The Believer's Authority Part 8
WE MUST COOPERATE.
Creation of human life is G.o.d's power, but He put it under our control. We have power and authority in this area. If you want the results, then you have to do the right things to cooperate with those laws of how to conceive and birth children. Most people understand this, and they would ridicule someone who thinks they can just pray for a child to appear. G.o.d doesn't just supernaturally drop children out of heaven. That's not how they come.
Just praying and asking G.o.d to supernaturally drop healing, salvation, or revival from heaven is not how they come. There are spiritual laws that we must use our authority as human beings to cooperate with. If we don't step out in faith to cooperate with G.o.d in these areas, they won't come to pa.s.s.
This is so simple that you'd have to have somebody help you to misunderstand it. Yet, we've had a lot of help. I've talked to many people who have asked, "If G.o.d is really G.o.d, then He could have healed this person. Why did He let them die?"
G.o.d isn't like that. He doesn't just say, "Alright, you have power to heal. You go out and heal the sick." Then-if we aren't doing it because we don't know or because we're more dominated by unbelief than faith-G.o.d doesn't just look down and say, "These folks are never going to get the job done. Since they're not believing My Word or doing it the way I said, I'm just going to heal this person anyway." That would violate His own integrity.
G.o.d told us, "we have the power. We are to go out. We are to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead." (Matt. 10:8.) If we don't do our part, G.o.d isn't going to step in and do what He's told us to do. No amount of begging or pleading will change that situation. We in the body of Christ need to discover what G.o.d has given to us. We need to find out what's under our authority and start using it the way G.o.d intended. Let's take our responsibility and lay aside our unbelief. Let's reject all these religious doctrines that absolve us of our responsibility and say, "Whatever will be, will be. It's just up to G.o.d who gets saved and healed. He does all things sovereignly." Let's stop backing out of our responsibility and placing the blame on G.o.d. He's not the one failing-it's us.
POWER TO GET WEALTH.
In the area of provision, G.o.d has given us power to get wealth.
Thou shalt remember the LORD thy G.o.d: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is to this day.
DEUTERONOMY 8:18.
Anytime G.o.d gives us power, He also gives us authority so we can release the power and use it. With this authority comes responsibility. This is why G.o.d doesn't give us money directly. The scripture doesn't say that G.o.d gives us money. He gave us power-an anointing, an ability-to get wealth.
First of all, G.o.d doesn't have money. He doesn't use money. In heaven, there is no currency of exchange. Neither does He make money. If you're praying, "Oh G.o.d, I need $100," or whatever currency it is that you need, G.o.d doesn't have any of those bills, and He's not going to counterfeit them either. He's not going to make money and put it in your pocket. The Bible says: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
LUKE 6:38.
Since G.o.d doesn't have money directly, He sends it to you through people. G.o.d impresses other people, and people will be involved in getting you His supply.
THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS.
Many people are ignorant of this truth. Some of them pray, "G.o.d, if you're G.o.d, You can do anything. Put money in my wallet." Then they open up their wallet, and when there's no more money in there than before, they say, "Well, G.o.d isn't faithful. The Word doesn't work. It's just not true." Then they start blaming G.o.d out of their ignorance.
G.o.d isn't going to create money and put it in your wallet. G.o.d gave you power to get wealth, so you must learn to use your authority to release that power. In order to see G.o.d's provision for you manifest, you must cooperate with the spiritual laws governing prosperity.
For additional information on this topic, I recommend my teachings ent.i.tled, Financial Stewardship, Blessings and Miracles, and The Power of Partnership.
G.o.d has promised to bless all the work of your hands.
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee...in all that thou settest thine hand unto...The LORD shall...bless all the work of thine hand.
DEUTERONOMY 28:8,12.
However, if you aren't setting your hands to something, G.o.d doesn't have anything to bless. You can't just sit at home doing nothing and expect the Lord to prosper you. It doesn't work that way. You aren't going to see G.o.d begin to prosper you if you aren't working. In fact, the Word says: This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 2 THESSALON1ANS 3:10 "GO GET A JOB UNTIL"
G.o.d is into work. He's into you doing something productive. That's why welfare-as it's currently being practiced in our country-isn't a G.o.dly concept. I'm not saying that any person who's receiving welfare is unG.o.dly. I'm not saying that G.o.d hates them, or they're in sin. But I am saying that it isn't G.o.d's system.
Anyone might need help on occasion. There's nothing wrong with you taking the help of other people or a government if you are in a situation where you temporarily need it. But to be a second, third, or fourth generation welfare recipient where you just sit at home and let the government pay you for doing nothing is an unG.o.dly concept.
If you're going to get into G.o.d's divine flow of provision, then you need to start doing some things to release that power and see this anointing begin to generate the income you need.
G.o.d has given you the power to get wealth, but you need to do something. You need to work. You need to set your hand to something productive.
One of our partners worked as the CEO of a corporation then suddenly his company downsized and he was laid off. He started drawing unemployment and took that for a period of time. He wanted to work, so he put in resumes all over town, but this was during an economically challenging time and he was overqualified. Therefore, no one was hiring him.
When he was a few weeks away from getting his house repossessed and losing everything, he came to me and asked, "What do I do?"
I answered, "Go get a job."
He said, "I'm trying."
I continued, "No, I mean go get a job until. There's nothing wrong with you believing for another CEO job or something similar, but until your better paying job comes in, get a job stocking shelves or flipping burgers."
This guy was highly offended. "I'm a CEO. I couldn't do something like that. Besides, I need more money than that. My house is about to be repossessed." He was something like $5,000 behind, and hadn't worked in over a year.
I told him, "If you would have been stocking shelves or flipping burgers for the past year, you would have had enough money to keep this house from being repossessed while you still sought the job you're believing for. There's nothing wrong with you not wanting to stay there, but you've got to do something. By doing nothing, you are abdicating your responsibility and keeping the blessing G.o.d wants to give you from manifesting.
"You can pray and pray, and you might get a miracle that will tide you over to the next week or month. But then you'll have another crisis next month, and the month after that, and the month after that. You aren't going to see the supernatural flow of finances start manifesting in your life until you recognize G.o.d gave you power and authority to get wealth. You need to stand up and use that power and authority by doing something."
THIMBLE OR BUCKET?.
Many people are waiting on their ship to come in, but they've never sent one out. They're waiting on a crop to grow up, but they haven't sown any seed. They're believing G.o.d for a great supply, but they haven't cooperated with His spiritual laws concerning prosperity. Remember, the Word says: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
LUKE 6:38.
Are you using a tiny little thimble, throwing G.o.d five bucks here and there, thinking that you're really being generous, when the truth is the t.i.the off of your paycheck would be $200, $300, or $400? Are you tipping G.o.d and wondering, How come my finances aren't coming in? I'm praying and believing for prosperity. The Lord said He would give back to you with the same measure that you used. If you're using a thimble, then He's going to use a thimble to give back to you. And if you need a bucket full of finances, it's going to take a long time for G.o.d to measure that back to you with the same measure you gave out.
This is how the kingdom works. G.o.d doesn't give you money - He gives you the power to get money. Then there are things you must do to release that power. One of them is to set your hand to something. Stocking shelves or flipping burgers is better than getting welfare. "But Andrew, I'm actually making more money off of welfare than I could working one of those jobs." The difference is, G.o.d can't bless welfare, but He can bless stocking shelves or flipping burgers. He could promote you to manager. While there, you could meet someone who could give you a promotion, or even offer you another job. But when you're doing nothing, you're hindering the power of G.o.d from flowing in your own life.
It's not G.o.d who fails to answer our prayers-it's us who fail to take our authority and use it properly.
Chapter 17.
The Devil Will Flee From You Submit yourselves therefore to G.o.d. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
JAMES 4:7.
G.o.d has given us power and authority over the devil.
Then [Jesus] called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
LUKE 9:1.
G.o.d gave us power and authority over all devils-and all means all. There are no demons excluded from this. I meet people constantly who say, "Well, the devil is doing this to me, and the devil is doing that." If you know that the devil is your problem, then you can solve that problem by believing G.o.d's Word and exercising your authority instead of going around saying, "Oh, G.o.d. Please get the devil off my back. Oh, Lord. The devil is 'trying to cause me to do this." You aren't going to get freed from Satan's hara.s.sment by praying and asking G.o.d to remove the devil. As we just saw, that power and authority has been given to you.
This first verse doesn't say that he will flee from G.o.d. He'll flee from you. It's G.o.d's power, but that power is in you. G.o.d Himself isn't going to come down and make the devil flee from you. You have to resist the devil.
SATAN IS A COWARD.
Resist means "to actively fight against." Resistance is active. You have to stir yourself up and get mad in the G.o.dly sense: the G.o.dly use of anger is to be mad at the devil, mad at sickness, mad at disease, and mad at poverty. You have to stir yourself up. You can't just tolerate it. As long as you can tolerate something, you will. But when you get to the place where you say, "I've had it. Enough is enough. This is it," and you rise up with G.o.dly anger and faith to exercise your authority, a positive spiritual dynamic is released. When you get sick and tired of being sick and tired and you put your foot down and resist the devil, he flees from you.
For more information about the G.o.dly use of anger, please check out my teaching ent.i.tled Anger Management.
At heart, Satan is a coward. He really is. He's just a bully- intimidating, yelling, and threatening. Even though he says all these things, the truth is he's a coward. If you've ever been around a bully, you'll know that they're always trying to take advantage of other people, manipulating and controlling them. As a boy, I learned that if you stand up to a bully, they'll respect you and leave you alone. You might lose a battle and get beat up, but you'll only fight once. After that, they'll respect you and leave you alone. At heart, a bully doesn't really want to fight. They just want to intimidate and control. If they realize that you're going to stand up and fight every time they come around and try to do something to you, they'll back down.
Even if they win the fight, they don't want to put forth that much effort. That's the way Satan is.
When you get angry and resist the devil, he's just like a bully. The moment he knows that it's going to cost him something- that you're going to stand there toe-to-toe in the name of Jesus and go at it with him-Satan will flee from you. But you must resist!
"DEAR DEVIL..."
Saying, "Dear devil, please leave me alone" is not resisting.
My friends and I were ministering deliverance once to a woman who had sold her soul to the devil. Satan had led her to do a despicable act involving other people's bodily secretions, among other things, in establishing these demonic pacts. We instructed her that she needed to address the devil and take back the place she had given him. We told her she needed to do this by speaking directly to Satan and renouncing him. So we knelt around a coffee table and started praying. Then we said, "Now you speak to the devil."
This woman said, "Dear devil..." We had to stop her right there and say, "Whoa. Wait a minute. This isn't resisting the devil." You don't resist the devil by saying, "Dear devil, please leave me alone." You must resist the devil. G.o.d gave you power and authority and you have to activate it by stirring yourself up, becoming violently resolved (Matt. 11:12), and just putting your spiritual foot down by saying, "Satan, get out of my life!" You might be thinking, But Andrew, I'm just not the a.s.sertive type. The only other option is to suffer. That's just the way it works.
G.o.d isn't going to rebuke the devil for you. You have to stand up and resist him. And if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. G.o.d gave you this authority, and you can't beg Him to do what He's told you to do. It won't work.
Kenneth E. Hagin used to tell the story of how one time, the Lord appeared to him and was giving him instructions. As Jesus was speaking, a little devil started running, jumping, and yelling in between them. Kenneth tried to pay attention and look around this demon, but he couldn't really focus on what the Lord was saying. He wondered why G.o.d was allowing this to go on.
Finally, Kenneth became so upset over this that he declared, "In the name of Jesus, I command you to leave!" and this little demon took off and was gone. The Lord looked at Kenneth and said, "If you hadn't have done that, I couldn't."
TWO SIDES OF THE COIN.
G.o.d told you to resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Many Christians know that it's the devil trying to destroy their life today. He's trying to kill you with sickness and disease, or he's stealing your prosperity from you. You know what's happening isn't G.o.d's will, but you're praying, "Oh Lord, please solve this. Please do something." You aren't taking your authority. If you are dealing with demonic opposition against you, then you have to step up to the plate, take the authority G.o.d has given you, and command the devil to flee.
There are two sides to this coin-submitting to G.o.d and resisting the devil. You can't just go around binding and rebuking anything you want. Some people take James 4:7 the wrong way and think things like, It's the devil who gave me this spouse and I want a new one. So I'm taking authority and commanding my new spouse to come along and to get this one out of the way. That's not going to happen because G.o.d didn't give you that kind of power and authority. Taking your current spouse out of the way (through divorce) so you can marry another isn't His will. You must submit yourself to G.o.d and resist the devil, and then he'll flee from you.
These truths concerning authority will only work for you when you're submitted to G.o.d. When you are seeking Him with your whole heart and you perceive the devil hindering you, then you can lake your authority and command those things to change. If you're just upset because someone cut in front of you in traffic and you say, "I hope they have a wreck down the road,"
that isn't going to come to pa.s.s. G.o.d didn't give you authority to curse people like that; you aren't submitted to Him if you do it. But when you are submitted to G.o.d, then you can resist the devil-actively fight against him-and he will flee from you.
When I was still in a denominational church, my friends and I stumbled into casting out demons. We saw a woman who normally would have been put into a mental hospital for the rest of her life set free. We knew her problem wasn't physical or natural, but demonic. We also knew that the authorities wouldn't understand, so we locked her in a room for seven days and took shifts ministering to her. We'd praise G.o.d, sing songs about the blood of Jesus, and read Scripture. We didn't know what we were doing, but we literally just beat the devil out of this woman-not with our hands, but by singing about the blood and speaking against the devil. We just stayed in there until we saw this woman delivered of demons. Once word got out how she had been restored to her right mind, people started coming to us from all over.
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?".
Another time a h.o.m.os.e.xual fellow came to us to be delivered. We didn't really know what we were doing, and to make matters worse, we read a book that taught us all kinds of fallacies like, you can't cast out a demon by yourself, you must have two people, you had to get their name, and you must have the person throw up in a bucket. We did some stupid things by following that book's instructions.
We spent three weeks preparing this h.o.m.os.e.xual for deliverance, which you don't have to do. There's a group in the city where I live who think it's G.o.dly to require people seeking deliverance to fill out a forty-page questionnaire and then endure a forty-five day waiting period before they'll cast the demons out. That's not the method Jesus used!
Back when we thought we had to always get the demon's name, a friend of mine who was casting out a demon from someone asked the demon, "What's your name, in Jesus' name?"
The demon answered, "Liar."
Immediately, my friend asked, "Are you telling me the truth?"
"I'M NOT LEAVING WITH THESE DEMONS".
This h.o.m.os.e.xual fellow we had been prepping came during a Wednesday night service at our church. I was leading the meeting by myself because the a.s.sociate pastor, who was my partner in casting out demons, was out of town that night. An usher came and got me out of the service, saying, "This guy wants to see you." When I went back and saw him, he had come with another h.o.m.os.e.xual who wanted to be delivered too.
The fellow we'd been prepping said, "I'm ready to be delivered tonight."
I answered, "Well, we can't do it tonight. I'm by myself." He responded, "I'm not leaving with these demons." "Well, I'm not casting them out."
"You'd better do something because I'm not leaving with these demons."
So I took this man and his friend into a back room in this denominational church. Jamie, who is now my wife but wasn't at the time, came with us to give some prayer support. Jamie wasn't even baptized in the Holy Spirit yet. We had no idea what we were doing.
Once we got to the back room, this man said, "You better plead the blood over this place or do something because these demons are coming out."
When I began praying, "Father, in the name of Jesus," this guy fell to the floor and started barking, slithering like a snake, and throwing chairs up against the gla.s.s wall. It was quite a commotion! When the usher heard this, he went in and stopped the service, saying, "We need to pray for Andrew.
He's back there witnessing to somebody." They didn't have a clue what was going on.
"SHUT UP AND COME OUT!".
In that back room, there was a stack of chairs about ten high. The other demonized guy was on top of the stack, plastered against the wall, scared to death. Jamie was praying and doing everything she knew to do.
I didn't know how to proceed, but since we were already in it, I started asking, "What's your name? In the name of Jesus, tell me your name." As I went through this, one demon would name itself and then another, and then another. I felt like I was being made a fool because I didn't know if the first demon had come out or not before the second one had named itself. It was ridiculous! Finally, this scripture came to mind.
Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. MARK 1:25 I thought, That would be good. So I said, "In the name of Jesus, I command you all to shut up and come out of him!" Instantly, power was released and this guy lay on the floor just like he was dead. Gently, I shook him to see if he was okay.
He just rolled over and whispered, "I'm free. I'm delivered. I'm free." I thought, If it's as simple as commanding the demons to come out in Jesus' name, why did I go through all this other stuff?
Although we didn't know what we were doing, we stumbled onto this truth. We used to beg and plead, asking "Oh, G.o.d, please get rid of this." I learned through doing that G.o.d has given me authority and I don't have to go through all these things. I don't have to ask the demon's their name, make people fill out a forty-page questionnaire, or require them to wait several weeks to get ready. I have authority over the devil and if the person is willing to cooperate, I can go in and command those demons to leave and they will obey me.
I can't ask G.o.d to cast the devil out because that's what He has told me to do. I have to stand up, take my authority, and be confident that when I speak it's going to work. I have to have faith in G.o.d's Word-that I do have authority over all devils and to cure diseases. (Luke 9:1.) SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS, BIG DIFFERENCE.
Since G.o.d has given you this power and authority, you also have the responsibility to exercise it. You can't go back to G.o.d and beg Him to do what He has commanded you to do. You must take your authority and use it.
There is no problem with G.o.d. Prayer works. It's just that wrong prayer doesn't work. You must pray, speak, and act in line with the authority that G.o.d has given you.
If you would just make these simple adjustments that I've been sharing with you throughout this book, you'll see a big difference. Speak to your problems and command G.o.d's Word into manifestation. Pray the Word of G.o.d across people's paths who need to be born again. Stop begging the Lord for an outpouring of His Spirit, and start going out and healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, and raising the dead. (Matt. 10:8.) Do what the Word says, and you'll see His power manifest. Then you'll have all the revival you can handle.
Chapter 18.