INTRODUCTION
The one week trip included a visit to Bethel Church at Redding and attending the “School of Healing and Impartation” that was held at the Redding Convention Centre. The experience has been enormously beneficial.
VISIT TO BETHEL CHURCH (10 January 2010)
Our trip to Redding began with the visit to Bethel Church on 10 January 2010. We attended both the 8.30am and 11am services; each service had about 1500 people. The church's main sanctuary is like an auditorium which can be converted into a basketball court and has a Starbucks-style cafe, a bookstore and a huge car park.
Randy Clark Randy Clark is really a gentle and compassionate person, and he’d be the first to tell you that the healing really doesn’t have very much to do with him. Randy told us his story of being transformed by his encounters with John Wimber in the mid-eighties. John Wimber heard the audible voice of God telling him that Randy was one of two people He specifically wanted to use to impart significant increases in spiritual gifts in the church.
Bill Johnson Senior Leader of Bethel Church, Bill is a fifth generation pastor with a rich heritage in the things of the Spirit. He serves a growing number of churches that have partnered for revival. Bill is the author of several books, including "When Heaven Invades Earth" and "Dreaming With God."
DAY 4 (15 January 2010) Sessions
Session 10: Healing out of Intimacy with God
Bill Johnson began the session by posing these questions to all the students: “What do you call a person who is intimate as a professional?' This question was intended to challenge everyone present to come into a place of intimacy with the Lord. If the intimacy of God is developed just for ministry, then we are no different from those who develop intimacy because of their profession. This is indeed a challenge to every believer whether we have a lifestyle of worship when nobody is looking, when we don't have the pressure of ministry. Friendship with God is developed when nobody is watching, not during preaching or church worship, praying for the sick or even evangelism.
Jesus said “I only do what I see the Father do”; Jesus' obedience which sometime included putting mud onto blind man's eyes released miracles and healing. The key is to cultivate a lifestyle outside of ministry so that we can hear his voice. Through an intimacy developed out of a personal relationship, we would then be able to carry the presence of God. When the eyes of our hearts are opened through continuous connection with the Father, we would then be able to release healing and miracles. We should carry the presence of God through an intimacy developed out of a relationship, and that is why an intimate friendship with God is so important.
Session 11: Throne Life
Bill Johnson continued in this session to talk about the importance of intimacy with God. All believers are drafted into a supernatural lifestyle that is impossible apart from an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit; it only works the way Jesus modeled it. The Spirit that remained upon Him enabled Him to do only what the Father was doing and say only what the Father was saying. Only in the context of intimacy with God do we enter the life where nothing is impossible.
Most believers encounter what it’s like to be in confusion or trouble and have someone speak a word that brings a supernatural invasion of peace into their soul. Their words were the spirit of revelation from God Himself. The same way that Jesus became flesh, the Holy Spirit becomes words, and when they are spoken, they bring life (John 6:63). The Kingdom of God is realised in the Spirit, and the Spirit of God reveals the word of eternal life.
The Holy Spirit lives in every believers and he will never leave. That’s a promise. But He has come to rest on the shoulder of very few. Why? He is not overly sensitive or picky; He is holy and we have to walk carefully, bearing in mind that the dove is our shoulder. It’s that heart of rest and trust embraced by the reality of heaven that is a place to rest. When the Holy Spirit rests upon a person, there is actually an atmospheric change that takes place wherever that person goes.
Session 12: Four Kinds of Faith for Healing
This final session on the last day of the healing school was also a mega healing meeting. It was an open meeting that was opened to the public, and the entire convention centre was filled with many people waiting outside. Thought the meeting starts at 7pm, the door was opened at 6pm so that those with terminal illness could be prayed for first. Together with three other persons, I prayed for a middle-age Canadian with cancer of the lungs, liver and colon. The man receiving prayers told me that he felt heat from my hand, and we told him that heat is good. Though we could not verified healing, I pray that God would heal him in the same way that he healed over a hundred people on this same evening – a man certified blind has his eyes opened, a lady with one deaf ear was healed, people with metal rod and screws in their bodies found that they've disappeared.
Randy Clark, who spoke during the meeting, mentioned that there are four kinds of faith for healing. The key characteristics of each kind of faith are listed below:
(1) “If you can...” (Mark 9:17-29); The father with the demonised son (Very Weak Faith) – Though his faith was weak, he was persistent even when the disciples failed. He saw the opportunity to be near Jesus and drew near with his request. Jesus' response to “if you can” faith is: “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23). There is still Jesus' answer to those who are not sure whether God can heal them, for the condition stated was “for him who believes.”
2) “If you are willing...” (Mark 1:40-42); The man with leprosy (Some Faith) – This is the second type of person who doesn't question whether or not Jesus can heal, instead the big question is, “Is this His will to heal me?” As the leper approached, he must have felt Jesus' compassion, for Mark 1:42 states, “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Jesus immediately and directly answered the leper's key question. “I am Willing!” is still Jesus' answer to those who are not sure whether God will heal them.
3) “If I can...” (Mark 5:24-34); The woman with the issue of blood (Great Faith) – She approached Jesus with knowledge of who He was and what He did (Mark 5:27). She approached Jesus with disregard for her religious tradition that require her to stay away, and out of public, especially from holy people. She risked all to approach Jesus, including the threat of stoning. She approached Jesus with persistent, determined faith. The outcome of her “if you can” is that she is immediately healed, and she felt in her body that she was healed. Jesus was aware that power was going from his body, and Jesus' response to the woman was “your faith has healed you.”
4) “”I can't, but He can...” (Mark 10:46-52); Blind Bartimaeus (reckless Faith) – Bartimaeus was blind and we didn't know how long he was in this condition, but because of this he was reduced to a beggar. The nature of the Bartimaeus “I can't, but He can” faith is that he begin to shout and threw away his cloak. The invalids in Jesus' day were given a cloak as identification, but Bartimaeus was ready to throw away his identity as a blind man. He would rather see than draw social assistance. Although he could not make his way to Jesus, Jesus will make his way to him.
Throughout the teaching on this last night, Randy Clark was releasing Words of Knowledge and made Prayer Ministry calls to challenge people to respond to each of the four faith. Simply based on the Word of God and a few incredible stories from his crusades in India and Brazil, he was able to stir expectation at an unusual level. I have a sensing that he really carries a remarkable anointing from God. The responses were simply incredible as many stood up and received their healing!
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The one week trip to Bethel Church and the School of Healing and Impartation has been a huge blessing to me and Carol. We learned and received so much, and unlearned some of what I had been taught over the past 20 years. We’re not sure what God will do with us on the heels of this equipping, but we continue to pray that the Lord will use us for his glory. We hope to share some of the lessons in greater depth in the near future.
The one week trip included a visit to Bethel Church at Redding and attending the “School of Healing and Impartation” that was held at the Redding Convention Centre. The experience has been enormously beneficial.
VISIT TO BETHEL CHURCH (10 January 2010)
Our trip to Redding began with the visit to Bethel Church on 10 January 2010. We attended both the 8.30am and 11am services; each service had about 1500 people. The church's main sanctuary is like an auditorium which can be converted into a basketball court and has a Starbucks-style cafe, a bookstore and a huge car park.
Pictures of Bethel Church, Redding
There is also a 24/7 prayer chapel called Alabaster House on the church compound. People who come to Bethel Church seeking healing are encouraged to spend some time in the Alabaster House, where they can soak in God’s presence and rest in His peace. I have been to many churches both in Singapore, UK and USA, but my experience this church is very special. God is really moving here in a very powerful way, where supernatural happenings occur on a regular basis, particularly miracles of healing.
There is also a 24/7 prayer chapel called Alabaster House on the church compound. People who come to Bethel Church seeking healing are encouraged to spend some time in the Alabaster House, where they can soak in God’s presence and rest in His peace. I have been to many churches both in Singapore, UK and USA, but my experience this church is very special. God is really moving here in a very powerful way, where supernatural happenings occur on a regular basis, particularly miracles of healing.
Alabaster House – 24/7 Prayer Chapel
Picture of awesome Worship time and Pastor Danny Silk preaching at the morning service
The service was awesome, the worship was really lively and the sermon on 'The Process Of Love” by Pastor Danny Silk was very engaging. He started by declaring to the church that 2010 will be a year in which the members will step into deeper levels of intimacy with the Lord. Danny provided a practical tool to understand where we are in our relationship with God; he outlined a process with 3 stages and we need to take personal responsibility for our success in each stage and then move forward into the next level of intimacy. Pastor Danny Silk has recently written a book called 'Culture of Honor' which talk about the paradigm shift in church life, leadership structure, and relationship that has created and sustained the revival culture at Bethel Church. The heart of this culture is the conviction that Jesus modeled the Christian life for us. Jesus explained that all the supernatural things that happened through Him flowed directly from his intimate connection with His Father, and that same connection was what He came to give us through His death and resurrection. The sustaining of a supernatural lifestyle, where signs and wonders follow us, is therefore totally dependent on living out our true identities as sons and daughters of God.
It is highly refreshing to see how the paradigm shift in the church leadership structure based on the five-fold ministry has transformed Bethel Church into a place of freedom, respect, empowerment and healthy discipline. It is proposed that we study how we can integrate and contextualise the recommended principles from the “Culture of Honour” in our church.
SCHOOL OF HEALING AND IMPARTATION (12-15 January 2010)
The School of Healing and Impartation, held at the Redding Convention Centre from 12-15 January 2010, provided teaching on healing and impartation sessions for students.
It is highly refreshing to see how the paradigm shift in the church leadership structure based on the five-fold ministry has transformed Bethel Church into a place of freedom, respect, empowerment and healthy discipline. It is proposed that we study how we can integrate and contextualise the recommended principles from the “Culture of Honour” in our church.
SCHOOL OF HEALING AND IMPARTATION (12-15 January 2010)
The School of Healing and Impartation, held at the Redding Convention Centre from 12-15 January 2010, provided teaching on healing and impartation sessions for students.
Redding Convention Centre and Impartation Time for Pastors
The two speakers at the School are Randy Clark and Bill Johnson. From teaching the history of healing in the church, the Biblical basis of healing, to looking at cessationism and the implications of new age healing practices, both Randy and Bill really covers a lot of teaching on healing.
Randy Clark Randy Clark is really a gentle and compassionate person, and he’d be the first to tell you that the healing really doesn’t have very much to do with him. Randy told us his story of being transformed by his encounters with John Wimber in the mid-eighties. John Wimber heard the audible voice of God telling him that Randy was one of two people He specifically wanted to use to impart significant increases in spiritual gifts in the church.
Bill Johnson Senior Leader of Bethel Church, Bill is a fifth generation pastor with a rich heritage in the things of the Spirit. He serves a growing number of churches that have partnered for revival. Bill is the author of several books, including "When Heaven Invades Earth" and "Dreaming With God."
Randy Clark teaching at Healing School and Picture with Bill Johnson
Besides the inspiring teaching on the various topics of healing, we had two impartation sessions. The first was for a baptism of love that would underpin everything we would do in the healing ministry, and in particular sustain us through the pain of failure. The impartation the following day was for power. I genuinely believe that something significant changed for those who received the impartation.
It was an amazing time at the School as we witnessed the amazing demonstration of the healing power of God at the healing school. Many with pain in their bodies were healed. Also some with metal rods and screws - pain left them and they can't feel the metal anymore. One lady who needed a lung transplant - took out her oxygen canister and ran around the auditorium. Throughout the entire duration of the school, so many people have been healed. I have no idea how many were healed, it must have been hundreds. The name of Jesus was honoured!
SUMMARY OF KEY LESSONS LEARNED
The 12 topics that was taught:
1. History of Healing within Christianity
2. Healing and the Kingdom of God
3. Biblical Basis for Healing
4. Healing Energy
5. The Agony of Defeat
6. The Thrill of Victory
7. Deliverance: A Ten-Step Ministry Model
8. Cessationism
9. Pressing In
10. Healing out of Intimacy with God
11. Throne Life
12. Four Kinds of Faith for Healing
A summary of the salient points that was taught over 12 sessions is given below:
DAY 1 : 12 January 2010 Sessions
Session 1: History of Healing within Christianity
There is a continuous history of healing throughout the history of the church. However, Cessationism, dispensationalism and liberalism have influenced the church to think that the supernatural doesn't exist today. In reality, there is a surge in miracles in the last 100 years, probably more than that which was reported in the first 300 years of the church due to a large numbers of Christians involved in the ministry of healing.
In these last 100 years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of miraculous healing following the revival that started at Asuza Street in Los Angeles. In this revival, the release of gift of tongues and the restoration of the gifts of the Spirit for power evangelism has contributed to the phenomenal growth within the Pentecostalism and Charismatic movements. Numerous men and women such as Aimee Simple-McPherson, John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, William Branham and John Wimber were used by God mightily to bring healing to hundred of thousand in America.
Two key questions were being examined – How did the church lose the power in the past? How do we avoid the pitfalls of the past? The sociological factor, theological factor and church factor that led to the demise of healing through the church were presented. Randy gave a comprehensive summary of the various factors that led to the rediscovery of the Healing Ministry for the church. It was interesting to note that well-known Reformed ministers like Andrew Murray and A.J. Gordon, and even Presbyterian ministers like A.B. Simpson were leading proponent of healing ministry in America. D.L. Moody organised the Northfield Conferences in Massachusetts that brought together some of these Reformed minister and started a revival there.
Session 2: Healing and the Kingdom of God
The goal of this session is to understand the centrality of the Kingdom Message to healing and the Gospel.
Randy Clark addressed the impact of the “Kingdom now – Not Yet” on the theology of healing. This is the explanation for the “why” question rose when some are healed and others are not. Though for 20 years he has been teaching this position of “Kingdom now – Not Yet”, he has seriously began to question this position as far as its implications go regarding healing. His concern is that it seems to be just one-half step behind seeing the healing as due to the sovereignty of God. God chooses to heal some and not others thereby leaving the onus of the problem on God, not man.
I agree with his view that because many believers see healing as due to the sovereignty of God, they are discouraged from pressing through or contending in prayer, or praying fervently on behalf of the sick. If healing is based on sovereignty of God, how did Alexander Dowie and John G. Lake healed more people than others? Even in Singapore, the Lighthouse Evangelism founded by Pastor Rony Tan has seen thousand of healing cases.
There is another category who prayed to release healing purely based on the gift of Word of Knowledge. Like the ultra Charismatic, Randy confessed that he has been guilty in the past of expressing faith in personal “Word of Knowledge” rather than upon the promises of God in the Word of God. Whenever there were no “words of knowledge” received or no manifestations in the body of the person receiving prayer, there seemed to be little true expectation of healing.
As Randy studies the writings and read the history of “healing movements” and the primary “healers” of those movements, he realised that their understanding of healing was: Word-based, Cross based and Gift/Anointing based. He proposed for an integrated model of healing within Protestantism:
· Personal faith is important to the healing process.
· The Word of God is important for healthy faith.
· Avoid the negative view of medical healing.
· A lack of faith may not be the only reason someone is not healed. We must learn from others that there can be root issues that are holding back the healing other than “lack of faith” or “sins in their lives.”
· There is too much emphasis in the Church today which explains the lack of healing upon the sovereignty of God.
· Our understanding of the authority delegated to believers needs to be stronger.
· “What does “...and the forceful lay hold of it by force” or “the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent lay hold of it” means?
· We need a better realisation that healing is not dependent upon correct theology, but rests more in the issue of intimacy with God.
Session 3: Biblical Basis for Healing
This session provided a solid Biblical basis for the Ministry of Healing. The first key insight is God reveals himself as Jehovah-Rapha, “the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
Secondly, Healing is also the prophetic indication for recognising the Messiah. As seen in Luke 4:18-19 and Luke 7:20-23, Jesus confirms this by quoting the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah 35 and 61 in relationship to Himself and His ministry to the sick and demonised.
The third insight is that every Christian has been commissioned to heal. Jesus very clearly stated that we as believers are commissioned to heal the sick. He taught and commanded his disciples to do so, and commanded them to pass it on to all believes (Matthew 10:8, Matthew 6:7, 12-13, Matthew 28:19-20).
The ground for healing are based on
· The Covenant - signs and wonders are part of the old and new covenants (Exodus 34:10, Hebrews 2:3-4),
· The Atonement – Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24 clearly relate the healing to the blood atonement of Jesus as prophecised in Isaiah 53.
· The Kingdom – The Bible clearly relates the kingdom to healing (Luke 10:9, Luke 17:21).
Therefore, the highest reason for healing: so that "the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor!" (Acts 19:17).
DAY 2 (13 January 2010) Sessions
Session 4: Healing Energy – Whose Energy Is It?
Randy Clark pointed out the difference between New Age healing (e.g. Reiki and Therapeutic Touch) and the uniqueness of the Christian perspective in relation to Jesus, His Work (Atonement), His continued work (present intercession), and the healing power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name.
There are many healing practices which use the work “energy” in their vocabulary. Those who come from a Christian perspective realise that this energy is coming from sources other than the Holy Spirit. I came to understand from the teaching that there are various types of energy both good and bad: natural energy in the creation, normal human energy and energy from angelic and demonic beings. However, there is nothing which can compare to the power and energy of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
In the world view of these New Age healing, there is no evil power. For example, those who practice Reiki (Rei – universal, Ki – life force/energy) believes that supernatural knowledge can be derived from a higher self consciousness that is all knowing, and energy is present all around through consciousness of life force. The practice of Reiki has obvious tie to Buddhism or Spiritism, which is a thinly veiled occultism. The speaker mentioned that New Age Healing such as Reiki and Therapeutic Touch has been passed off as alternative medicine in hospital. It is a sad state of affair where a hospital chaplain cannot pray for patient in the name of Jesus, but can practise Reiki or Therapeutic Touch for the patients.
Session 5: The Agony of Defeat
While it is awesome to experience the joy of seeing people being healed through prayers, those who are involved in the healing ministry often have to grapple with the question, “Why doesn't everyone I pray for get healed?”
Randy Clark highlighted that the apostle Paul, through whom extraordinary miracles were done (Acts 19:11), yet who left Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), wrote the following to the Corinthians: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully know” (! Corinthians 13:12).
When faced with people we prayed for but did not received healing, we must be able to humble ourselves and respond to the “Why?” question with the answer, “I don't know.” As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:8-9, “Love never fails.... where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and prophesy in part.” The higher way of love is the answer. If we minister in love, even if no healing takes place, we will have brought His life to those in need.
Often, the emotional impact of “failure”, the emotional pain of seeing those who are not healed is the primary reason why Christians who believe in healing do not pray for the sick more. Randy Clark shared that if we have the baptism of power but do not have the baptism of love, we will not last in the healing ministry.
In the Christian world, more Christians do not believe that God still heals today, means lesser Christians believe in healing. And out of the lesser healing believers, not all pray for healing for the sick. So the number of Christians who prayed for healing for the sick is very small. We have to work harder.
Session 6: The Thrill of Victory
Five key Biblical principles in Scripture for experiencing success in healing are outlined below. However, healing is an act of God's grace and it is crucial that we do not turn the principle into a law.
The Principle of Faith – In a place where there is more faith and expectation, more happens. Throughout the Scriptures, Jesus looks for faith (Matthew 9:22, Matthew 9:29, Matthew 13:58, Matthew 11:21-24, Matthew 21:21. But if we turn this principle into law, it will make us doubt that God will use you when you had a bad day, didn't have good devotions that day and had an argument with a family member or friend. Instead of expectation, we feel disqualified. There might be a variety of reasons that we don't have a sufficient level of faith in praying for the sick, yet this shouldn't stop us from praying. Turning the principle of faith into a law can hinder us or stop us from praying altogether. We need to remember that there will be healing regardless of the condition of our own faith because God loves to use the weak, insignificant, and disqualified to bring glory to Himself.
The Principle of Sin in Their Lives - Sin may be an open door or root for sickness or infirmity. The paralytic being let down through the roof (Mark 2:3-11) and the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-14) are two from the Scripture. While sin can affect healing, we cannot turn this principle into law. If we turn the principle into law, we would not have much faith to pray for someone who is messed up, back-slided or is living in sin. While sin can affect healing, God is bigger than their sin.
The Principle of the Anointed Person – There have been and are today God's men and women who are more anointed than others. Peter, Paul, Philip and Stephen were all highly anointed in the areas of healing. In recent times, TB Joshua, Benny Hinn and Oral Roberts seemed to have more anointing than the average pastor or evangelist in the area of healing. There are anointed people, but if we turn the principle into law, we overlook the fact that God want to use every Christians to release his healing power. Therefore, we should place our faith not in the anointed man, but the God behind the man.
The Principle of Feeling the Anointing – As we pray for someone, we may feel the anointing, the power of God. Jesus experienced this when the woman with an issue of blood tried to touch him, and he felt that “power had gone out from him” (Mark 5;30). Some people feel the anointing more than others. It may be like electricity, tingling, heat, vibration, a weight of glory or just a strong awareness of His presence in our inner man. Yet we cannot rely on feeling the anointing. Our faith is not based on feeling the anointing, but on the promises in the Word of God and the character of God.
The Principle of Compassion – The principle of compassion, the release of the Father's tender mercy, was evidently manifested in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This compassion moved Jesus to action – to teach, to feed, and to heal and raise the dead (Mark 6:34, Matthew 15:32, 36, 37, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 20:34, Mark 1:41, Luke 7:13-15). The same Holy Spirit that anointed Jesus can and will move through us with the same compassion as we pray for the sick. Yet this cannot be turned into a law. There would be time we may be called to minister when we feel tired and exhausted, and the fatigue drained us of any feeling of compassion. Randy shared that there was once he was tired, homesick and compassion-fatigued after being away from home for a long time, but God still came through when he prayed for 500 people at Minnesota and many received healing.
DAY 3 (14 January 2010) Sessions
Session 7: Deliverance: A Ten-Step Ministry Model
In this session, Randy Clark took us through the Pablo Bottari Ten-Step model for use in deliverance ministry. He stressed that “seeing a demon under every bush” or behind every problem is Biblical, but neither is the denial of their existence or operation. Pablo Bottari is an Argentinean pastor who supervised deliverance ministry to many thousands, and personally participated in the deliverance of many hundreds of people, mostly believers. He felt that the deliverance ministry he saw at first was noisy, difficult, lengthy and often humiliating to the person being ministered to.
Pablo Bottari developed a ten-step model for deliverance which is quietly effective. It is quiet, pastoral, loving, non-humiliating, and very effective. In Pablo Bottari's deliverance model, he has the following presuppositions:
· We're ministering to the person, not the demon.
· Authority, not wrestling, is the focus.
· Counselling, bringing the truth is key; quietness, is better than flamboyant demonstration of warfare.
· It is extremely important to find out the entry points, the “open doors” and how to close those doors.
· They don't have to “throw up” or be torn or tormented to be delivered. Satan loves to make a scene. We want to rob him of that opportunity.
The following ten steps are followed in a session where the minister does not know the person well. In some settings, some of these steps might be omitted. For example, where the minister knows the prayee is a believer and really want to be set free, step 4 and 5 would be omitted. If there is no manifestation during the ministry, step 2 and probably step 3 would be omitted.
Step 1 – Give the Individual Priority. Keep a loving attitude, not a militant attitude. Be encouraging. Raise hope. Emphasise to the prayee that Jesus can being them freedom. Don't emphasise the power of the demon; it is subject to you in the name of Jesus.
Step 2 – If a spirit manifests, bring it under submission, in the Name of Jesus. Take authority over the spirit. Tell it, “submit, in the name of Jesus!”, or “Be quiet, in Jesus' name!” or similar commands. It is best to let the prayee know that you are not speaking to them, but to the demon. Repeat such commands until the spirit is quiet. Don't be surprised if this take time. Be persistent.
Step 3 – Establish and maintain communication with the prayee. You must be able to talk with the person receiving ministry, because you must have his cooperation if the deliverance is to be successful. If you are not sure the prayee can hear you, ask – even if the person's eyes are closed. Maintaining communication may require additional commands to the spirit to submit during ministry.
Step 4 – Ask the prayee what he/she wants to be free from, and try to make sure he/she really wants to get free. The prayee would probably know what the bondages are that he or she wants to be set free from. If the prayee indicates that he does not want ministry even though a spirit has manifested, abide by that decision. Do not try to detain the prayee or to minister against his will.
Step 5 – Make sure the prayee understands to make Jesus Christ Lord and Saviour. The ministry recipient will need the help of the Holy Spirit to stay free. If you can lead the person to Christ, do it. If you can't, pray for him and bless him. But don't cast out any spirits. Explain why you don't – because he won't be able to stay free. Encourage him to take the step of making Jesus his Lord and then return for deliverance.
Step 6 – Interview the prayee to discover the event or events, the conduct, or the relationship situations that have led to his/her bondages. The purpose is to expose where forgiveness is required, and where healing, repentance and breaking of bondages are needed. Find out open doors. If there is no obvious place to start, begin with his parental relationships, and then move to other areas. Do not stir up demons, keep them quiet. List the spirits encountered and areas requiring forgiveness of others or repentance. Consider a curse if the person has persistent difficulty in an area of life. Fear is an entry point for many different spirits and a problem in many illnesses.
Step 7 – Lead the prayee in “closing” these “doors” to the admission of spirits. Forgive whoever caused the hurt or led him into wrong conduct. Repent and ask forgiveness for specific sins. Renounce all sins or spirits involved in the name of Jesus.
Step 8 – When all doors are closed, cast out the unclean spirit or spirits. With all doors closed, the spirits will leave quickly and quietly. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you or the seeker what He wants to do next.
Step 9 – Lead the prayee in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for his deliverance. If the person cannot speak, or if spirits manifest, more doors need to be closed.
Step 10 – Have the prayee ask the Holy Spirit to fill him, to fill up every space formally occupied by an evil spirit. We don't want to leave the house swept and empty. Spend time praying for an infilling of the Holy Spirit. You want them to leave in love with Jesus and rejoicing in His strength, power and love.
Session 8: Cessationism
Randy Clark explained why the Cessationist held the belief that the gifts of healing no long existed in the Church, and the gift of tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge, working of miracles, had all ended. The majority of seminary-trained ministers within the evangelical churches in USA have little faith for anything supernatural to happen. They do not believe in healing today, and those who are liberal in their teaching even doubt the stories of it in biblical contexts. This is not surprising as I've come across Old Testament Seminary Lecturer in Singapore who also embraced a view that God doesn't break into our world in response to prayer in a way that would violate the “Laws of Nature” which He had established. Not only was there little expectation of miracles today, some believed the miracles in the Bible were only legendary or mythological.
Randy told the story of how a quote from a term paper he wrote while in seminary that resulted in a long discussion with his professor. The professor told him that his strong commitment to healing would cause him problem in the Baptist denomination (Randy Clark started off as a Baptist pastor), and the professor told him that “healing is not central to the gospel;it is only peripheral.” Randy told the professor that he was wrong, and that healing was central to the gospel. However, the professor was right about one thing, that healing did got Randy into trouble with the Baptist denomination. Randy later joined John Wimber in the Vineyard movement, and God began to use him effectively to pray for physical healing.
Randy asserted that Jesus was truly man and was not able to do anything of his own accord (John 5:19,30;8:28), and did only what he saw the Father doing. Jesus did his miracles through the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. This view is based on the kenotic passage of Philippians 2, which is very important for our understanding of Jesus being our model for ministry. He was dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus has given us the same Spirit to us to enable us to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-10.
The miraculous element in Christianity and the belief that God can act in this world of ours is essential to the vitality of Christianity. Without this aspect, prayer becomes meaningless. As opposed to what is predominant amongst the church that healing is peripheral to the Gospel, I am even more convinced that healing is central to the Gospel and we do indeed have a Gospel of power. We owe the world an encounter with God, and that a Gospel without power is not the Gospel that Jesus preached.
Session 9: Pressing In
This night session was really an experiential night. There was a short Biblical teaching of “Laying on of Hands” for impartation. This was followed by all participants receiving impartation of the Holy Spirit in the areas of Holiness, Power and Healing through Randy Clark.
In the Scripture, we see the importance of the principle of impartation in action. In Hebrew 6:1-2, the laying on of hands is stated as an elementary teaching. In Acts 19:6, Paul demonstrated that the laying on of hands is used to impart the Holy Spirit Himself. Paul also mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6 that the laying on of hands is used to impart and stir up the Spirit's giftings. The laying on of hands is also used to anoint with callings, wisdom and authority for leadership (Acts 13:2-3, Number 11:17, Deuteronomy 34:9).
It was an amazing time at the School as we witnessed the amazing demonstration of the healing power of God at the healing school. Many with pain in their bodies were healed. Also some with metal rods and screws - pain left them and they can't feel the metal anymore. One lady who needed a lung transplant - took out her oxygen canister and ran around the auditorium. Throughout the entire duration of the school, so many people have been healed. I have no idea how many were healed, it must have been hundreds. The name of Jesus was honoured!
SUMMARY OF KEY LESSONS LEARNED
The 12 topics that was taught:
1. History of Healing within Christianity
2. Healing and the Kingdom of God
3. Biblical Basis for Healing
4. Healing Energy
5. The Agony of Defeat
6. The Thrill of Victory
7. Deliverance: A Ten-Step Ministry Model
8. Cessationism
9. Pressing In
10. Healing out of Intimacy with God
11. Throne Life
12. Four Kinds of Faith for Healing
A summary of the salient points that was taught over 12 sessions is given below:
DAY 1 : 12 January 2010 Sessions
Session 1: History of Healing within Christianity
There is a continuous history of healing throughout the history of the church. However, Cessationism, dispensationalism and liberalism have influenced the church to think that the supernatural doesn't exist today. In reality, there is a surge in miracles in the last 100 years, probably more than that which was reported in the first 300 years of the church due to a large numbers of Christians involved in the ministry of healing.
In these last 100 years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of miraculous healing following the revival that started at Asuza Street in Los Angeles. In this revival, the release of gift of tongues and the restoration of the gifts of the Spirit for power evangelism has contributed to the phenomenal growth within the Pentecostalism and Charismatic movements. Numerous men and women such as Aimee Simple-McPherson, John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, William Branham and John Wimber were used by God mightily to bring healing to hundred of thousand in America.
Two key questions were being examined – How did the church lose the power in the past? How do we avoid the pitfalls of the past? The sociological factor, theological factor and church factor that led to the demise of healing through the church were presented. Randy gave a comprehensive summary of the various factors that led to the rediscovery of the Healing Ministry for the church. It was interesting to note that well-known Reformed ministers like Andrew Murray and A.J. Gordon, and even Presbyterian ministers like A.B. Simpson were leading proponent of healing ministry in America. D.L. Moody organised the Northfield Conferences in Massachusetts that brought together some of these Reformed minister and started a revival there.
Session 2: Healing and the Kingdom of God
The goal of this session is to understand the centrality of the Kingdom Message to healing and the Gospel.
Randy Clark addressed the impact of the “Kingdom now – Not Yet” on the theology of healing. This is the explanation for the “why” question rose when some are healed and others are not. Though for 20 years he has been teaching this position of “Kingdom now – Not Yet”, he has seriously began to question this position as far as its implications go regarding healing. His concern is that it seems to be just one-half step behind seeing the healing as due to the sovereignty of God. God chooses to heal some and not others thereby leaving the onus of the problem on God, not man.
I agree with his view that because many believers see healing as due to the sovereignty of God, they are discouraged from pressing through or contending in prayer, or praying fervently on behalf of the sick. If healing is based on sovereignty of God, how did Alexander Dowie and John G. Lake healed more people than others? Even in Singapore, the Lighthouse Evangelism founded by Pastor Rony Tan has seen thousand of healing cases.
There is another category who prayed to release healing purely based on the gift of Word of Knowledge. Like the ultra Charismatic, Randy confessed that he has been guilty in the past of expressing faith in personal “Word of Knowledge” rather than upon the promises of God in the Word of God. Whenever there were no “words of knowledge” received or no manifestations in the body of the person receiving prayer, there seemed to be little true expectation of healing.
As Randy studies the writings and read the history of “healing movements” and the primary “healers” of those movements, he realised that their understanding of healing was: Word-based, Cross based and Gift/Anointing based. He proposed for an integrated model of healing within Protestantism:
· Personal faith is important to the healing process.
· The Word of God is important for healthy faith.
· Avoid the negative view of medical healing.
· A lack of faith may not be the only reason someone is not healed. We must learn from others that there can be root issues that are holding back the healing other than “lack of faith” or “sins in their lives.”
· There is too much emphasis in the Church today which explains the lack of healing upon the sovereignty of God.
· Our understanding of the authority delegated to believers needs to be stronger.
· “What does “...and the forceful lay hold of it by force” or “the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent lay hold of it” means?
· We need a better realisation that healing is not dependent upon correct theology, but rests more in the issue of intimacy with God.
Session 3: Biblical Basis for Healing
This session provided a solid Biblical basis for the Ministry of Healing. The first key insight is God reveals himself as Jehovah-Rapha, “the LORD who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
Secondly, Healing is also the prophetic indication for recognising the Messiah. As seen in Luke 4:18-19 and Luke 7:20-23, Jesus confirms this by quoting the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah 35 and 61 in relationship to Himself and His ministry to the sick and demonised.
The third insight is that every Christian has been commissioned to heal. Jesus very clearly stated that we as believers are commissioned to heal the sick. He taught and commanded his disciples to do so, and commanded them to pass it on to all believes (Matthew 10:8, Matthew 6:7, 12-13, Matthew 28:19-20).
The ground for healing are based on
· The Covenant - signs and wonders are part of the old and new covenants (Exodus 34:10, Hebrews 2:3-4),
· The Atonement – Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24 clearly relate the healing to the blood atonement of Jesus as prophecised in Isaiah 53.
· The Kingdom – The Bible clearly relates the kingdom to healing (Luke 10:9, Luke 17:21).
Therefore, the highest reason for healing: so that "the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor!" (Acts 19:17).
DAY 2 (13 January 2010) Sessions
Session 4: Healing Energy – Whose Energy Is It?
Randy Clark pointed out the difference between New Age healing (e.g. Reiki and Therapeutic Touch) and the uniqueness of the Christian perspective in relation to Jesus, His Work (Atonement), His continued work (present intercession), and the healing power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name.
There are many healing practices which use the work “energy” in their vocabulary. Those who come from a Christian perspective realise that this energy is coming from sources other than the Holy Spirit. I came to understand from the teaching that there are various types of energy both good and bad: natural energy in the creation, normal human energy and energy from angelic and demonic beings. However, there is nothing which can compare to the power and energy of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
In the world view of these New Age healing, there is no evil power. For example, those who practice Reiki (Rei – universal, Ki – life force/energy) believes that supernatural knowledge can be derived from a higher self consciousness that is all knowing, and energy is present all around through consciousness of life force. The practice of Reiki has obvious tie to Buddhism or Spiritism, which is a thinly veiled occultism. The speaker mentioned that New Age Healing such as Reiki and Therapeutic Touch has been passed off as alternative medicine in hospital. It is a sad state of affair where a hospital chaplain cannot pray for patient in the name of Jesus, but can practise Reiki or Therapeutic Touch for the patients.
Session 5: The Agony of Defeat
While it is awesome to experience the joy of seeing people being healed through prayers, those who are involved in the healing ministry often have to grapple with the question, “Why doesn't everyone I pray for get healed?”
Randy Clark highlighted that the apostle Paul, through whom extraordinary miracles were done (Acts 19:11), yet who left Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), wrote the following to the Corinthians: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully know” (! Corinthians 13:12).
When faced with people we prayed for but did not received healing, we must be able to humble ourselves and respond to the “Why?” question with the answer, “I don't know.” As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:8-9, “Love never fails.... where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and prophesy in part.” The higher way of love is the answer. If we minister in love, even if no healing takes place, we will have brought His life to those in need.
Often, the emotional impact of “failure”, the emotional pain of seeing those who are not healed is the primary reason why Christians who believe in healing do not pray for the sick more. Randy Clark shared that if we have the baptism of power but do not have the baptism of love, we will not last in the healing ministry.
In the Christian world, more Christians do not believe that God still heals today, means lesser Christians believe in healing. And out of the lesser healing believers, not all pray for healing for the sick. So the number of Christians who prayed for healing for the sick is very small. We have to work harder.
Session 6: The Thrill of Victory
Five key Biblical principles in Scripture for experiencing success in healing are outlined below. However, healing is an act of God's grace and it is crucial that we do not turn the principle into a law.
The Principle of Faith – In a place where there is more faith and expectation, more happens. Throughout the Scriptures, Jesus looks for faith (Matthew 9:22, Matthew 9:29, Matthew 13:58, Matthew 11:21-24, Matthew 21:21. But if we turn this principle into law, it will make us doubt that God will use you when you had a bad day, didn't have good devotions that day and had an argument with a family member or friend. Instead of expectation, we feel disqualified. There might be a variety of reasons that we don't have a sufficient level of faith in praying for the sick, yet this shouldn't stop us from praying. Turning the principle of faith into a law can hinder us or stop us from praying altogether. We need to remember that there will be healing regardless of the condition of our own faith because God loves to use the weak, insignificant, and disqualified to bring glory to Himself.
The Principle of Sin in Their Lives - Sin may be an open door or root for sickness or infirmity. The paralytic being let down through the roof (Mark 2:3-11) and the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-14) are two from the Scripture. While sin can affect healing, we cannot turn this principle into law. If we turn the principle into law, we would not have much faith to pray for someone who is messed up, back-slided or is living in sin. While sin can affect healing, God is bigger than their sin.
The Principle of the Anointed Person – There have been and are today God's men and women who are more anointed than others. Peter, Paul, Philip and Stephen were all highly anointed in the areas of healing. In recent times, TB Joshua, Benny Hinn and Oral Roberts seemed to have more anointing than the average pastor or evangelist in the area of healing. There are anointed people, but if we turn the principle into law, we overlook the fact that God want to use every Christians to release his healing power. Therefore, we should place our faith not in the anointed man, but the God behind the man.
The Principle of Feeling the Anointing – As we pray for someone, we may feel the anointing, the power of God. Jesus experienced this when the woman with an issue of blood tried to touch him, and he felt that “power had gone out from him” (Mark 5;30). Some people feel the anointing more than others. It may be like electricity, tingling, heat, vibration, a weight of glory or just a strong awareness of His presence in our inner man. Yet we cannot rely on feeling the anointing. Our faith is not based on feeling the anointing, but on the promises in the Word of God and the character of God.
The Principle of Compassion – The principle of compassion, the release of the Father's tender mercy, was evidently manifested in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This compassion moved Jesus to action – to teach, to feed, and to heal and raise the dead (Mark 6:34, Matthew 15:32, 36, 37, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 20:34, Mark 1:41, Luke 7:13-15). The same Holy Spirit that anointed Jesus can and will move through us with the same compassion as we pray for the sick. Yet this cannot be turned into a law. There would be time we may be called to minister when we feel tired and exhausted, and the fatigue drained us of any feeling of compassion. Randy shared that there was once he was tired, homesick and compassion-fatigued after being away from home for a long time, but God still came through when he prayed for 500 people at Minnesota and many received healing.
DAY 3 (14 January 2010) Sessions
Session 7: Deliverance: A Ten-Step Ministry Model
In this session, Randy Clark took us through the Pablo Bottari Ten-Step model for use in deliverance ministry. He stressed that “seeing a demon under every bush” or behind every problem is Biblical, but neither is the denial of their existence or operation. Pablo Bottari is an Argentinean pastor who supervised deliverance ministry to many thousands, and personally participated in the deliverance of many hundreds of people, mostly believers. He felt that the deliverance ministry he saw at first was noisy, difficult, lengthy and often humiliating to the person being ministered to.
Pablo Bottari developed a ten-step model for deliverance which is quietly effective. It is quiet, pastoral, loving, non-humiliating, and very effective. In Pablo Bottari's deliverance model, he has the following presuppositions:
· We're ministering to the person, not the demon.
· Authority, not wrestling, is the focus.
· Counselling, bringing the truth is key; quietness, is better than flamboyant demonstration of warfare.
· It is extremely important to find out the entry points, the “open doors” and how to close those doors.
· They don't have to “throw up” or be torn or tormented to be delivered. Satan loves to make a scene. We want to rob him of that opportunity.
The following ten steps are followed in a session where the minister does not know the person well. In some settings, some of these steps might be omitted. For example, where the minister knows the prayee is a believer and really want to be set free, step 4 and 5 would be omitted. If there is no manifestation during the ministry, step 2 and probably step 3 would be omitted.
Step 1 – Give the Individual Priority. Keep a loving attitude, not a militant attitude. Be encouraging. Raise hope. Emphasise to the prayee that Jesus can being them freedom. Don't emphasise the power of the demon; it is subject to you in the name of Jesus.
Step 2 – If a spirit manifests, bring it under submission, in the Name of Jesus. Take authority over the spirit. Tell it, “submit, in the name of Jesus!”, or “Be quiet, in Jesus' name!” or similar commands. It is best to let the prayee know that you are not speaking to them, but to the demon. Repeat such commands until the spirit is quiet. Don't be surprised if this take time. Be persistent.
Step 3 – Establish and maintain communication with the prayee. You must be able to talk with the person receiving ministry, because you must have his cooperation if the deliverance is to be successful. If you are not sure the prayee can hear you, ask – even if the person's eyes are closed. Maintaining communication may require additional commands to the spirit to submit during ministry.
Step 4 – Ask the prayee what he/she wants to be free from, and try to make sure he/she really wants to get free. The prayee would probably know what the bondages are that he or she wants to be set free from. If the prayee indicates that he does not want ministry even though a spirit has manifested, abide by that decision. Do not try to detain the prayee or to minister against his will.
Step 5 – Make sure the prayee understands to make Jesus Christ Lord and Saviour. The ministry recipient will need the help of the Holy Spirit to stay free. If you can lead the person to Christ, do it. If you can't, pray for him and bless him. But don't cast out any spirits. Explain why you don't – because he won't be able to stay free. Encourage him to take the step of making Jesus his Lord and then return for deliverance.
Step 6 – Interview the prayee to discover the event or events, the conduct, or the relationship situations that have led to his/her bondages. The purpose is to expose where forgiveness is required, and where healing, repentance and breaking of bondages are needed. Find out open doors. If there is no obvious place to start, begin with his parental relationships, and then move to other areas. Do not stir up demons, keep them quiet. List the spirits encountered and areas requiring forgiveness of others or repentance. Consider a curse if the person has persistent difficulty in an area of life. Fear is an entry point for many different spirits and a problem in many illnesses.
Step 7 – Lead the prayee in “closing” these “doors” to the admission of spirits. Forgive whoever caused the hurt or led him into wrong conduct. Repent and ask forgiveness for specific sins. Renounce all sins or spirits involved in the name of Jesus.
Step 8 – When all doors are closed, cast out the unclean spirit or spirits. With all doors closed, the spirits will leave quickly and quietly. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you or the seeker what He wants to do next.
Step 9 – Lead the prayee in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for his deliverance. If the person cannot speak, or if spirits manifest, more doors need to be closed.
Step 10 – Have the prayee ask the Holy Spirit to fill him, to fill up every space formally occupied by an evil spirit. We don't want to leave the house swept and empty. Spend time praying for an infilling of the Holy Spirit. You want them to leave in love with Jesus and rejoicing in His strength, power and love.
Session 8: Cessationism
Randy Clark explained why the Cessationist held the belief that the gifts of healing no long existed in the Church, and the gift of tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge, working of miracles, had all ended. The majority of seminary-trained ministers within the evangelical churches in USA have little faith for anything supernatural to happen. They do not believe in healing today, and those who are liberal in their teaching even doubt the stories of it in biblical contexts. This is not surprising as I've come across Old Testament Seminary Lecturer in Singapore who also embraced a view that God doesn't break into our world in response to prayer in a way that would violate the “Laws of Nature” which He had established. Not only was there little expectation of miracles today, some believed the miracles in the Bible were only legendary or mythological.
Randy told the story of how a quote from a term paper he wrote while in seminary that resulted in a long discussion with his professor. The professor told him that his strong commitment to healing would cause him problem in the Baptist denomination (Randy Clark started off as a Baptist pastor), and the professor told him that “healing is not central to the gospel;it is only peripheral.” Randy told the professor that he was wrong, and that healing was central to the gospel. However, the professor was right about one thing, that healing did got Randy into trouble with the Baptist denomination. Randy later joined John Wimber in the Vineyard movement, and God began to use him effectively to pray for physical healing.
Randy asserted that Jesus was truly man and was not able to do anything of his own accord (John 5:19,30;8:28), and did only what he saw the Father doing. Jesus did his miracles through the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. This view is based on the kenotic passage of Philippians 2, which is very important for our understanding of Jesus being our model for ministry. He was dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus has given us the same Spirit to us to enable us to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-10.
The miraculous element in Christianity and the belief that God can act in this world of ours is essential to the vitality of Christianity. Without this aspect, prayer becomes meaningless. As opposed to what is predominant amongst the church that healing is peripheral to the Gospel, I am even more convinced that healing is central to the Gospel and we do indeed have a Gospel of power. We owe the world an encounter with God, and that a Gospel without power is not the Gospel that Jesus preached.
Session 9: Pressing In
This night session was really an experiential night. There was a short Biblical teaching of “Laying on of Hands” for impartation. This was followed by all participants receiving impartation of the Holy Spirit in the areas of Holiness, Power and Healing through Randy Clark.
In the Scripture, we see the importance of the principle of impartation in action. In Hebrew 6:1-2, the laying on of hands is stated as an elementary teaching. In Acts 19:6, Paul demonstrated that the laying on of hands is used to impart the Holy Spirit Himself. Paul also mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6 that the laying on of hands is used to impart and stir up the Spirit's giftings. The laying on of hands is also used to anoint with callings, wisdom and authority for leadership (Acts 13:2-3, Number 11:17, Deuteronomy 34:9).
DAY 4 (15 January 2010) Sessions
Session 10: Healing out of Intimacy with God
Bill Johnson began the session by posing these questions to all the students: “What do you call a person who is intimate as a professional?' This question was intended to challenge everyone present to come into a place of intimacy with the Lord. If the intimacy of God is developed just for ministry, then we are no different from those who develop intimacy because of their profession. This is indeed a challenge to every believer whether we have a lifestyle of worship when nobody is looking, when we don't have the pressure of ministry. Friendship with God is developed when nobody is watching, not during preaching or church worship, praying for the sick or even evangelism.
Jesus said “I only do what I see the Father do”; Jesus' obedience which sometime included putting mud onto blind man's eyes released miracles and healing. The key is to cultivate a lifestyle outside of ministry so that we can hear his voice. Through an intimacy developed out of a personal relationship, we would then be able to carry the presence of God. When the eyes of our hearts are opened through continuous connection with the Father, we would then be able to release healing and miracles. We should carry the presence of God through an intimacy developed out of a relationship, and that is why an intimate friendship with God is so important.
Session 11: Throne Life
Bill Johnson continued in this session to talk about the importance of intimacy with God. All believers are drafted into a supernatural lifestyle that is impossible apart from an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit; it only works the way Jesus modeled it. The Spirit that remained upon Him enabled Him to do only what the Father was doing and say only what the Father was saying. Only in the context of intimacy with God do we enter the life where nothing is impossible.
Most believers encounter what it’s like to be in confusion or trouble and have someone speak a word that brings a supernatural invasion of peace into their soul. Their words were the spirit of revelation from God Himself. The same way that Jesus became flesh, the Holy Spirit becomes words, and when they are spoken, they bring life (John 6:63). The Kingdom of God is realised in the Spirit, and the Spirit of God reveals the word of eternal life.
The Holy Spirit lives in every believers and he will never leave. That’s a promise. But He has come to rest on the shoulder of very few. Why? He is not overly sensitive or picky; He is holy and we have to walk carefully, bearing in mind that the dove is our shoulder. It’s that heart of rest and trust embraced by the reality of heaven that is a place to rest. When the Holy Spirit rests upon a person, there is actually an atmospheric change that takes place wherever that person goes.
Session 12: Four Kinds of Faith for Healing
This final session on the last day of the healing school was also a mega healing meeting. It was an open meeting that was opened to the public, and the entire convention centre was filled with many people waiting outside. Thought the meeting starts at 7pm, the door was opened at 6pm so that those with terminal illness could be prayed for first. Together with three other persons, I prayed for a middle-age Canadian with cancer of the lungs, liver and colon. The man receiving prayers told me that he felt heat from my hand, and we told him that heat is good. Though we could not verified healing, I pray that God would heal him in the same way that he healed over a hundred people on this same evening – a man certified blind has his eyes opened, a lady with one deaf ear was healed, people with metal rod and screws in their bodies found that they've disappeared.
Randy Clark, who spoke during the meeting, mentioned that there are four kinds of faith for healing. The key characteristics of each kind of faith are listed below:
(1) “If you can...” (Mark 9:17-29); The father with the demonised son (Very Weak Faith) – Though his faith was weak, he was persistent even when the disciples failed. He saw the opportunity to be near Jesus and drew near with his request. Jesus' response to “if you can” faith is: “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23). There is still Jesus' answer to those who are not sure whether God can heal them, for the condition stated was “for him who believes.”
2) “If you are willing...” (Mark 1:40-42); The man with leprosy (Some Faith) – This is the second type of person who doesn't question whether or not Jesus can heal, instead the big question is, “Is this His will to heal me?” As the leper approached, he must have felt Jesus' compassion, for Mark 1:42 states, “Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Jesus immediately and directly answered the leper's key question. “I am Willing!” is still Jesus' answer to those who are not sure whether God will heal them.
3) “If I can...” (Mark 5:24-34); The woman with the issue of blood (Great Faith) – She approached Jesus with knowledge of who He was and what He did (Mark 5:27). She approached Jesus with disregard for her religious tradition that require her to stay away, and out of public, especially from holy people. She risked all to approach Jesus, including the threat of stoning. She approached Jesus with persistent, determined faith. The outcome of her “if you can” is that she is immediately healed, and she felt in her body that she was healed. Jesus was aware that power was going from his body, and Jesus' response to the woman was “your faith has healed you.”
4) “”I can't, but He can...” (Mark 10:46-52); Blind Bartimaeus (reckless Faith) – Bartimaeus was blind and we didn't know how long he was in this condition, but because of this he was reduced to a beggar. The nature of the Bartimaeus “I can't, but He can” faith is that he begin to shout and threw away his cloak. The invalids in Jesus' day were given a cloak as identification, but Bartimaeus was ready to throw away his identity as a blind man. He would rather see than draw social assistance. Although he could not make his way to Jesus, Jesus will make his way to him.
Throughout the teaching on this last night, Randy Clark was releasing Words of Knowledge and made Prayer Ministry calls to challenge people to respond to each of the four faith. Simply based on the Word of God and a few incredible stories from his crusades in India and Brazil, he was able to stir expectation at an unusual level. I have a sensing that he really carries a remarkable anointing from God. The responses were simply incredible as many stood up and received their healing!
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The one week trip to Bethel Church and the School of Healing and Impartation has been a huge blessing to me and Carol. We learned and received so much, and unlearned some of what I had been taught over the past 20 years. We’re not sure what God will do with us on the heels of this equipping, but we continue to pray that the Lord will use us for his glory. We hope to share some of the lessons in greater depth in the near future.
