What sort of prayer raises the dead?
That may seem to be an odd question, and I'm not planning any upcoming trips to the morgue to find out, but I figure if I can master the sort of prayer that can raise the dead, I can handle the "easier" prayer that removes MS, regenerates missing limbs, knocks out incurable viruses, makes metal pins in bones disappear, and so on.
(Yes, I have heard first-hand testimonies of all of those things happening, right here in these United States, all within the past decade.)
So what kind of prayer raises the dead?
As always, I use Jesus as my model and my standard. He demonstrated for us what sorts of things are possible for one human being who lives in the complete embrace of the Father's presence. So how did He do it?
The story of Lazarus gives us the key. I'm sure most of us have this story basically memorized, but it's a really good story, so let's just re-live it again, for the first time.
"Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone.
Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
(John 11:39-44)
Lots of things to take away from these few verses. Lots of things. Here are just a few, off the top of my head:
- Jesus doesn't get distracted by the unbelief of others.
- Jesus doesn't allow Himself to enter into an agreement with the idea that what He's about to do is, technically speaking, impossible.
- Jesus doesn't let Himself settle into a meditation on the size of the problem.
- When Martha says that Lazarus has been dead for too long, long enough to start rotting, Jesus re-focuses her attention on two things: faith, and the glory of God. No problem looks too big when it's compared to God's glory.
- Technically, Jesus didn't "pray" for Lazarus to come back to life. He just told him to do it. Sort of like He didn't tell us to "pray" for the sick, He just said, "heal the sick." (Mt. 10:8)
- The prayer that Jesus prayed started with thanksgiving. If we have the faith that can thank God for the miracle before it even happens, we're 99% of the way to seeing the miracle happen.
- The prayer of Jesus moved from thanksgiving to a stunning confession of 100% confidence: "you hear me ... you always hear me." This is kind of prayer that will raise the dead: 100% faith, 100% confidence, 100% awareness of who the Father is.
I'm not there yet, to that place where my confidence that my Father always hears me is strong enough to outweigh my recognition of the size of the problem. But that's my standard, and that's where I'm heading.
Thanksgiving, faith, and confidence in the knowledge that God always hears us. That's how to raise the dead.
Here are some reports from February and March that should help us build our confidence:
REPORTS
- Two of our intercessors began praying for a woman who needed a job. Within a couple of weeks, she got an unexpected job lead, had the interview, and got hired. Our God's name is "Provision."
- Another intercessor prayed over a man with heart congestion who had been experiencing periods of dizziness, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, and fatigue. The next day, the man's blood pressure was near-perfect, he felt an incredible resurgence of energy, and has had no congestion issues since. Our God is healer, awesome in power.
- One of our prayer teams prayed over a man at our February healing service who was struggling with a habitual sin. A few weeks after the service, he reported that he had not been experiencing those temptations any more since the prayer time. Our Father liberates minds and hearts as well as bodies!
- At our March healing service, a prayer team prayed over a man with MS, who had to wear a leg brace because of weakening muscles. After receiving prayer, he took off the brace and walked up and down the aisles a few times, saying that his leg felt stronger. He left with the leg brace in his arms, not strapped to his leg. Our God's name is "the Healing One."
- An intercessor felt led by God to go to a local coffee shop and pray for someone wearing blue shoes; after sitting in the shop for a while, he saw a young woman walk in wearing blue shoes, and was able to talk to her and minister to her. Mysterious ways, indeed.
- In our most recent listening prayer services, we've seen multiple instances of God speaking to and through His children in unusually creative ways
- One intercessor received a vision of an apple slice, and when she drew it on paper, the person being ministered immediately knew what personal meaning the image had. Daughters of God having visions - sounds a bit like Joel 2, doesn't it?
- Another intercessor had a vision of a sand dollar, and the person being ministered to remarked that he had just broken a decorative sand dollar earlier that week, and had been thinking that he would need to replace it. God cares about the details.
- On three occasions, we have seen two intercessors in the same prayer group get the same word from God for the same person. One intercessor saw an image of shoes being laced up, and so had another; one saw an image of a family gathering around a kitchen counter to make lunch, and another saw the same image, but from a different angle; one person got the word "tabernacle," while another in the same group had heard the message, "call the Brooklyn Tabernacle." God confirms His word through repetition.
One final thought: God always entrusts us with more when we prove that we're willing to spend what He's already given us. We're seeing Him lead us now into "more challenging" prayer arenas (humanly speaking), and we're hearing Him speak to us with increasing clarity, which is an awesome privilege - because with the more difficult assignments comes the commitment to entrust us with even greater power to complete those assignments.
In short: let's keep spending. The resources are, as we're about to find out, unlimited.
Jacob
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