Latest / Woodlands Church Academy's Podcast / Empowered To Heal Course- Session 2- Tim Dobson

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Empowered To Heal Course- Session 2- Tim Dobson · Woodlands Church Academy's Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: The uh leaders of the church here, I look after the academy.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is School of the Spirit, one of the five schools uh that we have as part of the academy, uh, particularly looking at how do we excel and keep in step with the Holy Spirit and what he's doing.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: So uh the empowered course uh is is part of that.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: Um as we look at healing, uh I think sometimes it's helpful to worship to focus on the God who brings healing.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: Actually, sometimes it is great to hear some testimonies of what God is doing.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: So, myself and Laura, we're just gonna start with a couple of stories uh that of things that we've seen.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: Um I uh did a physics degree and trained as to be a physics teacher.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: I love the very physical world that we live in.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, and sometimes kind of the supernatural uh is things that maybe maybe science kind of people can struggle with because they just want to see what the cause and effect of what's going on.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Um but healing's been very much part of um my upbringing, my uh family experience.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's been some times where we've seen God do some um uh some simple things, like my younger brother who had varucas and as a six-year-old asked his friends to pray for them and they just literally disappeared overnight.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh, to uh when I was 12 years old, we had a um uh a road traffic accident.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and uh it was before you had to have safety belts, so I was in the front seat, and as we hit this lorry, I kind of went through the windscreen, left my leg behind quite badly broken.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: And my mum locked her arms and legs so that the steering wheel didn't hit her uh internal organs.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh we were both kind of quite badly injured.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: My mum was more seriously injured than myself, and the the kind of bottom part of her leg came up through a leg joint into the top, and and it wasn't just a break, it was it was kind of a shrapnel of bones there.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: And um, so she was in hospital for two uh two months.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh they tried reconstructive surgery, five quite major operations to try and get the uh the joint to work again.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and eventually they had to give up and said, uh, I'm sorry, Mrs.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Dobson, that um uh yeah yeah, you'll be in a wheelchair.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: So you kind of at home she could just hobble around on her one good leg, but if ever she went down, she'd have to be in a wheelchair.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And again, that question, uh God, why do you let bad things happen to good people?
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Is is a question that kind of at that point we did ask God, why?
2:09
SPEAKER_01: Why suffering?
2:09
SPEAKER_01: Why us?
2:10
SPEAKER_01: We're trying to follow you, we're trying to be good Christians, and um, we didn't deserve this.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, but through that situation, God was really kind to us in all kinds of ways.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: But uh one of the most amazing things was uh probably about three uh or so months after the accident, some friends came to visit who uh believed that Jesus uh healed.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: And they said, Do you mind if we prayed for my mum?
2:32
SPEAKER_01: And I was up in bed at the at the at the time.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, but they prayed for her, and as they prayed for her, there's a leg that kind of went down, massive bones out to the side.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: As they prayed, it kind of straightened up.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: And she got up out of the wheelchair and started walking around.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: And um, and when I when I saw her in the morning, I thought, Mum, what are you doing?
2:50
SPEAKER_01: You're not in a wheelchair.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: And as a 12-year-old, to see something so uh amazing happen uh in my study of science, I just I know that there's something beyond, beyond the physical that we can see.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: There's something that's that's supernatural.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Um and and it's great when miracles work.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: My younger brother had um angulosian spontolitis, which was a uh premature arthritic condition.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: Um again, he he kind of at the age of 23, his bones started to calcify and his spine started to curve.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Um by the time he had his first child, his joints were so sore he couldn't even hold uh the baby, newborn child that he had without pain.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: Um again, prayed for healing, prayed for healing, prayed for healing.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: Um until uh and he took medication, he had a hip replacement.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but one day, probably eight years of of praying for healing, and he he was of of this of the kind of the faith that I'm believing that I've healed, I my body's not caught up yet with the fact that I have been healed.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: I said, Martin, you've just had a hip replacement.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: No, I've been healed.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then one day he got a severe kind of diarrhea and vomiting, uh, and he couldn't take his medication down.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: And it went on for quite a few days, and after he kind of got better from the vomiting, he suddenly realized he didn't have pain in his joints anymore.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: So he went to the doctor for some tests, and and again, the angulatus mortilitis had totally gone.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: And you think, ah, that is an amazing, amazing.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: And he's still again upright, walking, holding, carrying, running, swimming.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and so in my family, we've seen things like that that are really amazing.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: But uh kind of against that, we have my dad who was a vicar, he worked all his life serving God wholeheartedly.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: Um my mum particularly was looking forward to retirement.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: He retired at age 65, age 65 and a half, he had a um aortic gandarism and dropped down dead.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: And you think, ah god, that's not part of what we thought you were going to do.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: We've seen you do these healings in our family, and yet for him, it that wasn't.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And my older brother um has got um he's bipolar, and uh, and again, just praying for in and out of um uh of of hospital and being sectioned, and and again praying, God heal him, God, heal him, and again, he's not been healed, and we think, why mum gets out of the wheelchair, my brother's uh arthritic conditions healed and why for my dad it didn't work, and my old brother is kind of um God, and and healing, I suppose, is a complex kind of thing, isn't it?
5:22
SPEAKER_01: And and one of the things over these four weeks that kind of we want to try and encourage our faith to believe that God can do the extraordinary things, but we're faced with the reality that until Jesus returns, uh, we're not gonna see it all the time.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh and that's painful, and that's disappointing, and that's hard, isn't it?
5:38
SPEAKER_01: To because as a scientist, I think I I love an equation.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: This plus this definitely equals this, and it's not like that with healing.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, we have to depend on God.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: So that's a few of my stories.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: Laura, do you want to just say a couple of things that you've seen?
5:52
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Tim.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm Laura, if I haven't met you before, I'm Lee Buddhens Metro in the city centre.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, first couple of stories are more like personal to me.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: I remember um a number of years ago being at Newwine Festival, some of you might have been there yourself, and I was pregnant with my second child, and I would not recommend going camping when you're six months pregnant, but I was there.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I had really, really bad back pain, and I'd suffered with back pain on and off for many years, but it was to the point obviously camping in a field probably wasn't helping it much.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: But I remember just saying to my husband one night I was in so much pain we couldn't go to the main meeting, so we sat and like listened to it on the um however they did it, radio or whatever.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh my husband was like, Oh, I'm just gonna why don't I pray for you?
6:31
SPEAKER_00: And to be honest, my faith was pretty small, but I was in so much pain, I was like, Well, fine.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: And so he prayed, and I didn't really feel like much happened.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: And um, but maybe it felt a little bit better, you know.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you're like someone prays for you, and you think the polite response is to say, Yeah, I feel much better, thank you very much.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: But I was like, because it was my husband, I didn't feel like I had to be kind or nice, so I was like, No, not really.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: So then he prayed, he was quite persistent in prayer.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: He prayed again, and that time I did feel like, oh, I started to move and just try out and walk a bit.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: I thought I was a bit better.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, he prayed three or four times, and by the end of that prayer, I literally ran in a circle.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: I mean, as much as you can at six months pregnant, but it was completely fine, and it was quite remarkable because it was from that sense of like not really being able to get up off a chair or sit down or anything.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: So that was sort of the first story.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, another story, I remember being here for prayer ministry training in the um in the hall, and I remember, and we'll do this a bit later.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: I remember the team were like, we've been praying for words of knowledge for healing.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not familiar with words of knowledge, it's just a way of actually God being able to, I guess, raise our faith and expectation that He knows and loves us and knows about us.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: And weirdly, that day I had um uh my son who is about two, and I suppose I was carrying him awkwardly, but I hadn't had a problem before, but I'd woken up that day with really, really bad pain in my neck, which hadn't been there before, and I and I didn't really think anything of it, but they they came back after the break and they're like praying for words of knowledge, and the word we've got is neck, and I'd already had this slight foreboding that I was going to be up there being prayed for because sometimes God just does that to me.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: And um, I was like, Oh yeah, my neck hurts.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: But what was amazing is not only did God heal my neck, but actually what he went on to do was a lot of deeper inner healing that was actually lots around freedom from anxiety and fear and emotional healing, and it wasn't right in that instance, but I think it raised my faith and expectation for what he could do, and that he was interested in not just the external kind of physical stuff, but the deep stuff that actually no one else would necessarily know or see or be aware of.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: And I remember particularly that day, I'd actually come with a different need that I didn't feel able to share because it was quite personal, and yet it almost made me realize oh, I didn't need to share that because God knew that anyway and was able to break into my life.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the last two I just want to quickly share, um, are more in the marketplace, and these aren't my norm, but I'd love I'd love to see this more.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: And I'm hopefully as I share these, you'd love to see this more too.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: I remember being at a leisure centre one day um in the cafe area, which is my favourite part of a leisure centre, if I'm honest.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: If I had a favourite part, is the cafe.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: And um, I was with my daughter, I'd taken her swimming, and we were sat there and suddenly realized that a guy um who had additional needs, um, who was with his carer, started having a seizure.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: And I was with a friend who was a Christian, and we both looked at each other, and I don't know whether we were having the same thought or not, but basically I thought, I'm a Christian, I'm here, I believe in the power of God.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: This guy's having a seizure.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: They called an ambulance.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: The ledger centre staff was sat at the guy's feet, obviously making sure that he didn't fall off his chair.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: The carer had gone outside to wait for the ambulance, and I thought, well, you know, you have a little wrestle in your spirit.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: I thought, I think I'm meant to pray for him, but also the ledger centre staff are right in front of him.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole crowd of people in the cafe.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: So I just in the end didn't overthink it for the first time in my life.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: And I just went up and said, Um, I'm a Christian, can I just please pray for this guy?
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Because there was um the other staff member there.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: And she looked slightly bemused, but was like, so I just put my hand on his shoulder and I don't really remember what I said, I just know it wasn't very eloquent.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, in the name of Jesus, stop whatever this is and bring in peace.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly he just stopped having a seizure, looked at me, smiled, and asked for his drink.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: And everyone went, oh.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: And I went, oh.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: And at that point, I didn't, it never really happened before, you know, being in that situation.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: So I went back to my friend, we got our stuff, and as we were leaving, the two ambulance crews started coming in.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: The carer came in, they looked at the guy, everyone was looking very confused.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: And I just sort of played it cool and went out because I was like, This is God doing his thing here.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: I didn't, so I don't know what happened after that, but I think it was one of those moments of like needing to realise oh, we're on duty wherever we are, and God can break his kingdom break in wherever we find ourselves.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Our job is just to step out and we can't control the outcome.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: And then last little one, same day, must have been just such a golden day.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: But I was in MS, another favourite place in the cafe, obviously, and um really felt like God's say, I want you to pray for that woman over there.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: And I was a bit of a toddler about it, and I said, I'll pray for that woman if you show me clearly why I should pray for that woman.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't an immediate faith build, yes, of course, Lord.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, but God was very gracious.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: And as this woman got up, she hobbled around the table.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: I was like, That's a very clear need there.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: So I just went up to her and said, Hi, I'm a Christian, I just really feel like God wants me to pray for you.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Would that be okay?
11:00
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, Oh, yeah, that'd be great, thank you.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: So in the middle of MS, um, we just prayed for her, and again, I don't know what happened, but she was really open to being prayed for.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: And I think that personally, for me, that's what I want to be more able and equipped and confident to do, just wherever I find myself to be awake and alert to what God might want to be doing.
11:17
unknown: Wonderful.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much, Laura.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: That's that's great.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm just gonna give a quick little overview on what we covered last time.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was two weeks ago, uh, so some of you kind of lots of things have happened in two two weeks, or you might not have been here.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: So um uh last week, last time Dave was was talking about healing, and it again was uh introduced the fact that God is a God who heals.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: And the re the way that we know that is our bodies do generally tend to heal themselves.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: If you cut yourself, it will scab over and the skin will regrow.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: Actually, there's something about even the nature of the world itself that uh is uh is a is healing.
11:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously it's uh disjointed and some things kind of don't get well, which is why we need medicine and we need kind of spiritual healing.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: But um uh low power, okay.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh it's it's there in in creation.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: Um it's there in creation.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: It's uh they were saying about actually healing is part of the kingdom.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus comes, he said he says that actually uh when Jesus is around, healing is around.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: When the king's around and the kingdom's intervening, actually part of what the kingdom does, Jesus, is healing.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: So when we uh talk about healing, quite often it's within the context of the kingdom.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus sent out the the 12 and the and the 72, he he told them to uh uh heal the sick, uh cast out demons, and preach the kingdom of heaven at hand.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: So Dave kind of looked a little bit about uh healing and and the kingdom.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Um he then went through the Old Testament.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Actually, healing wasn't just in the ministry of Jesus.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh actually, in the Old Testament, uh there were people like uh Elijah or Elisha that uh there were healing miracles in Exodus.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: God says, I am the God who who heals you and the snake on the pole.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: And and there were times in the Old Testament where there were healings, but it was kind of occasionally and uh maybe not as frequently as uh when we look at the ministry of Jesus.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: And in the ministry of Jesus, um about 25% of what the gospel writers record about Jesus was uh were healings or discussions off the back of healing.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: And and again, the gospel writers felt that the healing ministry of Jesus, if they were to record God incarnate in human form, what did he do?
13:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh they thought 40, 23% of what they recorded was the miracles of Jesus, was important.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Um as they then went through to say actually the apostles' healing was part of the everyday regular occurrence uh of um of faith uh in the church and uh and track through church history, some of the uh not just with the church fathers, but uh right way through to Wesley and and the Annabaptists and others through to the charismatic movement uh that uh kind of started back in the 60s and people like John Wimber were around.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Um so and then and then we just had a little go at praying for healing.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: So so that was the kind of the background of the biblical overview uh of healing.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Um but tonight we're gonna look at particular uh healing um and actually the healing has got to do uh with power.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: There is a power to healing.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh there isn't a human power, it's a divine power.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: Actually, there's there's nothing that I can do or you can do uh to uh conjure up, to magic up uh a physical healing, emotional healing, a spiritual healing.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it is uh a God thing, uh, but it is a powerful thing.
14:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh so when uh when Jesus um uh promises the Holy Spirit, uh he says, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh so on the day of Pentecost they they did receive power, and they re as as they receive power, actually they there was power to uh to be witnesses.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: There was there's power to uh the words of Jesus kind of we say what Jesus would want to say.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: That's what the Holy Spirit's um Jesus says in in Matthew 10 uh 19 and 20, is that when you're not quite sure what to say, there's the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh so when the Holy Spirit comes, there's power, there's power to be a witnesses, and we can witness with our words.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: But actually, we can also witness with our works.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: Actually, the Holy Spirit comes not just to give you the words of Jesus to speak into a situation, actually, the Holy Spirit comes to give you the works of Jesus.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: He wants to give you power to be a witness, and you can witness to Jesus with your words, but actually you can witness to Jesus with your works.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: Um the gifts of the Spirit that we're going to be looking at this evening, the gifts of the Spirit are there when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, those gifts of the Spirit are there, and they give you power to be his witnesses, to witness to the healing power of Jesus.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: So that the the works of Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps us uh to do the things that Jesus did.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: So we say the things that Jesus said, we do the things that Jesus did, and obviously uh not only just the um uh the words, um actually uh the uh on your notes if you've got the the notes.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's it's not just the um uh the words and the works, but there's the way the ways of Jesus.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, uh the Holy Spirit will uh transform you, will change you.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: The fruit of the Spirit will be in your life.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: And actually the fruit of the Spirit that will be you'll you'll have the ways of Jesus, the character, the nature, the patience, the love, the kindness.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Um so when we think about uh particularly healing, healing comes in the context of the Holy Spirit being poured out, the Holy Spirit giving us power, power to witness to Jesus.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: Um so healing should always be a witness uh uh to Jesus, a witness to his power.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: I think when uh when people decide to have a uh Tim Dobson Healing Ministry International, uh I think no, it's not kind of that there's nobody who's a healer.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's Jesus who's the healer.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so we have power to be witnesses, witnesses to who Jesus is, witnesses to speak, witnesses to act, uh, witnesses to live uh like Jesus lives.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Um and so as we think about healing tonight, I want to think about it in that context of power.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: How do we handle that power?
17:31
SPEAKER_01: How do we access that power?
17:33
SPEAKER_01: How do we uh kind of use the gifts of the spirit?
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh and how does it bring uh glory to Jesus?
17:40
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna do a few little bits of just talking to people next to you.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: So um uh just our first little group time so you could talk to somebody, you've heard a few little stories from Laura and myself.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh, why not just kind of with two or three people round about you, introduce yourself if you don't know them, um, and then say, when have you seen a healing happen, and how did it change the way you thought about Jesus?
17:59
SPEAKER_01: If power is to help us to be witnesses to Jesus, kind of a healing story, and and how did that and how did that change the way you thought about Jesus?
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Is that okay?
18:07
SPEAKER_01: So just five minutes or so, find two or three other people round where you are, introduce yourself.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, have you seen a healing happen and how did that change the way you thought about Jesus?
18:15
SPEAKER_01: We'll have a chance if you want to continue the stories or tell another story of healing a bit later on.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: Um we're gonna just move on to think a bit about a bit more about um what what does it mean for God to equip you um with with power?
18:38
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to got to God to equip you with power, particularly uh power to heal?
18:44
SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, Dave's asked if if um within the session, particularly talking about the gifts of the spirit, how how healing, which is one of the gifts of the spirit, how does that work?
18:54
SPEAKER_01: And and probably out of um the the nine that we call from 1 Corinthians uh uh 12, uh three of them I think are really helpful gifts of the spirit to help us when we think about healing.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna think about healing a bit about faith, a bit about words of knowledge.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but um just again a little overview of how healing fits into the gener my general understanding of why does God send his Holy Spirit, why does he give us gifts of the Holy Spirit?
19:19
SPEAKER_01: What are they there for?
19:21
SPEAKER_01: What generally are they supposed to achieve?
19:23
SPEAKER_01: So when we look at healing, we can say healing sits within this category of gifts of the spirit, and God's trying to achieve this.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: So uh the gifts of God are mentioned in three different uh places in the New Testament.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians uh 12 and 14.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Um there's this little framework that I'm sure many of you have seen before, that uh the the Romans 12 is the gifts that we have from the Father, uh motivational gifts.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: Um so you might say that these are natural gifts, gifts that you were were born with.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Gifts you might have a natural gift for music, a natural gift for numbers, a natural gift at creating things.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: Um uh for for me, I I was a teacher, I was a physical teacher.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and again, I had some colleagues who are not Christians and they were great teachers.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Where do they get that gift from?
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, it was a gift of the Father, it was a gift of in creation.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: God entrusted us when He created us with different gifts and abilities.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: Um and Romans 12 says that these gifts are from kind of in within creation, and they give us kind of our motivation for living life, for doing life well.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: Some people love to do life kind of people-centered and and and caring, others like more kind of projects and and and and the and the character that you've got uh uh is uh the gifts from the Father.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: The second gifts are the gifts that we're gonna include healing, uh gifts of the Holy Spirit.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: These are gifts that we seek.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: So there's gifts that we are, there's gifts that we seek uh there from the Holy Spirit, and they're kind of manifestations, that they're things that kind of come from heaven through us to other people, and they're not in us already.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: So that they're gifts that we seek, and and although we might say that the gift of of teaching is a is a natural gift, although it's supernatural from God, uh, these ones are definitely supernatural.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: They're not things that I was born with, they're not things that I've kind of learned a certain skill.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Actually, they are from God and they're supernatural.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians 4 uh gifts that we become, um, the gifts of Jesus to the church, and and and some of those kind of gifts that we exercise become almost like a um an office, a kind of a a part of church life that kind of really holds and builds the church uh together.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: But in those kind of three places, uh there's two themes that you you notice across them, and uh and and those two themes are love and grace.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: And and when I uh think about the gifts of the spirit generally, but particularly when I think about gifts of the spirit when it comes to healing, I think these two themes of love and grace are really important.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: I think I think love is really important because um uh love is uh the motivation.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Between behind why God wants to heal people.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Jesus kind of had compassion on people.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: He was there at the at the tomb of Lazarus and he wept.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: He was kind of moved.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: And I think if you're going to pray for people to be healed, I think having a love for that person, asking God for love for that person is really important.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Which is why I went between 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14, we have 1 Corinthians 13, which is a chapter all about love.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Why?
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Because if you speak with tongues of angels and men and don't have love, actually you're just an empty hollow person.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And if you try to pray for healing just kind of from your own strength, actually it's just a hollow thing.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: Unless you've got love in your heart for the people you're praying for, don't start praying for them.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: If they ask you to pray for them, the first thing I would ask them for is ask God for is, God, will you give me a love for this person now?
22:50
SPEAKER_01: Before I say give me the gift of healing, I'll say, actually, God, will you give me a compassion, a tenderness, an empathy?
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Will you give me something towards this person?
22:58
SPEAKER_01: It's not just a person in the line who wants prayer ministry and a church.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: God, I need to know your love because that's the deal.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: There's a psalm uh in the Old Testament, uh, Psalm 107, and um it has a little refrain, uh, and that refrain is give thanks to the Lord, he is good.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: His love endures forever.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: His love endures forever, his love endures forever.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's there um five times throughout the psalm.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: And and right in the middle, uh verse 20, it says this He sent His Word and healed them.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: He rescued them from the grave.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: And uh He sent His Word and healed them.
23:32
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it's in the context of five times.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: It's to do with give thanks to the Lord.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: He's good.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: We pray for healing because God is good.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: Actually, we pray for healing why?
23:39
SPEAKER_01: Because love endures forever.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: And so praying for people with love in your heart is always uh I think is essential.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: I think it's essential because I think Jesus was motivated by love when he healed people, uh, but we're not Jesus.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Um and actually sometimes we don't have the success rate that Jesus had.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, and sometimes we think, um, and maybe for some of you, you actually even won't pray for people because you're fearful that it won't work.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: And and fear is a big deal, fear of failure is a big deal.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: But one thing I've learned is if you pray for somebody and you've always got a love of God in your heart for the person, even if the prayer doesn't work, they're not healed, they can taste the love.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: Even if the prayer for healing doesn't work, they taste the love.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: And actually, who doesn't want to be loved?
24:28
SPEAKER_01: Who doesn't want to sense that they're being loved by some another human being and ultimately being loved by God through that human being?
24:34
SPEAKER_01: And and for me, that's always the I can remember we did a little outreach when I was I was probably only 23 and we were doing this outreach, and um uh we were just going around knocking doors and saying a bit about the local church, and I remember I knocked on this door for this elderly lady, and I said she said, What did you want?
24:49
SPEAKER_01: I said, We're from the church, we're just telling people about God's love, and she said, Oh, come on in.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: I think she was quite lonely.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: So we sat and we chatted for a little while, and then I said, Oh, it's probably time to go.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: And as we went back to the door, I saw she was really badly hobbling, and I said, Oh, what's what's wrong?
25:01
SPEAKER_01: She said, Oh, I've got really bad arthritis, oh, it's really, really painful.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, I said, Well, can I say a prayer for you for God to heal you?
25:08
SPEAKER_01: And she says, Oh, yes, thank you.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: So I closed my eyes, I prayed my best prayer, um, open my eyes, and we carried on walking to the door, and she carried on hobbling.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: And and then she said, Thank you.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for that lovely prayer.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you've come to visit me.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: Actually, I I don't think she was physically healed, but actually, she wasn't actually she wasn't a Christian.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what?
25:31
SPEAKER_01: She wasn't expecting to be healed, if I'm honest.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: But what she tasted was love, and and I think in prayer ministry, in chance for healing, praying for healing, if you haven't got love in your heart, it's a dangerous thing.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: But if you have got love in your heart, even if the prayer in averted commas doesn't work, they're not healed instantly, actually, they probably will go away, saying they've been seen, they've been noticed, they've been been loved.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: So so love appears where it talks about gifts.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh the second thing is is grace.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and I think it's it's it's wonderful that um uh we each have different gifts according to the grace each one has given us.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: Romans 12, Ephesians, to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, grace is uh is a lovely word because it's stuff that we don't deserve.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: At Sunday school it was God's riches at Christ's expense, G-R-A-C.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: Um uh, and the reality is that any of the gifts of the Spirit you do not earn, you don't deserve.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: It's not like you have a divine Tesco Club card, you do enough praying or you do enough going to church, and somehow you've got enough credit and uh you can pray for healing and get it.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it's it's not earned.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: The gifts of the spirit aren't earned.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: It's not like kind of you go when you're at the council brownies and you see people they've got all the badges on the kind of they've they've got sort of I can cook a squirrel over an open fire, or kind of um and spiritual gifts aren't like that.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: I I can show off just how spiritual I'm because I can speak in tongues and I can prophesy and I can pray for healing.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: It's it's not anything to do with what we earn or what we deserve.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Actually, gifts of the spirit are grace gifts, they're they're undeserved.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: Um and and I think again for me it's it's super important that when we pray for healing, we realise that it's it this is a a God's grace moment.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: Actually, there's nothing human that I can do to manipulate that illness or that sickness.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's just the grace of God.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: The gift of healing.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh, some people say, well, I think you might have the or think I might have the gift of healing.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: Actually, if you pray for people to be healed, who's got the gift?
27:42
SPEAKER_01: It's the person who's been healed and not you.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: The gift of healing is for the person and not for the prayer.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think actually, wherever I see a gift of healing being released, it's always the gift is for the person and not for me the prayer, because it's the grace of God.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: Does that kind of make sense?
27:57
SPEAKER_01: So when you get the chance to pray, my first prayer, God, give me love in my heart now for this person in front of me.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I don't start praying until you feel that actually there's something of the tenderness of Jesus uh that's there, and to realize actually, I I'm it's God's grace.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: I I can't conjure anything up by my force of will or my clever words.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's it's grace.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh, as with all the gifts of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit are there to do three things.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: Uh, they are there to glorify God.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: In Acts chapter 3, when the followers of Jesus see a uh a man who can't walk and asking for money, they say, Um, what would Jesus do?
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Silver and gold we haven't got, but what we have got we can give you.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: And it says the man went walking and leaping and praising Peter and John.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: No, he went walking, leaping, and praising God.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it wasn't kind of, oh, you're an amazing, what amazing Christians you are that I can walk now.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: Actually, he he knew through that prayer, the name of Jesus, that the consequence was glorifying God.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's the the gifts of the spirit are there to to build up the body, they're there as we pray for one another and as we see this the gifts of the spirit work here.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it's like a little schoolroom where we will learn things that are going to help us in the real world.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and the gifts of the spirit, as we in our small groups, as we try at the end of each evening just to be open to the Holy Spirit, open to the gifts of the Spirit.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it strengthens the body, it builds the body up, equippers the body for works of service.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but ultimately, I think that the gifts of the spirit are there to reach the lost.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: And as you read through the accounts of Acts of the Apostles, uh, you'll see that when there was a gift of the Spirit, day of Pentecost speaking in tongues, 3,000 get saved.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, here's somebody and and um they're struck dumb and people start believing.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, in Acts chapter 9, verse uh 35.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: Again, somebody's healed, and when they're healed, it says everyone in that area believes in Jesus.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: That the the the healing is not about uh just the individual, it's about the uh the reaching of the lost.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: And and again, praying for people who aren't yet Christians, I think is in some ways is is easier, it's it's less confusing because they don't know God.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: And and if they do get healed, that it's it's it's a pleasant surprise to them because they're not really expecting to get healed.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: I can remember when I was doing some some youth work uh over in uh Lochley's, and we we bought a double-decker bus and we'd take all the seats out and we'd change it into a mobile coffee bar, and and there were some kind of rigging naughty boys expelled from school that used to, they whenever we came, they used to come out and just try and cause as much trouble as possible.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: Um and we always had to kind of if they were slightly high, they knew they couldn't go on board.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: And uh there's one time when we caught them, there's one lad was on the shoulders of the other lad.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: They'd taken the cap off the diesel kind of fit for the and he was weeing into that because he thought that would stop the bus from driving away.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: They were that kind of guys, and and um during the evening we'd have a little discussion time, and uh uh and some of them would come in to talk about Jesus.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: And I should have shared that story that I told you about my mum being healed and from the being in the wheelchair, and uh and one of these kind of lads who's been expelled from numerous schools um said to me, Do you think God could heal me?
31:25
SPEAKER_01: And I sort of said, uh yes.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and his arm was there in a in a sling, and he said, Um, I've I play football for uh um for this team and we're we've reached the semi-final, the match is on Saturday.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: I've broken my arm and I can't play.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Do you think you could pray for my arm to be healed?
31:44
SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, uh okay.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: So um I didn't close my eyes to pray because you never knew what happened when you closed your eyes uh with those guys.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: So um I prayed this kind of very simple prayer, Jesus heal him.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: Let's get on to do something else.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: Um next week he came along with his friends, and uh again his arm wasn't in a sling.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: And I said, his name is Christian.
32:12
SPEAKER_01: I said, Oh, Christian, what happened?
32:14
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you know, when you prayed, my actually my broken arm got better.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and uh I was able to play in the football match, and we're we're through to the final next week.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: And and I'm thinking, ah, okay, I I had I must have I had very little faith there.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: But that maybe there's something about the consistent us turning up, taking all the abuse, and still showing the love of Jesus week after week after week that somehow he had the faith in the God we believed in, maybe more than I did.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and who knows what God can do amongst non-believers?
32:46
SPEAKER_01: And I would say, like like Laura in Marx and Smith's Cafe, actually just take take uh take the chance.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Um anything you want to say on that, Laura?
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Um okay, we're gonna um so before we look at the gift of specifically the gift of healing, um uh one of the things that Dave's gonna look at a bit more next week uh is the interaction between healing and faith.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Um if you look through the accounts of the life of Jesus, uh at some point faith seems to be involved.
33:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, faith isn't kind of always the person who's sick.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: So um uh but sometimes it is the sick person, the woman who's been bleeding for 12 years, she reaches out and touches Jesus and and she's instantly healed.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh Jesus says to her, Go in peace.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Your faith has made you well.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: It was and and Jesus wasn't even expecting it.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: I felt power go out from me.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: Ah, slight surprise.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was her faith that that made made.
33:49
SPEAKER_01: And there's times where the blind men shouting out, Jesus, son of David, have have mercy on me.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: And and again, your faith has made you well.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: There's sometimes it is the person who's sick who has faith.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: Actually, sometimes it's the faith of another person.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, it might be the faith of the centurion for his servant, or the faith of the four uh the friends that lowered the paralyzed man down through the roof.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: It says that Jesus saw their faith and said to the man, uh, your sins are forgiven you.
34:15
SPEAKER_01: Um and and sometimes when you're praying for someone to be healed, they may come and they may have have faith that Jesus is gonna heal them.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes when they come, you can just sense I've got a bit of faith that they're gonna be healed.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, but there's sometimes where it doesn't seem to be that kind of who has the faith when there's the um the widow of Nain, that there's a funeral service going on, and there's I mean, no one's got faith, they're just burying this dead lad.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus wanders up and and uh raises him from the dead.
34:45
SPEAKER_01: Where was the faith then?
34:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, it probably was the faith of Jesus.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: Jesus kind of knew that what was going on, Lazarus come forth.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: Actually, they were all busy kind of crying, and uh, but Jesus knew the Father, knew what the Father was up to, and so how the faith of Jesus called out some miracles.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: And that's where I think the gift of faith.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: The gift of faith is to to do the if the gifts of the spirit to do the things that Jesus did, how can we have the faith that Jesus had?
35:12
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes a gift of faith is uh faith and belief and trust in God that's beyond our natural faith levels.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh from our experiences of God, sometimes we have we have have a uh, oh yeah, I can believe God for this, this, and this.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: There's something outside your experience.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: I I'd find it hard to believe that God does that.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: And and sometimes your faith might be limited.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: Why can't we cast out this demon, oh unbelieving generation?
35:38
SPEAKER_01: There's something about your your faith.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh, that um but but sometimes there's the gift of faith.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you're asking God for for love for this person, and and suddenly there's a whoo, you the faith seems to rise in your heart, and you wonder, where's this faith come?
35:54
SPEAKER_01: It's the faith of Jesus, it's the gift of the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus can sometimes give the gift of faith.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Does that kind of make sense?
36:01
SPEAKER_01: And and and sometimes where there's a situation, you might find that that gift is just there for you.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: Or you may think as you're going to pray for someone and you've made an appointment to go and pray for someone who's sick, you might say, God, I I must admit, at the moment I I I'm not feeling hopeful, I'm not feeling full of faith.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: Actually, God, will you give me uh the gift of faith?
36:22
SPEAKER_01: Um and I think that is um something that we we can ask for and uh can see.
36:29
SPEAKER_01: Um linked with the gift of faith.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh Dave touched on this last week as well, uh last time.
36:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh sometimes physical things can help people's faith.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh like in in Mark 16, it says that you'll uh if you believe in Jesus, you'll place your hands on the sick and and they will be healed.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: Kind of laying on of hands seems to be a mark of uh something seems that that personal connection of someone who's praying with someone who's been prayed for, uh, can sometimes just generate a bit of faith.
37:04
SPEAKER_01: There's something like uh anointing in James, it says that if anyone's sick, call the elders in and they'll anoint with oil.
37:10
SPEAKER_01: Actually, that just the physical symbol of there's nothing magic with the oil, but somehow just the the action of of an elder anointing with oil, the uh the sign of the Holy Spirit, a physical thing can can provoke and stimulate uh faith in us.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, with in Acts 19, it says about how Paul sent handkerchiefs and aprons to people.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: Don't say the best chef in the world or whatever, I'm not sure what the aprons said on them, but but they kind of he he would and and in receiving a handkerchief from from Paul, somehow, oh this is Paul's handkerchief, kind of somehow their faith was lifted.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: And and uh and maybe again as we think about praying for healing, as we do some try a bit of that in a moment or two, again ask the person, kind of put my hand on their shoulders, because sometimes that very physical action can uh increase people's faith.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but just before we have a little go at doing things, just the the last gift of the spirit that is linked, I think, linked into healing, is um is the word of knowledge.
38:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, the word of knowledge that uh that Laura mentioned is uh a time when we know things that we shouldn't know.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Um uh that God uh shows you something uh about somebody, about somebody's in the case of healing, maybe about somebody's uh physical uh condition.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and what it does is it um a word of knowledge can increase people's faith.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: So in in John's Gospel uh chapter one, it has this little story about Nathaniel.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: Um if you've got your Bibles and wanted to look at it, you can do John chapter 1.
38:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it says this so Philip has encountered Jesus.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: So Philip goes to his friend uh Nathaniel, so verse 45.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: And then Nathaniel says this, Nazareth?
39:08
SPEAKER_01: Could anything good come from there?
39:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh Nathan answered.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: And come and see, Philip said.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: So here's this kind of quite cynical response, ah, don't believe you.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: Kind of, can he really be the son of God?
39:20
SPEAKER_01: Nothing really good comes out of Nazareth.
39:23
SPEAKER_01: Um come and see.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh when Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said to him, Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.
39:33
SPEAKER_01: How do you know me?
39:34
SPEAKER_01: Nathaniel asked.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: Jesus answered, Here's a word of knowledge.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: I saw you before you were uh I saw you while you were under the fig tree, before Philip called you.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: Nathanael declared, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: What an amazing declaration.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: Kind of uh what changed him from a cynic to a believer?
39:57
SPEAKER_01: It was a word of knowledge.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: It was it was the fact that Jesus said, kind of, other side of the town, kind of when Philip came to tell you about me, you were sat underneath a fig tree.
40:09
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, You believe because I told you I saw you under a fig tree.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: You shall see greater things than that.
40:19
SPEAKER_01: Again, the word of knowledge increased their faith.
40:21
SPEAKER_01: Um I can remember um one time on a Sunday evening, uh, I uh had a word of knowledge about uh a tooth.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: I kind of asked God for a word of knowledge.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: I kind of felt this sensation in kind of this tooth, the third one along on the top left-hand side.
40:41
SPEAKER_01: Um so I I said kind of to just is anybody here come with toothache?
40:46
SPEAKER_01: I kind of wonder if it's the kind of the third tooth at the top on the left.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: Um and there was somebody who was sat in the congregation and they had come with toothache, and it was the third tooth on the top on the left hand side.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: So when they came to me and said, Tim, I've I've gone with toothache, and I've I've it's it's that one, the exact tooth that you said.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Actually, he came with a level of faith.
41:08
SPEAKER_01: God's seen me and God knows me.
41:12
SPEAKER_01: I think God might want to heal me.
41:14
SPEAKER_01: And when he came to me and he said, Yeah, it definitely was that, actually, my faith suddenly goes, Oh, kind of it was slightly random, kind of I thought I'd put out there anyway.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: And but in that moment, there was there was faith.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: The word of knowledge created an atmosphere of faith, and we prayed, and and he was instantly healed of that that toothache.
41:31
SPEAKER_01: And uh his dentist was happened to be in the in the church service as well, and went to see him afterwards and said, I thought I was gonna have to see you this week.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: He said, No, it's been it's been healed.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: So um the word knowledge does that.
41:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh um, I went to visit when I was leader at community church, I went to visit someone who's part of our church, and um, she was having real doubts, uh, a bit of a crisis of faith.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I went to see her and to try and kind of talk around, and and we and we spent kind of an hour or so just talking about all the troubles in the world and how can God be loving and kind when there's so much violence and evil in the world, and and she just had all this catalogue of stuff that was undermining her faith, and and I tried to give my best answers to try and encourage her to try and spark her faith back into life, and and I kind of got towards the end of the visit and kind of thought, ah, she still feels just as gloomy.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: And uh and I was just about to go in, then she asked me a really strange question.
42:26
SPEAKER_01: She said, Tim, uh, at church on Sunday, sometimes you get words of knowledge.
42:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh could you tell me how do you get the word of knowledge?
42:33
SPEAKER_01: So I said to her, Well, it's like this I'll I'll say to God, um uh just highlight a part of the the body to me, and then I just kind of feel a sensation in part of the body.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, I might say uh right heel.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: So I'm I might say, uh, I think there's somebody here with um uh there's something wrong with the right heel, and then I'll I'll ask God a second question.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: What's wrong with the right heel?
42:56
SPEAKER_01: So I might say, there's somebody here with the right heel, and they've got glass that's embedded in the right heel.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: And she looks over the kitchen table and she says to me, Tim, a week ago I broke a mirror and I stood on a piece of glass and it's still in my right heel.
43:11
SPEAKER_01: How did you know?
43:13
SPEAKER_01: And and just in that moment, it wasn't I wasn't even trying to get a word of knowledge, I was just explaining uh how it how it worked.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: And and for this woman, my my hour of trying to do my intellectual convincing her of to believe in God was suddenly how could she uh uh doubt?
43:32
SPEAKER_01: And I think the gift of uh knowledge is is like that.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: It's it's the word of knowledge to help uh uh see people have some faith.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh do you want to um we're gonna we're gonna just do a chance, maybe have a little worship song in a moment, and uh we'll just have a chance to see uh could we get some words of knowledge here that could encourage your faith and maybe encourage the faith of someone who's sick uh here.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: But maybe Lord, do you want to just want to say just again practically how how do you get words of knowledge and um How do you share those?
44:02
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Tim.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: It's really encouraging, isn't it?
44:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think for me it's it's funny because I think I came to faith not from a Christian background and I didn't necessarily know start off with that God spoke to me.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: It's almost by accident I realised, oh, that that might be God.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: And I think over the time, probably for me, I get more words of knowledge that are quite specific, and maybe they are actually tend to be more random.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: One that came to mind that isn't specifically about healing, but just might help you start to think about how do you get a word of knowledge.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: I actually was really struggling because my cousin had just um passed away from cancer and she was quite young, and I'd been to visit her, and it was really difficult.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: And I remember actually sort of just praying specifically, like, God, this doesn't feel right, like this suffering, this pain.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: I want you to kind of do something today that just reminds me that you're alive and active and you know, not all is lost.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: And um, I was going, I was walking over um to an ice cream van.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: I was just visiting a lake with my dad and my brother, because we'd come back from visiting my cousin just um before she died.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: And um, I just felt like God say really clearly to me, and for me, it's like this knowing that I suddenly have that I didn't have previously.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: And as I walked up to the ice cream van, I felt like God say that man is saving up to buy something he can't yet afford.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's so random because I didn't know that just now.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: So I think one of the things you pay attention to is that's not in my natural, that's not something I'd normally be thinking about.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: So, like, is there anything that comes into your mind that you just think, oh, that wasn't there just now?
45:23
SPEAKER_00: And so I just went up to the guy, ordered an ice cream, obviously, important.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: I realise all my analogies seem to center around food.
45:28
SPEAKER_00: There are other ones too, that just seems to be the ones for this evening.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: And um, I was like, it's a bit random.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't think you've ever been to church if you're prayed, like I'm a Christian, perhaps I'm listening to God, and I just feel like he's told me you're saving up for something that you can't yet afford.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh yeah, it's this boat, I'm just looking at it.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, All right.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: And um, he didn't really seem that surprised that I had a word knowledge.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: I was probably more surprised.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: And we ended up having a great little chat about faith and how we used to go to a Catholic church, blah, blah, blah, blah.
45:52
SPEAKER_00: But I think for me, the kind of thing is the knowing that wasn't previously there.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: And even in the evening service the other week, I was hosting with Dave and he suddenly turned to me and went, Oh, do you sense God say anything?
46:01
SPEAKER_00: And I suddenly panicked, to be honest.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, I think I've drifted off a bit.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I just sort of was like, God, anything you want to say?
46:09
SPEAKER_00: And I just immediately got a few words of knowledge, and I specifically did actually ask God for words of knowledge because I know that for me there's a bit of a fluency there, and that's how God tends to speak to me.
46:17
SPEAKER_00: And I had specific ones that were around physical ailments in the body.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: So I shared them, and you know, sometimes I step out and I think, is this you, God, is this me?
46:24
SPEAKER_00: And do you know what?
46:25
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I don't know, but sometimes I think if it's not me, actually that's okay because it'll just fall away.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: And if it's God, why great, someone might actually respond.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to encourage you tonight to take a risk because we're in a safe space here, aren't we?
46:38
SPEAKER_00: And um actually a woman came, well, I of all the three words of knowledge, two of them were responded to by three people.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: And a woman came up to me and went, I was just literally about to leave the service, I was gonna leave a bit early, and then you suddenly had this word that spoke directly to me, and so I thought I'd come up and get some prayer.
46:52
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know what happened at the end of it, but I think words of knowledge, particularly around healing, cause people to maybe step in, particularly if they've been struggling with something for a while, where maybe there's just a little increase of faith.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: So I think, yeah, I think my encouragement is take a risk.
47:05
SPEAKER_00: I've equally just if you want to have a story of how I've looked really stupid, because sometimes that is also helpful.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: I remember once just asking off a word of knowledge for someone out here, and I suppose the theme, because I'm realising I'm talking about this often, I quite like just getting them wherever I am.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: And I went up to this woman and I was like, um, excuse me, does the name Katie mean anything to you?
47:22
SPEAKER_00: And she went, No, and I went, No, me either.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: And I walked off.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that, okay?
47:27
SPEAKER_00: That's not how to do it, but what I'm trying to say is like there was a season where I was maybe stepping out a bit too much, you might say.
47:33
SPEAKER_00: But I think um it is okay to sometimes look stupid, and I think if we can get over ourselves a bit and the fear of failure, and obviously sensibly steward what God's showing you want to care and love the person, but I also think sometimes we just need to step out a bit and not maybe be so worried about what we look like or what happens, and just I I really felt the journey that I've been on with God is much more about being obedient to his voice and doing what he says, even if I don't know the outcome, and I think we're so hung up on control, aren't we?
47:59
SPEAKER_00: That sometimes that stops us.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: Great.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: So for for Laura, it's it's a thought that she wasn't thinking about, kind of um, and and for some of you, your imagination is is a place where it's quite active and where maybe where the Holy Spirit can speak.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: Um again for me, like I explained to my my friend, uh, probably the way I get a word knowledge is a a sensation in my body somewhere.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: So I might say to God, God, is there a word of knowledge?
48:26
SPEAKER_01: And then I I wait.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh again, it you your body is your body, it's kind of there.
48:33
SPEAKER_01: But if I said to you, your big right toe, suddenly you think, oh, I'm slightly aware of my big right toe, I can twiggle it and I can feel it, and and and you and you're sensitized to a part of your body.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: Now it's not that there's a pain there or anything, you're just kind of aware of, and and for me it's a bit like that.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: God is there a word of knowledge for anybody, and then I'd wait, and I'd just be aware of my body.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: And is there a part of my body that I become more aware of?
48:59
SPEAKER_01: So is it an ankle, is it a internal organ, is it a neck, is it a kind of uh uh uh head?
49:05
SPEAKER_01: Is it kind of and and I'd I'd probably sense uh a part of the body, and then the second question is if it if it's uh if I feel oh there's something internally here, I'd say uh which organ?
49:16
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's a kidney.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh okay, and what about the kidney?
49:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh well it's kind of there's an infection that is kind of it's kind of really hindering your ability to enjoy life at the moment, and uh and so then I would share that word of knowledge.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Um and it's a risk, because it may be wrong, but but again, if I'm doing it because I'm thinking actually this could be a moment where God's love could touch somebody rather than this is a moment I can show what a great Christian I am.
49:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh again, you'll the the motivation I think is is so important.
49:49
SPEAKER_01: Um I can remember the first time when I was trying to encourage our youth group uh to get words of knowledge, um, and we and we're gonna do this in a moment.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: If you have you got a song, Dave, that we can we can sing in a moment?
49:58
SPEAKER_01: So so what I said to them is we're gonna go and do some some visiting uh out in the streets, and it was before treasure hunting was a thing, we just go and knock on doors and talk about Jesus.
50:07
SPEAKER_01: So I said we're gonna go and knock on doors and talk about Jesus.
50:09
SPEAKER_01: I said we're gonna sing a worship song.
50:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh kind of when the worship song finishes, kind of uh count to one, two, three, and and on the on the three, whatever name comes into your head, I want you to say it.
50:24
SPEAKER_01: So we had a little worship song, kind of one, two, three, and and people all said a name that came into the head.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: So I said, okay, let's go around, let's hear what the names are.
50:31
SPEAKER_01: So they went round, kind of uh all these names said, Great.
50:34
SPEAKER_01: When we go out on the doors, uh actually we're maybe we're gonna expect to meet somebody with one of those names.
50:41
SPEAKER_01: It's ten names out of all the thousands of names there could be.
50:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, and but they went out with a bit of expectation.
50:48
SPEAKER_01: So and we went out, we did some visiting, and of those ten names, two of the people had those names that we had.
50:55
SPEAKER_01: And so they said, Oh, kind of uh when they found out they said, Oh, we were just praying before we came out, and and and God said that we might meet somebody with your name.
51:03
SPEAKER_01: And and again, it just meant that the people visiting on the door had a little bit, and so they came back, the the the two couples that had uh had the and they were just super excited that that God's at work, and the other eight kind of they gave it a go.
51:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh kind of did anybody lose?
51:18
SPEAKER_01: No, they didn't, kind of um, and I think that's with with words of knowledge.
51:22
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's for there and then actually sometimes and I say to them, actually, maybe that it was God still, but it just wasn't now.
51:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh why don't you during this week, why don't the name that you felt God give for you, why don't you this week just uh in the conversations you have at school or at the shops?
51:38
SPEAKER_01: And if you happen to come across somebody with that name, uh just uh take the opportunity to be brave like like Laura's and and and uh take the chance to say something.
51:47
SPEAKER_01: And words of knowledge can be for here and now they can prepare you for uh something going on as well.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: So enough talking, we've got 20 minutes, we're gonna put some of it into practice.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so uh what we'll do is um uh we we want to pray for people here who who are sick, we'll we will do that.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: But before we do that, maybe we'll just try uh the kind of asking God for words of knowledge.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: Is that okay?
52:08
SPEAKER_01: So um I'll ask Dave to play a worship song, we'll just worship Jesus.
52:14
SPEAKER_01: Uh we'll say uh Spirit of Jesus, will you give us the gifts that we need?
52:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh not again, not for us to to be clever and show off, but because we want to learn how to hold the power of God, to share the power of God.
52:27
SPEAKER_01: Um and when Dave's finished the worship song, when it goes quiet, um either like Laura, there might be a thought that comes into your mind that wasn't there beforehand.
52:37
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe like me, there's a sensation in part of the body, and you might ask the question, what part of the body is it, God, why?
52:44
SPEAKER_01: Um and what we'll do is then we'll just share some of those around.
52:47
SPEAKER_01: And again, it's not a success fail, it's a well done if you've given it a go.
52:52
SPEAKER_01: And we'll share some words of knowledge, and then if there's anybody in the room that applies to, a little bit of faith there, we'll take a chance to pray.
52:57
SPEAKER_01: Is that okay?
52:58
SPEAKER_01: So let's stand up together.
52:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we'll worship, and when the worship song's finished, ask God if he could give you a word of knowledge.