Command Me

God's been doing something unexpected. Last week I had 2 occasions to pray for people to be healed on the same day. One was a co-worker, one was a patient. As I felt God's presence show up, I began a dialogue with Him about what He wanted to do. "I want to heal", came His first words. I thought, "cool, let's do it." I asked God what he wanted me to do. He said "Command me."

Uhhh...did you say "command me"? I pretended like I didn't understand what God was saying, but I knew exactly what He meant. I was entering into a new phase of prayer, and I didn't like where it was going. I balked at His suggestion and we had a long discussion about it. The problem was my perception of our relationsip. I thought, "you're God, and I'm not. It's your job to be the boss. My job is to follow your lead and ask for healing. I don't command God to do anything, you are the one who commands me." So went my line of reasoning. The discussion lasted for several hours. God explained to me an important thing I was missing. When His presence (glory) shows up, He wants to do something. I can't assume I know what it is bacause I've been wrong before. It's up to Him to tell me what He wants to do and how it gets done. After He tells me what He wants to do, I ask, "what do you want me to do?" Usually He says "pray with them" or something like it. But God can tell me what ever He wants, He doesn't always heal in the same way. Jesus healed people in many different ways. God dosen't care much for our formulas.

Here was what God told me: "If I tell you I want to heal, trust me, I will do it. If I want you to command healing - just do it. Walk over and put your hand on the injured place and command the injury to be healed. Moses commanded me. Elijah commanded me. I want you to command me." As I heard Him speak, I knew what He was referring to. Moses called down one plague after another upon Egypt until pharaoh had seen enough. But Moses had prior information about what God's will was in freeing the Israelites. He knew what God wanted him to do. So he commanded the Lord with confidence. (See Exodus 7) Elijah had a similar experience. In his showdown at Mt. Carmel against the false prophets of Baal, he called down fire from heaven. He commanded God, because he knew what God wanted to do. (See 1 Kings 18:38)

When God said, "command me." He was simply trying to change my perception of our relationship. I tend to see our relationship as servant and master, and in a sense it is. But its more than that. In John 15:15, Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." In the last year, God has asked me to come closer to him. To spend more and more time meditating on Him and His plans. He's encouraged me to ask the kind of questions I'd always been afraid to ask. He always answers my questions straight forwardly. He wants me (and you) to know the details of His plans for our lives. The key is being close enough to God to "know His business."

Make no mistake, our personal issues must be dealt with first. Moses spent 40 years as God dealt with his attitude. God is working out of me a lot of my issues, too. But as we grow in obedience to God, (as the servant) He treats us not as servants but friends. Let's go one step further. The bible actually describes our relationship with God in terms many of us don't feel worthy of. We are seated in the heavenly kingdom with Jesus and joint-heirs with him of that kingdom. (Romans 8:17 and Ephesians 2:6)

God has called us to rule both in this present age and in the ages to come. How are we to do this? My idea of ruling and enforcing God's will in my sphere is often a lot of whining, whimpering and begging God to do something. Its my Calvinist world-view coming to the surface. When I'm feeling down and defeated and it seems as though I've made a hopeless mess of things, its comforting to reflect on God's sovereignty. When I'm confused about why something happened, I lean of the fact that God does what he wants for his own reasons. The determinism of Calvinism can be comforting. But it leaves us powerless.

God wants us to interact with him as we rule with Him. That's the idea of being a co-heir with Christ. We need to seek the mind of the Lord, find out what He wants to do in a situation and declare what His will is. I'm learning that making declarations that are consistent with God's will is a powerful way to pray. I had a shocking example of this a few days ago.

My daughter asked me to proof read an essay she wrote for school. She's 16 and a decent writer, but she doesn't write at the level of an adult. As I read her essay I was stunned. I couldn't believe she had written the essay she handed me. It seemed like it had been written by someone working on their Master's degree. She strung together one complex idea after another in a very compelling argument. She cited many resources and used terms I'd never even heard of. What happened?

Declarations happened. I've been praying for God to give her wisdom, knowledge, and favor in her studies. Every night at her bedside I make declarations over her. Yes, I do ask for some things, but just as often, I make declarations of what I know God wants to do for her. God has been doing all the things I had asked for and declared - and I wasn't even aware of it until I read her paper. Funny thing - How many of us take these things seriously before God? I think He wants to do a lot more than we realize.

I knew about God's desire for me to command healing before He told me to do it. Kim Clement prophesied about us commanding God in this season. I wondered when the time would come for God to ask me to do it. In October of last year, Kim gave this prophetic word:

"Take this next week and I want you to begin to command Me. You say, how can we command the Lord? God says command Me. Do not pray, do not weep, do not beseech, do not repent. I want you to command. For this storm that you are in must be steered in the right direction. Therefore, I say command Me. And I will blind your enemies, I will blind your adversary, I will bring blindness to your problems. I will bring blindness to your adversary who is approaching you to take you and to shake you. God says, I will enlighten the eyes of this nation, I will bring light. In a twinkling of an eye there shall be a change. As I speak it and this is My word tonight says the Lord."
October 26, 2008 - Humble, TX

I believe its time for us to step up to a higher level. God is calling us to command healing and to declare his will. He has given us authority to represent Him. He is weary of our powerless life. (Aren't we?) If God tells you or I to pray or command healing - He's going to make sure it happens. We need to put fear and unbelief behind us.

I'm learning to deal with my fear and unbelief. I'm leaving a life of skepticism and starting to believe in divine healing. I'm starting over and I don't have that much faith. A few days ago I began reading the thickest book I've ever seen. It's about the life of John G. Lake. Almost 1,000 pages of sermons, testimonies of healing, and his personal diary. He had what was arguably the greatest healing ministry since Jesus. He walked in a closeness with God I can only hope to emulate. He has become my modern day role model. I study the way in which Jesus did ministry, so did Lake. I'm going to try to follow The Lord in the way Lake did. Reading about the miracles others have performed gives my small faith a big boost. I hope one day soon I'll be writing stories of God's love being displayed through healing on a daily basis.

I'm asking you to join me in this pursuit. It's my conviction that any of us can command healing, work in miracles, prophesy, or function in any of the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Cor. 12: 8-11. It's the Holy Spirit who is operating through us, as He wills to do it. If He wants you to prophesy one day, heal the next, and give a word of knowledge next week, why would you want to stand in the way? Cooperating with God allows Him to bless others through us.