David Hathaway

John the Baptist was searching for the Messiah; he was always talking about this Man who would redeem the world. I believe that John was searching in the same way that many of you are searching. He wanted to know the truth. He wanted to know reality. John had heard about Jesus, so he sent his disciples to ask, 'Are You the Messiah, the One who will redeem the world?' John's doubt might have arisen from his own circumstances. Like John, I too have been in prison, left feeling abandoned and forsaken, but through it all, there was a hunger deep in my heart for Jesus, to know the reality of His power. I don't want empty religion or ceremony, I want Jesus, the Son of God, who can break every chain and set me free! 'Christmas Story' used by kind permission of Vinesong

It is one thing to dream, but it is the reality which counts. God had so impressed on me over the years the importance of never making a statement unless I intended in the Power of the Spirit to carry it out. This was one of the reasons behind all my adventures in those early expeditions to Jerusalem which had opened the door for God to use me in Bible smuggling and had taken me so dramatically behind the Iron Curtain as it was in those days.  The hunger in my heart, which had driven me to go to Jerusalem all those years ago, is still the underlying reason for the whole vision which burns so deeply in my heart today: the desire to see the Power of God poured out today in greater measure than at Pentecost! The greatest command is to evangelise! God pours out His Spirit for a reason – so that we can evangelise. Every revival has died out when they stopped evangelising. Possess the land! Preach the Gospel, heal the sick. God said it! Believe it! Act on it!

In 1993 I found in Siberia a nation almost totally without God, one of the least evangelised areas of the world – without church or Bible, where most have never heard the Name of Jesus or the Gospel. I then had a vision for mass evangelism, but it would require the support of so many people. When I asked Him, ‘What if no one will join me, what if there is not enough money?' God gave me 1 Chronicles 29, where King David gives Solomon his son all the gold and silver, the materials and the men to build the Temple. At first, I was disappointed, because all my life I have seen myself as David, a fighting man, and I had the same desire in my heart as he had, to build a Temple, (but a spiritual Temple, not a physical one), to demonstrate the Glory of God on earth to an unbelieving world! I did not want to be Solomon, I did not ‘get the picture' – until the Lord showed me that, in this context, He Himself was David, and I was Solomon. Here the Scripture gives a most precious promise, when God says of Solomon, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be My son!' God's promise to me, was that He Himself (as my Father) would give me (as Solomon, as His son) the men, the money and the materials to do the job! At that time, I had less than zero in the bank account – I had spent all I had on evangelism in East Europe and Ukraine – my database was only two thousand people, my German organiser had confused and lost the lists compiled from the great East-West Eurovision Conferences. But this venture would cost two million pounds sterling – in those days! When I fainted at the enormity of the task, God gave me 1 Chronicles 28.20, ‘Be strong and of good courage, and DO IT!' I was reminded of a powerful song that sustained and meant so much to me through these years of change – ‘Jesus never fails'!

If you are sick or know someone who is, this podcast will build and strengthen your faith as you believe God for a healing miracle. 13 years ago God dramatically healed me of lung cancer, and He can do the same for you when you believe and stand on His promises! God is not a man that He should lie, nor will He change His mind, what He has said that will He do (Numbers 23:19). You can be certain of this one thing, God answers prayer! Jesus said 'lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover'. If you are in need of healing put your hand where the sickness is and say this prayer in faith and with conviction. - Then do what you could not do! I know Jesus is alive! I believe the Bible: God cannot lie! Your Word says Jesus took my sickness and healed me - so by faith I take my healing. In Jesus' Name I will fight in prayer and in the Word of God until I am healed! I command you devil, get out of my body! My body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. Devil, get out of my life, my home, my family! In Jesus' Name I defeat you! I will not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord! And I will live in health and victory until Jesus comes! Amen! Listen to my testimony, and be inspired by the beautiful worship of Vinesong, as together we declare God's healing power over your life. 'God answers prayer' and 'Run to the Father' used by kind permission of Vinesong

Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.' ...Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father... Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things... “All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.” And David said to his son Solomon, 'Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God – my God – will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.' (1 Chronicles 28.3-5, 11-12, 19-20, NKJV)

I want to encourage you, when we pray according to the Will of God, God will answer - He is faithful to His promises. 

There are times when you are low and you're longing to know if Jesus is there, if He cares just for you. I can tell you how close Jesus is to you, just breathe in: Jesus is as close as the air that fills your lungs. One prayer and He is always there with you. How can we touch Him? It is not a physical touch. You touch Him when you call His Name, when you talk to Him. Reach out to Him today. One word from Jesus can calm the storm, heal your broken heart. Jesus says to you today, 'Come unto Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.' 'Just another touch' used by kind permission of Vinesong

In December 2002, as part of the process of getting a resident's permit in Ukraine, in order to prove I did not have TB which is endemic out there, I had to have a lung X-ray. But the doctors called me back, took more X-rays, and then told me I had a shadow on my lung and that I had pneumonia. Probably I had already had it for over a month, because I remember a fever had started on the last day of October while I was evangelising in Siberia. Back in England I was treated with antibiotics, but after two courses of treatment I went again for X-rays and the patch on my lung was bigger. The doctors became extremely worried, they didn't want me to travel overseas and they set up exhaustive tests in a hurry. They said bluntly, ‘It's not pneumonia, you have lung cancer.' I believe in prayer and in a God of miracles. But I am faced with a challenge: do I really believe God or not? I had to go for a bronchoscopy when they would put a camera down my lung and take a sample of the growth. The doctors had already fast-tracked me into a process which would lead to an operation to remove all or part of my right lung. The only question, how much of my lung they would take away? God said to me, ‘David, you've got a mountain in your life that you've got to move, and that mountain is to get that cancer out from your lung. If you can believe that without an operation you can be completely healed, then nothing will be impossible from there on.' Now desperately seeking God's answer from Scripture, I was reading from Jeremiah 33:6, ‘I will bring health and healing'; and Jeremiah 33:20-21, ‘I will not break my covenant with David'; and Psalm 89:35, ‘I will not lie to David'; and ‘Is anything impossible with God?' (Jeremiah 32:17&27). A few months later I was in the hospital, tubes down my lung looking for cancer – but God had already given me the answer, I knew it was gone. The doctors looked at me in amazement and said, ‘You have no cancer!'

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it," (Numbers 23.19-20). Balaam was paid by Balak to curse the people of God. But this is what Balaam said, “God is not a man that He should lie, neither a son of man that He should repent (change His mind) – what He said, shall He not do it, and what He has spoken will He not make it happen?!” God cannot lie, He cannot change what He has said. And in the next verse Balaam says, God has blessed, no one can change it! When you have learnt power with God, God will begin to bless your life, your home, your family, your finance, your job – everything about your life! 

Original Air Date: 6 March 2015 Jesus says, 'Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in!' The real life of faith, of being a Christian, of receiving forgiveness and healing is in knowing Jesus. I try to tell people how easy it is to receive Him. All you have to do is be like a drowning man: stop struggling, let go of your tiny piece of flotsam and come into His open arms. So many listening to this have secret problems which you cannot share. They are too deep, too hurtful, you cannot open up. Tell everything to Jesus. It's the only way to be healed, delivered, set free. Talk to Him. He's listening. Ask Him to forgive your sin, to heal you. He loves you. 'Lamb of God' used by kind permission of Vinesong

Jesus says in John 14:10-11, “Do you not believe that I am IN the Father, and the Father IN Me? The words that I speak, I speak not of Myself, but the Father who LIVES IN Me, HE does the works! Believe for the works' sake!” And in v12, “He that believes in Me, the works that I do, he shall do also – and GREATER WORKS THAN THESE shall he do because I go to My Father.” Jesus is teaching us that IF WE BELIEVE in Him, once He has gone back to be with His Father, we then on earth HAVE to carry on the work that He did – we HAVE to do what He did! So many people seem to read John 14 without seemingly being able to believe it.      

In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses.” The clear promise is that HIS power would be in US. Also that we would become witnesses. A witness is one who sees something and reports on it. We need to see, experience and witness God's miraculous power in action! Not merely by sitting and waiting, but by making it happen through the power of God. Get a vision and make it happen! I have seen many miracles. In a period of five years, only in Russia and Ukraine, we recorded more than 20,000 healings! I have a very long record with the KGB! One year I arrived in a city in Russia and they were waiting to stop me preaching – but their biggest problem was not the preaching, it was the miracles of healing! They are not afraid of preachers – they are afraid of the Power of God! They asked me, “What is your authority to heal the sick?” We opened the Word of God and showed them Mark 16, “This is what God tells us to do, it's in the Bible, ‘Lay hands on the sick and they WILL be healed!' We're going to do what the Bible says,” and they couldn't stop us!

Original Air Date: 23 February 2015 Call upon Jesus! When you are in distress, when you are in trouble, when all the problems of life have come upon you, you will find God if you search for Him from just where you are. Today, God has given you a solemn promise of a glorious future. I want you to let these words sink into your spirit this year: God has a bright future for you, He is bringing you out into abundance. An abundance of health, joy, peace: He will give you an abundance of every good thing. You've been through the fire now it's time to enjoy His blessing (Ps 66:12). Will you come home to your Father's love? If you want this new life, if you will receive Him, I want to pray with you: 'Oh God, become a Father to those who are listening to this, comfort and deliver them. Give them a new hope and a bright future in Jesus' Name.' 'Let your living water flow' used by kind permission of Vinesong

He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on people who are ill, and they will get well.' (Mark 16:15-18, NIV) When we see what is happening in the world today, the fulfilment of so many prophecies, and how close we are to the return of Christ, we need to act fast. Remember the great commission of Christ, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel!” – Mark 16:15. Remember also that the Bible says, ‘For this purpose was the Son of man revealed, to destroy the works of the evil one.' – 1 John 3:8. In order to do these things and to see the fulfilment of all that GOD, rather than what the devil wants to do in these last days, we need to experience and know God's dynamic power in us!

[Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16.15-18, NKJV) I believe in the importance of the healing ministry: Go into all the world, heal the sick, raise the dead – don't move away from the simplicity of Jesus. Do what the early disciples did. The miracles are the evidence that Jesus has forgiven their sin. 

Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' So he said to the paralysed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.' Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man. As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.' Then John's disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?' Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. (Matthew 9.5-15, NIV)

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralysed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.' At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, ‘This fellow is blaspheming!' Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' So he said to the paralysed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.' Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man. (Matthew 9.1-5, NIV.)

When I first received the Holy Spirit, I had asked for the Gift of Faith – now I wanted to see how far God could/would reveal His Power – if I stepped out in faith.  My adventure going to Jerusalem in 1961 was the start. Going where no man had gone before. The first in the world to make the unknown and dangerous overland crossing behind the Iron Curtain, through the communist countries and Arab nations on a war-footing with Israel, I received a medal from the Israeli Government when I arrived, and I was on TV when I got home! Now, aged 93, I have not reached the limits of God's Power HERE, ON EARTH! But the faith driving me is not in my head, it's in my heart.

One of the first people that I saw healed was when I was a very young pastor and evangelist in England. Shortly after finishing college, I left the church I had pastored as a student, in Dorking, Surrey, and I was called to take over a church in Harrogate, North England, and prepare for an evangelistic crusade. I was only twenty years old. Soon after arriving, Mr Corker, one of the men in the church, 73 years old, became ill. He refused to go to the doctor until it was too late – they had to rush him into hospital where they diagnosed terminal cancer. He was so sick, they took away most of his stomach, gave him a catheter to pass the water, and a colostomy – and sent him home to die. The doctors expected him to live for just three weeks. As his pastor, I went many times to his home to pray with him and I discovered that although he had a difficult very blunt ‘Yorkshire' character, this man loved God from the bottom of his heart. I saw him in a new way, not just as a dying man, not just as a difficult deacon in my church, but I saw how much he loved the Lord. One Sunday morning, I brought a group of people from the church with me to his home. I asked the others to join hands in a circle with me as I laid hands on him. I was only young and with not much knowledge about faith or healing in a practical way, but I commanded the sickness to go. I still remember how I prayed: it wasn't an instant miracle, but it's one of the most amazing stories of my life. For weeks after that, as I continued to visit him, I watched as day after day the catheter tubes would get blocked – only afterward I realised that I was seeing the cancer in small pieces come away from his body!

We're just back from Baku in Azerbaijan where, together with the local Christians, I held 3 days of evangelism in a prestigious venue in the city centre. It's a bold step of faith to preach Christ publicly in a culturally Moslem country, and there was a fear, at government level, of some backlash and provocations. So no, we were not allowed the larger arena I had hoped for, but the Minister of Religious Affairs did give his full support and attended the opening night. This was the first time in the history of Azerbaijan that Christians have been allowed to take a public venue.

God has a plan and a time – for me, for you, and for the whole world we live in. God does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7. He is working to a prophetic timeline and so must we. My whole life has been closely linked to prophecy, not because I claim to be a ‘prophet', but because when God gives me a vision, it is a prophetic path for my life. What He reveals to me in prophecy, I have to act on it – in order to fulfil it. As a baby, I dedicated to the Lord by George Jeffreys. I knew the miracles in his and in Smith Wigglesworth's lives. But all my life, I have believed there is more Power available from God than anything yet seen on earth. I grew up surrounded by what those who had received the Holy Spirit's Power had achieved – the miracles – the thousands saved. Yet as I read the prophecies of Joel Chapter 2, I sensed there was an even greater Power available – which Joel calls the Latter Rain. But GREATER than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the 20th Century, which everyone assumed WAS the Latter Rain.

I have not reached the limits of God's Power HERE, ON EARTH! But the faith driving me is not in my head, it's in my heart. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward,' (Hebrews 10.35). Don't cast away your confidence, your hope and trust in God. Do the work of the evangelist, and you will see the reward, the promises of God fulfilled. The Bible says that 'the just will live by faith', don't draw back; faith is active, it is not a theory, it's how you live; I've done the impossible with God: my first overland trip to Israel in 1961, released from a communist prison, healed of cancer twice - I refuse to sit passively. Remember, the Kingdom of God is not demonstrated by your words, but by your actions!

As I write this, together with my faithful team I am leaving for the frontline spiritually – Baku, in Azerbaijan, culturally Moslem, taking a 5,000-seat stadium for three days – with a permit from the government! They liked what I preached when I was there in January, because I preach Jesus, whom they honour in their Koran as a prophet, but He is the Son of God, who died to save all men! The miraculous healings prove that Jesus is very much alive today. I tell the people that I cannot heal them – but Jesus can and does! Taking a stadium for this visit is an historic breakthrough in this country! And we take it for Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

In the 1960's, God gave me a strong challenge one morning after preaching to my church in Dewsbury: He said, shut up, stop telling others what to do… go out and do it yourself… live by faith, demonstrate it works, then come back and tell others how do it. The Apostle James wrote, 'Show me your faith by your works.' What do you believe? Even the devil believes in God. We must demonstrate our faith in God by the way we live. I grew up with George Jeffreys and was dedicated by him as a baby. I knew the miracles in his and in Smith Wigglesworth's lives. But all my life, I have believed there is more Power available from God than anything yet seen on earth. I grew up surrounded by what those who had received the Holy Spirit's Power had achieved – the miracles – the thousands saved. Yet as I read the prophecies of Joel Chapter 2, I sensed there was an even greater Power available – which Joel calls the Latter Rain. But GREATER than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the 20th Century, which everyone assumed WAS the Latter Rain.

For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power,' (1 Corinthians 4.20). This is the essence of the Bible - people doing the 'job'. The Bible is a practical Book, a book of action, an adventure story: Creation, Israel, the prophets, the stories, the Kings, the nation - the fights - the prophecies relating to Israel and Christ. I believe in action. God has called us into the Kingdom, and if you are a born-again, baptised, Spirit-filled believer, God has done that for a reason. God doesn't save you and call you so that you can sit at ease – we are saved to serve! 

There is no limit to God's Power, but to see miracles we have to link prayer and faith. In Hebrews it says of the Israelites that 'the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.' I want you to link your prayer with your faith. 'The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.' (James 5.16-18, NLT.)

There are three levels of faith; (i), when all the evidence says it will happen; (ii), faith when there is no evidence; (iii), faith when it is totally impossible. I'm not just celebrating 75 years in ministry; I'm demonstrating that faith works. - It was this challenge that I took up when God said to me, "Shut up, go out and do everything you're talking about". Living by faith is so misunderstood. It isn't sitting in a monastery waiting for the Lord's return; I live by faith by what I do: I went to Jerusalem by faith in 1961 - it was impossible with difficulties all along the route, but by faith I overcame every obstacle; twice God has healed me of cancer. I want you to live in this faith - faith which does the impossible!

We talk about faith, we have to have faith! I laugh, because my wife used to complain that I jumped into bed. But that was an ‘act of faith' that the bed wouldn't collapse! We all have to use an element of faith. If you get in a car and somebody else is driving it, you need faith! Faith in its simplistic sense is part of everyday life! It's the trust you have. You trust people, you have to trust your doctor, the police, your government – though often they fail us – they are only human. But if faith is trust, faith in God is faith in the unfailing God! In James 2:15‐17, we're looking at different aspect of faith: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you will say, “Go away, be in peace, be warm and filled” – in other words, “Be blessed, but I'm not giving you anything” – if you see someone who is in need and you only speak words of comfort, but don't give them what they need – that's useless! In the same way, faith without the works to go with it – is dead! Such ‘faith' is just theory, empty words. So someone may challenge you, verse 18, “You have faith, and I have works. I do the job! Show me your faith that has no works and doesn't do the job, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” This is a tremendous challenge. Because James says again in verse 20, “Faith without works is dead!” In other words, if your faith is not something that is operational and practical, if it's not something by which you are living, if it's not something you are going to DO SOMETHING ABOUT, that faith is NOT faith! Faith is only evidenced by what you DO, by how you live! I cannot myself find stronger words than James uses here, faith without the work to accomplish it – is dead! Dead! There are so many whose faith is dead. Simply because it only exists in theory, but never in practice.

The whole of my life has been based on the fact that nothing is impossible – if you go by faith! Joshua and Caleb were so upset with the Israelites, and said in Numbers 14:8ff, “Look, it's an exceeding good land. If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give us the victory! Don't rebel against the Lord! Don't be afraid of the enemy! They're like bread for us, their defence is gone, and the Lord is with us!” At this, the whole congregation made to stone Joshua and Caleb, but the Glory of the Lord appeared before all the Children of Israel, and God said to Moses, “How long will these people provoke Me? How long will it be before they believe Me because of all the things I have already shown them? How long will they resist Me and provoke Me when they have already seen the miracles I did to bring them out of Egypt?” God is upset with the Church when the Church doesn't see, doesn't know the unlimited Power He has! My whole life has been to search out the unexplored Power of God to do the impossible. Read my autobiography! Listen to me – my whole life is based on the fact that our God is a God of miracles, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. We HAVE to go by faith!

Numbers 13:21ff tells exactly where the spies went. It was harvest time. In Eshcol they cut down a bunch of grapes so great, they had to carry it between 2 poles. After 40 days – it was a detailed search, and remember, they were on foot, or perhaps with donkeys – they returned. This was their report to the whole congregation of Israel, v27ff: “The land is exactly as promised, it flows with milk and honey – they showed the fruits of the land – it's good! But the people living there are very powerful, their cities are walled and very great, and the children of Anak, who are giants, live there!!!” At this point, v30, Caleb speaks very strongly – to Moses and all the people: “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it!” But in v31, ten of the spies brought an evil report of the land they had searched: “It devours its inhabitants, and it's got giants! We're not able to go up against these people, for they are stronger than we are. We were as grasshoppers in our own sight, and in theirs.”  Caleb, supported by Joshua, insists, “We can go up and take the land!” But the other ten men say, “No, it's impossible, the task is too big, we can't do it.” And the whole congregation wailed – all night! And they turned against Moses saying, “It have been better for us to have died in Egypt or the wilderness! Why have we been brought here to this land only to fall by the sword? It's better to go back to Egypt!”  We all know the outcome – and it's so sad – the children of Israel did not enter the land, but had to wait a full 40 years from this point until they could finally enter, after all the doubters had died! It is so significant that none of the doubters entered the Promised Land!

I want to share something with you from the Book of Numbers – it's very heavily marked in my Bible, and I believe it's extremely important. This was a very great period of miracles, in fact the Children of Israel saw more miracles under Moses than later under Elijah and Elisha. It was Moses who led Israel out of captivity in Egypt. He spent 40 years of his life doing this one job! I wouldn't have liked to be in Moses' shoes!!! Numbers 13.21ff tells exactly where the spies went. It was harvest time. In Eshcol they cut down a bunch of grapes so great, they had to carry it between 2 poles. After 40 days – it was a detailed search, and remember, they were on foot, or perhaps with donkeys – they returned. This was their report to the whole congregation of Israel, v27ff: “The land is exactly as promised, it flows with milk and honey – they showed the fruits of the land – it's good! But the people living there are very powerful, their cities are walled and very great, and the children of Anak, who are giants, live there!!!”

We are living through what are the most troubled times for a generation. To those old enough to remember, like me, it is a repeat of the 1930s and a serious threat of a third world war! ...But Joel 2 reveals that there is a final harvest – that's why I am so busy, and we desperately need a massive increase in every level of support and finance. Jesus said, “Go out and compel them to come in!” The Spirit and the Bride say come, Rev 22:17, yes, but we must go out and tell them! My next evangelism in October is a stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. This needs massive prayer and financial support – the more difficult the region, the more prayer and finance it requires. This year a large part of our finance and my evangelistic effort has been to reach the Central Asia countries!

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'  Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.  (Matthew 9.35-38, 10.1-4, NIV)

Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' So he said to the paralysed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.' Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man. As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.' Then John's disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?' (Matthew 9.5-14, NIV)

In August I preached at the most powerful meetings of my life, firstly at SOZO – All-Central Asia Youth Conference, held for 3 days in Almaty, Kazakhstan August 20-22, then evangelism on Sunday 24th. Thank you for supporting in prayer and finance. Costs were enormous but the result – money could never buy. Coming out of extreme persecution, revival is breaking through and the Holy Spirit came down!

A synagogue leader came and knelt before Jesus and said, ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.' Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.' Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,' he said, ‘your faith has healed you.' And the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus entered the synagogue leader's house and saw the noisy crowd and the people playing pipes, he said, ‘Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.' But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!' When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?' ‘Yes, Lord,' they replied. (Matthew 9.18-28, NIV)

There is NO LIMIT to the Power of God. My new autobiography is called ‘THE UNEXPLORED POWER OF GOD'. I want to challenge you to explore the Power of God – I want you to see how much Power God has – to see the EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS POWER to us who believe! And God demonstrated the greatness of His Mighty Power – in Christ – when He raised Him from the dead! Ephesians 1:20. It's an incredible miracle! We can experience this Resurrection Power in our OWN lives. We NEED this salvation – salvation from the power of the prince of this world, who was bold enough even to tempt Jesus, in the same way that he came to Adam and Eve and tempted them to doubt God and His Word: “Has God said you must not eat of the fruit of this tree?” Satan was encouraging Adam and Eve to doubt. One of the biggest problems with Christians today is doubting God's Word, doubting the Power and the Ability of God. Don't doubt the Power of God. There is no limit to His Power. I resist the power of the prince of this world and also those who have responded to him and have sold their souls to the devil for a promise of kingdoms in this world, of conquest and victory. Father, break that curse, break that power, deliver men and women, set them free NOW. I'm thinking of Ukraine, O God, set that nation free, drive out the enemy. I believe You have promised, and O God You will fulfil that promise. Let not your heart be troubled! Today in this troubled world, if you believe in Him, don't let your heart be troubled. He will give the Victory. God bless you!

Jesus, knowing His Hour has come, loved His own, and knowing that He was about to be betrayed, knowing He had come from God and was going back to God, He stood up and, as a servant, prepared to wash the disciples' feet. And we come to Chapter 14, where Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God – believe in Me!” And then talking about Heaven, He goes on to say, “In My Father's House are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for YOU!” Jesus is forever talking about the Kingdom. When He was tempted by the devil, the devil took Him up a high mountain saying, “You see all the kingdoms of this world and all their glory? If You will bow down and worship me, I'll give it all to You!” Jesus did not rebuke the devil and say, “You don't have those to give” – because He recognised, the devil IS the prince of this world. But Jesus said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?

We're facing a world which is turning upside down. Everything we thought was right is wrong, and what we thought was wrong is right. Incredible, disturbing changes are taking place. BUT ‘let not your heart be troubled!' What a challenge! It' so important to get back to what Jesus said. Those words, “Let not your hearts be troubled” – these were the words of Jesus – to us – at the end of His ministry. It was the feast of Passover. And Jesus– John 13:1 – knowing that His Hour was come that He would depart from this world to the Father begins to speak to His disciples powerfully. He says, “NOW is the judgment of this world!” John 12:31. He said clearly: two thousand years ago, the judgment of the world began! And, He adds, “The prince of this world WILL be cast out!” When Jesus is talking about ‘the prince of this world' He's talking about Satan.  Jesus says, in John 14:30, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes – and has nothing in Me.” The devil has no hold over Him! This is such a strong statement! No hold over Jesus – and for those of us ‘in' Jesus, the devil has no power over us!

'The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit,' (James 5.16-18, NKJV). '“Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them,' (Mark 11.22-24, NKJV).

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5.13-15, NIV)

Strengthened and renewed after my time of prayer this summer, next week I shall be speaking to more than 1500 young people at their annual All-Central Asia Youth Conference, where I have been the main guest speaker for several years. This move of God in Central Asia is so feared by the authorities that the founder and organiser is not allowed to speak or even show his face at his own event – or he will be arrested! But he is my good friend, and we will spend time together! Supporting and facilitating such a significant event takes money and needs much prayer. 

All my life I've been seeking to understand the power of prayer, prayer that gets an answer. In Luke 11, when Jesus had finished praying, one of His disciples came to Him and asked, “Lord, please teach us how to pray!” In answer Jesus replied, “When you pray, say, Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

I want Christians in the Church to come back to recognising the Power that God has. I want the Church to come back to the simplicity of faith that those men had when they brought the paralysed man to Jesus, and Jesus saw their faith!  For me, the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is a supernatural faith IN JESUS, IN THE POWER OF GOD – TO FORGIVE SIN and to give us authority over ALL THE POWER OF THE DEVIL – here ON EARTH. I haven't got time to die. I want to continue on in my ministry because I want to demonstrate WHO JESUS IS. I want to demonstrate the Power of God in our world TODAY. I want to show – THIS IS GOD! And I want YOU to see answers to your prayers. God bless you.

Your faith HAS to be that God will work the miracle. What am I saying? Jesus Himself linked salvation and healing when He asked, “Which is easier, to say your sin is forgiven, or to say, get up and walk?!” ONLY God can forgive sin, only God can heal. But salvation is a miracle MORE IMPORTANT than the healing.  When Jesus told the sick man, “Get up and walk” He did not simply demonstrate His Power to heal, but through the healing He was demonstrating His Power to forgive sin, and that ONLY through Him can forgiveness of sin and salvation come! The Bible is clear, there is no other name under Heaven by which we may be saved, except through the Name of Jesus.

At the beginning of Matthew 9, Jesus crosses over the Sea of Galilee, and enters His own town Nazareth. Nazareth had a bad reputation. Remember, Philip, who came from nearby Bethsaida, as did Andrew and Peter, when he found his friend Nathaneal, told him, “We've found the one Moses wrote about, about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph!” But Nathaneal's sarcastic reply was, “Can anything good come from there?!” So, to be called Jesus of Nazareth was not complimentary! Of course, the name ‘Jesus or Yeshua' was very common in Israel, so to be called Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph, identified who He was and where He came from. But Nazareth itself seems to have been known for being a hot bed of troublemakers. People from there were definitely regarded as tending to be rebellious! Some men brought to Jesus a paralysed man on a bed and put him down in front of Him. When Jesus saw their faith – notice, it was not the faith of the paralysed man that He saw, but when Jesus saw the faith of the men who brought him – He said to the paralysed man, “Take heart, rejoice, cheer up – your sin is forgiven.” Jesus does not heal the man as they expected, but He dealt with the most important thing FIRST. Because the most important thing is the sin question. 

It is the miracles that prove who Jesus is! There are so many religions in the world, some of them are growing faster than Christianity. But there is no other religion, no other Gospel about a God who loves us so much, that He sent His Son to die for us – and works miracles today to prove it. Jesus called His Disciples saying, “The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few – go out, preach the Kingdom, tell them the Kingdom of God is near – heal the sick and raise the dead!” We need to get back to the simplicity of this Gospel! This is the challenge to us. This is the commission. This is the message we are called by God to give to a people who are harassed and helpless today! God bless you.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. (Matthew 9.37-10.6, NIV)

Thank you for your much-needed prayers. I am just back from Kyiv, Ukraine, and before that, with just 2 days in the office in between, I was in Kazakhstan. We arrived in Kyiv late on the night of 3 July. An air raid alarm was in place. As we went to bed after midnight the biggest Russian air assault yet – Kyiv the main target – rained down on us: 539 Shahed drones, 1 Kinzhal missile, 6 ballistic missiles, 4 cruise missiles. Our house shook. Kyiv woke to smoke and debris. I was glad I was there to experience with the people of Ukraine what it is like when Putin tries to bring down hell on an innocent nation.

In Matthew 9.27, two blind men call out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, help us!” Blind! They wanted to see! Jesus asks them, “Do you believe I am able to do this? Do you believe I am able to heal you?” – “Yes!” Jesus then touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith it will be done to you.” And their sight was restored. The news spread all over. They brought a man to Jesus who couldn't talk, demon possessed. When Jesus drove the demon out and the man began to speak, the people were amazed – they'd never seen anything like this before! But the religious Pharisees accused Jesus, saying He, Jesus, was possessed by the devil himself, casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons… But Jesus continued through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues. It was His custom to worship in the synagogue, and this was an opportunity for Him to expound prophecy – of which He is the fulfilment. He had not yet called and empowered the Twelve. He was on His own, healing every disease and sickness, teaching, and preaching the Gospel, the ‘good news of the Kingdom' – HIS Coming Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. (Titus 2.1-15, NIV)