Power for Life: Keys to a life marked by the presence of God

by Matt Sorger

  Peter was very clear about not only the source of the healing but also the source of the faith that produced the healing. It was the faith that comes through Jesus. Jesus was the author and perfecter of Peter’s faith and the faith of the man who was healed.

  Faith is not intellectual; it is spiritual. It comes from the heart, not the mind. Charles Price was used by God for more than twenty years in healing campaigns. He saw the blind healed; paralyzed and disabled raised from wheelchairs; and clots, cancers, and tumors melt. When talking about his healing services he says, “During those years I’ve noticed that all great healing services have been preceded by nights of consecration and seasons of prayer. When the crowds have rushed forward seeking healing, the meetings have been hard and difficult. When they have sought the healer rather than the healing, however, the sweetness of His presence has broken the power of the enemy, and the sunshine of His presence has melted the icy feeling that gripped the heart.”4

  Matthew 9:22 says, “Jesus turned around and, seeing her, He said, Take courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well. And at once the woman was restored to health.” Again, Matthew 9:29 reads, “Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith and trust and reliance [on the power invested in Me] be it done to you.”

  It’s clear that these individuals received God’s power because of their faith. But to get the full picture we must read all Scripture together. While Jesus called it “your faith,” we know that it was because of Jesus that this faith was inspired and imparted to them in the first place. The faith that flooded their hearts had its source in God. John 3:27 says, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (KJV). And 1 Corinthians 4:7 reads, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (NKJV).

  Everything we have, including faith, we have received from God. He is always our source for everything.

  I want to share a story with you about what happened when a paralyzed woman got her eyes off of man and onto Jesus. This dear woman was so desperate to be healed. She so earnestly desired to receive the power of God in her life. As her husband was wheeling her into a healing meeting, she bumped into the minister. She pleaded with him to heal her. He knew in his heart that at the moment he did not have the faith for her to be healed, and neither did she. He could have just gone through the religious motions of commanding and rebuking, but he didn’t. He believed in Jesus and stood on His Word. But he knew he needed an imparted faith that superseded his own ability to believe. She needed it too.

  By God’s wisdom he encouraged her to draw close to Jesus. He knew Jesus would be the source of the needed faith that would release the healing. Day after day she came to the meetings and sought God. Day after day her husband and friends wheeled her out of the meetings, still paralyzed. But she didn’t give up. Days passed, but she kept drawing near to God. On the last night of the meetings her husband carried her to the altar. As she lay on the altar, she got her eyes off of man and completely onto God. During worship she entered into God’s deep and holy presence. Jesus came to her and gave her a vision of Himself. She could see Him standing there, smiling and waving at her. Suddenly she became aware of a faith flowing through her heart. At the very moment Jesus imparted His faith into the minister’s heart as well. He looked down at the woman and knew she was healed. God’s faith flowed through her, and she stood to her feet completely healed. She straightened out, and her shriveled limbs grew!5

  A great general of faith, Lester Sumrall, once said, “The secret behind getting more faith is to get to know God more.”6

  It’s wonderful when we can draw close enough to Jesus to clear away all the distractions to hear His voice and receive His divine power and grace. I was praying for a woman once who had a deaf ear. I prayed and could feel God’s power surging into her. I knew God’s power was present to heal her. As she lay under the tangible power of God, she kept saying, “Lord, I receive it.” Each time I helped her to her feet, she was still deaf. Yet I knew God’s power was there. By the fourth time I prayed for her, God’s voice broke through and silenced her own thoughts. As she was striving to receive, God said, “You already have it.” God’s word released faith in her heart, connecting her to His power. Guess what happened? When she got off the floor, her ear was completely healed, even better than her good ear!

  The Role of Prayer and Fasting

  Understanding the role of prayer and fasting will also help you to receive God’s faith. Matthew 17:14–21 gives an account of the healing of an epileptic boy. The disciples couldn’t cure him, but Jesus did. When Jesus was asked why the disciples had no success, He said it was because of their unbelief. It wasn’t a question of God’s will. Nor did Jesus focus on the boy’s faith. It was the level of faith in the disciples’ hearts. Yet He also pointed out that “this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (v. 21, NKJV). Prayer and fasting help to release God’s faith within us. It’s the faith that produces the miracle, not the fasting. Fasting and prayer in this instance serve as the passageway into the fullness of faith that exists in God’s heart. Again, it isn’t by our works but by His faith and grace extended toward us.

  Inherit the Promises Through Faith and Patience

  In Hebrews 6:12–15 we see two keys that will propel us into God’s power and His glorious future for us: faith and patience. We need both if we are to receive His power and accomplish what God has set before us.

  Abraham was given a promise by God at the age of seventy-five in Genesis 12. God promised that he would become a great nation and that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. If many of us received such a promise from God at age seventy-five, we would probably say, “But God, I am too old now. If You wanted to do something with me, You should have used me when I was younger.” No matter how old you are, it’s never too late for God to do something spectacular through your life.

  Then Abraham had to wait another twenty-five years before this promise would begin to come to pass through the birth of his son Isaac. Even then Abraham had to trust God to keep Isaac safe so that a great nation could be born from him. It would be many more years before God’s word would fully manifest itself. So, Abraham was now one hundred years old when Isaac, the son of promise, was born. That’s twenty-five long years of waiting, persevering, trusting, and believing.

  The one thing that kept Abraham going all those years was faith. Faith produced the endurance Abraham needed to walk out God’s promises. Faith is essential if we are to endure to the end. Faith believes no matter what we see. Faith sees the promise while everything else looks hopeless. Faith gives us an inner assurance that God will bring His word to pass. Our faith is not based in what we can see or feel. We are not moved by momentary circumstances. Our reality is God’s Word. This is what our faith is established upon. As we meditate on His truth, everything else will line up accordingly. But we have to be willing to persevere in our faith. It’s through the combination of faith and patience that we walk and live in God’s power and manifested Word.

  For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct our selves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.

  —2 CORINTHIANS 5:7

  Faith gives you power for the impossible (Rom. 4:20). When you choose to believe God and consider that His character is trustworthy and truthful, even though you may be as good as dead, God can birth His purpose, will, and promise through your life, so that multitudes of others can be blessed as well. Remember, what God wants to do through you is way bigger than just you! His plans are always bigger than just one person. God wants to do something extraordinary through you for the sake of others.

  Faith Has Action

  Lastly, I want you to understand that faith is more than words. Faith has action. The story of Charles Blondin, a famous
French tightrope walker, teaches us a powerful lesson on true faith.

  Blondin’s greatest fame came in June of 1859 when he attempted to become the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across the mighty Niagara Falls. He walked across 160 feet above the falls several times, each time with a different daring feat—once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!

  On one occasion, though, he asked for the participation of a volunteer. A large crowd gathered, and a buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the riverbank. The crowd oohed and aahed as Blondin carefully walked across one dangerous step after another—blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow. Upon reaching the other side, the crowd’s applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: “Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?” The crowd enthusiastically shouted, “Yes, yes, yes. You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!” “OK,” said Blondin, “Get in the wheelbarrow...” No one did.7

  So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

  —JAMES 2:17

  Never forget, when you make the choice to add action to your faith, you release the power of God into operation. True faith will always be accompanied by an action. It’s easy to say, “I believe.” But true faith will be willing to get into the wheelbarrow and onto the tightrope. True faith releases a corresponding action.

  This is exemplified in the story of the men who tore the roof off to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. Luke 5:18–19 tells us, “Some men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him in and lay him before [Jesus]. But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him with his stretcher through the tiles into the midst, in front of Jesus.” When Jesus saw their faith, He not only forgave the man’s sins, but He also completely healed him as well. Their faith caused them to press through every obstacle to the point of physically tearing a hole in the roof to get to Jesus. Now that’s faith with action!

  Choose to fill your heart and mind with God’s truth and keep your focus on Jesus, drawing near to Him in worship, and He will cause His faith to flood your heart and mind, opening up to you God’s limitless possibilities for your life. God’s faith in you will enable you to receive the fullness of His blessings, grace, power, and purpose. Faith will connect you fully and completely to His unlimited supply of power for every area of your life.

  PART II

  Harnessing the Power

  CHAPTER 7

  The Power of Integrity

  Issues of the Heart

  DR. BENJAMIN CRANDALL, the president of my Bible college, once shared a story when I was a student. He told us of a popular television evangelist who had fallen into the sin of adultery. As a result he lost much of what God had given him. This minister shared a dream he had before he fell. In the dream he saw a snake as big as he was. Then the snake became three storie stall. The minister interpreted this dream to mean that what was opposing him was too strong for him to overcome. Since he was such a high-profile minister, he felt he had no one he could go to for help.

  Dr. Crandall had a very keen insight. He said, “He had the right dream but the wrong interpretation. The correct interpretation is this: kill the snake while it is still small so that it doesn’t become bigger than you.” In other words, he was saying to deal with the sin issues and struggles in your life early on before they get too strong and you are taken down by them.

  We are born with the potential to be heroes, to be champions. But there is an issue of the heart that will be key to seeing us finish our race. Power is an amazing thing. It can be both productive and destructive, depending on how it is used and how it is cultivated and harnessed. I recently heard a true story about a racehorse. The owner wanted the horse to excel to its maximum potential, so she hired the best trainer and the best jockey she could find to ride the horse. This jockey was known for his willingness to push his horses to their extreme potential.

  During his races this horse would come out of the starting gate in last place. He was the underdog. At first it looked like he would come in last, trailing far behind all the other horses. But then, in a burst of inspiration and adrenaline, he would charge around the outside, passing all the other horses, and finish first. He was gaining a reputation of being the best short-distance runner, but it was still a mystery whether he would succeed in running long-distance races.

  As he continued to win races, soon the horse qualified for the US Triple Crown. The last race was to prove the most challenging as it was a long-distance race. Would he have the stamina and endurance to not only run fast but also to sustain that speed over a long distance? Would the horse be pushed too hard and have its heart burst in the process? Would victory end in tragic defeat? As the gates were opened, he came out running full speed, charging right to the front! The strategy of the opponent was to get the horse to start out strong so it would be worn down in the length of the race and lose.

  As the race continued, the horse maintained its speed. Neck and neck with his opponent, everyone held their breath, waiting for the horse to lose its stamina. But to everyone’s surprise the horse gained in speed all the way to the finish line, finishing first! His heart didn’t burst under the pressure of the race. Under the extreme pressure and physical exertion, the horse’s heart was strong and valiant, able to carry him all the way to the finish line in triumphant victory. He surprised everyone!

  This is the amazing and inspirational true story of Secretariat. He was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who, in 1973, became the first US Triple Crown champion in twenty-five years, setting records at the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes that still stand. He appeared on the covers of Time , Newsweek , and Sports Illustrated in the same week, and he was the only nonhuman chosen by ESPN as one of the “50 Greatest Athletes of the Century,” coming in at No. 35, ahead of legends like Mickey Mantle.1

  The horse had extreme potential to be a champion. Not only did he need the right training and the right rider for that potential to be maximized, but also his heart had to be strong and large enough to endure the exertion put on it during the race. When Secretariat died years later, a shocking discovery was made during his autopsy. All of Secretariat’s organs were of normal size except his heart. Dr. Thomas Swerczek, a professor of veterinary science who performed the autopsy, is quoted as saying, “We were all shocked. I’ve seen and done thousands of autopsies on horses, and nothing I’d ever seen compared to it. The heart of the average horse weighs about nine pounds. This was almost twice the average size, and a third larger than any equine heart I’d ever seen. And it wasn’t pathologically enlarged. All the chambers and the valves were normal. It was just larger. I think it told us why he was able to do what he did.”2

  Issues of the Heart

  Just as Secretariat’s heart was robust, so must our hearts be, with the nature and qualities of God. An enlarged heart is the keeping power of integrity. Integrity is what will harness God’s power in our lives to its maximum potential. God may give us special gifts, abilities, and graces that cause us to surge ahead to the front of the pack. Such was Secretariat; he was born with certain qualities that made him a champion. He had strong muscles and the ability to run fast. But it was also the strength of his heart that enabled him to win the race.

  The quality of our heart’s integrity is what will enable us to finish the race strong. Derek Prince once said, “God is more concerned with our character than with our achievements. Achievements have importance only in the realm of time. Character is eternal. It determines what we will be through eternity.”3

  Integrity Through Brokenness

  We are not born with integrity. Integrity is something that is developed in our lives through the choices we make every day. It is very similar to the proc
ess a horse goes through to harness its tremendous strength and power. Integrity involves a process of brokenness. But when we yield to this process, God’s power within us is able to reach its fullest and highest potential.

  During its training a horse must undergo a breaking process. During this period of time the horse’s strength is harnessed so that it can be correctly channeled and directed. Without this breaking the horse will remain a wild, untrained animal with its strength being exerted in unproductive and dangerous ways. An unbroken horse can cause a lot of damage and pain to the people around it. But once a breaking takes place, the extreme power of this magnificent creature can be harnessed to make it a thoroughbred champion! Its strength and power can be completely used toward a goal and purpose, which is winning the race.

  To understand the power of integrity that comes through brokenness, I would like to look at how the power within a horse is properly harnessed. Horse breaking refers to the process used by humans to get horses to let themselves be ridden or harnessed. “Breaking in” is the term used when mounting the horse for the first time.

  When a horse is broken in, a horse’s spirit doesn’t need to be broken with it. Many people tend to believe that horse whispering is some kind of mysterious art, which is unachievable by a common person. There is absolutely no mystery to this unique practice. It is all about understanding the behaviors of a horse and being able to read the horse you are working with. A horse is a herd animal and has a basic fight-or-flight instinct. Understanding these basic things enables a good relationship to be formed between the horse and its rider. It is vital that a rider builds a bond of trust between him and his horse. This makes the horse much easier to train.4