Week # 5
SUBJECT: "Authority over Satan" (Overcome Fear and Doubt)
Authority to heal:
Jesus said to, "Heal the sick"! Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." I think it's interesting how Jesus didn't tell us to pray and ask God to heal the sick, He told US to heal the sick! Mark 16:17-18 makes it clear that all believers have the authority to lay hands on people and heal them!
I have never seen where Jesus prayed, "Father, please heal this person!" Instead, we see that Jesus healed people with His spoken Word! In John 5:8, Jesus told the man to, "...Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."
The early church healed people in this same manner. In Acts 3:6, "...Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have given thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
Notice in Luke 9:1 that He not only gave His disciples authority over all devils, but also to cure diseases: "Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases."
Authority is exercised when there is a RIGHT to exercise it. They weren't praying and asking God to heal people, they had the authority to heal, and they were exercising it with a spoken word, just as Jesus did!
I want to clarify that I'm not saying that prayer can't heal people... because it can (James 5:14-15)... I'm just saying that we are taught to heal the sick using the authority that Jesus gave us! I have seen and heard of many healings that took place through prayer, so I'm not saying not to pray, or that prayer doesn't work. I'm simply saying that we have authority over sickness, and therefore we can exercise our authority to bring about healing in another person's life!
I also think it's interesting how Mark 16:17-18 tells us that healing can come through the laying on of hands: "And these signs shall follow them that believe... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." The laying on of hands can encourage the transferring of power from us into the person and heal them, just like the woman who felt power flow from Jesus when she touched the hem of His garment (Mark 5:30)! Jesus said that those who believe will have the Holy Ghost flowing out of their innermost being (John 7:38-39), and even Peter's shadow healed people (Acts 5:15)!
In Mark 5:25-34, the woman with the issue of blood heard the report about Jesus, while doctors could not heal her; she believed and touched Jesus' garment and was healed. In 2 Chronicles 16:12-13, it speaks about King Asa who only sought help from the doctors and never from the Lord; his sickness got worse and then he died. Therefore, trust the Lord for your healing because nothing is too hard for Him.
God placed doctors here to help us and we should go to the doctors to find out what's going on with our body. Despite what the doctor says, you can believe the report of the Lord and the word of God for your healing. Know that it is God's will for you to be healed for your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost not the temple of sickness. Proverbs 4:22 says that God's word is "health to all your flesh," and it works for those who find it. Medicine should be taken according to the doctor's instructions; if he says take two tablets three times a day for one week; you should do exactly as he advised. You believe it works even when you still feel pain, now that's what the doctor's instruction is.
Now let's see what God is saying or is instructing you to do. Take these verses as often as possible, meditate on them day and night, if the condition gets worst double the dose; do not believe the devil's report. The devil always questions the word of God. In Romans 8:2 it says, "The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death." In Philippians 1:21-26, Paul did not know what to choose but he ultimately chose to remain living. We have authority; God has given it to us, use it. "Jesus has given us authority over the power of the enemy and nothing shall in anyway harm us (Luke 10:17-19)."
Jesus is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; Jesus has given us the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18-19). We have authority. In the book of Acts 19:16-18, we see that the sons of Sceva had no authority to use the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus as long as you have the authority to use it. John 14:12-14 tells us that believers will do the works that Jesus did, even greater works because Jesus is now with the Father. Job 22:28 states that, "You shall decree a thing and it shall be established". So, decree and declare that no weapon formed against you or your family in any way shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Lord. Amen
Let God be true and every man a liar. Whose report shall you believe? I shall believe the report of the Lord.
PRAYER
Lord, I worship You today for Who You are. Thank You Lord for loving me and for being here for me. Thank You for giving us the three witnesses concerning Your healing for Your people in Jesus' name. Father God, I shall believe Your report. I worship You! I worship You! I worship You! I worship You! LORD GOD, I worship You! Thank You for healing our bodies, Lord. AMEN!
CONFESSION:
"I will" is the strongest assertion that can be made in the English language. God is speaking to me now saying, "I will take sickness away from the midst of thee." God is watching over this Word, performing it in me now. He is taking sickness away from the midst of me. Good-bye, sickness! The Lord is taking you away from the midst of me. Thank You, Father, for taking sickness away from me. I thank You for doing what You said. The Lord is taking away from me all sickness. His Word contains the ability to do what it says. His Word will not return void but will accomplish what it was sent to do. The Lord is taking away from me all sickness, every trace of weakness and deficiency. Sickness is going out of me now. Thank You, Father, for taking away from me all sickness like You said.
Read John 5:1-9:
"1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath."
QUESTIONS:
1). How did Jesus heal people?
2). What is authority?
3). What authority did Jesus give to His disciples?
4). Explain the Name of Jesus.
5). Read Mark 16:17-18
6). Why do you suppose today we are not healing as Jesus did in bible days? Explain.
7). Read 2 Chronicles 16:12-13
8). Explain the difference between doctors and Jesus.
9). Jesus said, "you shall decree a thing and it shall be _______"
10). Read Isaiah 54:17
11). Read your confession for this week.
12). Have you song the theme song?
True/False:
1). Jesus told us to pray to the mountain and it shall be removed ____
2). Speaking to the mountain of sickness shall be removed according to our faith ___.
3). The church has authority to speak healing into existence ___.
4). Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
5). The letter L in the word world is the LORD in the middle of the world ___.
Reading Assignment: Sunday-Saturday Matthew and Luke
THEME SONG: God's Life, Nature, and Ability
I've got the life of God in me
I've got the life of God in me
I've got His life His nature and His ability
I've got the life of God in me