim It folks, ask with the wrong motives. I do believe if you ask for a need, either by just confessing that need out loud to the Lord, or in prayer, God will provide it if it be his will for your life. I heard a pastor once say, just ask God, and leave out if it be in your will Lord, never understood why he said that. My personal belief is, if we ask for our "needs" and of course he knows our needs better than we do, he will Bless us with that need. Paul said, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances". I think God is more willing to give us more of what he has for us, when we become content with what we have. In my opinion, you're not showing much contentment when you go around asking him for new homes, cars, money, which is probably at the top of the list of most WOF folks.

By the way, I think Lisa knows me well enough, to know I was just joking about the mouse trap.. :-)

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MrBillPro

Todd said "There is little doubt that when I learned to pray with more faith and authority I saw things begin to happen".

Todd, what is praying with authority? and how do we do that?
The dictionary defines authority as the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.

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TrueWitness

It seems to me that WOF has poisoned the well, so to speak, of what it is to practice faith in the Word. When you listen to these folks, it is all about chasing after blessings for yourself. Believing for happiness, success and blessing for yourself. All troubles, hardships and trials are automatically assumed to be of the devil and must be overcome. Now some stuff we are supposed to resist but other stuff we are to endure and persevere through. No easy guideline to figure it out. Each situation is different. But yes, standing on the Word and speaking the Word are the heart of practicing faith. But the situation is that now when we hear a believer talk about standing on the Word or speaking the Word we automatically think of these WOF prosperity gospel types and we shut it down. Sad, truly a stroke of genius on the devil's part to get the church to be passive about exercising faith about legitimate needs because after all, that 'name it and claim it' stuff is junk. So now a wimpy beggy prayer with the all-important 'if it be thy will' tacked on the end is now considered orthodox.

-Daniel

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MrBillPro

Daniel Said: "It seems to me that WOF has poisoned the well, so to speak, of what it is to practice faith in the Word".

Exactly!

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docs

I agree Daniel. Well said.

Meanwhile,

"For the Word of God is LIVING and POWERFUL and SHARPER than any two-edged sword...."

We need to be standing on it and confessing it.

T
TMK

//Todd, what is praying with authority? and how do we do that?
The dictionary defines authority as the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.//

Bill- what **I** mean when I say that is I pray with faith in Jesus name and not using the faith killing phrase "if it be your will” like I am hedging my bets. I don’t command things to happen but I pray expecting them to- especially if I have a pretty good idea that it IS Gods will. Obviously I don’t pray for something that I know is not Gods will.

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MrBillPro

Todd, please correct me if I'm wrong. But no where have I ever said that praying "if it be your will" is correct. Todd I what I did say is "I heard a pastor once say, just ask God, and leave out if it be in your will Lord, never understood why he said that". But no one has yet to post an explanation of why the pastor said that, in biblical terms. I would pray that all you bible scholars here would please remember, I'm probably the least knowledgeable here of the Bible, I have a very hard time understanding it, so please try to give me a little grace, because semi hostile answers, only hurts me not helps me. My questions here are normally spirit lead, I don't ask a lot of questions regarding scripture, because most of the time the answers are over my head. Some folks just love to argue, not me, and they will use any opportunity to debate, argue or challenge. In my opinion, constant debate is not a problem in itself, most brilliance comes from healthy and passionate conflict, the challenge happens when people argue or create conflict without a positive purpose.

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TMK

Hey Bill-

I wasn't referencing you in my last post. I don't remember you ever posting that about the pastor and I wasn't trying to upset anyone or arguing- I was just trying to answer the question you posed about what I meant by praying with authority. I did not think my answer was hostile and I apologize if you took it that way.

The reason the pastor you heard said to leave out "if it be your will" is because it is a faith killer- at least for me it is. Like I said it is a hedging of my bet. If I am praying for someone to be healed I can pray either: 1) Lord please heal so and so if it be your will, or 2) Sickness (whatever it may be), leave this person in Jesus' name.

In my opinion, option 1 is a mealy mouthed wimpy faithless kind of prayer and is no better than not praying at all. If I am praying for someone to be healed I have to assume its God's will. If it's not, then I guess the person won't be healed but it won't be because of my lack of faith.

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JFW

Where does this portion of scripture fit in?

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Not being contentious, rather am sincerely seeking to understand what you are saying?

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TMK

I don’t believe there is an example of someone praying for someone to be healed in scripture. Why?

J
JFW

????

13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? 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:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

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TMK

But there is no actual example that I know of.

The only actual examples are not prayers at all.

J
JFW

@Brother Todd

Ohhh ok, I see what you’re saying now about that- sorry I misunderstood:/

Re: the scriptural exhortations tho... they do say to pray for that, no?
In other words how does the passage quoted from James fit with what you are saying regarding " the Lord willing”?

T
TrueWitness

Now if you are praying for guidance and direction it is appropriate to ask God to close doors He doesn't want you to go through and open doors He does want you to go through. So if you are unsure about something, yeah, pray about the matter with the attitude "if it be thy will". But Jesus gave us authority over sickness and to cast out devils. We don't need to ask if that is His will. So pray with authority and faith.

-Daniel

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TMK

Daniel that is along the lines of what I was thinking.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:29-31

I like that kind of praying.

J
JFW

@Brother Todd

Ok so just to be clear, if you personally pray for someone to be healed and they are not,... is that (in your understanding) because it wasn’t God’s will or due to a deficiency in either your faith or theirs ?

Again not trying to be contentious- rather seeking to understand what you are saying-
And thank you dear brother for your continued patience with me:)

T
TMK

I accept that not everyone is healed- and that it is Gods will sometimes.

However, I do also believe that lack of faith or lack of power in prayer can also result is someone not being healed.

If I did not believe that then I would see no purpose whatsoever in praying.

J
JFW

@brother Todd,

Your explanation is greatly appreciated!

Was thinking you might be saying that but wanted to be sure so thank you again for entertaining my prodding- just didn’t want to put words in your mouth :)

FTR: this is very much in line with my understanding on the subject of faith/prayer/proclamation/healing.

G
Gloryandgrace


When you strip away the the formulaic/autonomy from W.O.F and your strip away the self-agenda/my-own-kingdom-willing from prayer, faith, healing, confession and declaration you begin to enter into a way of living out the faith of God with the faith God has given. Things begin to change in terms of answered prayer.

It's really a blessed thing to learn from one another how God answers prayers of faith, he stirs our hearts to ask and believe for impossible things to be overcome. I believe this is exactly what Jesus is teaching in the gospels.

It's a great thing to recover a Christian faith/living that has been hijacked by false teachers or errant teachers and twisted up to suit their own ends. When God's word is regained and faith in God is again restored, we may live out the truth knowledgeable of the ditches on either side of God's truth; we are then watchful for errors that can push us to one side or the other and can openly corrected it and stay the course.

We are able to declare the word of God without falling into presumption. We are able to believe for healing without being enamored with the 'man of power' because such power is evident in us and other believers around us. We are able to believe for and receive the miraculous from God without thinking we need the 'man of power' CD's, books or ministry.

It is a joy to me, when my brothers and sisters live in accordance with the word with a demonstrable witness of God's answered prayers. I joy when dependence upon the man of power for the hour is shifted towards a faith-dependence upon Christ...because they have learned to receive from the Spirit of God themselves for what God is doing in and through their own lives. These are no longer spectators or mere readers of the miraculous but have become recipients and partakers of God's gifts.

What are the tell-tale signs I look for? It's vernacular for one and the clear testimony of faith in operation receiving from God.
You see relationship "Jesus spoke to me, so I believed him to act"; "Faith rose in my heart and God answered right there"; "God gave me in that moment wisdom and knowledge, therefore I believed and received"

God is not a 3rd party to working the word, using the force of faith, confession to obtain and other such vernacular.
I see God initiating, God speaking, God empowering, God equipping, God encouraging so we speak or pray or act or serve because the Spirit of God authors the words and actions. Our faith and His empowering, our trusting and his
revealing are normative and truly demonstrate our living faith...something no other religion can come close too.

Praise the Lord for everyone believing God's word and living out the words of the apostles.

F
FranklinB

Jesus said that believers would lay hands on the sick and they would recover. Jesus gave believers the authority and power to heal the sick (Matt. 10:1,8 Mark !6:16-18)

S
sermonindex

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:29-31


Amen, we do not want to throw out the baby with the bath water! God has given each of us faith in accordance with giftings of the Holy Spirit. What a terrible thing if we as disciples of Jesus Christ could never speak an authoritative word from God, cast out a demon or ever pray and see someone healed. It is wonderful that the Book of Acts is for us today, it is the same God working in our midst. But we must never treat God or His Holy Spirit as something we can use and manipulate at our own will. We must be humble and be servants waiting to hear the voice of God to pray for someone, heal someone.

T
TrueWitness

Greg said,

But we must never treat God or His Holy Spirit as something we can use and manipulate at our own will. We must be humble and be servants waiting to hear the voice of God to pray for someone, heal someone.

Good word Greg. Yes, and the other thing about the WOF movement that is troubling is how they over-do the being privileged in Christ teaching. Yes, we are "sons and daughters of the King" and we are "the head and not the tail" but don't let that prevent you from having a servant's heart. So much of that self seeking and privilege attitude is so contrary to how Jesus conducted himself. Let God be the one to bless and favor you, not you clawing and grasping for it.

-Daniel

L
Lysa


And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:29-3

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak YOUR word with all boldness, while YOU stretch out YOUR hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of YOUR holy servant Jesus.”

It's HIS hand stretched out to heal!
It's through the name of HIS son Jesus all the signs and wonders are done.

it's all HIM, the only thing to do with us is that HE grant US all boldness to speak HIS word. This is encouraging to me! I pray for the sick and it's up to HIM to heal them. "The willing and obedient eat the good of the land!" (Is 1:9)

God bless,
Lisa

T
TMK

Yes Lysa-

We **GET** to do it. What a privilege! And lest we forget, what a responsibility. Whoa.

J
JFW

Yes AMEN!!!!

This is what I was hoping you were saying:)))

And not that WE do it, in His name but that He does it in and thru us~

A
AbideinHim

"Yes, and the other thing about the WOF movement that is troubling is how they over-do the being privileged in Christ teaching. Yes, we are "sons and daughters of the King" and we are "the head and not the tail" but don't let that prevent you from having a servant's heart. So much of that self seeking and privilege attitude is so contrary to how Jesus conducted himself. Let God be the one to bless and favor you, not you clawing and grasping for it."

Amen Daniel!

The teaching of who we are in Christ, and the believers authority in Christ is taught throughout the Word of God, but there are two extremes that we must avoid. The one extreme is to use that authority in a way that God never intended, and that will happen if we do not embrace the cross of Christ, and the I is taken out of the picture. It is the authority of Christ that He has given us for His Kingdom purposes.

The other extreme is to not see that God has made us kings and priests, and we are expecting God to do everything, when we has told us to take authority over the demonic realm, to bind and to loose, etc. etc.

We must stay humble and yielding to God while moving in the authority and power that God has given to His Church.

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