Unleashing Supernatural Power
Christians are supposed to be SUPERNATURAL PEOPLE. Yancey said, “Prosperity may dilute prayer… The wealthy rely on talent and resources to solve immediate problems, and insurance policies and retirement plans to secure the future”[ p.15]. Naturalists rely on science and spurn the supernatural intervention of God. Believers pray. Why? For one thing, Jesus prayed. For another, prayer infuses us with power and supernatural strength to fight the good fight of faith.
If we fail it will be becausewe failed to pray.
We can never over pray! Crisis will drive us to our knees. Prayer is our “primary means for acquiring strength and the capability we need to live for Jesus.” Obey Paul’s charge to “pray at all times” (Eph.6:18) at all hours of the day and night if need be. Supernatural power is unleashed through prayer that can transform any moment into a miracle!
Prayer can transform anymoment into a miracle!
Bill Bright believed that “nothing else can compare with the supernatural power released when we fast and pray.”And Mark Batterson echoes the sentiment: “Impossible odds set the stage for God’s greatest miracles!” Prayer is often connected to fasting. It may accelerate answered prayer.
Mahesh Chavda once said, “We don’t fast to earn something; we fast to make a connection with our supernatural God. We are cleaning out the ‘pipe’ that connects us to the anointing of God.” If we really want God to work mightily in our homes, our families, our churches and our nation, we must humble ourselves and seek his face through prayer and fasting.
Supernatural power producesmiraculous results!
Getting down on our knees; bowing our heads and hearts like little children; crying out for spiritual power produces miraculous results. Cindy Barnes concurs: “As we spend time seeking God in fasting and prayer, we will begin to see two things: ourselves the way He sees us and the situation we’re praying for as He sees it.” It is said, “Prayer is a supernatural seed that can never die; it will inevitably yield fruits.” This is because “the seed of prayer is different; it hardly dies. The fruit of prayer ripens with time.”
DE-SUPERNATURALIZED
On Day 9 of the Coronavirus Pandemic, I reminded my Facebook followers that we must put the supernatural back into public discourse. In Fearless Prayer, Craig Hazen suggests that “the mother of all barriers” to prayer is NATURALISM. This basically means that the SUPERNATURAL is eliminated and the only things that exist are physical or material. Everything in the universe has to be able to be explained by chemistry and physics.”
We’ve been soakingin a bitter marinade!
Naturalists tend not to look beyond the confines of science for answers and even mock those who do. Even Evangelicals “deeply influenced by naturalism” have been “de-supernaturalized.” Practically, we’ve been living in our own strength. And then came the pandemic.
The people of God are supposed to be “fundamentally supernatural people,” so we seek a supernatural solution. At times God miraculously intervenes but He doesn’t heal everyone we pray for, and “not everyone is saved from harm, every time, but we pray.” Because we pray amazing “coincidences” happen.
Amazing coincidenceshappen because we pray!
Naturalism is “not a worldview that is going to be friendly toward Christianity or the spiritual life. Here’s the problem— “the Bible tells us that the most important entities in heaven and earth are not physical. God himself is spirit. Our souls are nonphysical.”
We have lost the power andpresence of God’s promises!
In the Western world today it’s as if we are soaking in “a bitter marinade.” Even Evangelicals have been so deeply influenced by naturalism have been “de-supernaturalized.” We have lost the power and presence of the Lord promised in Scripture. Practically, “we are living in our own strength.” The people of God are supposed to be fundamentally supernatural people. We expect a nonmaterial God to interact.
In America we have an emergency phone number—911. Dial those 3 numbers and you can have police, fire, or emergency medical help on the way immediately. I dialed them when my wife had a heart episode following placement of five stents. It’s what we do first. A minister in Ghana said we don’t have 911. We don’t have expert help minutes away. We pray! God is our first and often our only hope. And God often shows up in a powerful way. God wants to pour out supernatural blessings in our lives (and churches), but they (may) never be realized if we are unwilling to seek Him in fasting and prayer” (paraphrased from Jentezen Franklin.
Is your life supernaturalor superficial?
“If your life isn’t SUPERNATURAL it’s superficial,” opines Dan Bohi. “If you can explain your life without having to give all the credit to God, you haven’t yet tapped into all the supernatural things that He has available for you.”
And then there’s this word from Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), one of the greatest preachers of English Methodism: “Nothing would turn the nation back to God so surely and so quickly as a Church that prayed and prevailed. The world will never believe in a religion in which there is no SUPERNATURAL power. A rationalized faith, a socialized Church and a moralized gospel may gain applause, but they awaken no conviction and win no converts.”
Where does supernatural power come from and how can we access it?
Divine power is the keyto supernatural success.
And it is received when we connect regularly with our All-Powerful God. Not giftedness, ability, organizational skill, planning or strategy. “It is not by power but by my Spirit says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).
Daniel excelled others in the gift of prophecy, an extraordinary skill to interpret all sorts of visions and dreams given by God to foreshow future events and interpret what they mean. It was God’s SUPERNATURAL gift to him. Although Daniel excelled in his studies at Babylonian schools, I believe his spiritual understanding came from his disciplined prayer life!
Ezra is yet another example. In Ezra 7:9-10 we learn that he had relied upon God and God had given supernatural courage and fortitude. “For the gracious hand of his God was on him.” Whatever he lacked, the Lord had provided. If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go—anywhere! Even though the journey is slow, long, and not without challenges. God moves in response to our prayers in SUPERNATURAL ways. And at times, we need SUPERNATURAL help to handle the realities of life and ministry.
Asking for prayer is definitely not a sign of weakness.
The Hebrew writer in 3:8-10 asked, “Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.” It is never a sign of weakness to ask for prayer. Although I do recall a time when I publicly asked for special prayer, and a well-meaning friend, basically said to me, “What’s the matter? Can’t you handle the job?” A very similar Pauline salutation from also in Romans 15:30; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1. It is clearly a summons to the readers to intercession on behalf of the author.
Paul wasn’t afraid to ask for prayer and neither should we!
When I first heard C. Peter Wagner’s challenge at a K-Church training conference for leaders, I flew home from California in time to sketch out a message on why pastors need intercession:
(1) PASTORS ARE BEAT UP; spiritually, emotionally and sometimes physically; but are reluctant to ask for help, and very vulnerable to Satan’s attack. He knows we are vulnerable, and he attacks us at our weakest point.
(2) PASTORS HAVE MORE RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
(3) PASTORS ARE MORE SUBJECT TO TEMPTATION; and this statement: “The higher up you go on the ladder of Christian leadership, the higher you go on Satan’s hit list.”
(4) PASTORS ARE MORE TARGETED BY SPIRITUAL WARFARE; Christians may be the target, but pastors are the bull’s eye.
(5) BY THE VERY NATURE OF THEIR MINISTRY THEY HAVE MORE INFLUENCE ON OTHERS.
(6) PASTORS HAVE MORE VISIBILITY; they’re upfront a lot; constantly subject to gossip and criticism; closely observed.
We need supernaturalhelp to handle ministry!
We need SUPERNATURAL HELP to handle these realities. This is why the Apostle Paul was not afraid to ask for prayer. I asked for intercessors and God gave me 46. And I have mobilized prayer partners ever since; yes, even as I climbed higher on the leadership ladder. My first challenger for prayer partners gave me over 900. And my last such challenge gave me over 1600.
Do you ask for supernatural assistance? If not, why not?
Ministry cannot be doneby human effort alone!
We need God to work in our work; to multiply the effectiveness of our hands. We need Him to send angels. We need the holy anointing with Holy Spirit power to proclaim the Gospel. To see signs and wonders in this our day. To heal the sick. Raise the dead and dying. We need God to do miracles that even amaze us all.
SUPERNATURAL POWER enables us to counter the darkness. God gives wisdom and discernment to make us “wise as serpents and as harmless as doves!” We need God to give us words of knowledge and understanding to provide adequate warnings for encroaching warfare against our people. We can have no confidence in the flesh, but absolute assurance that God’s hand works with us.
There is absolutely noshame in asking for prayer!
It is not an admission of weakness, even though some may think it reveals that the leader is having difficulties and stress he cannot cope with. “What’s happening to you that you need prayer?”
Intercession does nothing but improve your ministry. You’ll be a better preacher/leader when you have prayer partners interceding for you. And we had a better district when intercessors prayed for pastors and their families on my district. It also seemed to help church growth.
I have been to Haiti 14 times now in my lifetime, 13 times following the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. I meet these kinds of people every time. Their needs scream loudly and prompt radical generosity. They never ask us to give more than they need. The need does it every time. And many times God supplies those needs through the generosity of faithful fellow believers like the Philippians (4:14) who Paul commended, saying, “It was good of you to share in my troubles.” I hope that I and my family and friends have been/are Philippians to the people of Haiti. We are certainly trying to be.
It’s an amazing thing to bethe answer to someone’sprayers!
It is difficult to live in the midst of affluence and not be mindful of fellow believers living in a world of hurt and squalor. It is an amazing thing to be prompted by the Spirit of God to respond with radical generosity to known needs and difficulties. Yes, we can do all things (be content and radically generous) through Christ who gives us SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH!
Is the Lord’s supernatural power operating in and through you?
How strong are we? How much of the Lord’s power is truly operating in and through us? “…Francis Chan said, “When believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is SUPERNATURAL.”
“There is never a time when prayer is inappropriate.”
Especially if we want to UNLEASH THE SUPERNATURAL in our lives and ministries. Prayer is the key to SUPERNATURAL SUCCESS in any Kingdom work. Any church that will diligently seek His face and pray, may expect God to hear and answer its prayers and unleash His supernatural power in their midst!
Nothing can be substitutedfor prayer and fasting!
To put it differently, God wants to pour out supernatural blessings in our lives (and churches), but they (may) never be realized if we are not willing to seek Him in prayer and fasting. Preaching and teaching aren’t the heart of our activities. We don’t just pray to gain strength to do ministry. We have it backwards. PRAYER IS OUR MINISTRY!”
A “Go ye” gospel can never be stuffed into our “Come to” programs! And so, if we’re depending on the pastor to produce the growth we want, think again! The best thing you could do is ramp up the prayer asking God for SUPERNATURAL SUCCESS!
Do you believes that prayer releases God’s P.O.W.E.R.?
“And we are to let Him know our needs and the needs of others and pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). How fervently would you pray if you believed prayer unleashed the power of God in a way nothing else can?
Be that as it may, “Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things He has for us… Indeed, prayer is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray. We have to” (Timothy Keller, Prayer)!
Pray for empowerment for ourselves, our families and for your church:
P—A PURE HEART WITH PURE MOTIVES. Perfect synergy (give & take) with God. In 1 Timothy 2:8 Paul desires, “… That men would pray in every place, lifting their [holy and innocent] hands in PURITY without rage [without being angry one with another] and without scheming.”
O—for the OMNIPOTENT POWER OF GOD, power beyond ourselves. Isn’t it about time you tapped into that the power of God?
W—WORK IN OUR WORKING, Heavenly Father. You’ll be far more effective in your work if you tap into the power available to you.
E—ENABLE US TO DO WHAT NO HUMAN CAN DO, give us supernatural endowments of grace for the gifts and abilities You have given us; enrich our prayer lives. Maybe your prayer life needs to be transformed.
R—REVEAL YOUR AWESOME POWER. In our worship… rally our troops… roll back the powers of darkness… Raise up a standard against our Enemy… Reach the lost…light every unlit candle representing prodigals and lost family members and friends! Ready us to be Your instruments. Yes, Lord, work in our working. Without You, we can do nothing. With You, all things are possible!
Equally important, “Often power in prayer is lacking because there is little PASSION IN PRAYER. It isn’t that we persuade God by emotional displays, but God wants us to care deeply about the things He cares deeply about. The prophet Isaiah spoke with sorrow about the lack of this in Israel: And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You (Isaiah 64:7).
“Take hold of God!”
Moreover, David stirred himself up to take hold of God.” He prayed that God would “Hear (answer) him when he called.” There was passion in David’s cry. He didn’t want to just cast up words toward heaven. He needed God’s attention to his present problem. 2 Chronicles 15:15 — “…When they enthusiastically sought God, he was found by them, and the Lord gave them peace on every side.” [David Guzik, Enduring Word on Psalm 4:1]. So stir yourself up to take hold of God.
The key to unleashing supernatural power in your life is touching the heart of God in the attitude and spirit of prayer. Don’t let your attitude lock you out of prayer.
