May 11, 2013–The Perilous Path to Motherhood

c-section“If that were my wife, sir, I would have her in surgery right now and get that baby out of there as soon as possible.”

Those chilling words were followed by a flurry of frenetic activity. The on-call surgeon was paged. Nurses were summoned from their coffee break. Permission forms signed.

The anxious young mother was wheeled into the operating room with her nervous husband in tow.

It was a totally unexpected turn of events for the couple who had come in twelve hours earlier when her contractions were too close for comfort.

The labour had been proceeding quite smoothly until the intern decided she would speed up the process by breaking the water before heading home from the very last shift of her internship.

Everything started to go downhill from that point. The dilated cervix started to contract. The labour started to slow down.

Thankfully, since she had been a gestational diabetic, the mother was wearing a monitor. Nurses had offered her the option of having it removed after the first few hours. She had politely declined.

It turned out to be a divinely inspired decision. Without the monitor, no one would have noticed that the baby’s heart beat had been dropping steadily.

As it slowed down to 30 beats per minute, the attending ObGyn looked the father of the child in the eye and uttered the aforementioned words.

Doctors were not sure what was responsible for the low heart beat. Best guess? The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.

Within a matter of minutes, the C-section was in full swing. The nervous father took the best course of action that he probably could under the circumstances. He prayed fervently. And waited impatiently.

Pretty soon, he was treated to the sight of a baby boy being extricated from the womb. When he heard the baby’s cry, he too sobbed as hot tears of joy spelled relief for his tense nerves.

The attending pediatrician who checked out the baby thought he looked a bit blue. The baby’s colour turned healthy shortly after the doctor held an oxygen mask under his nostrils for a few minutes. And all was well with the world.

Meanwhile the tired mother was resting comfortably under the influence of the anaesthetic, totally oblivious to all the commotion.

On this eve of Mother’s Day 2013, we celebrate every woman for whom child birth did not proceed the way it was depicted in the prenatal class videos.

We tip our hats to every mother who did not experience the joy of seeing her newborn at the moment of birth.

We bless every woman who underwent the pain of surgery and the discomfort of post-partum recovery so that her child would gain healthy entry into this world.

We salute every mother who still wears the scar of a C-section as a proud badge of honour.

We praise our Father in heaven for being there for the Sam family at the Regina General Hospital on May 11, 1990 as Sulojana took the perilous path to motherhood.

We thank Dr. Bastien for his forthrightness, Dr. Cardoso for his surgical prowess, Dr. Gunawardene for the pediatric assessment and the masked crew for their able assistance.

Happy 23rd birthday, Sathiya Sam! Happy Mother’s Day, Sulojana Sam!

May 10, 2013–The Quickest way through a Traffic Jam…

traffic jamDarren Canning has been ministering at Forks Road East United Church for the past two days. It’s been a Holy Ghost blast!

Yesterday morning, he and I went to a gathering of Revival Leaders at Lakemount Worship Centre in Grimsby. On our way back, we got caught in a horrendous traffic jam.

Sadly, the reason for the slowdown was a serious accident that resulted in the loss of two precious lives.

We wanted to get off the highway and take a faster side road to get to our house. But where do we get off?

I’m from the area. Darren’s not. So the lot fell on me to make the decision. I picked Exit 55, Jordan Road.

For a few minutes, it looked as though we had made the right choice…until we realized that a number of other drivers had the same idea! Welcome to Traffic Jam #2!

“Fear not, dear Darren, I know this area. I know another road we can take. It will be a slightly longer route, but it will be a lot faster.”

Sure enough, we sped through the virtually empty street for a few minutes, but soon had to contend with another convoy of cars that had taken the same route and were now responsible for creating Traffic Jam #3.

I must admit that I was very impressed by Darren’s attitude through all this meandering madness my misguided directions.

He was very calm, even though Mother Nature kept calling and he was doing his utmost to give her a busy signal.

Finally, we, correction, Darren made the decision not to take any more detours. We would simply stick it out on the route we were taking right now, no matter how long it took us to get home.

We finally made it home nearly two hours after leaving Grimsby—a drive which under normal circumstances would have taken no more than 25 minutes.

At last night’s meeting, Darren recalled this incident with the dramatic flair of a raconteur extraordinaire, and then remarked:

“The quickest way through a traffic jam is to stay in it.”

As he pointed out, the real issue was not external–whether we could find a fast alternate route or not.

The critical factor was actually internal—whether we would have the peace inside of us to stick to Traffic Jam Numero Uno and eventually make it back home.

As mentioned earlier, Darren clearly had such peace inside. That is why he did not get rattled by the delay or the detours.

It reminded me of Jesus sleeping in the boat while the storm was tossing the boat and wreaking havoc. The disciples come to him and say: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus’ response is to simply get up, rebuke the wind and command the sea: “Peace! Be still!”

The reason he could sleep through the storm was because he had a deep abiding peace inside of him. All he had to do was release that peace to the sea. Calm restored. Case closed!

How would you handle an unexpected slowdown on your road to your destiny? Would you focus on the external and chase the fastest side routes?

Or would your internal peace help you to keep going, knowing that the quickest way through a traffic jam is to stay in it?.  

May 09, 2013–Expecting Signs, Wonders & Miracles

Signs wonders and miraclesFor a very long time in my life, I did not really see a need for signs, wonders and miracles. After all, giving your life to Jesus and continuing to trust God was all that really mattered! At least, that was my reasoning.

Yes, it was nice to see some miracles once in a while… no problem there! But, I did not expect them to happen on a regular basis.

All of that changed in a 3 month stretch between November 2005 and January 2006, beginning with a pastors’ meeting in Burlington where I met Steve Long, Senior Pastor of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (now Catch the Fire Toronto).

Pastor Steve showed us from Scriptures how Jesus lived his life on earth exactly as we do, in every way a complete human being. He gave up “equality with God” (Philippians 2:5-8), stayed in intimate communion with the Father and relied totally on the Holy Spirit—just as we do.

He went on to say that if we live the way Jesus did, then we too MUST expect signs, wonders and miracles to happen in our lives. Wow! That was quite a revelation for me!

While I was still trying to process all of this, we started praying for one another. Right in front of my eyes, a pastor’s wife was healed of horrific back pain which had kept her captive for many years.

I began to realize the truth of what the apostle Peter said in Acts 10:38 about “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him.”

Two months later, at a Pastors and Leaders Conference in Toronto I witnessed many more signs, wonders and miracles. Verses that I had glossed over before had new meaning for me now:
“These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17-18)

I also began to realize now why Jesus did not simply encourage his disciples to preach, but also to demonstrate the kingdom. “Proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” (Matthew 10:7-8)

I was reminded of verses like this: “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20)

Friends, the first and foremost reason we need to see signs, wonders and miracles is that by daring to step out in this arena, we are being obedient to our Lord and giving Him a chance to prove that His promises are true!

Isn’t that what happened to the apostles? “The Lord…confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.” (Acts 14:3)

That is exactly what happened when I came back from the Conference and started to expect signs, wonders and miracles to happen in our church.

A dear sister who had been living with acid reflux for 38 years, yes, 38 years, was healed instantly the first time I ever stepped out in faith…praise God!

Since then, I have been privileged to see the Lord fulfill His promise by relieving hundreds of people from all sorts of pain and healing them of every imaginable condition, even HIV/AIDS!

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).

As you continue to expect signs, wonders and miracles, you too will experience the faithfulness of the Lord over and over again. Will you?

May 08, 2013–The Narrowing before the Broadening

lane closedHe brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. (2 Samuel 22:20)

Annoying would be a mild word to describe what I have been experiencing over the past few days of driving from home in St. Catharines to Wainfleet, where the churches I pastor are located.

Highway 406, the road which takes me more than half way toward my destination has been under construction lately.

At a certain point, two lanes are reduced to one. Depending on what time of day one is driving, this could translate into a short slowdown or a lengthy delay.

Either way it is an inconvenience. And it is not going to go away anytime soon.

You see, Hwy 406 was two lanes only up to a certain point. Now crews are working away to widen it to two lanes all the way.

So, we know that when all the work is completed, it will make the trip a lot faster than it is right now.

But, for now, we have no choice but to put up with the delays.

The highway of life on which we travel often takes us through these times of narrowing lanes, doesn’t it?

The narrowing could be a restriction brought about by changes in our health, work, business, finances, relationship, family, church, faith…(please feel free to add to the list!).

It puts a dent in our plans. We are delayed unexpectedly. And it can be very frustrating.

The enemy of our souls makes us feel as though we were hemmed in and slowed down forever.

Ministers such as Darren Canning and I who minister prophetically are often asked questions such as these by those who seek ministry:

“Why am I not advancing into my destiny as fast as I should? Why have the promises God made not come to pass yet? What is the reason for the delay?”

Of course, there is no pat answer to any of these questions. Sometimes the Lord tells us something. Sometimes He is silent.

In my own life though, I can think of several times when the highway narrowed from two lanes to one. It was as though I could not make progress even if I wanted to, because someone else was dictating how fast I could go. I could not simply speed by as I would had there been an extra lane.

Looking back, I now realize that there was a reason God wanted me to slow down, to get a more narrow focus on life, to put up with the extra stress.

He had to prepare me for the next phase which took me to life in two or more lanes once again.

But before He could take me to a “broad place”, He had to make me go through a “narrow space.”

He wanted me to learn what it means to depend more on Him for provision. He needed me to make more time to draw closer to Him and feel His heartbeat. He forced me to work on strengthening our marriage.

When David says in Psalm 23: “He makes me lie down in green pastures”, I am struck by the expression “makes me lie down.” It is as though David were saying that voluntarily we would not lie down and rest, so the Good Shepherd makes us lie down!

Can you relate? Perhaps you too are finding yourself impatiently enduring life in the lone lane…involuntarily!

Take heart!

God’s desire is to take you to a broad place. You may simply be experiencing the narrowing before the broadening.

May 07, 2013–Why we need Adversaries

catfish“But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (I Corinthians 16:8-9)

It is plain to see from the gospels that Jesus encountered opposition wherever He ministered. Here are a couple of instances.

•    Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matthew 12:10)
•    Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying…“What do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:15, 17)

It is equally plain to see that such challenges brought out the best in Jesus. For example, the latter exchange resulted in him coming up with this memorable saying: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)

On the one hand, Jesus was able to reach out to many different people groups during his earthly ministry. Yet, even as those doors opened, in walked adversaries through the very same doors!

Ditto for the apostle Paul!

Could this be another example of the saying from Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpens iron”, which was part of the DWOD for April 15.

There is a great illustration of the need for adversaries that comes to us from marine life.

At the turn of the century cod fish were in much demand on the east coast. But there was a problem in getting the fish across the country while it was still fresh. Freezing the fish and shipping it by rail was fast, but when the thawed fish was cooked, the cod turned out to be very mushy and lacked flavor.

Someone came up with the idea of turning rail cars into giant saltwater aquariums and shipping the cod live. When the cod fish arrived they were still alive, but when they were prepared they were still mushy and tasteless.

Finally, someone discovered that the natural enemy of the cod was the catfish and started to place a few catfish in with the cod in those aquariums. Those catfish chased the cod fish all the way across the country. This time when they were prepared they were flaky and had the same flavour as they did when they were caught fresh. You see the catfish kept the cod from becoming stale. Indeed, they kept the cod fresh.

Bill Yount, a seasoned man of God, puts it this way in his book, I Heard Heaven Proclaim: “The Lord uses iron to sharpen iron, stones to smooth stones and people to grind people…the grinding we receive from other people sharpens us and our gifts…no wonder God says to love even our enemies, for He often uses them to shape us and drive us closer to Him.”

Now you know why we need adversaries on the road to our destiny!

May 06, 2013–New Thoughts on an Ancient Prayer

The Lord's PrayerThis, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

When I was a boy I grew up in Newfoundland, where the school systems that I was a part of were Christian in origin.  Every morning we would meet in the home room and a part of our tradition was to recite the Lord’s prayer.

This prayer was instilled inside of us so that we remembered it word for word.

I have read books on this prayer and I have heard many preachers preach on this prayer, so I guess you can say that I have become a student of this prayer.  I think one thing we need to understand is that this prayer is both simple and very deep at the same time.

Even though this prayer has been in my heart for 35 years or more, there are times that I look at it and something very fresh bursts in front of my eyes.

About a year ago as I was reading it I became very aware that a part of God’s plan for our lives is to be sustained by Him alone.  Every day as we come into agreement with the words of this 10 line prayer we believe for our provision for that day.

Many people want to win the lottery so that they will never have to worry about money again, but winning the lottery is no assurance that you will not lack.  Lack is a way of the world and is not in God.  In God in Christ I shall not want ever again (Psalm 23).

And so it becomes biblical to pray that God will provide our daily sustenance, which to me includes everything you need to sustain your home.

Just in the last two months I read this prayer again and something new popped out once more.  I was getting upset with God a little because it seemed evil was having its way with my family when I went on ministry trips.  Three times in a row one of my sons ended up in hospital when I was away.

I felt that this was unjust.  Many told me to pray a daily covering to be protected from evil, but I just couldn’t process in my heart or mind why such a prayer was necessary.  And then I read this prayer again.

It says, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  And there I had my answer right in my face.  Jesus taught us to pray that we would be protected from temptation and evil.  In that moment I became aware that Jesus intended us to pray very often that we should be protected from the devil and his minions.

This new thought brought a new strength to my spirit for war. Every time I considered my family while I was away, I prayed for their protection.  And a new faith rose up inside of me that no matter what came, God would protect them and bless them.

I ask the Lord today to strengthen you and to give you peace in the face of all your trials, whether they be money problems or attacks while you sleep from the devil.

Know this that as you continue in your prayers God is faithful and will provide a way where there seems to be no way.  This is biblical. It is also my testimony.

May it be yours as well.

 

May 05, 2013–Where are you on God’s Map?

GPSThe GPS (Global Positioning System) has become such an indispensable part of our lives these days that we wonder how we ever managed to get from one place to another without one all these years!

Last week, as Sulojana and I travelled late at night to a town we’d never been to before, I was so grateful for the GPS that provided me with directions there and back.

My appreciation was especially heartfelt after I made one wrong turn and had to rely entirely on the good graces of the GPS lady to get us back on the beaten path.

However, there is one thing about relying on a GPS that bothers me.

At any given time, you have no idea where you are as you would with an old-fashioned map or atlas.

Yes, the GPS tells you how far you are from your destination, how much time it would take you to get there, etc. But you don’t know how close you are to the next town, where you are with respect to a landmark, what else is in the vicinity, etc.

Of course, you could access all that information if you were able to search for it on the GPS.  But that is time-consuming.

In comparison, one glance at a map tells you all you need to know your position.  Now you can follow directions with a better perspective than before.

As I was reflecting upon this, the Lord pointed out how we too can travel on the road to our destiny in a similar way. Let me explain.

We can make our Christian life a matter of following directions given to us by another person without really knowing our position in Christ.

For example, we can develop a dependence upon others to tell us what to do next, where to go, where to turn, etc.  We could rely on a mentor, an author or a pastor or go about receiving one prophetic word after another for direction.

And, yes, following directions provided by others is nothing to sneeze at. It can indeed be a lifesaver and keep you on track.

The danger in relying on others all the time though is that we can lose the perspective that comes from knowing our position in Christ.

This perspective is something that only God can reveal to us, so that we know where we are in His plan at any given time.

Without this perspective, we will still get somewhere, but there is something we miss in the process.

It is something that we need to seek on our own. It is something that comes out of a deep, abiding relationship with our Father in heaven. It is something that the Holy Spirit reveals to us when we fix our eyes on Jesus.

This is why we stress taking the time to seek God to show us where we are on His map. Once we have that perspective, then following directions becomes more meaningful.

Do you know where you are on God’s map? Do you seek Him for this perspective on a regular basis? Please share your responses with the rest of your DWOD family.

May 04, 2013–Confess To Each Other?

confess to each other30 plus years ago, at a chapel service at Queen’s Theological College in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, one of the students read the following passage out aloud as the Scripture reading for the day.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:14-16)

Then she turned to us and said something like: “Well, friends, you heard what James said about healing. I am sure that everyone of us here needs healing in one aspect of our life or another—physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, right?”

Pause. Pregnant Pause.

She continued: “So, right now, I encourage you all to pair up and confess your sins to each other.”

If you thought the pregnant pause caused a hush to come over the gathered community, the silence that followed this call to action was deafening.

The looks on the worshippers’ faces were nothing short of bewildering. “Awkward” does not come close to describing what we were experiencing.

Of course, we were seminary students who wanted to honour the word of the Lord. And, yes, we all had one healing need or another. Even if we couldn’t identify one at that moment, we could be part of the process of healing for another. It made sense.

But, did we have to confess…like…right now? Under the watchful eyes of our worship leader and one another?

So, after what seemed like eternity, which was in reality, a few moments, there was the quiet shuffling of feet followed by quieter conversations.

To be perfectly honest, I do not remember what I or my prayer partner confessed. But, I didn’t have to. I got the message. We all got the message.

Most of us were quite familiar with the part about anointing with oil…but not the part about confessing.

It was only recently that I have come to recognize the significance of this crucial step.

Over the past two years, Sulojana and I have been blessed by “inner healing” ministry through two different models—Restoring the Foundations & Sozo—where prayer ministers helped us work with Holy Spirit as He revealed and healed wounds that had been inflicted upon our hearts.

Frankly, we have been amazed at the incredible freedom that has come to us as a result of these times of ministry.

Friends have often asked why we couldn’t have done this on our own—just between us and Holy Spirit. We have certainly done that in times past, but for some reason, the results never matched what we experienced at the end of these sessions.

Could it be because we were obeying the command of the Lord in James 5:16 to “confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so we may be healed?”

Perhaps corporate worship was not the most conducive setting for this to happen, but our worship leader at Queen’s did indeed hit the nail on the head, methinks.

No wonder that Alcoholics Anonymous includes the Fifth Step in which you simply confess every sin you have ever committed to another person in confidence.

How about you? Have you experienced the healing that comes from confessing your sins to another?

Please share your responses with the rest of your DWOD family

May 03, 2013–The Certainty of Hope

Darren Canning sepiaBecause God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:17-20)

I have read the above scripture dozens of times but as I read it today, a light of clarity began to burn in my heart. And the witness of the truth of the meaning of the verse came alive within me.

When I came to Christ 8.5 years ago, I began to understand that I was now a very blessed and highly favoured man.  My life situation did not warrant me thinking this way of myself.  In fact, before Christ, every curse that you can imagine came upon my life, and in that moment of this revelation my life was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt.

No power or strength of my own would have allowed me to overcome the obstacles that I faced in my life, but the power of Jesus inside of me, inside of the veil of my heart began to work a new understanding of the blessing of Abraham upon my life because of His finished work.

Psalm 24 says, “Swing wide, you heavenly gates, that the King of Glory might come in.  Who is this King of Glory? He is the Lord strong and mighty.”

I remember having a vision of this gate and came to understand that when this came open it was because I gave my heart to Christ.  As I entered into relationship with Christ, the door between who I was and what I would become swung wide open and I knew that every promise of God was mine because of Jesus.  Jesus had walked through that gate and into my heart in the moment of my salvation.  He now dwelled by the Holy Spirit deep within me.

The thought burned inside of me with such certainty that I knew that I knew in that moment that my life would experience the overlapping waves of blessing.

As I read the verse above I see that the writer of Hebrews also experienced this certainty in his heart.  He describes the sure certainty of the hope that came alive in his heart.  He describes the hope coming alive beyond the veil, inside of him and as a sure certainty that he would inherit the promises of God for his life.

The Bible is filled with the promises of God and Holy Spirit also speaks these promises into us through the breath of angels and prophets.  As we grasp that inner witness of the promises, we begin to know that we know that these things will come to pass.

Perhaps you have encountered a word of promise deep within your heart.  You know the promises of God because they are rooted within you.  I decree with all certainty that if that word be from God then it shall surely come to pass over you.

Has God spoken a word about your future, about provision, about the salvation of a loved one, or healing for you?  Then know this–that word will come to pass.

Moreover, if you be in Christ, in God the hope of a better tomorrow awaits you on earth.  You shall not lack any good thing, and what of the great eternity that rests just over the hill top.  The hope of God that burns in our hearts like a flame in our inner man sustains us through every tribulation and trial.

You know what I am talking about because you have walked with him and talked with him along life’s narrow way. Amen?

May 02, 2013–Do you understand Your Authority?

army stripes“All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)”–Matthew 28:18-20

I just woke up from a dream I had in the middle of the night.  I saw the Captain of the Lord’s army. He was a man of great authority and experience.  He understood his position in the army of God and knew how to use his authority.

But what also stood out to me is how he looked down on me from a very high place in the spirit.  As he spoke to me he spoke as one with great authority and he commanded me to begin to understand my own authority as a commander in the Lord’s army.

When I spoke to him I didn’t speak to him as a soldier.  I was speaking to him as someone who only understood the army in a partial way.  I saw the four stripes on his shoulder and I said, “You are a Captain, aren’t you?”

He looked at me and in so many words said, “You are a Commander in the Lord’s army.  It is given to you to understand the ranks of his army.  You shouldn’t have to ask me what my rank is; you should just know.”

And certainly a man of war does not need to ask his fellow officer what his rank is.  It would be a disgrace to an officer for a soldier not to understand the ranks in the army. Men of war understand the authorities that come with each rank. They understand their own rank and their own authority and it should be the same in the Lord’s army.

A person in the Lord’s army has been given authority to heal the sick and so we should be praying for the sick whenever they come near us.  Our faith should be such that as we pray we believe that this person will be healed.  We don’t waver in unbelief.  And if our faith is weak, then we ask God to strengthen our faith.

When a person who is demonized comes near us we should not fear but rejoice!  Our faith should be such that we know that because they are near us, they will be set free by the power of Jesus’ name flowing through our lips.

It is the name of Jesus that brings us authority (Luke 10:17, Mark 16:17 and Acts 3:6). When we understand the power that is in that name we will not fear no matter what comes our way.  Yes, even death might raise its head against us but we will not shirk in the face of it. We will command it to leave in the mighty name of Jesus and it will leave, not because of any strength of our own, but simply because we understand the power in the name.

And when we preach the unadulterated word of God that He gives us, signs and wonders will follow, because this is the word of God.  When you go into all the world and preach, God is faithful and will not let you preach without following it up with power, with healing, with deliverance, and with resurrection.

All you need do is go and preach.  All you need do is pray.  And as you believe in the name of Jesus, then authority will follow your word because you are a person of rank and authority.  He will send the armies of heaven to you to back up his word.

I pray that in this hour of the Rising of the Lord’s army that you will come into a right understanding of your authority in Christ.  I pray that you will also have a visitation from the Lord or from an angel.  I pray that a mighty one will speak into your ear so that you come to understand the power that lies dormant in your heart in Christ.  And I further pray that you will begin to operate with that authority.