Many Christians are looking for an experience with God, but at the same time, they are not spending much time getting to know Him. They want to see the power of God in a service. But outside of church, there is no actual relationship. There is nothing wrong with wanting the Holy Ghost to move. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and divine healing. The problem comes when people become more interested in what happens in a meeting than in their own walk with the Lord.
A person can attend a service where the power of God is manifested and still go home without any change in their life. Spiritual growth requires spending time in the Word and doing what it says. Our fellowship with the Lord should continue when the service is over.
Years ago the Lord spoke to me and told me some things I think will help us today. During this experience, I understood that many have not followed what the Lord has told them to do. The church was about twenty-five years behind where it should be spiritually. Disobedience has hindered what the Lord wanted to accomplish.
Some people have become discouraged by things done in church that were called a move of God. Everything that happens in a service is not necessarily the Holy Ghost. We have to judge it by the Word, not by emotions. Getting excited does not tell us whether someone is obeying the Lord.
Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 7:21–23:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
These people pointed to the works they had done in His name. Yet Jesus said, “I never knew you.” He also spoke about doing the will of His Father. We cannot use something that happened through our ministry as an excuse for disobedience in our personal lives.
During the Voice of Healing days, there were great manifestations of God’s power. People who had been carried into meetings were healed. Dad Hagin spoke about the great anointing on Jack Coe’s ministry. A. A. Allen and William Branham also had remarkable things happen in their ministries.
However, there were serious problems in that movement. We ought to learn from them. Being used by God does not remove a minister’s responsibility to live right. The anointing does not give anyone permission to misuse money or refuse correction. A minister still has to obey the Word he preaches.
Dad Hagin told about a warning he received from the Lord concerning Brother Branham. There were things in his ministry that needed to be corrected. Correction isn’t bad. It’s the love of God in action. Refusing correction on the other hand is bad, and can shorten your life. Spiritual gifts operating one’s life do not allow a person to be beyond correction. When the Lord deals with us about something, we need to make the adjustment.
I knew a man in prison named Jimmy Joe Ramsey. He could not read or write. After he was born again, he saw me praying by my bed. Tears were running down his face, and he wanted to know the One I was talking to. Jimmy Joe did not know much about the Bible yet. He wanted to know Jesus. I showed him that he could kneel down and talk to the Lord himself. He began spending time in prayer, sometimes even staying there for around three hours. For months he continued seeking the Lord. Then one day he came down the prison corridor weeping. His face was shining, and he told me that Jesus had appeared to him. This was a man who could not even read his own name. His lack of education had not kept him from coming to the Lord.
That does not mean everyone who spends time in prayer will have the same experience. Jimmy Joe’s reason for praying was that he wanted to know Jesus. We should spend time with the Lord without deciding beforehand how He must respond.
Sometimes we ask God to move, then become upset when He deals with something we wanted to leave alone. The Lord knows what is hindering His church. We must allow Him to correct us when we are wrong. If we do not, it will show up in our lives eventually, much like it did in the Voice of Healing days.
Mark 1:35 says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Jesus took time to be alone in prayer. If Jesus needed to pray, we need to pray. We need to make room for that in our lives. If thirty minutes is where a person can begin, begin there. Put the phone away so it does not interrupt that time. Prayer does not require a special religious voice. Talk to the Lord plainly. Spend time reading the Bible and thinking about what it says. When something in the Word shows that a change is needed, act on it. Allow the Lord to deal with your own life as you fellowship with Him.
Our lives should be built on a relationship, not a church service. When you do that, you’re going to grow up spiritually. You’re going to grow closer to God and you’re going to see your life change in ways you could have never even imagined before. God is with us!
