The Tension And Issue Of Power

This is the Truth Network. There's a fine tension between acknowledging that the power of God is resident in the earth, and that we believe Him for the manifestation of that power and the actual function of His power through in the life of the believer. You know, Jesus said, don't look here or there for the kingdom.

The kingdom is within you. And yes, that means the humility that comes with serving an Almighty God, the Son of God, living in the power of His Holy Spirit. It's that plus the manifestation of His Word. He said, these things and greater will you do because I go to the Father, an obvious and certain, at least in my mind, bequeathing of this power to the individual believer to the extent His Word is stored in the heart to the extent that we know what's possible here. He is a very big God. We can pray very big prayers.

And therefore, our podcast, Running with Horses, devotes this time that we have with you to single out and to put a spotlight on the possibilities. Again, there is a tension between the proper restraint that causes us to align in an orthodox way with being submitted to the Spirit of God, humility, all that comes with that. And at the same time, and here's the tension, at the same time realizing the possibilities, Jesus said, the kingdom is within you. It's within you. And so if I wait for something else to happen or in another tense, if I am waiting for something else to happen while I have a revelation from the Spirit of God and I have His Word stored in my heart, if I'm waiting for something else to happen, it's a good idea.

It is a biblical position to take and totally within the purview of the personal relationship that we have with Him to reach within the Spirit of God stored up on the inside of us to extract, to bring forth the answer that God intends. That's the focus here. That's what we do. I am so glad you're here. Welcome. And you know, we have just finished the series, Make Disciples, actually did six episodes focused Make Disciples, part one, part two, etc, etc.

You can find those where you find your podcast where you're listening right now. So that series is designed to focus the possibilities in making disciples what Jesus really meant in the Great Commission, go ye into all the world, make disciples, teach them to believe, teach them the things that I have taught you, and on and on. So the reality is there.

You see, the reality is there to agree with the possibilities. Jesus taught His disciples, His ministry, and said, these things that I'm doing and greater things you will do. And then He commissioned them to teach this, to teach the possibilities, to teach the reality in my mind, to teach the mandate. It is so incumbent upon the believer to realize what He's really said here and not to shy away. So again, the tension between two views, as it were, two views, it seems the tension is really over the question of power. So we are reluctant to see ourselves that way, but Jesus was not that way.

He did not have the same reluctance about the issue of power that we now have. It may be traditional, it may be a cultural thing, but Matthew 17 is a story here, this is verse 20, where a man whose son was affected severely with seizures, actually paralyzed by them, appealed to Jesus. And we know from the reading here, again in Matthew 17, that a spirit, an evil spirit, was involved.

And as the disciples sought Jesus privately, once Jesus dealt with the spirit, cast it out, healed the man's son of this affliction of seizures, the disciples asked Jesus, why couldn't we deal with this, the way that you dealt with this? And these are Jesus' words, because you have so little faith. Faith is confidence. What do we have faith for? We have faith for many things, but my point is, we also have faith for power. It's so important to advance the kingdom of God in the earth, because the kingdom of God is in us.

It lies within us. We have the ability, we have the power, because Jesus said so, because God set it up that way, not your idea, not my idea, it's his idea. And Mark 12, verse 24, Jesus said, there are two eras in this particular situation. And I don't want to connect these two unfairly, but just to make this point, he said, you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. Right now, that is an issue that we have as believers. If we know the scriptures, we don't seem to know the power of God. And if we know the power of God, we seem to be remiss about the scriptures. And somehow, someway, at some point, we really need to get the two together, because the era comes with erring on either side of that line, not to oversimplify here at all. Jesus said, the problem in the instance of Mark 12, 24, you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. This is why you are in era.

You are in era. And so, if we apply the same principle to the point being made here, that the power of God and the reluctance that we sometimes have to even acknowledge that power, that we have that power, then we experience situations every day. We can't seem to rise to the occasion.

And why is that? Well, the answer is right under our noses. If it were not the fact that our focus, and again, just to be clear, the focus in this podcast is on the supernatural power of God to heal our bodies, to deliver us from situations that are so dark, to bring about the manifestation of the power and the glory of God. That is the focus here. And so, the emphasis today in emphasizing that very thing is the question of power in the life of the believer and the tension that exists trying to balance this thing.

You know, and I get it. We don't want to be extra biblical. We don't want to be assuming to be something we're not.

But listen, hey, let's just assume to be what we are. We are filled with God's Spirit. That means with his Holy Spirit and power, so that tension. Plus, you know, it manifests in the area of prayer. And my question is, and I find myself asking this question more frequently recently than before, does faith really matter on both ends of a prayer? For example, like I think many churches employ prayer lists where the intention is to include those who are, quote, standing in the need of prayer. You know, people within the church, those not necessarily in the church, anyone needing prayer, their names can be placed on the church prayer list so that when the church gathers to pray, that person's need is addressed before the Lord. That's what we think of when we think of a church prayer list. And so we pray from those lists many times, and there needs to be asked the question, what is the outcome?

How is that going? Sometimes the outcome is not reported well. My suspicion is God moves more than we even realize. He answers more than we realize, just not maybe the same way we're thinking.

So that's another point for another time. But for the person who is standing in the need of prayer, is faith being exercised? Is there a faith requirement on the part of the person being prayed for? And we know that the Scripture speaks to the gift of faith and the prayer of faith where that is not the case. The person being prayed for doesn't necessarily need to demonstrate any faith at all, but also in other settings, when a request for prayer is made, when our name is added to, in this case, the list, do we exercise faith? Do we release our faith? Or is it a traditional thing that we do, more of a habit than an expression of our faith?

And I would make the point that it is more habitual and more traditional than it is a point and expression of faith. And why do I say that? Because that's what I see.

That is what I see. So not to take a legal or harsh approach here, but an honest heart desire to answer this question, this original question today about the release of answered prayer, the tension over God's power, Hebrews 11, 6, without faith it's impossible to please God. So is the prayer request pleasing God? Without faith it's impossible to please Him. And then is the prayer being prayed done so with a release of faith and confidence that God's power will manifest?

And my suggestion, my thinking here is rarely, rarely, again, not to be legal or harsh, but some things become so habitual, so by rote, we don't even know, we don't realize we're doing it that way. Our intentions are good, but bottom line, there is an engagement that is possible between the human-spirit connection to the Holy Spirit because of the born-again experience. And I would add the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is also associated with fire and power, that connection with the heart and mind of God creates and releases something different from what we typically see, but which we can see the possibility is there if we will just circle back, take a look at it again, you know, from the bottom up, take a look and see how we have built the structure of corporate prayer. Individual prayer is one thing, corporate prayer is quite another. My experience is corporate prayer can become a manifestation of individual prayer pretty quickly, but the possibility is so much more vast if the corporate body comes together and allows the Spirit of God to weave one thread to pull each individual into the river he is orchestrating so that we join in to one vein and become one with him.

The high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, one with him that we could be one, you know, a boy is that powerful in prayer, in corporate prayer. So does it matter that I ask in faith? Does it matter that you pray for me in faith?

Yes, it matters. The difference can be life and death. The difference can be what we are doing reflects and honors the glory of God. Another point here, we read that in the last days, men will take on a reprobate condition where they depart from the faith, that means away from the faith, from who they once were and begin to believe or disbelieve things once fervently believed. So the reprobate man or woman, the individual, departs from the faith, moves away from the faith, become separate from who they once were and disbelieve things once fervently believed. So the reprobate, we understand, is a sign, I mean, in an intensified way. Well, just to make the point here, there have always been reprobate conditions in the life of the church.

This has always been a possibility. But again, if we're honest, we need to admit things are speeding up. Today is not like last year, the year before, and let me just say, nor will it ever be. If you're waiting for things to go back to normal, the wait is over.

I can just tell you, things will never return to last year's normal, the year before, five years ago. We are on a path now that is leading toward the kingdom of heaven, our ultimate destination. And that path is speeding up, it's accelerating because we're in that prophetic time the Bible speaks of from Genesis to Revelation, it's right there. So we know it's true. Back to what we were saying, the reprobate condition is really magnified now, multiplied now.

We see more and more instances now. At the same time, there's a fine tension, a tension between that force and the religious man who is religious in things concerning his religion, which, by the way, is exhausting. Thank God Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with Almighty God and all that that entails.

Religion drains you, it will drain you. It takes so much energy and produces so little of God's intended results. It's where we rehearse the same prayers over and over. And when we go to a place of prayer, you know, it's like a machine gun kind of spraying bullets, you know, in 180 degrees, like we cover everything because, you know, faith is absent. We're just talking. We're just doing the religious thing. We just get in that mode and we just go.

We don't think. We're just going, going, going rapid fire. I call those rapid fire prayers and rapid fire.

They're so rehearsed. They're so absent a way to really connect and I'm not completely eliminating that that person connects with the Lord. I mean, only the Lord knows that. But I'm talking about the tendency.

On one hand, you've got the reprobate man who we understand what's wrong with that, but what about the religious man rehearsing over and over the same prayers, the same expectations? Nothing's changed recently. We haven't grown. You know, we haven't matured. We haven't seen supernatural outcomes, miracles, signs, and wonders. So we just keep talking about those. We don't experience those, but we keep talking about those. For the religious setting, the outcome pales in comparison to what we hope or what we had hoped for.

Again, so much energy, so little results. There's a tension here. I want to say, separate yourself from both. Be aware that the spirit of the Antichrist will draw you, draw me, draw any of us that he can away from the things of the faith when, in fact, at this time, we should be growing and maturing in the things of the faith, even more so as we see the day approaching, Scripture says. So that on one hand, but neither do we want to be in that rigid, inflexible place. And by the way, younger generations are perplexed by this tendency of those who should be spiritual by now, who are really just entrenched in religion and religious activities.

That is not appealing to a younger generation at all. In that sense, they are wiser, they are more astute, basically saying, well, if your God isn't any bigger than that, I've already got a small God, you know, I'll stay with mine, at least I know my small God. But to bring this generation and succeeding generations to the high bar that Jesus established, high in the sense of the outcome and the possibilities, not that he makes it hard for us. In fact, it's too simple to believe him, to trust in his word, to not err either in the Scriptures or in our acknowledgement of the power of God.

So here's the question. Am I pliable? Am I open to new revelation? Is my heart-mind connection with God open to his vast possibilities? And my answers to those questions and my willingness to receive the power of God to then be dispersed for his purposes based on his intentions, what are my answers to those questions?

And I satisfy and I solve this tension existing between the two extremes. And I say, you know, even so, Lord Jesus, come. And we pray that way. Kingdom of God, remember it's on the inside of you, kingdom of God come, will of God be done.

That is the natural prayer for the person who acknowledges, embraces, endorses, and realizes God's heart for the release of his power in this generation now, today, right this minute, and every day, and next week, and all this year, even more so as we see the day approaching. And we say, come, Lord Jesus, and we fully occupy with his power. So that is our prayer and our honest assessment, our honest assessment to answer these opposing tendencies concerning my life, your life. Where are we really?

What is our honest assessment? That's the question we're asking ourselves as followers, as disciples of his. His power is resident in the life of every believer.

We know that because his word tells us that's the case. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.