Power for Coming Trials and Tribulations

Posted by admin in Baptism, Growth, Prayer on March 2, 2010

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  – James 5:16

The fourth “elementary truth” of the Christian faith is the laying on of hands. This is the primary method God used throughout the scriptures to impart His blessings. It is the same method He uses today.

The supernatural gifts He imparts through the laying on of hands include a) special anointing and gifting for His service (commissioning); b) healing and miracles; c) infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit; d) general blessing; e) combinations of the above.

When it comes to commissioning someone for ministry — in church leadership, missions, etc. — we are not to be hasty. Scripture is clear that this is to be done after prayer and careful evaluation, and with wisdom and discernment. Paul said, “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.” (I Timothy 5:22)

However, scripture also demonstrates that Jesus and the apostles were quick to lay hands on those who demonstrated faith and sought healing, the Holy Spirit, and other blessings from God.

This method of personal connection through the laying on of hands dates back thousands of years to the Old Testament. It is also common in the New Testament. And in my personal experience I have seen God’s blessings and anointing be imparted through the laying on of hands.

The first time I remember God working through the laying on of hands was almost 40 years ago. During a prayer meeting several of us were at the front of the group when someone suggested we pray for those who needed healing.

As soon as the suggestion about healing prayer came up, a young man came forward and asked us to pray for him. A day or two earlier, this fellow had broken his thumb while laying concrete block on his job. He had been to a doctor who x-rayed it and told him it was broken. The doctor wrapped his hand with a metal brace on his thumb. As a result, he couldn’t work.

When he came forward, three of us began to pray for him. To our surprise he yelled out that he had been healed and he immediately tore off his bandages and brace. I was so shocked I almost told him to stop taking off the bandage! (He obviously had more faith than I did.)

I haven’t seen things like this on a daily basis, but I’m confident the holdup isn’t God’s doing. It’s my lack of faith… Jesus and the apostles regularly did the miraculous. And I believe God wants to do amazing things — consistently — through us as well. Based on the “early and late rains” mentioned in James 5, I believe we will see more laying on of hands and experience more of God’s supernatural manifestation.

Here are some biblical examples of the laying on of hands…

Anointing, Gifting & Commissioning
So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. “You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. “Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” Moses did just as the LORD commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.   – Numbers 27:18-23

Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.  – Deuteronomy 34:9

“Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid  their hands on them. The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.  – Acts 6:3-7

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.  – Acts 13:2-4

Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.  – I Timothy 4:14

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 
   - II Timothy 1:6

Healing & Miracles
And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  – Matthew 8:2-3

He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.  – Matthew 8:15

And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  – Mark 6:5

Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.  – Mark 8:25

While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.  – Luke 4:40

And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.  – Luke 13:13

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul…  – Acts 19:11

And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.  – Acts 28:8

General Blessing
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.  – Mark 10:15-16

Holy Spirit Baptism
For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.  – Acts 8:16-17

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.  – Acts 19:6

Both Healing and Spirit Baptism
So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  – Acts 9:17

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A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer

Posted by admin in Prayer on November 23, 2009

At the request of both houses of Congress 220 years ago, President George Washington appointed Nov. 26, 1789 a day of “General Thanksgiving … to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

Although we don’t spell it the same way, I believe “publick” means the same thing – here are some of the definitions of “public” from Dictionary.com: of, pertaining to, or affecting a population or a community as a whole; generally known; open to the view of all; existing or conducted in public.

This ”publick” observance became our country’s first national holiday, and this year — 2009 — it will once again be celebrated on the 26th day of November. Here is the text of President Washington’s written declaration:

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; — for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; — for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; — and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; — to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

G. Washington [signed]

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

As we thank Him this year on Thanksgiving Day, let’s humbly pray for leaders everywhere to have the conscience and character to courageously declare “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour.”

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.     – I Timothy 2:1-6

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God Still Answers Prayer

Posted by admin in More About Us, Prayer on October 18, 2009

When our marriage was on the rocks back in 1971, my wife took care of another couple’s son during the day. We didn’t know much about this couple, but we found out later they were praying for us.

One of the many problems in our marriage stemmed from my desire to open a head shop in McLean, Virginia. In case you are too young to know or too old to remember, head shops sold drug paraphernalia — marajuana pipes, cigarette-rolling papers, psychedelic lights, posters, and other things for hippies.

I didn’t know it at the time, but my sweet wife saw the final minutes of a Billy Graham television program and got down on her knees and prayed. A few days later, after another blow up between us, she packed her bags and took my son to her parent’s home in Smithtown, Long Island, New York.

Even though I had a perfectly good, 9-to-5 job, I went ahead and partnered with a friend to open the head shop. When the VP at the company where I worked found out about the shop, he gave me an ultimatum: keep my job and close the shop, or be fired.

I chose the shop.

Within a few weeks I had a bunch of people living in my house. We were manufacturing bongs in the basement. (Bongs were waterpipes for smoking pot.)

One day, while I was working in my head shop, two young girls came in and walked up to the counter. They told me they were students at McLean High School, and their Young Life group was praying for me. (I didn’t have any idea what Young Life was, and I really didn’t care.)

Soon my head was so clouded from smoking pot while I was working that I couldn’t count change correctly for my customers. I knew I had to quit. And I made a vow to myself to stop smoking it. The next morning the phone woke me up. On my way across the room to answer it, one of the new people living in our home handed me a pipeful of pot. I completely forgot my vow and started getting high all over again.

My wife was on the phone, calling long distance from her parent’s home. She was checking to see how I was doing. She was obviously happy. I was perplexed. She told me about some Jesus people she was meeting with on the south shore of Long Island. She seemed so happy that I assumed she must have found someone she liked better than me, so I decided to drive up to talk with her and find out if we should start divorce proceedings.

I left that night and arrived about 5 a.m. at her parents’s home. To my grateful surprise, I found out her folks were away on vacation. (Her dad was a retired Naval commander, and we didn’t have much in common.) My wife took me upstairs where my three-year-old son was sleeping. I softly said, “Hey, Mr. Wike.” And he rolled over and asked, “Hi, dad, are we going home now?” What could I say? “Sure, son.”

That day my wife asked me if I wanted to go with her to see what the Jesus people were all about. “No, thanks. You go ahead. I’ll stay here with the boy.” Somehow she softened me up and I went.

The young Jesus people packed the old house where they met. I don’t remember a thing that was said that evening. I only know that the people there seemed very happy. During those troubling times of the late 60s and early 70s, I hadn’t met anyone with that kind of joy and contentment. And when I argued against whatever they were saying, they never lost their cool. They remained happy and never doubted what they believed.

I went outside alone to smoke a cigarette. I looked up at the sky and said, “I don’t know if you’re there, or if you hear me, but whatever those kids have, I’d like to have it.”

When I walked back inside a young girl tried to give me a Good News New Testament Bible, but I told her I probably wouldn’t read it. She insisted and said, “They give them to us to give away…” I took the book from her so she’d leave me alone. And I spent the next few days eating, sleeping and reading that Bible. That was almost 40 years ago. And I still read it almost everyday.

That was the first time in my life that God obviously answered prayer. But it hasn’t been the last.

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