Authors: Praying Medic
Having experienced this failure, God asked me to try something different. Through several dreams He led me to a few kingdom-minded people and I began the process of becoming a disciple. I didn’t even know it at the time, because the ones doing it never called me a disciple or treated me like a novice. It was a very natural process. I found a few people who knew more than I did and they were very willing to entertain my questions and help me grow in spiritual maturity. Almost none of this occurred inside of a church building. Much of it was done by e-mail, through blogs, over the phone and on Facebook. Welcome to the world of electronic discipleship.
As I mentioned, Nor’west Prophetic is one of the men who took me under his wing. I had a dream in which he and I walked the streets of the town we lived in. In the dream, we were starting a new type of Church called a “Missional Church.” We were looking for a person of peace. Finding this person was the first thing we had to do. Once again, I’d like to draw your attention to the instructions Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew chapter 10 and Luke chapter 10.
In His instructions, He told the disciples to go out into the cities of Israel. The first thing that should be obvious is that He didn’t tell them to bring people to a central location, as we do today. His instructions were for them to go out into society. He also told them to inquire who was worthy and then to find a person of peace. He told them not to go from place to place, but to remain there, eating what was served, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons and teaching them about the kingdom.
What is the emphasis in these instructions? Developing relationships while ministering to people and teaching them about the kingdom.
The person of peace is the key to the entire process. The
person of peace
is a person who sees the work that God is doing through us and is willing to receive this same work in their own life and potentially, the lives of others. The person of peace desires to build a relationship with us. That relationship requires trust and a spirit of peace. Once this person is found, they may lead us to a group over which they have influence. If we gain favor and acceptance with them, we may gain it with the entire group. Just as we are doorways to the kingdom, the person of peace is a doorway to the world. The work of God flows through these doorways.
Biblical examples of a person of peace are numerous. The gospel came to the Gentiles after an angel spoke to Cornelius, who was called a “just man of good reputation.” The angel told him to send for the apostle Peter. Cornelius allowed Peter to speak to all who were in his home and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Cornelius, by virtue of his reputation and influence, served as the first doorway for the gospel to reach the Gentiles. He is one of the clearest examples of how a person of peace facilitates the work of the kingdom (see Acts chapter 10).
Lydia is another example, having opened her home to Paul and the disciples after receiving their testimony (see Acts 16:14-15). The Samaritan woman at the well likewise took the message of the Messiah back to her city after meeting Jesus (see Jn. 4:28-29).
One example might surprise you. The man with the demons, who called himself “Legion” became a person of peace. Some people are by nature a person of peace. Some become one as a result of our interaction with them. This man was a citizen of Gadara. Once he was set free, he begged Jesus to allow him to remain with Him. The people of Gadara begged Jesus to return to Galilee. Jesus sent the man home to Decapolis to tell of the great things the Lord had done. Later, when Jesus visited Decapolis, the people there begged Jesus to stay and touch their sick and infirmed. The man’s testimony prepared the hearts of people so He could return (see Mk. 5:16-20 and Mk. 7:31-37).
When John G. Lake trained his divine healing technicians, he sent them to the home of someone in the community who needed healing of a terminal condition. The household would have had at least one person willing to cooperate with the work that God was doing. They would pray over this person and their household, focusing on getting the sick person healed. They would teach the Bible and mentor them as long as needed, which would have been anywhere from a day to a few months. This model, which proved to be very effective, is almost exactly like the one Jesus gave to His disciples.
If you haven’t been exposed to the House Church, Organic Church or Missional Church movements – you might benefit from checking them out. God is doing some good things in the way of making disciples through these expressions of His Church. They may not be experts in healing, but they’re extremely good at making disciples. The common thread running through all of them is their emphasis on the concept of
being
the Church, instead of
going
to church. If this concept seems strange to you, it’s likely that you identify the church as a place instead of a group of people. The Bible identifies the Church
(ecclesia)
as the body of disciples who follow Jesus and not a place where we meet.
The focus of these groups is on the incarnation of Christ in us, and the expression of His life through us in a continual way, not just one or two days a week. They emphasize frequent fellowship with other believers.
It was after I decided to be more intentional in allowing Jesus to live through me on a daily basis that I noticed changes in the lives of people around me. Those who were never interested in my religion were very interested in the healing they began to hear about. Those who never cared about Bible study were interested in learning what God was saying to them through dreams. The further I walked into the kingdom, the more people were attracted to Jesus. And my opportunities to disciple them increased dramatically.
Making disciples is a matter of practicing a few key things consistently. You must find a person of peace and develop a relationship with them. If they open doors to the lives of others, ask God how you can meet their needs. You must have regular contact, demonstrating Jesus in His power, forgiveness, love, compassion and all the things that reveal His life in you. If we do these things, we will make disciples and fulfill the great commission. And in the process we’ll reveal the truth that Jesus is still alive and breathing in those He calls His bride.
O
NE NIGHT
I
HAD A
dream in which I was praying for a number of people over different periods of time. For some, I prayed for several days, for others it was weeks and for others I prayed for months. Some of my friends knew I was doing this and criticized me for it. But their criticism didn’t stop me. In the dream, I knew I was doing the right thing, so I kept praying.
For many people, prayer consists mostly of asking God to fulfill their needs or desires. Their prayer never goes beyond asking and hoping to receive. These individuals tend to see God as the sovereign Lord over all creation. They believe that nothing happens outside of His perfect will. Not knowing His will, they would never presume to know the outcome of their prayers in advance. These believers might be offended by Christians who presume to know the will of God and pray as if they have authority over their circumstances.
Another group of believers operate on the premise that God has given them authority over the power of the enemy. They see God as their Father who has delegated responsibility, power and authority to them and knowing His will, they seldom ask God for anything. Their prayers are more like the declarations of a military officer involved in warfare. They contend for things already promised by God as an inheritance they possess. Many people in in this group can’t justify begging God to act on their behalf and they get frustrated with people who do.
In the realm of healing, I’ve noticed that the second group seems to have better results than the first. Those who
command
healing tend to see a lot more miracles, compared to those who
ask
God for healing. It wasn’t until I learned how to pray from a place of authority that I began to see miracles. Today they’re quite common.
But I still have a number of people that I pray for who are not healed immediately, or should I say – they show no signs of being healed when I pray. And it’s this problem I’d like to address in this chapter.
In the dream, I found myself praying for certain people every day for weeks or even months. Persistence in prayer was the thing God was speaking about. I don’t know why some people are healed immediately while others require 30 years of prayer and still others die without being healed. But I think it’s worthy of a discussion. Someone once asked Todd White why God doesn’t heal amputees. Todd’s reply was, “How many amputees have you laid hands on?”
I think Todd was proposing the real reason why more people aren’t healed. It’s not because God doesn’t want them healed. It’s because we don’t want them healed enough to spend hours, days, weeks or months praying if that’s what it takes. We often blame God for not healing people when the blame probably belongs to us. We expect immediate results and if we don’t see an instant change, we give up.
If you endeavor to operate in healing, you’ll eventually find a person who requires prayer over a long period of time. They may have multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s, autism or Lyme disease. Whatever their illness is, they will find you. And when they do, your persistence in prayer is the only thing that will get them healed. I believe many more people would be healed of such diseases if we would learn to persist and not give up so quickly.
If you’re in need of healing and you’re wondering if it’s foolish to ask for prayer over and over again, my advice is to keep asking as long as it takes to get healed and don’t ever give up. In Luke chapter 11, after teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus taught them how to persist until they received what they asked for. Bethel Church recently saw a woman healed of multiple sclerosis after she’d been in a wheelchair for 30 years. I would imagine she’d received thousands of prayers over the years and nothing ever changed, until the day that one last prayer tipped the scales in her favor.
I have many friends who are leaders in the current healing movement. Although they’re as different as can be when it comes to styles and methods of healing, they all share one thing in common. Every one of them has remarkable persistence in prayer. Though they all pray for people who are not immediately healed, these setbacks don’t affect their ability to keep praying for hours or days if that’s what it takes to get someone healed. Their determination and persistence is the thing that sets them apart. They are leaders partly because they are successful. Their success comes from persistence. If you want to have the same kind of success they have you must develop the same kind of persistence they have.
I
N THIS CHAPTER WE’LL DISCUSS
the various problems people have with receiving healing from God. As I thought about the problems some of us have with receiving healing, I realized that the process of healing is similar to the way a football player catches a pass from a quarterback. I’d like to draw an analogy from this American sport because I think many principles of the game of football apply to healing, though the analogy isn’t perfect.
For those who are not familiar with American football, allow me to briefly explain what’s relevant to this discussion. Football is a game in which two opposing teams try to control the movement of a ball on a field. One way the ball can be moved is for one player to throw the ball to another player. The person throwing the ball is called a quarterback or passer. The one catching the ball is called the receiver. There is also an opposing team whose goal is to prevent this from happening.
The quarterback’s job is to take the ball, look for a receiver who is in a position to catch a pass and throw the ball to him. Generally, as the quarterback throws the ball, the receiver is running. The receiver’s job is to run a pre-determined route, get free of the other team’s defender, catch the pass then run with the ball toward the goal line without being tackled by a defender.
The opposing team (also known as the defense) tries to break up this plan. Defenders can tackle the quarterback before the pass is made, knock the receiver to the ground before he can run the correct route, taunt the receiver with intimidating words and when the ball is in the air, try to catch it, or take the ball away after the catch is made.
Good receivers know that a few key things, if done correctly, will improve their ability to catch the ball and hold onto it. Good defenders come armed with a host of tricks they use to prevent receivers from catching the ball.
One thing that drives a quarterback crazy is a receiver who won’t run the correct route. The quarterback throws the ball to the receiver as he is running. The speed of the receiver and the delay between when the ball is thrown and when it’s caught requires the quarterback to throw the ball in front of the receiver. The quarterback must anticipate where the receiver will be and throw the ball to that spot. Once the ball is thrown, the receiver must continue running the route that will get them to that spot, then locate the ball and catch it. All of this requires precise timing and coordination.
The receiver must do several things, all in quick succession. First he must run the route the quarterback expects, next he must break free of the defender. He must anticipate the timing of the throw, locate the ball in mid-air and follow its trajectory into his hands. Finally, he must hold onto the ball as the defender tries to either strip it from his hands or tackle him.
Some receivers don’t run routes correctly. As a result, they don’t catch many passes. Sometimes they quit running or run slowly because they’re tired or they believe the quarterback will throw the ball to another player. Some receivers are prevented from running the route when the defender hits them. Some will retaliate and hit the defender back. They might injure the defender, but they take themselves out of position to catch the pass.