Dead Woman Raised To Life

In 2015, we conducted a five-day Healing Encounter Ministry (HEM) Training Seminar in Bandung Trade Center, Bandung, Indonesia. Among the seminar trainers was an Indonesian minister, Pastor Elijah (This is not his actual name. To protect these brothers and sisters who are ministering in very sensitive areas of Indonesia, their real names are not used in this article) who was trained by Pastor William Lau, the founder of The Elijah Challenge International. Pastor Elijah was used by the Lord to initiate the raising of a young woman from the dead. Our seminar participants had the privilege of meeting this young believer, Rene, and here is the story of her resurrection.

Pastor Elijah prayed for Pastor Albert and Pastor Grace at the Healing Encounter Ministry (HEM) Training Seminar in Bandung.

Since her conversion, Rene was very faithful in attending church in Bandung. However, as she felt that age was catching up with her, she hurriedly got married but to an unbeliever. In her new role as a wife, she became too busy and subsequently, she stopped attending church completely. Pastor Elijah was her pastor and he felt sad that he could not get her back to church. Moreover, Rene had moved away to a village far away from his church.

Two years later, Pastor Elijah received the bad news that Rene was extremely ill. She had developed a cancerous cyst in her womb and it had burst. Her relatives rushed her to Immanuel Hospital in Bandung – a two-hour drive from her village. By the time, she arrived, her body was badly dehydrated as she had not been able to drink water for ten days. After the medical examination, the diagnosis of her ruptured ovarian cyst was not good. The medical team felt that they could not do anything to help her and told the family to give her the best comfort at home and get ready for her funeral as she would die very soon.

The two-hour drive back to the village was excruciating for Rene who was in extreme pain. Apparently, the infection had spread and her emaciated body could hold on longer. She promptly passed away at around 5:00 PM. According to her husband’s religion, she was to be buried as soon as possible. As the relatives prepared her dead body for the burial ceremony, Rene shared later that at that moment, her spirit was moving through a very dark tunnel.

When Pastor Elijah received the news of Rene’s death, his spirit was very troubled. He told us that he was very “unsatisfied” with this outcome. He immediately prayed to the Lord and received a stunning instruction from on high. He was to raise Rene from the dead and at a distance. Human reasoning started to bring doubt into his mind but he overwhelmed it by what he had learned from Pastor William Lau through The Elijah Challenge. He had heard from the Lord and he was to activate his mountain-moving faith to raise the dead. And he was to do it with “distance healing” through the kingly authority given to him by the Lord.

Pastor Elijah telephoned one of his Christian elders who lived in that village to visit Rene. He told this elder to “wake” Rene up so as to meet him at Immanuel Hospital in Bandung. The elder was puzzled at the request. He told his pastor in no uncertain terms, “Rene is dead”. He continued to explain that he was a little busy collecting funds for Rene’s funeral. Pastor Elijah assured him that he understood that Rene had died and that was why he was requesting the elder and his wife to go and raise Rene up on his behalf.

During the training seminar, we met up with this elder and his wife. We asked him why did he and his wife simply obey and go. The humble brother said that because he considered himself a soldier in the kingdom of God and when God’s pastor gave him an order, he had to obey. And so without a doubt, the elder and his wife rushed to Rene’s house. The elder’s wife managed to get in to see Rene’s body. All the mourners were around the body, chanting their prayer and they were wondering what this woman was going to do with the dead body. With mountain-moving faith, the elder’s wife took Rene’s hand and commanded, “Rene, get up in the name of Jesus!” The power and authority of God began to flow into Rene and she started to move her fingers. Then Rene opened her eyes to the great surprise of all the mourners. The Elder’s wife told Rena, “You have to meet Pastor Elijah at Immanuel Hospital.”

The village was in commotion. They had never seen or heard of anyone being raised from the dead. As the relatives drove Rene to meet Pastor Elijah, almost all the villagers followed them in their own vehicles. Pastor Elijah was surprised to see so many villagers at the hospital. The medical team examined Rene and found her to be very much alive and all she needed was hydration by means of intravenous solution. The next day, Rene was able to leave the hospital because the medical team had discovered that the ovarian cyst had miraculously vanished and the infection was gone. This was a double-miracle. After being raised from the dead, the Lord had also given her a clean bill of health.

When we met Rene at the training seminar, it was already three years since her resurrection from the dead. Today, our dear sister is living in good health, and the best of all is that she has become a dedicated handmaiden of the Lord. Her resurrection had also caused the people from the other religion to respond positively to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the last count, there were more than 2,700 people who gave their lives to Jesus Christ because of this incident. All glory to Jesus.

We thank God for Pastor Elijah who received a prompting of the Holy Spirit and was willing to take this step of mountain-moving faith. Here is a sermon that will encourage your faith to expect great things from God.

Part 4 – Why Some Are Healed And Others Are Not? [The Difference Between Faith and Presumption]

In the previous articles, I have pointed out that healing miracles may be blocked by the lack of faith – whether it is in the patient or the minister of healing. Therefore, having “mountain-moving faith” is of key importance in receiving healing miracles. I must also clarify that on many occasions, the lack of faith may not be the only reason why a patient is not miraculously healed.

Guilt Through Presumption
Many patients have carried the terrible burden of guilt because of the accusation by well-meaning healing ministers that these sick people lacked the faith to receive their healing miracles. For example, a 16-year old teenager who had both his legs amputated because of bone cancer was devastated by immense guilt. An elderly brother from our church visited him and told this young believer that God would grow his legs back if he had enough faith. The teenager was desperate because he could not muster enough faith to grow back his legs. His guilt was intensified by the presumption of our church member.

The question is asked, “Can God grow back those legs?” I believe that our Creator God can perform any miracles if He wanted to. Growing limbs would be a simple feat as compared with the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus. Imagine, Jesus had to restore the dead brain cells, non-functioning organs, and all the decaying flesh of Lazarus who had died and was buried for four days. (John 11:17-44). And in this case, Jesus raised Lazarus back to life without even requiring Lazarus to activate his faith. The poor fellow was dead, remember? He had no faith at all and 100% of faith was from Jesus.

Difference Between Faith And Presumption
God is sovereign and He knows what is best. When King Herod chopped off the head of John the Baptist (Mark 6:27), Jesus did not perform a miracle to place John’s head back and bring him back to life. Could Jesus raise the dead? Of course! Jesus raised the dead son of a widow of Nain (Luke 7:11–17) and also Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:54-55). You may question that wouldn’t it be better to raise John the Baptist as he would be of great benefit to the kingdom of God? You may have your reason and presumption but once again, God is sovereign and He knows best.

In the early church, the disciples were doing great miracles but when James was killed, they did not raise him back to life. (Acts 12:2). In the same chapter, we read about Peter being rescued from prison by an angel (Acts 12:7-10). Why didn’t God save James in the same manner? Wasn’t James a member of Christ’s inner circle of three, along with Peter and John? How about Stephen? Did the early church raise him from the dead after he was being stoned to death? (Acts 7:59). Could they raise the dead? Of course! Peter raised Dorcas from the dead in Acts 9 and Paul raised Eutychus who fell to his death after falling asleep by the window (Acts 20).

Three Basic Guiding Posts
Jesus said that “all things are possible” for those who have faith. James confirmed that without faith, no one would receive anything from God (James 1:7). However, so often, because of presumptuous faith, we move with unwarranted authority, thinking that we are the ultimate determiners of all miracles. That is an erroneous idea and an absolutely misplaced assumption. God has a bigger plan that goes far beyond our little crises, aches, and pains. He may want us to do certain things and not do certain things so as to fulfill His ultimate purpose. We just have to be more attentive and listen to His guidance.

Here are the three basic guiding posts that you would need to follow so as to avoid presumptuous faith and activate real mountain-moving faith. We have to ask whether we have…
1. Precedents, principles, or examples in the Bible that we can apply.
2. Specific instruction by God that clearly delineates our healing ministry.
3. A word of knowledge or the gift of discernment that directs us to do otherwise

Healing A Deaf-Mute
On a mission trip to Solo city, Indonesia, our mission team and I were faced with the request to heal a man who was born deaf and dumb. So, we ministered according to the above guiding posts:

1. Precedents, principles, OR examples in the Bible that we can apply.
In Mark 7:31-37, we learn that Jesus healed a man who was deaf and mute. The Gospel has identified no fewer than 26 healing miracles during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The apostles followed after the footsteps of Jesus and they performed many miracles (Acts 2:43). Peter and John healed a lame man at the gates of the Temple (Acts 3:7-11). Signs and wonders were a part of the ministry of the apostles (Acts 5:12). Peter healed many from various cities (Acts 5:12-16). Stephen, who was not an apostle, performed great wonders and signs (Acts 6:8). In Samaria, Evangelist Philip who was one of the deacons did great miracles and signs (Acts 8:6,7,13). Ananias healed Saul of his blindness (Acts 9:17-18). Peter healed Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35). In Joppa, Peter raised Dorcus from the dead (Acts 9:39-42). Paul performed healing miracles in Iconium (Acts 14:3,4). At Lystra, Paul healed a crippled man in the mighty name of Jesus (Acts 14:8-18). Paul delivered a woman who was possessed by an evil spirit (Acts 16:18). Paul performed many miracles in Ephesus (Acts 19:11,12). In Troas, Paul raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:8-12). Paul healed the islanders of Malta who were diseased (Acts 28:8-9). So, we have ample examples and precedents for us to proceed with healing this deaf-mute.

2. Specific instruction by God that clearly delineates our healing ministry.
The instruction from Jesus is “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12). What did Jesus do? He preached the Gospel of the kingdom. He healed the sick and cast out demons, and He made disciples. So, that means that we can do what Jesus did. Moreover, the Gospel recorded that Jesus had given power and authority to His disciples to heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the Gospel of the kingdom. (Luke 9 & 10), What more do we need? The Lord has spoken!

THE HEALING MIRACLE BEGUN
It was in Gereja Gideon Gumunggung, that we ministered to this man who was born deaf and dumb. In our first few commands, the man’s ears were opened and he could hear. However, since he could not talk, he gestured to that fact. And so I laid my hand upon his mouth and commanded the spirit of dumbness to leave him. And to test him, I indicated for him to repeat after me by saying “Puji Tuhan” (Praise God) and “Hallelujah!” As he repeated those words, the congregation was cheering. Some were in tears. Later, after the service, the sister of this man confirmed that this man who was already in his 50s, was born deaf and dumb and now he had received his healing miracle from the Lord. Praise the Lord.

3. A word of knowledge or the Spirit of discernment that directs us to do otherwise
In general, we do not need a word of knowledge to minister healing. When an infirm asks for healing, we would normally just go ahead and command for the infirmity to go in the mighty name of Jesus. We expect the person to be healed and that he or she should give glory to God after the miracle
However, if we were to discern within our spirit, that we should not proceed with ministering of healing at that particular instance, we should stop. As we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will reveal certain deeper spiritual issues in the patient. We usually cease all healing ministry and address the spiritual issues first. In summary, we do not need a word of knowledge or a Rhema word to minister healing but we do need to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit if He were to give us a word to stop ministering healing.

What have we learned from today’s lesson?
We have to be careful not to give the infirm guilt trip or false accusation that they do not have enough faith to be healed. Wisdom is needed in how to encourage the faith of those who are seeking divine healing. It may very well be the minister of healing who lacks that mountain-moving faith. On the other hand, God may have His reason to delay healing. Just like in my case – I had to wait in God’s waiting room for two years after Pastor William Lau had commanded healing for me. There are many reasons that we may not know until later in the future. Meanwhile, let’s be faithful and continue to minister healing and cast out demons in the mighty name of Jesus.

Here is a video on healing that might be helpful to you.

Part 3 – Why Some Are Healed And Others Are Not?

The question is often asked, “Why some are healed and others are not?” In the previous two articles, I shared the first primary reason for the lack of healing miracles: the patient harbors hatred, bitterness, and grudges. The second reason is when the healing minister does not have enough faith. In this article, I like to share a little about the era or time that we are living in so that we will understand why healing miracles are highly dependent upon faith.

THE PRESENT EVIL AGE
We are living in this “Present Evil Age” (Galatians 1:4) and waiting for the “Age To Come” (Matthew 12:32). The idea of the “Present Evil Age” comes from the “Fall of Mankind” in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). The dominion and authority of Adam were transferred to Satan who is now the ruler of the world. Jesus called Satan the ‘ruler of this world’ or “prince of this world” in John 16:11. However, the Word of God confirms that the world still belongs to God even though the devil usurped it. As the psalmist says in Psalm 24:1 – “The earth is the LORD’S…“

THE AGE TO COME
The “Age To Come” is in the future and it will entail complete healing and perfect health. There will be no more death too. However, we must not detach the “Age To Come” from this “Present Evil Age” because when Jesus came, He brought the blessings of the future “Age To Come” into the “here and now”.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:28: “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The “kingdom of God” here refers to the rule and reign of God rather than a geographical location. Salvation and divine healing are then the redemptive events that are actually happening in the midst of us. A sampling of the “perfection” of the “Age To Come” has entered our present experience. That is where our faith comes into play. Do we trust that the Lord would usher in this “Age To Come” and do we accept the “present blessings” of this future age? Do we believe the concept of the “kingdom of God is in the midst of you”? (Luke 17:21). In short, do we believe that we can receive healing and minister healing in the mighty name of Jesus?

ENGAGING THE AGE TO COME
When Jesus died on the cross, He provided us the privilege of being justified by faith. And so we are now engaging the “Age To Come” as the “righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21) instead of being guilty sinners residing in this “Present Evil Age”. By His death, we have moved from the rule of darkness to the rule of Christ our King (Colossians 1:13). Now, we can do what Jesus did while He was here on earth. We can preach the Gospel; we can make disciples for Christ; we can heal the sick and cast out demons. This is the authority of the kingdom of God here countering this “Present Evil Age”. We, the modern disciples of Christ, have become the “colonizing force” that will take the message of the kingdom of God all over the world, and… we will do it by the power and authority of Christ.

PREVIEWS OF THE AGE TO COME
All healing miracles are therefore previews of what would come later. The raising of the dead points us to the future when death shall be no more. The healing of physical ailments depicts the perfect health of the coming Age. So, why are still some people not healed today? Apart from the patient’s issues with unforgiveness or bitterness, and the lack of faith of the ministers, there are obviously other reasons. Some, we may know and some, we may not.

GOD’S WAITING ROOM
In my experience, about 80 percent of the miracles are instantaneous. However, for whatever reasons, some experienced healing at a much later date. For example, an elderly deaf man was not healed at the meeting but after he went home. While he slept, he felt a cool wind blowing at his head. Then the next day, he was completely healed of deafness. The first thing he heard was the complaining voice of his daughter-in-law.

I was not completely healed of ankylosing spondylitis that caused chronic pain in my body until almost two years after Pastor William had ministered healing to me. Like many who had delayed healing, the experience of pain and suffering drew me very close to God. During those ten years of affliction, I grew spiritually despite the weakness in my physical body. Then when the subsequent miraculous healing happened, it further deepened my relationship with the Person of Christ. The chronic pain and the subsequent miracle gave me a realistic view of my frailty and how much I needed the Lord.

During those two years after Pastor William’s healing command, I had no idea whether I would be healed or not. However, I continued to minister healing to others and had very good results. At one time, there was a man with chronic back pain, almost similar to that of mine, who got healed. In my heart, I was complaining: “Lord, how come you healed him and I am still in pain?” God impressed upon my heart with a question: “Would you still minister healing if you were not healed?” My response was “I would!”

With that, I was placed in God’s waiting room of healing for about two years. Then one day, I got up without pain at all. The Lord had healed me without anyone laying hand on me. That was in December 2007 and since then, I have remained without pain. Now, many people would have given up their faith in the healing power of God because they were put in the waiting room for a long time. I calculated that I actually waited a total of twelve years for my healing miracle. The first ten years were filled with a certain sense of unbelief. After encountering The Elijah Challenge with Pastor William Lau, it became a journey of faith.

God is still the sovereign God. He knows best and I pray that if you are now in the waiting room as I once was, please continue to have faith. Jesus still heals today.
Here is a message on how you can apply the promises of Jesus to do greater things for the kingdom of God. Trust that it will help to boldly activate your faith to become the person whom God wants you to be.

Part 2 -Why Some Are Healed and Some Are Not?

By Albert Kang
“Why are some people healed after we commanded healing and why are some not healed?”

This is a question that is not easy to answer as there is a wide variety of reasons behind it. In the previous article, I identified unforgiveness and bitterness, on the part of the patient, as the primary hindrance to healing. In this article, you will learn that the responsibility for the lack of healing miracles rests upon the shoulders of the healing ministers.

On one occasion, Jesus rebuked his disciples for not being able to heal the demonized boy (Matthew 17:14-22). He was quite upset and reprimanded, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Why did Jesus expect His disciples to cast out the demon and heal the boy? The reason is quite obvious – because they were empowered to do so. These disciples were trained and empowered to do as Jesus did. The Gospel’s record is clear about this appointment and empowerment:

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. (Luke 9:1-2 NIV).

As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8 NIV).

Then why were those disciples not able to drive out the demon and heal the boy? The disciples themselves were puzzled. They asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” The reply of Jesus was “Because you have so little faith.” That tells us that even though we have been given the power and authority to heal the sick and cast out demons, we still need to exercise our faith.

WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith is simply the ability to trust. Jesus taught His disciples further about faith in Matthew 17:20 (NLT). “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible”. Didn’t Jesus just chide them for having little faith? Then why did He say that even if their faith was to be as small as a mustard seed, it would still be powerful enough to move mountains?

Faith is not a dead pebble but a living seed. It can grow. And it is not just any seed but a mustard seed that Jesus described as the “least of all seeds” (Matthew 13:32). The difference between a mustard seed and the other seeds is the amount of energy stored in the seedpod. A large seed has more energy and so it can last longer in order to seek nutrients, water, and sunlight. A mustard seed is too tiny to have extra storage of energy. This means that it is completely vulnerable to the environment, and has only one chance to make it right. Without resources to survive, it has to completely rely on God for its survival. In short, mustard seed has no other option except to have “faith” and “trust” in God for its growth.

Faith alone is futile if there is no object of faith. Faith without God is meaningless. You cannot have faith in faith or trust in trust. The power does not reside in your faith or your trust alone but in the Person whom you put your faith and trust in. Paul the Apostle talked about his trust in the Lord in 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV) – ” …I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

Now, apart from trusting in God, your faith also requires a promise from God. Has God promised you certain things and if so, can you trust Him to perform them? Is there a promise of God you can heal the sick and cast out demons in the mighty name of Jesus? Do you trust that you have been given the power and authority from Jesus? (Luke 9:1-2, 10:17-19). Do you believe in what Jesus said about you having the ability to do what He did while He was here on earth and in fact be able to do far greater work than He did? (John 14:12).

WHOSE FAITH TO DEPEND ON?
In the narrative of the demonized boy, you will notice that even the father of the victim had no faith. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the responsibility for the lack of miracle, in this case, should fall upon that unbelieving father? Didn’t the father say to Jesus, “Help me, my unbelief”? (Mark 9:24). Jesus, Himself, did not do many miracles in His hometown because of the lack of faith among His town folks. Very few were healed there. (Matthew 13:58). However, when we look at it carefully, there is a difference between the demonized boy’s event and that of Jesus at His hometown. In this instance, the father was seeking healing for his son but lacked the faith to believe for his son’s miracle, while in Jesus’ hometown, the people were unwilling to seek healing because they did not believe in Him and His ability at all.

A PRINCIPLE LEARNED
From this event of the demonised boy, we observe a principle – the faith of the minister is more important than that of the patient. As long as the patient is willing to be ministered to, even he has no faith, we as healing ministers should have faith to heal the person.

Grace and I were ministering in an Orang Asli village. Some of the believers there brought us to a hut to minister to a young man who could not walk. He had a motorcycle accident a couple of days ago. We talked to the man about the healing power of Jesus but he was very shy to the point of avoidance. He just shook his head and said that he was alright. To help him relax, we asked him whether he still had pain and what kind of treatment he was getting. Gradually, he opened up as the rest of the Orang Asli believers encouraged him. We realized that at that point, the healing miracle would have to depend solely upon our faith.

As I laid a hand upon his injured leg, Grace began commanding in the Malay language. (My knowledge of Malay is very limited). At that point, Grace and I were applying the KINGLY AUTHORITY of the Lord Jesus and with determined faith, we commanded all the tissues, nerves, fibers, ligaments, tendons and bones to be healed in the mighty name of Jesus. By faith, I helped the man to stand up and said to him, “Jalan!” That means “walk” in Malay. The poor man was hesitant but looking at our determined gaze, he took the first step. Then the second, third, and subsequently walked to the doorway and back. He was amazed that there was only a “shadow” of pain that was left.

We did not like that little lingering pain to remain and so Grace commanded again. That tiny bit of pain left and the man walked without pain. Everybody in that hut rejoiced. We then shared the Gospel with this healed young man and subsequently assigned him to a local believer to do the follow-up with him. Once again, the two-hand punch of “healing the infirm” and “sharing the Gospel” was applied effectively. And this would not be appropriated without our faith in Jesus Christ and His promise of power and authority to minister.

Here is a video message that will encourage your faith:

Part 1 – Why Some Are Healed And Others Are Not?

The common question in our healing ministry is why are some people healed after we commanded healing and why are some not healed? For example, one deaf man was healed of his deafness while another deaf person next to him was not healed. I had used the same authority of Jesus and the same command approach recommended by The Elijah Challenge. To the first deaf man, it was an amazing miracle. He was able to hear clearly after more than ten years of deafness, but for the second deaf man, it was a great disappointment. Why did God heal one and not the other?

SEEKING FOR THE ANSWER
When I was an itinerant preacher, it was exciting to command healing for a large congregation. People were healed and a long line of them queued night after night on stage to testify of God’s healing miracles. However, now, as a pastor, even though I rejoice with many who have been healed in our church, I have to explain to those members who do not receive their healing miracles or even improve in their health condition.

We know that ultimately, it is the sovereignty of God that is the basis of all healing miracles. We may command healing accordingly, but the miracles come from Jesus. And even those who are not healed, God, in one way or another, ministered to them.

For example, for about ten years, I suffered from chronic pain caused by ankylosing spondylitis. During every attack, the presence of the Lord was there to comfort me. The benefit was the intense presence and love of God right there in my room. Amidst the pain and tears, He told me to wait for that miracle.

In 2005, Pastor William Lau, the founder of Elijah Challenge had commanded healing for me. I did feel better but the back pain was still lingering. Then in 2007, I received my complete healing miracle. One day, I woke up with no pain at all. Nobody laid hands on me, there was no evidence of someone praying for me… it was just the mercy of God at work in my body.

At some level, the people who are not healed, have received a touch or an answer from the Lord. But, though this is true, the patients who are still suffering from diseases, are not satisfied with just this blessing. They want to be healed – they want their healing miracles.

In this and the next few articles, I hope to explain why some people do not receive their healing miracles. My fundamental belief is that God wants to heal us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In short, He wants His people to be holistic in their health. That is the reason why Jesus is coming back again. This is still an imperfect world and Jesus will bring us the perfect world…where there will be no more diseases and death.

In this article, I like to share the first most important reason why some people are not receiving their healing miracles.

Sins and Offences
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (Proverb 28:13 NLT)

In a healing service held in a small Malaysian church, among the ten people who came out for healing, one woman was not healed. All nine received their healing miracles and there was much joy among the congregation except for that woman.

At that time, I was still new to the healing ministry, and I was curious why only that woman was not healed. After the service, I caught up with her and interviewed her. In the process, this woman confessed that she had harbored bitterness against her pastor’s wife. I led her into confession and repentance of her bitterness. While she was confessing and repenting, her arthritic knees were miraculously healed. She felt the pain and tension depart from those knees. She stood up and walked to test her healed knees. I told her to try climbing the staircase and she did. This woman came back beaming with joy because she was not only healed but relieved of that terrible bitterness. It seemed that the devil had used her unhappiness and misunderstanding against her pastor’s wife to bind her physically.

Divine healing is an act of God’s grace and mercy. Therefore, if a person is in the kingdom of God, she has to move with this grace and mercy within. Forgiveness and graciousness are an integral part of a believer’s lifestyle.

FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF MERCY
You will remember that at one time, the Apostle Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” And our Lord answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22 BLB). Of course, Jesus did not mean that we should stop forgiving after 490 times or even 77 times – He meant that there should be no limits to our forgiveness.

Then Jesus went on to emphasize this important principle of forgiveness through the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The parable was about a king who had canceled the debt of ten thousand bags of gold that the servant owed him. However, when the servant went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. The fellow servant begged for mercy, but this forgiven servant refused to forgive the debt. Instead, he threw the servant into prison until the poor man could pay the debt.

What did the king do when he heard about this? He called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, the king handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. Then Jesus concluded by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35 NIV).

Now after all these years of healing ministry, I realize that it is unreasonable to expect the healing miracles of God to come upon a person who is willfully holding unto unforgiveness. Divine healing is an act of mercy and it does not seem to work upon a child of God who is not merciful. As long as he wants to hold onto grudges of the offense done by others upon him, he is creating a barrier to his own healing miracle. King David had so wisely said, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalm 66:18 NLT).

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE TRULY FORGIVEN?
1. When you think about the person, do you still think about the hurt that he had caused you? If so, you have not really forgiven. You may say you did, but this little indication reveals the deep struggle inside.

2. Are you still hoping that God will teach the person a lesson for hurting you? If so, the sense of revenge is still keeping you in bondage. There may be consequences from God upon that person but your heart still wants to hurt the person.

3. Would you be willing to help the person if he or she asked for help? I believe you know your answer.

Forgiveness is a choice that you make to release yourself from the bondage of bitterness, hatred, unresolved anger, and grudges. Medical science has revealed that all these negative emotions will build up toxins in your body and also cause you stress. And that is how bitter people are usually very unhealthy. In my encounter with some of these people, I find many of them have restlessness, insomnia, constant migraine headaches, and even developed ulcers in the stomach. Now, I am not saying that all such infirmities are the result of bitterness. Some have other reasons and only their doctors will be able to tell them.

When you are bitter, angry, and resentful towards someone, you are giving him the power to control your healing miracles. Only by forgiveness, you will be able to take that power back. I trust that you will be wise to make the right choice and be healed in the mighty name of Jesus.

In the next few articles, I will share what other ways are preventing people from receiving their healing miracles. Keep track of this blog by subscribing to it.

Here is a video about how to receive healing in the mighty name of Jesus. Be sure to give thanks to God for your healing and testify of His goodness to others.

How To Fulfil the Great Commission When Demons Terrify You?

At a restaurant in Kota Damansara, Malaysia, a restaurant owner was suffering from pain in her leg. Grace and I knew this woman and upon seeing her painful condition, we offered to heal her in the name of Jesus. To our amazement, this Buddhist woman accepted our request because she somehow believed that such supernatural healing could happen. We promptly healed her with the authority and power given by our Lord Jesus Christ. After approximately more than a month, we visited her restaurant again and asked about her condition. She said ever since that day she had no more pain in her leg. This healing has made it easier for us to share with her about Jesus Christ and the salvation provided by the Lord. This is the “Two-hand Punch” of the Elijah Challenge Ministry – heal the sick and preach the Word.

THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Today, most believers are aware of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The time for obedience is even more critical because there is still much work to be done. Jesus is very concerned about our obedience: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Doing what Jesus instructed is crucial to our spiritual growth. We cannot choose to obey only portions of His instruction. Servants must submit to the Master and do what the Master desires. To obey only when it is convenient is not the correct attitude of a faithful servant.

Sadly, many Christians, who have said the sinner’s prayer, but have no idea what power evangelism is all about. They have been taught the doctrines, gone through water baptism, and even attended cell meetings week after week. They were taught about bearing fruits so that there is a transformation in their character, and they were even trained to share the Gospel with the unchurched. However, to those who are diligently sharing the Gospel, they soon discover another area that they have not received training in – healing the sick and casting out demons. The lack of knowledge in this area has caused the Church in general to avoid the works and activities of the demonic world.

One believer told me that she would not touch the demons with a ten-foot pole because she was afraid of them. Another said that she would not lay hands on the sick and command healing because their diseases might jump into her. A brother believes that in this day and age, one does not really need to cast out demons or heal the sick so as to share the Gospel. A theological student pointed to the fact that no demons were being cast out in the Old Testament and therefore all these demonic kinds of stuff must be created during the second temple period and adopted by the New Testament. Some believe that demons are not fallen angels but just the “ghosts” of those of dead Nephilim and their giant-clan descendants and so they are quite harmless. Some even challenge the idea of Satan as a fallen angel and whether he is just a myth created by the imagination of man.

THE POWER TRANSFORMATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Before we talk about power evangelism, we need to talk about power transformation. This is the “journey inward” so that we would be transformed internally to become more and more like Christ. This is crucial in that this “journey inward” would affect our “journey outward” and that is facing the world and confronting the enemy.

This is not a journey to become “spiritual” but allowing the spirituality of Christ in the “Born-again” you to flow out. It is like a marriage – you do not work out so hard to be “married” if you are already married. What you are doing as a married person is to work out your married commitment of love, care, and attention to your spouse. You allow that love for your spouse to become tangible actions and events in your marriage. Have you ever noticed that most older loving couples actually look alike in their mannerism and even in their look? That is the result of years of dedication and commitment to each other.

Similarly to become more like Jesus, we need to acknowledge His holiness and Agape love. The Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in us is vital to remind and enable us to allow that holiness and Agape love of Christ to flow through us. We are able to do this because we have been Born Again and have the spirituality of Christ in us. We just need to give the Holy Spirit the liberty to flow like “rivers of living water”. The disciples who walk closely with Christ will soon, just like those loving old couples, behave and look like Christ.

ARE THE MODERN DISCIPLES REALLY HELPLESS?
Some churches have taught that believers are helpless but they have forgotten that believers are empowered by Christ in all things. An important aspect of the Christian life is to fulfill the Great Commission to disciple all nations. Once again, the Lord does not leave this major task to the disciples without the accompanying power and authority.

In Luke 9 and 10, Jesus commanded His disciples to preach that the “Kingdom of God is near.” Accompanying this message, Jesus also gave the authority and power “to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” We can see that whether it is in the area of sanctification or fulfilling the Great Commission, the Lord has made sure that His disciples have the capacity to achieve them.

The Great Commission has to do with a strong message of repentance and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. Just like the time of Elijah, the Lord is now challenging the Church to return to Him in all aspects of obedience and ministry. The spirit of Elijah was that of courage and confidence in God’s manifested power. The fire came down, and the half-hearted non-committed people turned to the Lord.

In the same manner, when believers preach repentance with manifest healing miracles, many believers and pre-believers will respond positively to the Lord.
The objectives of the believers in the End Times is three-fold:

1. To fulfil the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel with power.
2. To challenge the backslidden believers to return to the Lord.
3. To empower the restored believers so that they can in turn fulfil the Great Commission.

To reject the supernatural does not make the evil spirits go away. Western missionaries who come from secular societies have a rude awakening when they come to the Far East and Third-World countries. They expect to teach the Christians in those countries but instead, they have to learn about real demons and spiritual warfare from their “less-sophisticated counterparts”. Soon they realize that the Gospel is not merely about teaching good Christian values and behaviors, but real spiritual warfare against principalities and powers of darkness.

The evil that many in the Third-World encounter is not mere human weakness but actual demonic power. Unbelief is a dangerous thing. Like the Pharisees of old, the modern preachers and theologians from the West are seldom trained to deal with actual demons and diseases. Everything is reduced to the natural realms and many of these ministers do not even believe in the existence of the supernatural. Their ministries are utterly ineffective in the frontline of spiritual warfare.

In one evangelistic meeting, a girl who was only 16 years old who had black lipstick, black painted fingernails, black clothes with black shoes, suddenly manifested demons. As I rushed forward to confront the “enemy” and cast it out, the American pastor who was me, ran to the back of the sanctuary and hid there. After the event, I confronted him, asking why didn’t he come to help me. He said haltingly that he was afraid. He had never encountered a demonic case in his life and that first encounter threw him into a panic. He did not realize that the demons would be so ferocious and he was absolutely terrified to the point of being paralyzed. That was when it dawned on me why the Great Commission is slow to be fulfilled. All these preachers and teachers may teach and expound the Bible with intricate theological expositions but they lack the frontline experience. It is like a man who writes and gives talks about fishing but has never fished once in his life.

How to fulfill the Great Commission when demons terrify the believers? What is the use of theological prowess when theologians are powerless in spiritual warfare?

Please do not get me wrong here – I am not against theological training and good Bible exposition. (I am a postgraduate from a Bible Seminary and I fully encourage every full-time minister to get a Bible School education). It is a “both-and” rather than an “either-or” approach that we have adopted. We believe that every practitioner should have a sound biblical and theological foundation along with his or her faith to utilize the authority and power to heal the infirm and cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

Here is the link to The Elijah Challenge website where you can receive teaching on healing and casting our demons. Everything is free there. You can also learn directly from the free training videos produced by my mentor, Rev William Lau, the founder, and director of The Elijah Challenge.

https://theelijahchallenge.org/

Here is a video that gives you an idea of what the “Two-hand Punch” ministry of “sharing the Gospel and healing the sick” is all about.

The Invasive Power of The Kingly Authority

The Three Authorities of the Church
The Church has been given three authorities – Priestly Authority, Prophetic Authority and Kingly Authority. For the purpose of this article, I am going to share about the results when you apply the Kingly Authority in your life and ministry.

The Priestly And Prophetic Authority
The Priestly Authority is for entering the presence of God. That is the place where we talk to God and so strictly speaking, it is not a battlefield but more like the throne room of God. The Prophetic Authority is used to minister to the people of God. It is applied after we have spent time in God’s presence. It is in this place of prayer where we apply the Priestly Authority to receive direct instructions from God for His people. Then we turn around and face the people to deliver God’s Word with the Prophetic Authority.

The Kingly Authority
The Kingly Authority is different from the first two authorities as it is for spiritual warfare, attacking purposes and is confined to confronting the spiritual enemies and engaging diseases. This is primarily for invasion purposes. We do not pray or preach when we are engaging the enemies in spiritual warfare. We command the demons and diseases to leave in mighty name of Jesus. In spiritual warfare, we take on the role of a spiritual warrior and attack the domain of darkness. In the frontline engagement, whether we are healing the sick or casting out demons, we are representing the kingdom of God, coming in the mighty name of Jesus and utilizing the Kingly Authority that Jesus has given us.

Here are some of the results when we believe the promises of God and apply the Kingly Authority.

GREAT COURAGE – Like young David who faced Goliath, people who recognise their Kingly Authority have Spirit-empowered courage. Peter, who denied Christ three times, applied his Kingly Authority and he was able to confront the kingdom of darkness with unprecedented boldness. Being full of the Holy Spirit, Peter preached with great courage, confronted the spiritual forces with the Kingly Authority that produced great signs and wonders and continued to do so until his martyrdom. Today, the same Holy Spirit plays a very important role in providing divine courage to all who believe.

UNSHAKEABLE FAITH – When filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, a believer is firm and fearless in his confrontation against the demonic power. He knows his God-given authority to command and he will not request or beg the demons to come out. He is unshakeable in his faith as he takes authority over the demons and like those early ordinary disciples who came back from their mission, he can declare that even the demons submit to him in the mighty name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). In the same manner, you can exercise your God-given power and authority against all demonic activities and diseases.

DIVINE CONTROL – During the time of ministry, the Holy Spirit is in full control. He will give you a calm disposition and full control of your emotion and mental faculty. You do not need to become hysterical or behave as though you, yourself, have been possessed by an evil spirit. I have seen that happened before. The minister was inexperienced and got caught with the emotion of the situation. He was screaming and ranting, behaving worse than the one who was possessed. My mentor, Rev William Lau, has been my primary model of what a true power-packed minister is all about. During ministry, whether it be healing or deliverance, Rev William is always calm and confident. He is not pretending because he has the fullest confidence of the promises of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

TANGIBLE POWER – Jesus promised that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8). The Greek word for power is dunamis, which refers to the inherent power of the Holy Spirit residing in us to preach the Gospel with signs and wonders. This power continues to abide with us and lives within us.

On many occasions of ministry, I could feel the power of God being imparted from my body and touching the infirm. There would be a warm sensation or something that felt like an electrical current that travelled through my arms and palms. There is nothing mystical about this. Jesus, Himself, had experienced tangible power leaving Him. When the woman with the issue of blood touched Him, Jesus exclaimed, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

In most instances, the people, whom I laid hands on, were healed instantly. However, having mentioned that, we do not need to have this type of tangible feeling or sensation for the power of God to flow and heal the infirm.

INTRINSIC POWER – In a house church in Shanghai, my body was very tired after ministering the whole day. As I sat and rested on a chair, a tall young man approached me to command healing for his chronic headache. I had seen him seeking healing ministry from the other trained believers but to no avail. As I was about to stand up to lay my hand on his head, the young man asked me not to bother standing. Instead, he bowed his head to the level where I was sitting so that I could lay my hand on it. He further added that he would receive his healing from the Lord that way. What faith he had! Hence, I laid my hand on his head as he bowed low. I did not feel anything during the command for his healing. He suddenly raised his head and shouted that the pain was gone!

Another healing miracle happened in Johor, the southern state of West Malaysia. Grace and I were ministering in a Church when during the healing session, an elderly man, with a deaf ear, requested for healing ministry. We usually allowed the trained participants to do the healing but at that moment, I was passing by this man when the request was made. I simply put my finger into his ear and commanded in Mandarin, “Ear, be opened”. That was it. There was no sensation of warmth or electrifying current in my hand. Absolutely nothing. The most exciting part was that the man was instantly healed. He could hear and repeat every word when I tested him. At that time, I was so fascinated by this instant miracle that I tested him a few more times just to be sure that I was not mistaken.

These incidents only confirm the fact that the Holy Spirit’s power can work miracles with or without any intense physical sensation. The Lord had honoured the pure simple faith of this young man and healed him instantly. And in similar vein, the Lord had healed the elderly deaf man because of his faith.

The HEM Seminar is a 6-day stay-in intensive training seminar. It would resume in 2022. For further information, please contact the blogger.

Failure to Exercise Kingly Authority

Many churches today seldom apply their Kingly Authority because they have placed great emphasis upon the Priestly Authority and the Prophetic Authority. This means that churches spend a lot of time praying and preaching but hardly any time encountering the enemies.

Jesus prayed and preached much, but He also spent much time engaging the demonic forces by casting out many evil spirits and healing the sick. Therefore, to restore their ministry balance, the believers in the Church need to reach out to the community and exercise their Kingly Authority to heal the infirm and cast out demons.

These miracles and the message of the Gospel will point people to Christ.  The Elijah Challenge is a ministry that focuses upon this Kingly Authority. To date, thousands of believers are able to heal the infirm and cast out demons as they exercise this Kingly Authority in the name of Jesus. The Healing Encounter Ministry (HEM) is also getting very good results. Many of those disciples who have received our training are themselves ministering with power and authority. In fact, healing the infirm and casting out demons in the mighty name of Jesus has become second nature to them. Praise the Lord for the revival of this ministry of Power Encounter.

If you need further information about The Elijah Challenge ministry please go to our website: https://theelijahchallenge.org/

Here is a video that might help you understand more about the Three Authorities of the Church.

Five Practical Steps To Demolish Spiritual Strongholds

During her teenage years, a lady became a believer after her parents got divorced. She learned about her father’s infidelity and felt betrayed. However, she found comfort in God who became her loving and perfect Father. Her cell leader taught her about forgiving her father, and she did. For twenty-plus years, she lived with that belief that she had forgiven her biological father. However, in a recent counseling session, the Holy Spirit revealed that her forgiveness for her father was done in a self-centred, condescending and judgmental manner. She was focusing on all the wrong things that her father had done instead of the love of God for her wayward father. Her forgiveness was clinical or legalistic but without true Agape love.

In fact, hidden within this sister was lots of unresolved anger. Her way of retaliation was by making a personal vow to succeed so that she and her mother would never need to depend on her father or any other men. As she grew into a young adult, she had many failed boy-girl relationships. The primary reason was because she had lost trust in men. Somehow, she got this notion that all men would behave just like her father. She vowed to take care of her mother all by herself and never allowed her mother to be bullied by another man. All these resolves had made her a very hard person. Little did she realize that she had allowed the devil to build spiritual strongholds of pride, self-idolization, self-dependence and bitterness in her life.

How A Spiritual Stronghold Is Being Built
A spiritual stronghold may be referred to as a bad attitude, negative habit, harmful idea or distorted belief that has dominated one’s life to a point that one continues to make wrong choices and ungodly decisions. A stronghold often begins with an inner hurt or a disappointment that the victim has experienced. When this hurt is not quickly handed over to the Lord in “Handing-over Prayer” then after a long time it begins to grow deep roots. This discrepancy in life becomes the foundation upon which the enemy will build the stronghold. Brick by brick of misinterpreted ideas and distorted concepts will cause the wall of this stronghold to steadily rise and strengthen. For example, the sister whom I mentioned above, believed the lie that all men would be like her wayward father. As she listened and read more news about wayward husbands, her mind began to justify her misconception. What was her mistake? She had taken the “part” to become the “whole”. Her spiritual stronghold had almost become an impregnable defensive structure of justification in self-preservation.

What Does A Spiritual Stronghold Do To You?
A spiritual stronghold is powerful enough to modify the way you behave and respond to normal situations. The same sister did not respond very well to suitors and even though she did like some of them. Her belief that these men would ultimately betray her had caused her to turn them away. The lie about all men being unfaithful had become such a stronghold that it was producing a deep anguish in her soul. Her ‘perception of reality’ contradicted with the ‘actual reality’ and that caused confusion within. She went through unimaginable mental stress and emotional turmoil. She was angry with herself because she did have some positive feelings for some of these men. Then she blamed her father and was very bitter about his past sins. Ultimately, she was upset with God for creating all the unfaithful men like her father. She was in a catch-22 situation – her heart desired to have a male companion or husband but that same heart distrusted men.

Is Having Spiritual Strongholds Similar To Demonization?
A spiritual stronghold is more like a demonic oppression but not to the point of demonic possession. The mind, emotion, and will are being trapped by the continual bombardment of fresh lies or memories of old lies. Daily, all these negative thoughts become fodders for the human reasoning to chew upon. The enemy is working overtime to help the victim justified why he or she has the rights to be remain hurt and disappointed.

We notice that even though the victims are believers, when they are in spiritual bondage, they suffer spiritual blindness too. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age [a reference to Satan and his demons] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It is not just the unbelievers who are blinded by the devil but the disobedient believers are also afflicted in the same way. For example, there seems to be a persistent hindrance in preventing these people with spiritual strongholds from fully accepting the Word of God. Apart from that, they are basically blinded to the truth, facts and reality. Some actually get very angry when we try to present these to them.

Here are five practical steps that you can take to demolish all spiritual strongholds in your life:

1. Finding The Root Causes – Before you can demolish your spiritual strongholds, you have to know the the root causes of these lies. You cannot remove the strongholds with changed behavior alone, you need the power of the Holy Spirit. It is never about behavioral modification but identity transformation. First, allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the root cause of your spiritual stronghold – like the sister mentioned above, her root cause was that of rejection and insecurity. Some have strongholds because of unforgiveness and others because of hatred. Whatever it may be, hand it purposefully to Jesus in your handing-over prayer. As we have been forgiven by God for all our sins, we have to learn how to forgive those who offended or hurt us.

2. Handing-over Prayer – Handing-over prayer is a really good tool to use in forgiving the people who have hurt you. As the Holy Spirit reveals different people who hurt you, all you need to do is to surrender them to the Lord. Literally hand them over to the Lord. If the hurtful memories come back and mess up your emotion again, calm down, hand them over to Jesus again. You can do this type of prayer wherever you are and whenever you have time. For example, I do my handing-over prayer while cleaning the house, driving a car or simply relaxing. Whenever any unhappy thought comes or judgmental spirit attacks, I just whisper a prayer to hand all these to the Lord. Keep handing over until your faith and emotion catch up with your handing-over prayer.

3. Taking Every Thought Captive – Paul says that – “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). All these strongholds of harmful thoughts, when not contested, will affect your life and destiny. Watch how Jesus prevented a God-contradicting idea that was hurled at him when His own disciple, Peter, suggested that He should avoid the cross. The Bible says that Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns’ ” (Matthew 16:22–23). That was a decisive and clean move. It instantly took the “crossless” thought captive. As a former military man, that temptation was tantamount to the enemy trying to establish a beachhead onshore. And Jesus used the biggest canon to blow it away.

4. Appropriating The Name of Jesus – I like to share a technique that I use when negative or angry thoughts want to take over my mind and cause me to hate or criticize someone. I declare out loud, “In The Mighty Name of Jesus!” You will notice that these words have eight syllables and it should take you less than eight seconds to declare these words.
Why is this important? The reason is that when those negative thoughts come, they want to enter into your basal ganglia that is the part of your mind where you are entertaining all your hurts and disappointments. And if you do not rebuke those thoughts in eight seconds, they will become a part of your misery. When you open your mouth to take authority in the mighty name of Jesus, you bind the strong man and prevent him from pushing all these unhealthy thoughts into the region of your self-doubt, worries, inner hurts and disappointments. Immediately after your – “In The Mighty Name of Jesus!” – you are pulled back from the twilight zone of demonic influence into the present moment where the Spirit of God is. You can then immediately hand all those negative thoughts and ideas of hatred over to Jesus. [see Handing-Over Prayer),

5. Meditating Upon The Scriptures -If the feeling of anger and bitterness continue to grip your heart, it can only mean that there are still vacancies and voids in your life. Your life is not fully transformed as it may still have rebellion, immorality and corruption. The Bible says to not “give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27). The next thing that can definitely help you will be meditating upon the Scriptures. Let God’s Word fill the voids and vacancies. Our church has prepared a series of scripture-meditation videos that are no longer than 15 minutes each. You can get started immediately by watching these free videos.

Submit yourself to the Word of God and let the presence of God saturate you. You do not resist the devil by sheer will power but by the Word of God. The more you submit to God’s Word, the lies of the devil will have no place in your heart. The devil does not like yielded disciples of Christ who humble themselves and obey the Word of God. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

A constant meditation upon the Word of God will also give you the assurance of who you are in Christ and what your real identity is in the kingdom of God. This truth alone will nullify the persistent lies of the devil which include self-doubt and self-rejection.

All spiritual strongholds can be destroyed but you need to take those drastic measures mentioned in this article so as to get rid of them. You can be victorious and live in peace, joy and blessings! Here is a helpful video for you.

What Makes The Demons Come Back Again?

A woman desperately wanted to place a curse upon her ex-husband. She had been to different bomohs and witch doctors but somehow, their black magic were not effective. Through some friends, she learned that she could cause real harm to her ex by getting the supernatural power herself. She was recommended to a Thai temple in Bangkok and so with a friend, she flew there. They found the Wat (Thai word for temple) and without hesitation, this hurting woman agreed to perform in a very unique power-endowment ritual. She was to strip and allow the monks to wrap her naked body with a large yellow blanket-like talisman that had many demonic curses written upon it. In that hour-long ceremony, the monks summoned evil spirits to respond to her request and the result was that she, herself, became possessed by evil spirits.

The Result Of Playing With Fire
When this woman returned home, instead of having the supernatural ability to harm her ex, her own life was thrown into a tailspin. She was seeing apparitions, hearing strange sounds and experiencing deep depression. She realized that she was in big trouble and sought for help. One of her friends, who had just become a Christian, brought her to the Church. Later, she repented of her sins, renounced the devil and accepted Jesus as her Savior. But devil was not going to give her up so easily. She manifested and during the deliverance sessions, some demons left. However, her inner struggle with unresolved anger and bitterness towards her ex continued to be the magnet that drew the demons back into her life.

Every time, she had the evil thought and felt the deep anger against her ex, it was as though, she had placed Jesus outside the door, while she partied with the demons inside. There was definitely no Holy Spirit to serve as the Strong Man in her life. Her confession and repentance were only superficial at best. It took many months of counseling, confessing, repenting, renouncing and forgiving before she could be set free. In our experience with such deliverance, the unresolved anger and bitterness are the toughest doors to close. We can cast out the spirits but soon they would return to the victim. We thus called this the type of deliverance the “swinging-door” syndrome.

The Swinging Door of Unresolved Anger and Bitterness
From case to case, we are 100% certain that the “swinging door” of spiritual attack is revolving around unresolved anger and bitterness. When you lack self-control and allow such anger to overwhelm you, the devil will sneak in through the back door and fan the flame of hostility. The devil will instigate you to inflict harm on someone else by falsely accusing them or even uttering a curse against them. Such unrestrained dislike will lead to hatred and bitterness that subsequently will lead to physical violence. The hatred can become so intensified that the person may seek demonic power, just like the woman that I mentioned above, and move you down the dark alley of the occults.

When To Stop Casting Out Demons
There was a very difficult deliverance case, no matter how many times, we cast the demons out, in a short while, it returned back into the victim. In one of our Elijah Challenge training seminars, this woman suddenly created a commotion at the back of the sanctuary. She was singing and praising God loudly. The ushers could not stop her and so Grace rushed to handle the situation. With a few volunteers, she led this woman into the prayer room. By the time the training was over, Grace and the volunteers were still casting out the demons from this woman. When I went in to help, I realized that there was only one persistent demon left. When we took authority over it, the demon was literally weeping and begging. It pleaded for us not to cast it out as it had no place to go. We insisted that it had to leave that woman and it was agreeable. It screamed, “I will go! I will go!” When the demon left and we could see that the tension in the woman was gone and her face showed total relief.

As we prepared to leave the prayer room, suddenly the woman manifested again. It was the same demon who claimed that it had no place to go and so it came “home”. We cast it out, asked the woman to invite the Holy Spirit into her life, but in a short while, the evil spirit came back again. We did that several times and every time it was able to come back. We decided to stop the deliverance session and went into counseling.

We began to question the woman, looking for a reason why there was a swinging-door syndrome. The woman said that she hated her mother and that she would never forgive her. The reason was that her mother had rejected her when she was being conceived and had wanted to abort her. She said that after the abortion failed and she was born, her mother just hated her. In fact, now that she had a daughter of her own, her mother would often talk to the grandchild but would not talk to her. Her heart was wounded with disappointments and hurts. She hated her mother for all the deep emotional injuries that she had experienced while growing up. She hated her mother more for showing preferences to the granddaughter but did not even bother to communicate with her.

It was a big mess of emotional hurts and spiritual bondage. We could not convince this woman to hand all her grievances to the Lord and forgive her mother. She was adamant that it would be wrong for her to forgive that evil mother. To cut the story short, we had to go because she was unwilling to take the first step of forgiveness. When we left her, her whole being was still wrapped in the shackles of hatred, firmly held on by the evil spirit. It was a sad case, the key of hatred and bitterness had given the demon a free access into that person’s life. We have not heard from her pastor whether she was finally set free or not.

Here are some simple steps to prevent evil spirits from dominating your life.

1. Live a repented life – Repentance is changing your mind about your former way of life and turning around to accept the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus on the cross. By doing that, you have been justified and fully saved. Living a repented life is to continue in the direction of the way of Christ by denying self and taking up your cross daily (Luke 9:23). A life of repentance is not a life of doubt but the tangible expression of the forgiveness of the Lord in your daily walk. It is also a call for your spirit to be aware of your self-centred weakness to follow after your own will and abandon the will of God. A repented life solves tons of life issues that centred around self and pride. And that also solves the bitterness and anger issues.

2. Surrender Your Compulsive Behavior – You know that you have a problem with demonic influence when you are having sudden urges of hostility and rage, strong desire for illicit sex and any forms of sexual perversion, uncontrollable craving to talk dirty, curse, gossip or blaspheme, consume defiled things such as drugs, alcohol and various types of harmful substances. To prevent further intrusion of this demonic influence, you need to refer back to the first point and that is to repent. And to live a repented life by learning how to hand over every assault upon your spiritual life to the Lord. You can learn how to do Handing-Over Prayer every day.

3. Stay away from the occult – Going to fortune-tellers, mediums, bomohs and spiritualists is a sure way to suffer demonic attack. It is just as dangerous dabbling with feng-shui, horoscope, astrology, tarot cards, yoga, qi gong, transcendental meditation, New Age etc. We have cast out demons out of a “Christian” who was obsessed with horoscope. One good guideline for Christians is that if you encountered any so-called spirituality that is not rooted in the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, then you know that you have to avoid them because they are from the demonic world.

VICTORIOUS LIFE IS YOURS – You can live a victorious life if you are willing to learn from Jesus who came as the Son of Man. The writer of Hebrews states in Chapter 4 and verse 15, “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin.” You have the same Holy Spirit, who was then working with Jesus, in you right now. He will empower you to overcome. Moreover, He is that “Strong Man” in your life. Trust that this message will be helpful to you when it comes to resisting temptations.

Here is a short 8-minute video on how to hand over everything to the Lord.
https://youtu.be/0id08_E_-30

What To Do When Attacked By Demons of Gong Tau (Black Magic)

As we were preparing to leave the church for our residence, I felt an invisible force hitting me from the side and I became dizzy. Anyone could have thought that it was a physical symptom that needed medical attention. Immediately, in my spirit, I realised that I had become the target of a ferocious demonic attack. Even though the demons could not enter me, their force upon my whole being was overwhelming and consistent.

In one of our Elijah Challenge healing meetings, Grace and I ministered to a man whose life was turned upside down because of a curse caused by black magic or Gong Tau (降头) . The story began when this Malaysian man had an illicit relationship with a young foreign girl. When the relationship turned sour, this girl apparently used a black magic spell to send evil spirits against him. This type of demons possesses a stupefying power that totally dominates and subjugates the victim. The man became mentally confused and gave the woman all his money. Then, his emotional health started to deteriorate until he could not even hold a job. His friends who brought him told us that this man had been “blur” for two years after the affair. We proceeded to cast out the evil spirits. Immediately, the demons left and the man returned to alertness and full consciousness. Praise be to God.

A SUDDEN DEMONIC ATTACK
After the deliverance, we prepared to leave the church for our residence. Suddenly, I felt an invisible force hitting my head from the side and I became dizzy. Anyone could have thought that it was a physical symptom that needed medical attention. However, in my spirit, I immediately realised that I had become the target of a ferocious demonic attack. Even though the demons could not enter me, wave upon wave of unseen power upon my whole being was overwhelming and consistent. I remember telling Grace that “these stupid demons are attacking me!”

As my wife drove us back to the house, my head was still spinning. In the midst of that unswerving spiritual attack, a part of me was extremely calm and peaceful. The Holy Spirit was ministering to my spirit and that He was giving me the assurance of His support. I began the counter-attack by rebuking under my breath but Grace had already taken over in rebuking the demons.

My wife had absolute faith in the Lord – when she took over, she was relentless in her commands of authority from the Lord. She did not resort to speaking in tongues like what most believers would do because she knew that speaking in tongues is for the purpose of communicating with God and not for spiritual warfare. She took full authority in the name of Jesus and rebuked the evil spirits and they were gone. As sudden as it came, the dizziness also left.

The reason why you need to do ministry with another ministry partner is for the purpose of covering one another in the event of spiritual attack.

To me, the attack felt like it was for a couple of hours but my wife told me that everything was over in less than ten minutes. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong that the attack was lifted immediately and the demons fled. I thank God that my wife is my ministry partner and she is adequate in the “Two-hand Punch Ministry” of casting demons out, healing the infirm and preaching the Word of God. Now, that is the reason why Jesus specifically sent out His disciples two-by-two so that in the event of such attack, they could cover for one another. The rule of the thumb is never try to do this type of ministry alone. We must always go with a ministry partner.

BE ALERT AT ALL TIME
From time to time, spiritual attacks, such as what I had experienced, come as a tangible physical force against the body. It’s like being punched in the head. However, such direct demonic confrontations are rare. They are a form of spiritual attacks that is to create intense fear in the victims. For example, strange things may happen in the physical realm – the furniture are moving by themselves, plates start flying off the shelves, strange sounds may be heard and even apparitions start appearing.

.All these may look scary but when we know their intention, we can respond appropriately. If we were to respond with fear, then the demons would have succeeded. Simply stand your ground as a covenanted warrior of the kingdom of God, washed by the Blood of Jesus, and rebuke these manifestations in the name of Jesus and with the boldness of the Holy Spirit.

If no one places emphasis on prayer, then the demonic bondage will spread like virus and the power of the enemy will flourish.

PRAYING IS WELCOMING THE POWER OF GOD
In a previous article, I shared about the “demonic werewolves” that are very adept in the hit-and-run tactic of routine harassments and temptations. Whenever they find families, communities, cities and even whole nations that are poor in resisting them, they will seek to dominate and put them into spiritual bondage. That is why praying for your family, community and nation is very important.
Praying is welcoming the power of God over your situation, into the place of your authority and also into your life. When you pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, you are basically coming in alignment with the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to break all spiritual strongholds. If no one places emphasis on prayer, then the demonic bondage will spread like virus and the power of the enemy will flourish.

Here are some steps that you can take in repelling the attacks of the enemy. Please note that there is no magic bullet or any mystical formula. To protect yourself from being overwhelmed by the demonic power, you need to take definite steps of faith, perseverance and have a deep personal devotion to Christ.

STEPS TO REPEL DEMONIC ATTACKS
1. Live A Repented Life – in short, you are to live a moral life according to the scriptural teaching of loving God and loving others as yourself.
Do not go back to any worldly and religious practices of your past – such as worshipping idols, getting involved in witchcrafts, visiting fortune-tellers, consulting bomohs, mediums, or astrologers. Break all unholy soul-ties, gangland involvements and adulterous relationships. Stop all activities such as flirting, seducing, gambling, and cursing etc.
Begin to grow spiritually by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit so that you will not only have the gifts of the Spirit but the fruits of the Spirit as well. And the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Spiritual transformation has to do with you being transformed internally to become more like Christ in your thought-life, emotion-life and decision-making life. It is not just an external behavioral change but an internal motivation and purpose to that of the lordship of Christ. This is what living a repented and moral life is all about.

2. Come Under The Covering Of A Church – You will notice that believers who reject being active members of a local Church usually come under spiritual attacks in the areas of their pride. These people are too proud to come under any spiritual authority and thus become isolated souls in the spiritual wilderness. As in the natural, predators always select and attack the isolated prey, so isolated believers become fair games for these demonic predators.
The Church is a spiritual organism and organization for spiritual growth, protection and ministry. Attending the Church services regularly will help to strengthen you as you receive the teachings, instructions and corrections of the Lord without the risk of straying from the Word of God. Many who are isolated from the community of faith ultimately depend a lot on self-instruction rather than that of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. That is where the vulnerability to demonic attack lies. Find a home Church, learn humility, serve others, attend a cell group, pray together, walk in the love of Christ and get involved in the ministries there. You will be safer and spiritually healthier.

3. Apply The “Two-Hand Punch” – Learn to use “Power Evangelism” whenever you reach out to the pre-believers. In Luke 9:1-2, we read, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick”.
The “Two-hand Punch” has to be applied so as to knock out the devil – one hand-punch is “to drive out all demons and to cure diseases” and the other hand-punch is “proclaim the kingdom of God.”

4. Engage In Daily “Handing-over Prayer” – Learn how to pray by handing over every unwelcomed thought, every temptation, and every uncontrollable concern to the Lord. This type of prayer is so easy that you may doubt its effectiveness. However, the biggest mistake that most believers make is having the belief that the power of prayer lies with themselves. The truth is that the power of prayer lies with God and not in you. He is the One who will hear your prayer, however feeble, and He is the One who is going to respond to you. Your handing-over prayers do make a difference in how the devil is going to treat you. This fallen angel does not like to attack someone who is spending a lot of time with God.

Here are some resources to help you grow in your walk with the Lord and also to engage effectively in spiritual warfare. God bless.
Albert Kang

Getting Started In “Handing Over Prayer”.
What is “Handing Over Prayer”?
How do you get started?
Learn how to have your own “Handing Over Prayer” in this free step-by-step video lesson by Rev Albert Kang.