Why Miracles and Manifestations of the Spirit Will Amplify Your Ministry
by Pastor Dag Heward-MIlls
Miracles and manifestations are our only chance to reach the world for Jesus Christ. They are our only chance to reach every kindred, nation and people for the Kingdom. They are the opportunities for ministers to accomplish what God has called them for.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit were available to the twelve disciples and for the seventy people that Jesus sent out. They are still available for all of us through the Great Commission. They are for all of us if we will begin to know and realize what God has given to us.
1. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will help you reach the world for Christ.
Once, when election results were released from the different regions of my country, I realized how many millions of souls lived in remote regions. God’s heart is bleeding for lost souls. There is no need for us to bow to political pressure to provide social services for the nation. It is not the provision of social services like schools and universities that make us useful to the nation.
The church is a special institution anointed by God with special power and anointing. By that power and anointing, we will be able to do what God has called us to do. He has chosen preaching, teaching and healing as His method for helping lost humanity.
2. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to come out of obscurity.
You need to come out of obscurity! Your ministry needs to be felt and seen in the world! What is the use of your great wisdom if it is not heard, and if it is not seen? Jesus was brought up in an insignificant carpenter’s home, but God gave Him something special. What would bring Jesus out of obscurity? What would make anyone listen to His message? What could Jesus do without modern methods of advertisement? Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are what brought Jesus out of obscurity.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are your chance to rise out of obscurity. Jesus never wrote a book, travelled in a car, took a train or plane but he became famous. The Bible says that, His famespread abroad, and the whole city gathered at his door (Mark. 1:28,33). If we want the cities of this world to gather at the door of our crusades, then we need the healing anointing. If we want the cities of this world to gather in our churches, then miracles and manifestations of the spirit are the key. The healing anointing will bring the whole city to your door so that you can tell them about Jesus Christ.
3. Miracles and manifestations of the Spiritwill attract many broken-hearted people to your ministry.
Jesus said that He was anointed to heal the broken-hearted. There is more to having a broken heart than breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Broken hearts are caused by disappointments in general. Many people have been surprised by what life has brought them. People live as though everything is okay but they are bleeding, disappointed and hurting inside.
Many of man’s problems cannot be cured by drugs, by the psychologist or by the psychiatrist. Many people need a touch from God to give them hope. God is in the business of coming into people’s lives to heal their broken hearts.
Many politicians wonder why people keep coming to church because they think that pastors are just taking money from the masses. They wonder why people do not see through the supposed “deception”. You see, the problems that people have are often not apparent. People are smiling on the outside but are crying on the inside. Those who criticize the church don’t know what the church does for people.
I remember watching an interview of a famous healing evangelist on television. He was asked many questions about his salary, his houses and his cars. The talk show host was trying to make him look foolish.
Then they opened the phone lines and a gentleman called in to be prayed for. Suddenly the atmosphere changed. The caller had cancer and was dying. He wanted the evangelist to pray for him. All the cynical questions that the host had asked meant nothing now. The television host was faced with a desperate, weepy caller who urgently needed help. Only the evangelist could offer that help. The relevance of the evangelist’s ministry was obvious to all. More people kept calling and asking for prayer for their desperate and hopeless conditions.
People have needs and the healing anointing will meet those needs. When you have the power of God with miracles and manifestations of the Spirit, the broken-hearted will flock to you.
4. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will make your ministry relevant to the society.
“To be relevant” means “to be important”. We become relevant to the world when the healing anointing is in operation. It is when the broken-hearted are restored and the poor have the good news preached to them that we become relevant. Evil spirits torment people and bring fear into their lives. The healing anointing will deliver people from evil spirits.
Many nations are ruled by fear and superstition. Through miracles and manifestations of the Spirit the curses are broken and healing comes. Many people understand supernatural power. If you have the healing anointing, you can stand before natives who dabble in evil supernatural power and challenge them! If you just have a little Sunday school sermon, you will be no match for the witches and wizards of our time.
There is so much superstition in our world. There are rivers where fishing is not allowed! Sometimes people are not even allowed to fetch water from these rivers. There are dams that cannot be built because of superstition. People are afraid of so many different things. Sometimes out of superstition, we fear to put on certain clothes at certain times. You cannot put streetlights on certain roads because of the presence of gods who supposedly inhabit these roads. People are afraid to use certain roads at certain times. They are afraid to turn off the lights. People are sometimes afraid to travel on Fridays. There is a kind of superstition surrounding travelling on the 13th of any particular month. If the 13th falls on a Friday, it makes it worse. Even airlines are aware of this. There is no seat number thirteen in many aircrafts. There is no thirteenth floor in many apartment buildings.
One day, I was travelling on an aircraft. We had a rough landing and the pilot apologized for that and explained that the reason for the rough landing was because it was Friday, the 13th.
Mercy! Many people live in fear.
The church becomes relevant when it has something to offer. We become relevant when we have the answers to people’s needs. No government can offer what the church offers through the power of the Holy Spirit. No politician can give what the church gives. Neither teachers nor medical doctors can give what the church gives.
Only God can heal the broken hearts and save the people. Every part of the world needs the miracles and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Our relevance as a church does not come about by starting schools or universities. The government is the one supposed to provide education. When the church does provide education, it must be seen as what it really is – a love gift to that nation. The salvation of mankind is provided through the cross of Jesus Christ.
We have been charged with the Great Commission. No other institution has been charged with this Great Commission. Our relevance comes from preaching and teaching about Jesus. Our relevance comes from healing the sick. Our relevance comes through the miracles and the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will draw captive souls to your church.
Many people are possessed with devils. One day, I saw a friend of mine who was high on drugs. I just felt so sad. Only the power of God can deliver people from drugs, alcohol, and immorality. Many people are bound. They cannot set themselves free. The healing anointing will set people free from everything that keeps them in bondage.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will give hope to barren women. I happened to watch a documentary in which a snake was inserted into a woman as a treatment for infertility. She had been to see a fetish priest for help and this is the kind of help they had given her to enable her have a child.
I said to myself, “The difficulties of infertility are beyond comprehension.” We are all so afraid of snakes that we do not even want to go near them when they are caged. We have goose pimples when we even see a snake on television. To see a woman willingly permit a snake to be inserted into her body in order to have a baby shows the extent of her need.
People have asked me why I left the medical profession to preach. They wonder if I am doing anything important as a preacher. What I do today is far more important than practising medicine. If Jesus could have helped the world better through medicine, He would have been a doctor. But he was a preacher and that should tell you something!
Jesus announced that He had come to set at liberty them that were bruised. A bruised person is someone who is hurt. Life is full of pain, hurt and disappointments, and Jesus’ healing anointing is to heal the hurt and the bruised.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:18
Elisha went to heal the waters of a town because there was something wrong with the water.
“And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” (2 Kings 2:19-22).
When God heals your waters, He is meeting the basic needs of your life.
God is showing you that there are many needy people in this world. There are people who have no treatment for their sicknesses. In poor countries, some women deliver their babies under trees. This is why we are anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.
The poor of this world far outnumber the rich. God is extending our hearts to the poor. You cannot go to the poor of this world and talk to them unless you have some good news. They want to know how the gospel will practically affect their lives. How can they understand the doctrines of the gospel with all their problems, their sicknesses and their extreme poverty?
We need to pray for more miracles. Our hearts must desire more miracles! Otherwise, we will continue to stay in our little corners having a good time while the masses go to Hell.
6. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will magnify God in your ministry.
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jeremiah 17: 14
Jeremiah cried, “Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed!” If God heals you, you are really healed! If God saves you, you are really saved! The healing methods of man are greatly deficient. Through the healing anointing, you will magnify the role that God can play in people’s lives.
The fact that God heals does not mean that He does not approve of medical science. God is not against medicine. In fact, the intelligence that has been given to human beings to develop drugs is from God. He is the source of that gift. As a doctor, I believe in medical science. Thank God for medical science and for doctors. We cannot do without them.
However, God has more in store for us than medical science. He can do what medical science cannot do. He does things which medical science cannot do. Sometimes, he does things that medical science can do. All we know is that he does good things.
I like telling the story of a man who was saved from an earthquake in San Francisco. He was interviewed after his earthquake experience. He had survived three days and nights during the earthquake, under the building and in the rubble. He was asked how he had been able to stay alive under the collapsed building for such a long time.
He answered, “I am a man of strong will power. When I determine to do something, nothing can stop me. I am able to stay on course! I don’t swerve to the left or to the right! I am a man of strong determination and will power and so I refused to die! I was determined to live and that is why I believe I stayed alive!”
His wife was interviewed as well. She said, “Well, I know my husband and I have been married to him for many years. He is a man of very strong will power! When he determines to do something, nothing can move him to the left or to the right. He is a firm man. He is a very determined person. He carries through his projects! He moves forward. He is the type who does not waver in spite of adversities. I know my man! I’ve been married to him for twenty-seven years so when he determined he would live, he just stayed alive.”
This man’s doctor was interviewed as well. He was asked, “What do you have to say about your patient who has survived this amazing experience?” He answered, “Well, I know my patient; he is a man of very strong will power. He has survived because will power is very important in a patient’s life. When a patient decides to die, he dies. When he decides to live, he lives.”
Can you believe that eight days later, this man with the strong will power was struck with a heart attack? He died instantly! Then I asked myself, “Where was his will power?”
The tractors and bulldozers seemed to have saved him. The doctors seemed to have resuscitated him. But he was not really saved. He was actually just about to die!
That is why we must turn our eyes to the Lord and say, “Heal me, oh Lord and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved.” It is when the Lord stretches out His hand to heal you that you will be truly healed.
7. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will greatly promote the Kingdom of God.
And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. Luke 10:9
The arrival of the Kingdom of God is demonstrated by the undoing of the things that were done by the devil’s kingdom. That is why Jesus healed the sick. He undid the sicknesses that were brought on by the devil. He cast out evil spirits, which had inhabited human beings.
The devil has distorted nature; that is why storms and earthquakes kill people. Jesus demonstrated His ability to stop all these distortions of nature. That is why He rebuked storms, and walked on the water to demonstrate His power over all the distortions of nature.
Jesus overcame death in order to undo the works of the devil. He raised people from the dead who had been killed by the devil. He demonstrated that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven had actually come. That is why Jesus sent His disciples to go and heal the sick and inform them that the Kingdom of God had arrived. The sign of the new kingdom was the undoing of the works of the devil.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Luke 10:17
8. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will release joy in your ministry.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Luke 10:17
There is much joy when you see the power of God manifested. You begin to get excited. Some people do not know that the Kingdom of God is exciting. The only excitement they have is in nightclubs and in worldly pleasures. When you do the work of God in His way, you experience such joy and excitement beyond description. That is why the Bible says the seventy returned with joy. Demons ran and fled as they prayed. Sicknesses were healed. The healing anointing is our chance for a certain level of joy and excitement. I believe that God is bringing that rejoicing back into our midst.
9. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will enhance your pastoral ministry.
I am the good shepherd: …
John 10:11
Jesus was the good shepherd and the best example of a pastor. He operated with miracles and mighty manifestations of the Holy Spirit. What about you? Are you a good pastor? You must be like Jesus if you want to be a good pastor and operate in mighty manifestations of the Spirit.
It is difficult to gather one hundred people in a room or under a tree. People have interesting programmes to watch on television. There are lots of things to entertain the people of today. People will not just leave their pleasures to attend your boring church service. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are the chance for pastors to gather crowds for the glory of God.
10. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will enhance your teaching ministry.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will make people take your teaching ministry more seriously. When I came into contact with Kenneth Hagin through his books and tapes, I took what he said very seriously because of the supernatural element of his teaching. I noticed that he always shared a lot of supernatural stories when he taught the Word of God. He wrote about his visions and the miracle healings at his meetings. These made me develop a special interest in his other teachings.
If God has called you to be a teacher, the healing anointing is the chance for your teaching ministry to go further than you have ever imagined.
11. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to see the glory of God in every aspect of ministry.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? John 11:40
Thank God for preaching and teaching but the healing anointing is our chance for the glory of God. It is our opportunity to see the glory of God. Jesus said, “Did I not tell you, that if you will believe you shall see the glory of God?”
We have to believe in Him. We have to encourage manifestations of the Spirit. We have to say, “Yes, Lord.” Preaching and teaching are all part of the power of God. But I am talking about miracles now. The healing anointing is our chance to experience the glory of God.
12. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to go deeper in ministry.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Psalms 42:7
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are your opportunity to go deeper in God. There are deeper things in God! “Deep calls unto deep!”
In other words, if you are not deep you cannot reach for the deep things that are in God. Everybody has his deep things. If your “deep” is not calling or speaking, my “deep” will not respond.
When you relate deeply with a person, the “deep” part in you comes forth. But if the conversation we have is “Hi” and “Bye” and “Hello”, then the deep part of me will not come forth to you. If you relate shallow things like greetings and questions about the weather, you will receive equally shallow responses. There are obviously deeper things than asking about the family, the weather and the dates for a funeral.
When you tell a friend what is in your heart, the deep part in him responds. That is why the Bible says, “deep calls unto deep”.
People who are just relating to God on a shallow level are not going to experience the deep things of God. God longs for the deeper part of you to call out to Him. There is more to God than we know. There is more to God than we see. There is more to the ministry than what we are doing. There is more than just preaching and teaching.
God is bringing that “more” into your life. Sometime ago, whilst having a deep relationship with the Lord, the Lord told me that He had given me a healing anointing. He told me He was going to use me in the healing ministry because He had anointed me to heal the sick.
That is why I pray for the sick and preach about miracles. God wants to take you deeper! He wants you to move into miracles and manifestations of the Spirit.
by Dag Heward-Mills
A best selling African Author
Miracles and manifestations are our only chance to reach the world for Jesus Christ. They are our only chance to reach every kindred, nation and people for the Kingdom. They are the opportunities for ministers to accomplish what God has called them for.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit were available to the twelve disciples and for the seventy people that Jesus sent out. They are still available for all of us through the Great Commission. They are for all of us if we will begin to know and realize what God has given to us.
1. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will help you reach the world for Christ.
Once, when election results were released from the different regions of my country, I realized how many millions of souls lived in remote regions. God’s heart is bleeding for lost souls. There is no need for us to bow to political pressure to provide social services for the nation. It is not the provision of social services like schools and universities that make us useful to the nation.
The church is a special institution anointed by God with special power and anointing. By that power and anointing, we will be able to do what God has called us to do. He has chosen preaching, teaching and healing as His method for helping lost humanity.
2. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to come out of obscurity.
You need to come out of obscurity! Your ministry needs to be felt and seen in the world! What is the use of your great wisdom if it is not heard, and if it is not seen? Jesus was brought up in an insignificant carpenter’s home, but God gave Him something special. What would bring Jesus out of obscurity? What would make anyone listen to His message? What could Jesus do without modern methods of advertisement? Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are what brought Jesus out of obscurity.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are your chance to rise out of obscurity. Jesus never wrote a book, travelled in a car, took a train or plane but he became famous. The Bible says that, His famespread abroad, and the whole city gathered at his door (Mark. 1:28,33). If we want the cities of this world to gather at the door of our crusades, then we need the healing anointing. If we want the cities of this world to gather in our churches, then miracles and manifestations of the spirit are the key. The healing anointing will bring the whole city to your door so that you can tell them about Jesus Christ.
3. Miracles and manifestations of the Spiritwill attract many broken-hearted people to your ministry.
Jesus said that He was anointed to heal the broken-hearted. There is more to having a broken heart than breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Broken hearts are caused by disappointments in general. Many people have been surprised by what life has brought them. People live as though everything is okay but they are bleeding, disappointed and hurting inside.
Many of man’s problems cannot be cured by drugs, by the psychologist or by the psychiatrist. Many people need a touch from God to give them hope. God is in the business of coming into people’s lives to heal their broken hearts.
Many politicians wonder why people keep coming to church because they think that pastors are just taking money from the masses. They wonder why people do not see through the supposed “deception”. You see, the problems that people have are often not apparent. People are smiling on the outside but are crying on the inside. Those who criticize the church don’t know what the church does for people.
I remember watching an interview of a famous healing evangelist on television. He was asked many questions about his salary, his houses and his cars. The talk show host was trying to make him look foolish.
Then they opened the phone lines and a gentleman called in to be prayed for. Suddenly the atmosphere changed. The caller had cancer and was dying. He wanted the evangelist to pray for him. All the cynical questions that the host had asked meant nothing now. The television host was faced with a desperate, weepy caller who urgently needed help. Only the evangelist could offer that help. The relevance of the evangelist’s ministry was obvious to all. More people kept calling and asking for prayer for their desperate and hopeless conditions.
People have needs and the healing anointing will meet those needs. When you have the power of God with miracles and manifestations of the Spirit, the broken-hearted will flock to you.
4. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will make your ministry relevant to the society.
“To be relevant” means “to be important”. We become relevant to the world when the healing anointing is in operation. It is when the broken-hearted are restored and the poor have the good news preached to them that we become relevant. Evil spirits torment people and bring fear into their lives. The healing anointing will deliver people from evil spirits.
Many nations are ruled by fear and superstition. Through miracles and manifestations of the Spirit the curses are broken and healing comes. Many people understand supernatural power. If you have the healing anointing, you can stand before natives who dabble in evil supernatural power and challenge them! If you just have a little Sunday school sermon, you will be no match for the witches and wizards of our time.
There is so much superstition in our world. There are rivers where fishing is not allowed! Sometimes people are not even allowed to fetch water from these rivers. There are dams that cannot be built because of superstition. People are afraid of so many different things. Sometimes out of superstition, we fear to put on certain clothes at certain times. You cannot put streetlights on certain roads because of the presence of gods who supposedly inhabit these roads. People are afraid to use certain roads at certain times. They are afraid to turn off the lights. People are sometimes afraid to travel on Fridays. There is a kind of superstition surrounding travelling on the 13th of any particular month. If the 13th falls on a Friday, it makes it worse. Even airlines are aware of this. There is no seat number thirteen in many aircrafts. There is no thirteenth floor in many apartment buildings.
One day, I was travelling on an aircraft. We had a rough landing and the pilot apologized for that and explained that the reason for the rough landing was because it was Friday, the 13th.
Mercy! Many people live in fear.
The church becomes relevant when it has something to offer. We become relevant when we have the answers to people’s needs. No government can offer what the church offers through the power of the Holy Spirit. No politician can give what the church gives. Neither teachers nor medical doctors can give what the church gives.
Only God can heal the broken hearts and save the people. Every part of the world needs the miracles and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Our relevance as a church does not come about by starting schools or universities. The government is the one supposed to provide education. When the church does provide education, it must be seen as what it really is – a love gift to that nation. The salvation of mankind is provided through the cross of Jesus Christ.
We have been charged with the Great Commission. No other institution has been charged with this Great Commission. Our relevance comes from preaching and teaching about Jesus. Our relevance comes from healing the sick. Our relevance comes through the miracles and the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will draw captive souls to your church.
Many people are possessed with devils. One day, I saw a friend of mine who was high on drugs. I just felt so sad. Only the power of God can deliver people from drugs, alcohol, and immorality. Many people are bound. They cannot set themselves free. The healing anointing will set people free from everything that keeps them in bondage.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will give hope to barren women. I happened to watch a documentary in which a snake was inserted into a woman as a treatment for infertility. She had been to see a fetish priest for help and this is the kind of help they had given her to enable her have a child.
I said to myself, “The difficulties of infertility are beyond comprehension.” We are all so afraid of snakes that we do not even want to go near them when they are caged. We have goose pimples when we even see a snake on television. To see a woman willingly permit a snake to be inserted into her body in order to have a baby shows the extent of her need.
People have asked me why I left the medical profession to preach. They wonder if I am doing anything important as a preacher. What I do today is far more important than practising medicine. If Jesus could have helped the world better through medicine, He would have been a doctor. But he was a preacher and that should tell you something!
Jesus announced that He had come to set at liberty them that were bruised. A bruised person is someone who is hurt. Life is full of pain, hurt and disappointments, and Jesus’ healing anointing is to heal the hurt and the bruised.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 4:18
Elisha went to heal the waters of a town because there was something wrong with the water.
“And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” (2 Kings 2:19-22).
When God heals your waters, He is meeting the basic needs of your life.
God is showing you that there are many needy people in this world. There are people who have no treatment for their sicknesses. In poor countries, some women deliver their babies under trees. This is why we are anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.
The poor of this world far outnumber the rich. God is extending our hearts to the poor. You cannot go to the poor of this world and talk to them unless you have some good news. They want to know how the gospel will practically affect their lives. How can they understand the doctrines of the gospel with all their problems, their sicknesses and their extreme poverty?
We need to pray for more miracles. Our hearts must desire more miracles! Otherwise, we will continue to stay in our little corners having a good time while the masses go to Hell.
6. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will magnify God in your ministry.
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jeremiah 17: 14
Jeremiah cried, “Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed!” If God heals you, you are really healed! If God saves you, you are really saved! The healing methods of man are greatly deficient. Through the healing anointing, you will magnify the role that God can play in people’s lives.
The fact that God heals does not mean that He does not approve of medical science. God is not against medicine. In fact, the intelligence that has been given to human beings to develop drugs is from God. He is the source of that gift. As a doctor, I believe in medical science. Thank God for medical science and for doctors. We cannot do without them.
However, God has more in store for us than medical science. He can do what medical science cannot do. He does things which medical science cannot do. Sometimes, he does things that medical science can do. All we know is that he does good things.
I like telling the story of a man who was saved from an earthquake in San Francisco. He was interviewed after his earthquake experience. He had survived three days and nights during the earthquake, under the building and in the rubble. He was asked how he had been able to stay alive under the collapsed building for such a long time.
He answered, “I am a man of strong will power. When I determine to do something, nothing can stop me. I am able to stay on course! I don’t swerve to the left or to the right! I am a man of strong determination and will power and so I refused to die! I was determined to live and that is why I believe I stayed alive!”
His wife was interviewed as well. She said, “Well, I know my husband and I have been married to him for many years. He is a man of very strong will power! When he determines to do something, nothing can move him to the left or to the right. He is a firm man. He is a very determined person. He carries through his projects! He moves forward. He is the type who does not waver in spite of adversities. I know my man! I’ve been married to him for twenty-seven years so when he determined he would live, he just stayed alive.”
This man’s doctor was interviewed as well. He was asked, “What do you have to say about your patient who has survived this amazing experience?” He answered, “Well, I know my patient; he is a man of very strong will power. He has survived because will power is very important in a patient’s life. When a patient decides to die, he dies. When he decides to live, he lives.”
Can you believe that eight days later, this man with the strong will power was struck with a heart attack? He died instantly! Then I asked myself, “Where was his will power?”
The tractors and bulldozers seemed to have saved him. The doctors seemed to have resuscitated him. But he was not really saved. He was actually just about to die!
That is why we must turn our eyes to the Lord and say, “Heal me, oh Lord and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved.” It is when the Lord stretches out His hand to heal you that you will be truly healed.
7. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will greatly promote the Kingdom of God.
And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. Luke 10:9
The arrival of the Kingdom of God is demonstrated by the undoing of the things that were done by the devil’s kingdom. That is why Jesus healed the sick. He undid the sicknesses that were brought on by the devil. He cast out evil spirits, which had inhabited human beings.
The devil has distorted nature; that is why storms and earthquakes kill people. Jesus demonstrated His ability to stop all these distortions of nature. That is why He rebuked storms, and walked on the water to demonstrate His power over all the distortions of nature.
Jesus overcame death in order to undo the works of the devil. He raised people from the dead who had been killed by the devil. He demonstrated that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven had actually come. That is why Jesus sent His disciples to go and heal the sick and inform them that the Kingdom of God had arrived. The sign of the new kingdom was the undoing of the works of the devil.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Luke 10:17
8. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will release joy in your ministry.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Luke 10:17
There is much joy when you see the power of God manifested. You begin to get excited. Some people do not know that the Kingdom of God is exciting. The only excitement they have is in nightclubs and in worldly pleasures. When you do the work of God in His way, you experience such joy and excitement beyond description. That is why the Bible says the seventy returned with joy. Demons ran and fled as they prayed. Sicknesses were healed. The healing anointing is our chance for a certain level of joy and excitement. I believe that God is bringing that rejoicing back into our midst.
9. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will enhance your pastoral ministry.
I am the good shepherd: …
John 10:11
Jesus was the good shepherd and the best example of a pastor. He operated with miracles and mighty manifestations of the Holy Spirit. What about you? Are you a good pastor? You must be like Jesus if you want to be a good pastor and operate in mighty manifestations of the Spirit.
It is difficult to gather one hundred people in a room or under a tree. People have interesting programmes to watch on television. There are lots of things to entertain the people of today. People will not just leave their pleasures to attend your boring church service. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are the chance for pastors to gather crowds for the glory of God.
10. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will enhance your teaching ministry.
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will make people take your teaching ministry more seriously. When I came into contact with Kenneth Hagin through his books and tapes, I took what he said very seriously because of the supernatural element of his teaching. I noticed that he always shared a lot of supernatural stories when he taught the Word of God. He wrote about his visions and the miracle healings at his meetings. These made me develop a special interest in his other teachings.
If God has called you to be a teacher, the healing anointing is the chance for your teaching ministry to go further than you have ever imagined.
11. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to see the glory of God in every aspect of ministry.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? John 11:40
Thank God for preaching and teaching but the healing anointing is our chance for the glory of God. It is our opportunity to see the glory of God. Jesus said, “Did I not tell you, that if you will believe you shall see the glory of God?”
We have to believe in Him. We have to encourage manifestations of the Spirit. We have to say, “Yes, Lord.” Preaching and teaching are all part of the power of God. But I am talking about miracles now. The healing anointing is our chance to experience the glory of God.
12. Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit will cause you to go deeper in ministry.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Psalms 42:7
Miracles and manifestations of the Spirit are your opportunity to go deeper in God. There are deeper things in God! “Deep calls unto deep!”
In other words, if you are not deep you cannot reach for the deep things that are in God. Everybody has his deep things. If your “deep” is not calling or speaking, my “deep” will not respond.
When you relate deeply with a person, the “deep” part in you comes forth. But if the conversation we have is “Hi” and “Bye” and “Hello”, then the deep part of me will not come forth to you. If you relate shallow things like greetings and questions about the weather, you will receive equally shallow responses. There are obviously deeper things than asking about the family, the weather and the dates for a funeral.
When you tell a friend what is in your heart, the deep part in him responds. That is why the Bible says, “deep calls unto deep”.
People who are just relating to God on a shallow level are not going to experience the deep things of God. God longs for the deeper part of you to call out to Him. There is more to God than we know. There is more to God than we see. There is more to the ministry than what we are doing. There is more than just preaching and teaching.
God is bringing that “more” into your life. Sometime ago, whilst having a deep relationship with the Lord, the Lord told me that He had given me a healing anointing. He told me He was going to use me in the healing ministry because He had anointed me to heal the sick.
That is why I pray for the sick and preach about miracles. God wants to take you deeper! He wants you to move into miracles and manifestations of the Spirit.
by Dag Heward-Mills
A best selling African Author
