Divine Healing Made Simple: Simplifying the supernatural to make healing & miracles a part of your everyday life (The Kingdom of God Made Simple Book 1) (20 page)

When I’m praying with someone for the removal of a demon, I speak in a very quiet tone of voice. This may be due to the fact that I do most of my deliverance in hospitals and nursing homes. In these public settings, I can’t very well yell at the top of my lungs while I’m telling a demon to leave and I don’t think it’s really necessary to yell at evil spirits. They’re not removed by our tone of voice or volume. They’re removed because they have no reason to stay.

Some demons will flee at the sight of a spirit-filled believer approaching. Other demons will fight tooth and nail to remain attached to their host. Demons, as I said, can be extremely legalistic. They know their rights and some of them exercise their rights extremely well. No matter how good our discernment is, some types of demons always seem to evade our ability to detect and remove them. Contrary to popular belief, demons do not want to be exposed. They want to remain concealed. Once a demon is exposed it can be removed. The craftiest demons are extremely good at hiding so they can remain with their host. Our task is to develop a greater ability to discern their presence, discover why they are there and evict them. Because demons are partly responsible for disease, some diseases will not be healed until a demon has been detected and removed. These demons present the greatest challenge to those of us who take deliverance seriously. In some cases it may be wise to use a team approach and have team members relay to one another what they are detecting in the way of demonic activity. In order to walk in the fullness of God’s commission we must become competent in delivering people from the oppression brought by evil spirits.

S
O FAR OUR FOCUS HAS
been on healing and deliverance, but you must have noticed that raising the dead is included in the commission Jesus gave to His disciples.

Why should we raise the dead? Ask yourself why Jesus raised the dead and why the Father raised Him from the dead. The apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ was not raised, you are dead in your sins.” The gospel hinges on the resurrection. The resurrection, as a sign, is unique to our faith. The rest of Christianity can be argued and explained away, but when the dead are raised, the unbeliever, if he is honest, must admit there is a God in heaven who does such things. There is no other explanation.

While many Christians have preached the gospel, very few have tried to raise the dead, even though these two commands are found in the same commission. Many people aren’t even aware that resurrections are still happening today. David Hogan is a minister to Mexico and Latin America. Heidi Baker ministers in Mozambique. Both have witnessed over 100 resurrections through their ministries.

While a few Christians have had success in raising the dead, most of us have not. As with healing, when people fail repeatedly at something, it causes them to believe God isn’t doing it anymore and they give up. Just as with healing, I believe it is God’s will for us to raise the dead and I think there are things we can do to increase our success. Objections and problems with raising the dead once again revolve around the question of whether or not we can know God’s will about specific individuals. To help clarify the issue, I’d like to take a look at the four different perspectives we must take into account when we discuss raising the dead.

As we’ve noted previously, Jesus said the enemy came to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy wants us dead. One reason God would have us raise the dead is because the enemy wants to kill as many of us as possible and at times, he kills some of us prematurely. Resurrection is how God restores people who die prematurely so that they can accomplish the purposes He has for them.

The most common scenario for raising the dead is when one of your friends or family members dies. When a loved one dies, it’s natural to wish they were still with us. The sense of loss we feel can be overwhelming. If you find yourself in a situation where most of the friends or relatives support a resurrection, the decision is easy to make. But if the majority are not in favor, the decision will be more difficult. While you might have it set in your heart that a deceased friend or family member needs to be resurrected, if others have accepted their death as God’s will, your attempts to raise them will create problems. Consider whether the chance of a resurrection is worth the alienation that may result.

We must also consider the will of the person we’re trying to raise from the dead. We need to know whether or not they actually want to come back once they’ve stepped into eternity.

Many valuable insights into the workings of eternity have been shared by people who have died and returned to life after their death. These experiences, which are often called “near-death experiences” (or NDEs) are a fascinating source of information about why people return to life after death. The term “near-death experience” is a misnomer. It suggests that these people come close to death, but narrowly avoid it. But this is not the case. In nearly all of these experiences the individual suffers clinical death. Their heart stops beating, they stop breathing and brain death begins. There is nothing “near” about their death. They are as dead as any other body that has died. A more accurate term might be “life after death experience.”

Because I have a fascination with what takes place in eternity, for years I’ve been asking my patients who have returned from death what they remembered. About 90 percent who remembered the experience said they were given no choice about returning to earth. They had to return because it wasn’t their time to die. They died prematurely. The others were usually interviewed by Jesus, and asked if they wanted to remain in heaven or go back. In these cases, their request to return was granted.

I’ve prayed at the bedside of many cancer patients, who were declared by their doctor to be “terminally ill.” In visions, I’ve seen clear indications that their time on earth was done. Some of these patients were fairly young. I would caution against making the assumption that everyone who dies, whether young or old, can be raised from the dead. Each of us has an appointed time of departure and I think it is wise to consider that some people will prefer eternity over coming back to earth.

Knowing the will of God is critical to raising the dead. He has reasons why some of us will return and why others won’t. The will of God in regard to whether or not someone should be raised from the dead does not need to remain a secret. The Bible says:

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
AMOS 3:7

The key to knowing God’s will about whom to raise from the dead and how to do it lies in receiving prophetic revelation. The needed information can come in many ways. It may come in a dream or a vision, it might come through an angel, a word of knowledge or word of wisdom. Seeking information from trusted prophetic sources may be the best strategy for knowing the mind of God. He may indicate who is to be raised from the dead and how it should be done.

Many resurrection testimonies contained detailed instructions from God on what to do. In a few cases the individual was instructed to lie on top of the body and breathe into it (see 2 Kings 4:34). In others, they were told to massage the hands and feet of the deceased. Some of these suggestions may be hard for you to imagine yourself doing. Bear in mind that friends, family members and employees of the facility may be shocked if they see you doing these things. If you’re led to do something that would cause people to object, take whatever steps are necessary to do them discretely.

Whatever you ultimately decide to do – it should be done in faith, believing that God is going to raise them back to life. Remember the words of Jesus to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”

Once we have permission to proceed with a resurrection, we must face the incredibly poor likelihood of success. Sometimes the resurrection will happen, but most of the time, it will not. The question people often ask is, “Why?”

Some would point to a lack of faith or the presence of unbelief as the main reason for failed attempts at resurrection. These are possible explanations. Just as with healing, we need to develop confidence in God’s ability and desire to raise the dead before we’ll see it happen consistently. Another problem is that we might be praying for someone to return, not knowing that they have no need or desire to come back. Each of us has a set of appointed tasks to accomplish here on earth. Some of us may accomplish our tasks before we reach old age. If we die after completing the majority of them, we may have no reason to return.

The difficult question is whether we should attempt to raise the dead every time we have the opportunity, or if we should ask God for His will in each case. Prophetic information is desirable, but it’s not always available or 100 percent reliable. I’d like to address this question by drawing from illustrations about what I’ve experienced in my practice as a paramedic. There are principles we use in medicine that can be applied to raising the dead.

In the world of emergency medicine we have different ways of managing patient care. Some treatment requires us to contact a doctor to ask their advice on what to do. If I’m at a car accident with multiple patients who have various types of injuries and I’m not sure where they should be transported and what treatment to provide, I’m going to ask for help. I’ll get a doctor on the phone and get their direction on how to proceed. The doctor advises me where to transport the patients and what treatment to provide during transport.

But some situations are so time-sensitive that a delay of even a few minutes to talk to a doctor could prove fatal. For these cases, we’ve developed
protocols
to manage the way in which patients are treated. We memorize treatment protocols and deliver the same care in every case. These situations are ones that we rarely see and they’re serious enough that a mistake in judgment could cost someone their life.

Management of cardiac arrest is an example where our actions are guided by protocols. When stress and confusion might prevent us from making the right decisions, we develop a planned response based on best practices in the past. When everyone involved knows the protocol and does their part, the events are less stressful and there’s little question afterward about whether the team did the right thing. Protocols tend to remove our emotions from the decision-making process, allowing us to operate in a less stressful environment, with less concern about making mistakes.

Another reason we use protocols is because we deal with patients who aren’t able to tell us their wishes. Sometimes we merely transport them to a hospital, but other times we attempt to bring them back from the dead. We rely on what is referred to as “implied consent,” which is the assumption that if the patient were able to communicate their wishes, they would want to receive every treatment available to save their life. In the event that someone doesn’t wish to be resuscitated, they fill out a form and have it witnessed by a doctor. The form specifies which treatments may be done and which are withheld.

Todd White was asked if we should pray for everyone or only the ones God wants to heal. Todd believes that God wants to heal everyone. When someone objects on the grounds that not everyone we pray for is healed, Todd’s reply is, “Show me the person Jesus didn’t die for, and that’s the one I won’t pray for.” Todd is an example of a person who operates from a type of protocol.

Not everyone believes that we should always pray for healing or a resurrection. Some people believe we should ask God for permission first. They generally point to the words of Jesus when He said He did nothing but what He saw the Father do (see Jn. 5:19). This view causes them to pursue only the healing or resurrection that God specifically authorizes. I have a friend named Sue Wilke, who has been used by God to heal people. Sue is forever having conversations with the Holy Spirit. Wherever she goes, she hears His voice directing her to this person or that one. Sue always asks permission and because she hears Him so well, she gets detailed instructions on how to pray for each one.

Earlier in the book, I shared the dream Ken Nichols had where Jesus gave him authority to heal anyone he wanted to. Ken operates from a kind of protocol because he was given instructions by Jesus to operate that way. Sue has no use for protocols, because she’s been trained to hear from God. I fall somewhere in the middle. I like to approach strangers with confidence, knowing that God will back me up if I want to see someone healed, even if I haven’t asked for His permission. But I frequently seek revelation from Him in the midst of praying, because it helps me get to the root of the problem and remove it.

Should we use protocols in healing and raising the dead, or should we seek God’s heart in every case? I think there is ample room for both positions. Some of us will ask permission, because we hear God clearly and we like getting His take on things. Some of us will pray for every deceased person because we’re convinced it’s always God’s will to raise them. In the end, we all need to obey the revelation God has given us. The only thing Jesus asks is that we are faithful to what He tells us. We don’t need to obey the revelation someone else has. We need to obey the revelation we have.

You might be wondering what it would look like to actually raise someone from the dead. The possible scenarios are nearly endless. A common setting for a resurrection is where a believer witnesses a stranger die suddenly and they quickly bring them back from death by praying or commanding them to come back to life. These individuals, after coming back, often go about their life without much trouble and with no need for the believer to become personally involved in their life other than to explain what happened.