The School Of The Spirit - Session 5

Good to have everybody here tonight.

This is the school of the Spirit.

Tonight's a special night.

Every night's a special night that God gives us right.

But tonight's a special night because we're going to be praying two things.

We're going to be praying for God to touch and heal those who need healing.

One and second of all, we're going to be praying for those who desire to be used by God in the area of healing.

We're going to be asking the Lord to give you the gifts of healings.

Isn't that good?

Amen.

So if you need something from God, you can get it tonight.

Also, if you want to give something from God to other people, you can get that tonight as well.

That's what it's about.

Alright, so we're going to start tonight with the definition of gifts of healings.

Remember, in 1 Corinthians 12, we've been studying over the last several times that we've met the gifts of the Spirit, and one of the listings there, one of the nine gifts that are there, is called gifts of healings.

It's kind of unique because it's plural.

It's not singular like most of the rest of the gifts.

This one is plural and so there seems to be different gifts for different types of healings.

How many of you realize there's more than just physical healing that's needed by people.

There's all kinds of different healing that we need.

So the gifts of healings the definition is a supernatural manifestation.

Where does that come from?

From God For the healing of sicknesses or diseases in varying ways, without any natural source or means.

And I'll expand it a little bit beyond that, because I do believe that there are times that God will use even medicine, or He'll use the medical field to help to bring about healing.

But ultimately, when we are healed, who do we give the glory and honor to?

We give the glory and honor to God, because he's the only one deserving of it.

So over the last 40 plus years as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have encountered just about every way of thinking when it comes to healing.

I have talked to so many different people through the years who have different vantage points, different experiences, different belief systems concerning healing.

And I want to just quickly just touch on two kind of caricatures, two larger than life ways of thinking in it Before I about it.

But before I say that, I want you to know that I have personally seen the Lord heal hundreds of people throughout the 40 plus years of ministry that I've been involved in I'm not saying that I was the one always that was being used by God to pray for people but I have observed with these eyes the healing power of God over and over and over again.

And the reason I'm going to be saying things like that tonight is because we're desiring to create an atmosphere of faith here tonight.

We're not trying to create something that's outside of God.

We're trying to create a connection with God.

Faith is not faith in my ability to make something happen.

Faith is believing that there is a God that's greater than us, that has the ability to do what he says that he will do, and so as we talk tonight, we share some of the stories we're going to share.

I want you to just allow yourself the anticipation within your heart of the move of God in your life.

I want you to let that grow tonight.

I know I'm allowing and asking the Lord to allow me to see that happen, but in my early years in life the philosophy that we had is that if you believed enough, if you could believe enough, that you could basically heal yourself.

Now we use Christian terminology around it, but that's really what it was about.

It was really a form of like Christian science.

It was like mind over matter.

If you could convince your mind, if you could say it enough times, then you could make yourself well Okay.

Now I want you to know that even in the middle of hearing all of those things and believing those things, the Lord still moved miraculously and healed people and performed miracles, because God is most interested in what His glory one and then two the needs of the people.

And so God will use imperfect people and imperfect theology and imperfect scenarios and imperfect churches and imperfect pastors, imperfect young people.

I know you guys are close to perfect, but not quite there yet.

In fact, he'll use us because he wants to, he chooses to right, and that's powerful.

It's a powerful truth.

Now, the problem with the doctrine that I grew up believing is if it didn't work, then obviously who was to blame?

It was all me.

It was all me.

I did not have enough faith, I didn't pray enough, I didn't confess enough, I didn't whatever.

It was enough.

Use the problem that I've never gotten an answer to from anybody who believes that.

I always ask them then why is everybody dying?

I've never met a person that could, ultimately at the end of their life, whenever that was, whatever day that was, whatever hour that was, whatever minute that was, I've never seen a person be able to confess or pray, or you know what I'm saying.

I mean, the Lord can extend our lives.

Of course people can come back from the dead.

God could raise people from the dead.

All of those realities are true.

But ultimately, even Lazarus, even though he was raised from the dead, eventually died right.

So if you take the theology that says that, if you believe enough, if you think it enough, if you say it enough, that you're going to be healed every time, then ultimately what you're saying is that we should never die.

And that might be nice, might be nice, you know, but it's not going to happen.

And I'm not trying to be silly or to make fun of anything.

I'm just letting you know that there are shortfalls when you get into the ditch on either side when it comes to healing.

I think I've mentioned this before, so I'll just gloss over it, but my first experience with understanding that this was not a godly thing is that when I was about five years old, we were going to a church, my dad was going to Bible college, we were being taught these things and a lady in the church got cancer and she decided she was going to trust the Lord and we all began to pray for her.

She didn't get medical help, she didn't get any treatments of any kind.

That was her choice.

She chose to do that and she died.

And the next week the pastor got up and said we love Sister So-and-so, we just wish she had had a little more faith.

And as a five-year-old, six-year-old kid, something on the inside of me rose up and said that's wrong.

There's something about that that's wrong.

And so, ultimately, when you believe things, we need to make sure that we're believing things based on the counsel of Scripture, not on half a verse here and half a verse there.

We need to make sure that our theology lines up with the Word of God, not just from experience or from somebody's perspective based on their life.

We have to be careful in those areas.

Now, that does not mean that we don't need to have faith for healing.

We do need to have faith, but it needs to be in God, not in my ability to somehow make it happen.

God is not a slot machine.

He's not, and I feel like that.

At times.

People treat Him like he's a celestial Santa Claus or he's a slot machine and that's not who God is.

So on the other side of things, another approach is a hands-off approach.

It's like bless me if you can.

You know, if God wants to heal me, he'll heal me, but I'm not going to do anything about it.

Now it really depends on the motivation behind that.

If your motivation is sincere and you believe that God is sovereign and you believe that he has the best in mind for you and your heart's right in it, then that's fine.

But if you're just kind of detached from any kind of faith toward God and you're just saying, well, let's just roll the dice, it doesn't matter what I do or what I say, if I pray or if I don't pray, that could be wrong too.

That's a wrong approach.

Some people would even make it spiritual I don't need to bother Him, god's very busy and I'm not that important.

I don't want to make a big deal about myself.

Here's the thing that you need to know.

All of the Bible is really about one thing God wanting to relate with His people.

And so now that that's possible because of Jesus Christ, why would he grow weary of talking to us?

Some of us have believed that and we need to cut that out of our thinking.

That is not the truth.

God's mind is greater than our mind.

He think of the greatest supercomputer on the earth and multiply that times a million, and that's not even close.

God's capacity is much larger than anything we can imagine or think.

He is not bothered when we talk to Him.

He wants it, he loves it.

Yeah, I think the reason why sickness and death are so difficult for us is because God didn't originally create us to be sick or to die.

Did you know that the original intent for God, that God had in the Garden of Eden was for what?

Do you know Adam and Eve?

Were they supposed to be healthy?

And yeah, that was God's original intent.

He walked and talked with them.

They were completely free from any form of chaos, any form of strife, division.

Imagine there's a firmament surrounding the earth.

The environment was perfect at all times.

There was no global warming or cooling, there were no political parties.

Oh, can we just take a minute?

Regardless of what sides you're on, it's just a perfect place, a perfect life, a perfect world, everything just as it should be, right Within what happened?

What created a problem?

Sin, and what was the sin?

Disobedience.

To who?

To God, disobedience to God.

And through that disobedience, what happened?

God in Genesis 3 approached mankind and he brought judgment based on righteousness, not based on the fact that he hated people or he was wanting to destroy people, based on the fact that he could not remain as a holy father and a holy God if he just kind of winked his eye as Adam and Eve did what they were going to do.

He couldn't do that and remain holy himself.

That would have been wrong for him.

And so because of that, because of the fall of mankind, and then every person after that that has been born, has been born in that same condition, in the fallen condition, which means that we are affected and influenced by the things that are of this earth.

Right, I think.

If you just take COVID for an example I don't know how many of you have had COVID over the last three years we're not raising hands, we're not going to.

You know any of that.

But if anything, covid should have proven to us the value of one person, because on the negative side, you get around one person that had COVID and it could spread, but on the positive side, one person with Jesus who believes and prays and asks God to intervene.

What kind of power is that that can multiply just as well, right, so we live in this fallen world.

We are born into sin, so that means we deal with the effects of sin in this earth.

Can you imagine a world with no mosquitoes?

Can you imagine a world those of you who helped us clean out here when we were first moving in imagine a world without poison ivy or poison oak?

Can you imagine a world with no snakes?

Yeah, yeah.

You like snakes?

Okay, what's your name?

Again, I'm sorry, sarah.

Sarah, that's right.

So we're going to be praying for Sarah tonight.

She'll be set free from a love of snakes that is not from God.

So, yeah, okay, all right, but just try to imagine that.

It's hard for us to even imagine.

Can you imagine even colors would be more vibrant in creation?

And, by the way, it's not a one and done.

We're going to get to enjoy it again, because the Bible tells us that Jesus is going to restore all things, and so we're going to be able to walk and talk with Him in a perfect place and environment, in every way, and be healed and be able to converse with each other without having weird thoughts.

Or can you imagine?

What a beautiful thing, god's good.

So Satan began his reign of terror in the earth after Adam and Eve sinned.

And along with that, what is Satan's job description?

According to John 10, 10?

The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, and then God says but I have come.

Jesus said I have come.

What?

Yes, you guys memorized that you might have life and have it more abundantly.

You can't.

The two are so far apart, so distinct from one another.

So the question is.

Oh.

One last thing, and I hate to even have to say this one, but sometimes the reason we're dealing with sickness in our bodies is because we're eating too many Twinkies Okay, what are the chips, the fiery chips, takis or reading too many Takis, or too many hot cheetos, or too much Mountain Dew or Dr Pepper whatever the case might be right.

So we'll move quickly past that, but there is the reality that our lifestyles, our choices, the things that we do with our bodies can cause us to be more vulnerable.

Right, it is amazing.

Through the year, sometimes the very same people will get prayed for for healing, over and over and over again.

I've actually prayed for people and the Lord has spoken to me a word of wisdom to say to them you need to drink more water.

That's weird, but it's not weird if that's what God is saying is going to help them, right?

Sometimes it's just that simple.

Right, it can be much more complex.

I'm not trying to say that I know the cure to every single thing, but God does right.

So the question is how do we, as believers in Christ, handle times when we're dealing with sickness and disease in our bodies, not only in our own lives, but in the lives of those that we love dearly.

How do we handle that?

What should our position be?

How should we act?

How should we react?

Okay, yes, take the day off.

Take the day off.

Yes, that's good.

Step one, right, that's good.

We're going to be talking about from the spiritual standpoint, but that's sometimes.

Sometimes, I mean, god told Elijah when he was wore out you need to take a nap, you need to eat a good meal, drink some water, and then we'll talk about what's next.

Right, how do we reach people who don't know Jesus yet in the area of healing, god wants to heal people that aren't saved too.

Did you know that?

If you don't believe me, read Matthew, mark, luke and John.

None of those people were saved yet.

Right, god still chose to step into their lives and to manifest his power by healing them.

So let's look at some scripture and talk through this, and then we're going to pray.

These are just highlights.

Number one God is the creator of all things and he knows how to properly fix his creation.

If God made you, he knows how to fix you.

Right?

Does that make sense?

Yeah, he's the one that made us and I've said this before.

He actually created our bodies with the ability, healing is already in our bodies.

If any of you have ever broken your arm, anybody broken an arm or a leg, or a spleen?

I don't know, I don't know.

Can you break a spleen?

I don't know.

But anyway, if you've done those things, did you?

How many had to wear a cast?

Okay, why aren't you still wearing a cast?

It took two months to what To heal.

Interesting, interesting Six weeks on that one.

So you had a little more faith.

With the right arm no, I'm just kidding, I'm only kidding, it's just broke differently.

Okay, but you notice what happened over time.

Those broken arms got healed.

Right Now I did, and I think I've mentioned this before, probably.

I hate the fact that I can't always remember what audience I've told what to.

That's the.

I've been here 11 years now, so you guys know a lot of my stories.

I'm trying to.

I'm always trying to get new ones going, you know, but there was a time when my brother and I were wrestling in the living room, and did you hear this one?

Last week, the last time, two weeks ago?

That should be fresh on your mind.

I'm telling you what happened.

No, three or four weeks ago, okay, once you get past the age of blah, blah, blah.

You have to be reminded about things.

You don't know that yet, but you will eventually.

So, anyway, I fell over him.

My arm, my hand hit the floor and it and my I never said this, see.

Anyway, my wrist broke, it just was hanging, my hand was just hanging, like this.

Just, I did tell this one.

Okay, so to God, god be the glory.

Anyway, my parents prayed for me and and it just just was healed.

It just was like it.

Nothing ever happened, never had to go to the doctor, never had to take any medicine, never had a problem with it again, right?

So that's so.

Talking about healing of bones, I know that God can do that.

I know he can do it instantly or he can do it over time, right, both ways, both count, okay.

Now, so when we talk about this, god's the creator of all things.

He knows how to fix it.

The first thing we need to know is he's most concerned with the condition of our Our heart or our soul?

He's most concerned with the condition of our soul, because that affects us eternally.

Like I said, we all have an expiration date here on this earth.

We all have a number of days that we're going to live out here on this earth, but then that is not the end of the story, right?

We're going to live forever, and so it's very important that our soul is right with God before our body.

Even Most important, 3rd John 2 says Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

Different translation, but same thing Goes well with your soul.

The second part underneath this category is Jesus paid the price for us to walk in health in our spirit, soul and body.

When Jesus went to the cross, when he paid the price, he paid the price for all three categories spirit, soul and body.

Somebody want to come read Isaiah 53, 4 and 5, one of us?

Anybody?

Okay, I would think by this time we've had like five classes.

Seems like somebody would just be ready to pop up and come down here.

Judah, what happened was you did that, and I know, but I took that as a hand being raised.

Okay, yeah, all right.

Isaiah 53, 4 and 5.

Just this part.

Read it with meaning Like feeling yeah, you got this.

Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our inequities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Good job, buddy.

Thank you, judah.

We've got so many smart Judas, I think the next Judah will be you ready, okay?

So look at this quickly again.

Surely he's born our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Jesus did that, didn't he?

He carried them.

Yet we esteemed him.

Stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, god was the one that opened up all of his wrath and ported out upon Jesus, but he was pierced for our transgressions.

I love the fact that piercing.

Where does a piercing happen?

Internally or outward, outward, right, and a transgression is an inward sin or an outward sin.

Typically, this is an outward sin.

Transgression is something that is done to somebody else or obviously against God, right, so the fact that he was pierced inwardly I got it mixed up, didn't I?

Now, I didn't, I got it.

The fact that he was pierced through the skin proved that he took care of our outward sin.

And the next part he was crushed for our iniquities, bruised.

Another translation says so what is a bruised?

Proof of what's happening when you have a bruise, internal, bleeding, some kind, right so on the inside, and what is iniquity?

Iniquity is inward sin.

It's wrong motivation.

It's something that starts to like a desire that starts coming up on the inside and then you.

Maybe you do it outwardly, but it starts first inside right.

Jesus paid the price for both.

On him was the chastisement that brought us peace Jesus.

All of the anxiety and stress that anyone could ever face came upon Jesus as he was on the cross and he cried out my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He experienced that so that he could bring us peace.

Peace with God and the peace of God.

Peace with God is our relationship with him.

Peace of God is so that we can live peaceably here in this earth.

All of that was provided by Jesus and with his wounds we are healed.

So most important is what Salvation?

Our soul.

The second of all, jesus did pay the price for us to be healed spirit, soul and body.

The next thing to know is not only did he pay the price, but Jesus has moved with compassion and loves to stretch out his hand and heal.

He loves to stretch out his hand and heal Matthew 4.23,.

And he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Everybody want to shout out one of Jesus' healings or miracles in the Scriptures.

Let's give me an example Blind men, lazarus.

The woman with the issue of blood, yeah.

The paralytic?

Yeah, very good.

The child, yes, who else?

Leppers, twelve leppers, and how many of them were thankful?

That hurts, doesn't it?

Because that could be us so easily not being thankful for what God's given us, the gifts that he's given us, right, anybody?

Any other ones that you can think of?

The guy that couldn't use his legs?

Awesome, did you have one?

No, which one?

Lazarus?

Lazarus, and being deaf as well?

Right, is that what you said?

Oh, deaf, deaf.

I'm saying he healed the deaf, but he's saying dead.

So maybe I need some prayer tonight.

We'll see.

But anyway, yeah, you got.

Oh, you've got some.

No, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

I don't know Lots of different things he can do.

He did give somebody wisdom enough to make that device right.

So there are several ways that God tells us to pursue healing, so let's talk about those for a few minutes.

Please don't make this a formula.

This is not an algebraic equation.

This is an A plus B equals C, right?

Why do they mix letters and numbers?

Yes, it is.

What I'm saying is it's not.

This is not an algebraic equation, it's the opposite of yeah, would you like to share more with the class?

Is it really?

Yeah, I was.

I was more of a fan of geometry, but that's just me.

Geometry is easier.

You can at least picture it, imagine it, but anyway.

So let's look at the first one First.

We are to display faith toward God by asking Him for healing.

Isn't that just an amazing fact?

Simple, it's so simple.

Sometimes we don't do it right.

How many times have you been dealing with a headache or with a sore throat or with a whatever it is, and your first thought is not to run to Jesus?

Your first thought, my first thought, is to run to the medicine cabinet.

Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't.

Please don't go out of here saying Pastor told me to throw away all my medicine.

I'm not saying that.

What I am saying is that we should look to Jesus first, right?

So Matthew 7, 7, ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find.

Knock and it will be open to you, for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be open.

Pretty interesting, those are affirmative statements.

Jesus is giving Another thing with a lingering illness.

Sometimes we need to ask for church leaders or those that are around us that we trust to pray for us as well.

Okay, james 5, 13 through 15, is that anyone among you suffering, let him pray.

Step one, let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful, let him sing praise.

Is anyone among you sick, let him call for the elders of the church Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

That's powerful.

That is powerful.

Now, it's not that the elders themselves, myself and Derek included, are somehow just so far above everybody else.

We're just so spiritually minded.

I mean, we thought about lunch for a minute today and then we decided no, we're going to fast until the rapture.

No, we didn't.

No, it's not, it's not, don't get me started but anyway we're not going there.

But anyway, it is important for us to understand that sometimes God requires of us to humble ourselves and to ask somebody else to pray with us, to stand with us.

That's part of being in community.

That's part of the reason that our church is named Trinity.

Community Church is because God has called us together to pray for each other, to bless each other.

And again, this isn't a formula.

This isn't like because Jesus there were times he spit in the mud and made mud and put it on people's eyes.

There were times that he did all kinds of wild things as he was praying for people.

So it's not trying to be formulaic, but it is the principle.

The principle is if you're dealing with sickness for an extended period of time, you've prayed yourself.

Maybe your family's prayed with you.

The next step call for the elders of the church and again, the elders, not just the official functional government, but those who are walking with you through this Christian life, mentors of yours, people that are discipling you.

And the next every Christ follower should be praying for others to be healed and encouraging them during their difficulty.

How many of you are magnets for people's sad stories?

How many of you are in the grocery store, at school, at work, and it just seems like I think by the end of the day, everybody stopped by your cubicle and said hey, you know, things are just not great at home right now.

And you have this look on your face like and why should I care about this?

You know there's something that's there's a higher calling on your life than just to consider yourself.

One of the things that we, as believers, should know freely we have received from God and freely we are supposed to give.

It should be our heart to want to stop in the middle of the grocery store and pray for somebody.

It should be our practice.

People should know at your workplace.

They should know if you really need help, if you really need somebody to agree with you in prayer, maria is the one.

She'll pray with you.

She'll agree with you.

She doesn't have it all together, she doesn't figure it everything out, but she'll pray with you, right?

It's interesting growing up in a pastor's home where most of my extended family were not believers and if they were believers it was like mostly just cultural.

So maybe they went to church as children Sunday school, vacation, bible school so they had some understanding of scripture, but there was not really any practice of that.

It was interesting because we were kind of ostracized because not only were my parents saved, they also spoke in tongues.

They believed in healing, they you know all of those things that the world looks at sometimes and mocks or says that can't be real right.

It was interesting whenever anybody in my family got to a very low place in their life.

It was like AT&T used to be a thing before cell phones.

There's a long distance anyway.

At&t phone call, real quiet, like hey, don't want the rest of the family in the other room to hear.

You didn't hear this from me, but Susie's dealing with whatever.

And they knew that that was code for would you please pray for Susie?

You know just, and I changed the names.

That's totally anonymous.

I don't know a Susie in my family, so wouldn't matter.

But anyway, the point being the question I have for us as believers, if we are filled with the Spirit of God, what are we known for?

Are we known as people that know how to pray?

Not that we're creating results or making something happen, but we know how to pray and ask God to move in somebody's life.

It's exciting.

It is absolutely exciting, because your mind always wants to say what?

What if it doesn't work?

What if it doesn't happen?

What if they get worse?

Have you ever had those thoughts when you were feeling like you should pray for somebody?

What if I get whatever they have?

I mean, that's the latest thing, right?

What if I?

You know what if I whatever?

Here's the thought.

What if it actually happened?

What if they actually got healed?

What if God was using that moment as an opportunity to present Jesus to them for the very first time in their lives?

Maybe their marriage needs to be restored and God's going to give you a word of knowledge concerning the fact that they're not in agreement with each other right now and that God wants to help them to see their marriage fixed and heal.

What if?

Let's not focus on the negative.

Let's focus on the positive, the opportunities.

This is a journey that we're on with God.

This is a great adventure.

You guys never know, and those of you especially who are going to public schools.

You are dealing with things that a lot of us can't even imagine.

Even those of us who went to regular school and public school during our youth, we can't imagine the types of things that you're encountering on a daily basis.

But the thing is as dark as things get in this earth, the light that's on the inside of you gets brighter and brighter and brighter, and when it's the darkest, even a little bit of light makes the room bright, and so take every advantage, every opportunity that God gives you to shine the light of Jesus.

Ok, mark 16, 17 through 18,.

We all know this.

And these signs will accompany those who believe In my name.

They will cast out demons.

We'll be talking about that in two weeks.

They will speak in new tongues.

We talked about that a couple of weeks ago.

They will pick up serpents with their hands.

It's not what you think it is.

It's talking about like Paul, when he was gathering firewood and the snake grabbed a hold of his hand and he shook it off into the fire and everybody was waiting for him to die and he didn't die.

Why?

Because God was protecting his life, because he was obeying God.

He was on an adventure with God.

He was on a journey with God.

This also has to do with spiritual warfare.

Satan has no authority over us, right?

They will drink any deadly poison.

Again, this is not.

Do not test this.

Do not go home and pour yourself a glass of antifreeze.

That is not good.

Do not do that right.

Do not tempt the Lord, your God.

But again, if we're in a position where we're obeying God and he has a plan for the rest of our lives, and somebody gives us something that's poisonous without us knowing it, god can protect and preserve us, and that's a beautiful thing.

And what's the last part?

And they will not.

They might or they could or should.

They will lay their hands on the sick and they will, or shall, recover.

They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.

These are verses that I know are disputable as far as their original, where they originally belonged, in Scripture.

I'm telling you, this is the example that we saw in Jesus, in Jesus's ministry.

So, last thing, how do we handle healing prayers that seem to go unanswered?

It's important for us to deal with this when we talk about healing.

I once heard a man say that was used by God in the gifts of healings a lot.

What do you do if you pray for somebody and they fall over debt?

You know what he said.

He said I step over to the bright and I pray for the next one.

That sounds weird or whatever, but the point he was trying to make that's not.

It wouldn't actually happen.

What the point he was trying to make is it's not up to him to decide who's going to be healed or who's not going to be healed.

His job is to pray for those who are sick.

The results are in God's hand, right and sometimes death is a form of healing.

It really is, because when we pass from this life, the moment we pass from this life, all of the weight and the burden that we have encountered because of sin and the fallenness of this life will be lifted off of us forever.

Can you imagine we're all going to be 33 years old?

No, that's not in the Bible.

But we're going to be healthy.

I know that.

So, number one, we should choose to rejoice, no matter what we're facing in this life.

We cannot control, necessarily, the circumstances that we encounter, the things that we face in this life, but we can control our response to those things, our reaction to those things.

Some of the dearest saints I know in the Lord, including I'm going to say it Melissa Medley.

She kept her faith in place, intact through all of her journey, to the very last breath here in this life.

She was found faithful by God and she was healed in a way that none of us wanted, but she's healed.

Rejoice, no matter what you're facing in this life.

It's much easier said than done.

James 1, 2, 3, 4, count it all.

Joy, my brothers, when you meet trials, not when you're getting popsicles and free pizza at youth group.

Did you guys know there's free pizza?

Yes, next week, right?

No, I don't know.

I didn't get that approved.

I apologize.

Maybe there won't be free pizza.

Maybe I'll be buying pizza for the youth group yeah, wait, my wife's in the room.

I can't do that.

It's not in the budget.

Ok, the Lord will.

I can't even say that Moving on Wednesday nights are different than Sundays.

You guys understand that we go a little rogue on Wednesdays.

Ok, but count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.

Trials are difficult places, difficult seasons, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, god is looking for faithful people.

Faithful, just like we say in our wedding vows, faithful for the good and the bad and some of you may have written in the ugly, I don't know but faithful to God, no matter what the circumstances we face in this life.

The next thing as long as there is hope for recovery for the person that we're praying for, we should continue to ask God for healing.

We did that with Melissa Medley until the very moment that she passed from this life.

We asked God to heal her here in this life.

We asked him for that and we should have.

That's the right prayer to pray as long as a person has life in them here on this earth.

Second Samuel 12, and I'll just tell the story quickly that David and your wife had a child together and the child was struck by the Lord because of their sin and was very, very ill.

And David cried out to the Lord.

He put himself in sackcloth and ashes.

He humbled himself before the Lord and he prayed, and he prayed his guts out.

I mean, he prayed like nobody's ever prayed before until his servants came to him and said David, your son is no longer with us.

David did not hesitate, he stood up, he cleaned himself off and he began to praise and worship God.

How could he do that?

Because he knew that God, ultimately, was in control and his control, the choices that he makes, are better and wiser than our own.

Part of what made David the man he was was that very loss right there.

Don't want anybody ever to have to go through that, but I'm telling you it is a significant thing.

When you have that level of loss in your life, why should I fast?

Can I bring him back again.

Listen to David's words.

I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

We can't forget that secret.

This world doesn't have that hope, but we, as believers, do.

I have a 2 and 1 half year old brother who's I don't know how old he is now in heaven, but he drowned.

I don't know him.

I was there but I don't remember him.

I was only 18 months at the time.

But there will be a day when he's going to walk up to me and he's going to say hey, tyler, where you been, give me a hug, let's go fishing.

That's just my version of heaven.

I don't know.

It may not be any of those things, but I'm going to know him and he's going to know me, and everything's going to be just right, the way it's supposed to be.

So that leads to the last point.

When a believer in Christ passes away, fellow Christians must trust in the sovereignty of God and rejoice in the fact that they have ultimately been healed.

That's what we do as believers.

Death should not influence us or affect us like it does.

The world, if we know that the person that's passed is right with the Lord, should not affect us Now.

Should we grieve?

Of course we grieve or sorrowful, all of those things.

That's real, that's human, that means that you've loved in your life.

But it shouldn't be something that overcomes us to where it really defines who we are moving forward.

Revelation 1.13,.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying write this blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.

Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors for their deeds.

Follow them.

Wow, what an amazing thing to think about the fact that we're actually going to see Jesus face to face and then everything will make sense.

We won't have any questions.

We won't need to know why somebody got healed or somebody didn't get healed.

In our way of thinking, it's all going to be about him.

So if I could have whoever on the worship team is going to come back up, if you guys could come on up.

And what we're going to do now is we're just going to take a minute to ask the Lord to prepare the atmosphere here in this room for us to have the gift of faith, which is the ability to believe God for what we cannot do in our own strength.

God is greater than we are and he's given us these promises.

I've spoken these words to you.

I have so many examples in my life.

I've seen people's broken teeth filled with gold with crosses on them.

I mean people that could not afford to go to a dentist, seen it with my own eyes.

I've seen arms and legs grow out.

Seen blind eyes open, deaf ears opened.

I have seen people who were laying like on a death bed get raised up off of the death bed.

I've seen crutches departed.

I've seen wheelchairs removed.

I've seen and all of those things are for God's glory.

For God's glory I've also seen hundreds and hundreds of saints die, believing God and trusting in Him.

And in Hebrews 11, we see both spectrums.

We see the applause that's given to those who, by faith, did great exploits and accomplished great things according to what man would look at it.

And then, at the end of the day I end of Hebrews 11, we see those who were tormented and tortured and sawn into and seemed like they were deserted, and yet they received the same accommodation by God.

These people were worthy, they were counted worthy, they were justified based on their faith in God.

So tonight we're not going to try to force anything or fake anything, but we are going to believe God together for healing, and so a lot of it asks is if you're here tonight and you would like prayer for healing, if you could come and sit on the front row, would you mind moving on that side over there?

Thank you Lord.

Thank you Jesus.

Thank you Lord.

Thank you Father.

If we need to expand it, we can add more chairs.

There's room, no problem.

Thank you, tom.

Now I'm going to talk to us Now.

Normally, when we're in a ministry situation and a service, there's not the opportunity to give instruction, so I just wanted to give you some instruction as we go through this.

So I want to instruct those who are going to be praying for these folks to be healed, and I also want to instruct them, and I want to instruct the worship team as well.

Right, concerning this, it's not that they don't know, but I'm just going to give them, I'm going to bring them into the mix.

Okay, so why in the world do we need worship music during a time when we're praying for healing?

First of all, do we have to have that?

No, we don't have to have that.

But why is it?

Why is?

Why is it helpful?

Why can't it be helpful?

Where does our focus need to be?

The focus needs to be on the only one who can do anything about the situations that they find themselves in.

Tonight.

Right, he's the only one, and so, because of that, sometimes even just being quiet, singing a chorus of a worship song, just gets us in the right attitude and atmosphere those who are asking for prayer and also those who are getting ready to pray.

And when I pray for people, this is what I do.

You may be totally different, and that's fine, but what I do when I pray for people.

Now, there's a difference, by the way, if I'm ministering to a lady or to a man.

If I'm ministering to a lady, I'm going to be very careful where these hands go.

Why?

Because I do not want to be a distraction.

I do not want to take away the focus of the person on the one, the only one that can heal them.

I'm a conduit.

Just think of me as a pipe connected to heaven by faith.

God's pouring out his healing through this vessel, through this pipe and into these individuals.

And the way that I picture that or envision it when I'm praying for people, I just like.

It's really hard to describe.

I just, I really like, I try to believe and even experience it in my body, jesus.

Remember when Jesus did heal the woman with the issue of blood?

Remember he stopped and he said who touched me?

And the disciples said everybody touched you.

You're in a crowd of people and they all want to be near you.

So what do you mean?

Who touched you?

And he said no, that's not what I mean.

Somebody touched me and I felt virtue go out of me.

What is virtue?

Power, essence of God, the holiness of God, glory of God, whatever's needed, whatever part of God is needed in that situation, is what his virtue is.

For that moment I just on the inside, I just believe I can't see it, I can't necessarily even feel it, but I just believe that the spirit of God is flowing in me and then through me to the person that I'm praying for, and I try to do that the entire time that I'm praying for them.

That's just me.

Maybe you have a different way of doing it Right.

So whatever it is, the main thing is don't make it about you, right and and do whatever you need to do to be able to focus in on your prayer.

Okay, the other thing is that you want to.

The Bible says to lay hands on no one suddenly.

So what that means means a lot of different things, but in this kind of setting, I want to prayerfully consider hearing from God before I just pray for somebody, because there may be something that God speaks to me that may be a secret, may be a clue that God wants to use to help them to understand what they need in their life.

Okay, or it may just be that I'm waiting for God to say okay, pray now.

Do you know?

God's a timing God, he's a rhythm God, and he'll let you know.

As a prayer person, he'll let you know when it's time to pray.

Right?

You've experienced that, judy, I know, yeah, and so we just want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Now there are times you're not going to feel anything.

In fact, if anything you're going to feel.

Like why am I doing this?

I'm just saying words.

One of the greatest healings I ever experienced we had just walked into and watched a movie in the theater.

That was horrible.

I was like 20 years old, went and saw a movie.

It was like PG 13, maybe R at the time, and we should have gotten up and walked out of it because it was not worth viewing.

I don't mean because the acting was bad, I mean because of the content of the movie.

We walked out and I was a part of a drama team and the leader of the team said to me my head hurts worse than it's ever hurt before.

Pray for me.

And I'm thinking I think I need to repent for about 30 minutes first, for all of that.

We just exposed ourselves to you in there.

I didn't have time.

She was desperate and so I just reached out and just on her shoulder, just touched her and said Lord Jesus, would you please heal?

Her name was Laurie, would you please heal Laurie from this headache.

And she, she like, said it's totally gone.

It's totally gone.

Now, I'm not saying that.

What I'm saying by that is God is bigger than our mistakes, right.

We don't want to knowingly be involved in sin.

That's unrepentant when we're praying for people.

But it's really not about you, it's not.

It's not about me, right.

It's about God and the person and their connection.

Okay, so I'm going to ask individual people to come and pray and I'm not trying to leave anybody out.

I just want to be sensitive to the Lord about this.

Okay, who prays for whom tonight?

The other thing is, I'll often ask so if I don't know somebody, like I don't know you, I would ask you, you know, can I touch your shoulder?

You mind if I grab your hand?

You know something?

Just because I don't know his story, I don't know.

I mean you only if you get hit a few times you've learned to ask no, just kidding, but it, but it's important to the Holy Spirit is a gentleman.

I've heard Patty do this many times.

Do you mind if I?

She's really good at that, right, and there's something even in that agreement there that's like an open door.

It's like him saying, yes, I actually want you to pray for me, right, and so that's important.

And the prayer itself doesn't have to be the perfect prayer, it's not good.

It doesn't have to be some some kind of mysteriously, you know, like ah, from heaven, you know, sometimes it will be.

Sometimes God will give you special words to pray, or just like the right thing at the right time.

Sometimes it's just a simple prayer Lord, would you hear, would you heal Jeff?

Would you heal Jeff tonight?

I'm asking him to do that, right.

So one of the things that's really important is those of you who are going to be receiving healing tonight is for you to just take a moment, and there's one thing that the Bible says that stops prayers from being answered in our lives, and that's unforgiveness.

And so it's important for you to just take a minute.

Don't need to dwell on this or you're not.

There's no condemnation.

But if there's any area of unforgiveness in your life, just deal with that right now.

Just say, lord, I choose to forgive my dad, I choose to forgive my sister, I choose to forgive my boss.

Help me, lord, to release the burden of that unforgiveness.

Now, releasing unforgiveness or forgiving someone is not saying that it wasn't wrong what happened.

It's saying I know it was wrong and yet I'm still choosing, by God's grace, to forgive.

It's powerful.

So just take a minute.

There's any area there just between you and the Lord.

I'm not looking at anybody.

Let's have the worship team.

Just go ahead as they're doing that and seeing maybe the Course or something, and as they're doing that, the rest of us let's focus in on Jesus.

This is not a show, not a parade.

This is serious.

This is people's lives, so let's take it as seriously as it is right Now.

Let's do this.

Those in the room, just quickly, those of you who have a desire to be used of God in the area of healing.

You just stand up.

You want to be used by God in the area of healing?

Just stand up and pray together right now.

Yeah, that's fine, you can stand here, it doesn't matter, I just felt led to do this.

Now Don't want to forget this part, so let's just pray.

Just pray after me.

If you would just, from your heart, say Father, god, in Jesus' name, I believe that you are the great and mighty healer and I have a desire to be used by you to see people's lives touched, healed and transformed.

So I ask that you would fill me right now in a fresh way with your Holy Spirit and give me the courage to step out and to begin to pray for those who need healing, for those of you who have been praying for healing for a long time, for people.

I'm just going to pray for you.

I pray for a fresh wind of your spirit, a fresh anointing Lord God.

It can be hard sometimes when we prayed for people over and over and we don't see them getting healed.

I pray for a renewed vision, a renewed heart, a renewed spirit and renewed desire, a fresh approach.

In the name of Jesus, lord, have your way within us, in us and through us, in Jesus' name, within us and through us, lord, in Jesus' name.

Jesus' name, thank you Lord, thank you Jesus, thank you Father.

All right, you can be seated again Now.

Listen, faith is not based on a feeling.

So hopefully you're feeling something, but even if you're not, especially if you're not, believe that God is helping you and you're going to have the grace that you need to be able to step out more in this area.

Okay, awesome, thank you Lord.

Now, those of you who prayed for somebody or who are praying for somebody I don't want to interrupt what's going on those who are praying or have prayed for somebody.

The key is check on them.

Check on them.

You know, just be a friend.

Just check on them.

Next time you see them say, hey, how you been doing?

I've been praying for you.

Just ask them how they're doing.

Keep them in your prayers.

Keep them in your prayers Right Now.

For those of you who received prayer tonight remember we talked about the lepers that were healed.

Remember the difference between the ones that were made, the only one that was made whole, which I believe that was a restorative, creative miracle, like he was restored to his former self, but also his soul was the one who was thankful.

And so if you receive prayer tonight, thank God, thank him today, thank him tonight, thank him tomorrow, thank him next week Not in a formulaic way, but in a way that's sincere that you believe God started a process tonight of healing in your body and that you're going to see the fulfillment of it, that he's going to do the good work.

He's going to finish what he started.

He's going to finish what he started.

And sometimes you've got to step out on faith a little bit.

If your knees were hurting, you know you've got to move them a little bit and see how they feel.

Right, sometimes a step of faith is required by us.

So the enemy will try to come immediately to steal away the word of God from you or to steal the power of the prayer from you by saying to you nothing happened, it didn't work.

Prayer isn't real.

God doesn't heal.

Here's the best news of all.

Tonight he never tells the truth.

That's easy, right?

If he never tells the truth, then you can just not believe anything that he says to you.

Don't listen to him.

Believe what the word of God says, because Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is the truth.

Amen.

All right, I know the youth have things that they need to do.

Right, coffee bar.

They're going to the coffee bar.

Whoa Mysterious, you're doing cereal.

See, I had the wrong word of knowledge.

I thought it was pizza.

Is there a pizza flavored cereal?

No, that's a stretch.

I just need to admit I messed up, I missed it.

Humility folks Learn humility early and often.

Amen.

Let's practice what we believe.

Let's practice this week.

Here's the thing God's going to give you opportunities.

He's going to put things right in front of you, people right in front of you.

Don't look at your husband or look at your wife and say, hey, you really ought to pray for them.

If God's put it on your heart, reach out and pray, amen.