Saturday, March 18, 2017
Building People of Substance for Works of Power
We’re getting better at helping people, Friend.
“You just need to believe.” “Listen to these tapes over and over.” “Oh, don’t say that!” “Turn off the secular TV and watch Brother So-and-so.” “You need more faith.” These and a hundred others are common phrases I hear from faith folks who are trying to help someone get healed. There may be a grain of truth in each of them. The people who say them are probably genuinely concerned for their friends. The problem is that this approach, preaching sermonettes to sick people, is rarely effective. We are often answering our own questions, not theirs, and in the process adding to the burden of guilt and inadequacy they are already carrying. Amazingly, God, in His infinite mercy, often manages to get people healed anyway. A couple of thoughts if you really want to help people:
1. You can’t “try to believe.” I don’t even know what that means. It implies that there is some emotional or mental effort that I am not exercising. Faced with unbelief, Jesus responded by teaching. (Mark 6:5-6) The only remedy for unbelief is to feed the heart on the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) For the person struggling with sickness, a sermon on how they should work harder at believing is not generally useful. The implication is that they are not “doing it” properly. Don’t let your frustration become their condemnation. The truth can become law, and thus bring death. (2 Corinthians 3:6)
2. If a person is a Christian, he already has faith. Learning to use it is a place to begin. When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith (they had been hearing the Word teach the Word every day), He told them to use the faith they had. The amount of faith could be as small as the mustard seed. No matter how small your faith, you can use it by speaking to the problem. (Luke 17:5-6) Faith is exercised by speaking, not about the problem, but to the problem. “I believe I am healed, therefore, pain (or nausea, or fear, or whatever), go!” If you want to help, give them Bible assurance that they have faith, then ask if you can help them learn to use it.
3. Jesus came to take our sin and sickness upon Himself, then rose again to dwell with us forever. Healing ministry springs from relationship. Begin by listening to people long enough to hear what is in their heart, and what questions and doubts they are dealing with. (Luke 6:45) Find out where they are and meet them there. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Comforter. The Greek concordance says the word means “one called alongside to help.” If we want to join in the healing ministry with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can begin to walk with people rather than preach at people.
Somebody Said: “Christians do not take advantage of what belongs to them. Either they do not know how to take advantage of what belongs to them, or they do not know what belongs to them.” Kenneth E. Hagin
Scripture Reading: The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!” (Luke 17:5-6 NLT)
I believe we are on the cusp of a great revival. Healing the sick will be a key aspect of this move of God. I want to be really good at helping people receive. Let’s do this!
Pastor Virgil L. Stokes
Faith Christian Fellowship of Tucson
3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.
Tucson, AZ 85745
www.fcftucson.org
Office: 520-792-3238
Our Tuesday Evening services are focused on faith and healing. Check us out at www.fcftucson.org
pastorvirgil.com 