How Does God Perfect the Saints?

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.                                                                                                                      -Ephesians 4:11,12

Some people say, “I believe God wants to use sickness to perfect us.” If that has been God’s method of perfecting the Church, He has failed miserably. If sickness were supposed to be the perfecter, the maturer, the corrector and the teacher of the Church, then every Christian ought to be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. If that were God’s plan, then He missed it big time!

Some people might say, “Yeah, but sickness ought to make you more pious.” But sickness doesn’t bring out the piety in people; it brings our their worst. If you’ve ever been sick, you know that. Sickness makes you mean, ornery and cantankerous. You either want a lot of attention, or you want everyone to leave you alone.

The idea of God’s using sickness for our benefit is simply wrong thinking. God doesn’t want us sick. It’s not part of His plan for us. He never planned for sickness to perfect us, correct us or make us more pious.

God gave us the Word of God to correct and instruct us. He sent the Spirit of God to live inside us to teach, lead and guide us. And if we go a step further, Ephesians 4:11 says that He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints.

So the maturing of the saints doesn’t come through sickness and disease. God designed it to come through the Word, the Holy Spirit and the ministry gifts.

CONFESSION:

My God wants me well! He sent the Holy Spirit, the Word and the ministry gifts to instruct me in His ways. I receive those gifts and become a mature saint walking in His best for me!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Live a Long, Healthy Life

But now, He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises. -Hebrews 8:6

Wrong thinking can open the door to the devil. For instance, one time Janet and I were in another country talking to an older gentleman who had been on the mission field for many years. He had built church after church. Although this minister looked as if he could have worked another twenty years on the mission field, his denomination had recently called him back home.

This older gentleman said to me, “Young man, you believe God wants to heal people, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied, “I believe His highest is to heal people.”

“But if God wants everyone healed, how in the world is anyone ever supposed to die?” this minister asked. You see, someone had planted wrong thinking in his head.

That just hurt my heart. I thought, Here’s a man who has given his life to serve God on the mission field. Now that he’s come back home, he’s waiting to get sick so he can go home to be with the Lord!

So I told the man, “Sir, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I believe we ought to have it at least as good under the new covenant as God’s people did under the old covenant. Back then, men of faith who served God lived long, healthy lives. They’d come to the end of their lives, call in their families, lay hands on them and bless them all, draw up their feet in the bed, say good-bye and take off for heaven. (Gen. 49:33.) Under a new and better covenant established on better promises, should we have any less than the godly men of old did?”

This elder minister needed the same revelation you and I need if we want to live out the full number of our days: we do not have to be sick to die. We can go to our heavenly home in perfect health!

CONFESSION:

The Word says God will satisfy me with long life and show me His salvation. I will live a healthy, long and useful life for my God. And when I’m satisfied, I’ll go home to be with Him in perfect health!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Be a Person of Your Word

Thus, God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope, set before us. (immutable = unchangeable) -Hebrews 6:17-18

Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie. He doesn’t have the capacity to be dishonest or to fail to keep His Word. God and His Word cannot be separated.

As God’s children, we should also be people of our word. Now, sometimes a situation arises that makes it impossible to keep our word to someone, even though our intentions are good. With the exception of these extreme cases, we need to be people of our word.

If we can’t believe in our own word, our faith will never work, because faith is believing that what we say will come to pass. Our faith has nothing to stand on when our word is no good. We never know what to believe.

As humans, we often have to choose whether we’re going to tell the truth or “fudge” just a little bit. The flesh wants to rise up and say whatever it takes to keep us out of trouble. But compromising the truth even in little ways will short-circuit our faith.

In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul said, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…” Well, if the apostle Paul had to keep his body under, we certainly do too! As long as we have human bodies, we’ll have to keep them under the control of our spirits so we can be people of our word.

CONFESSION:

I watch my words carefully and speak only the truth. Therefore, I can expect to walk in God’s best. God's Word is truth, and as I speak His words. His truth is produced in me!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Take Care of Your Temple

…that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. -Ephesians 6:13

Sometimes the reason we’re experiencing difficulty getting rid of sickness in our bodies is that we’ve left a door open someplace. Either were doing something wrong, or we’re not doing something right. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, because the devil will still try to attack when we’re doing everything right. But sometimes we will find we left a door open.

For instance, I was a youth minister in Colorado for about thirteen months. I lived in a couple’s home and the wife was an amazing cook. I gained about twenty-five pounds.

But then life got very busy. I had an opportunity to minister in two different schools, and I was on a flat run all the time. For a couple of months, I ate a lot of very unhealthy junk food. All of a sudden, my stomach started giving me troubles.

Now, I’m not a nervous, high-strung person. But when I tried to eat, I’d almost get sick to my stomach. My stomach just burned all the time. I had unknowingly opened the door for the devil to bring me stomach problems.

I prayed, “Lord, I’m sorry. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I’ve been misusing it. Lord, I repent.” Then I believed I received my healing and got healed instantly.

So don’t mistreat your body and leave a door open for the devil to bring in sickness and disease. Eat right and get adequate rest and exercise. Never forget—you are the custodian of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place!

CONFESSION:

My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I am the one responsible for taking care of it. So I purpose to eat the proper diet, get plenty of exercise and rest and allow my body to function according to God’s design.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 Take Care of the Temple

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. -Ephesians 6:13

Over the next few days let’s cover some reasons we sometimes fail to receive our healing. We may need to make some adjustments so God is free to give us what we ask for.

On one trip to Europe, Janet and I flew all night, arrived the next morning, took a short trip and started services that night. We held two services the next day. The following day we flew to another country and started services that night. Then we flew to another country and held services there.

I don’t know how many services we held in all on that trip. The anointing we operate under in a service quickens our bodies and gives us an extra dose of strength. It takes a few hours to wind down, and by then the next meeting has begun. We can go on like that for weeks!

But during the trip some symptoms came on my body that concerned me. I prayed and believed I received my healing. I rebuked the symptoms, but they didn’t leave. So I thought, I’ll do what Ephesians 6:13 says to do. “Having done all, to stand..”

Janet and I had arranged a short time off during this trip. We checked into a little guest house, and I lay down for a two-hour nap. When I woke up, I went back to bed and slept twelve more hours. I was up for an hour and then took another nap. Then I went back to bed and slept another twelve hours! When I woke up, I said to Janet, “I think I’ve found what’s been wrong with me!”

I was making the same mistake a man named Epaphroditus did. Paul said Epaphroditus almost worked himself to death in the ministry, but God had mercy on him. (Phil. 2:25-30).

We live in physical bodies that are not redeemed yet, and we have to take care of them. Through that experience, I learned to treat my body rightly so I can walk in divine health and finish my course!

CONFESSION:

I do all I know to do to keep my body healthy, and I stand in faith on God’s promise of health. I treat my body right and therefore I walk in divine health.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

 

 

One Will on Heaven and on Earth

And he said to them, when you pray, say; Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth. -Luke 11:1-2

Is it ever God’s will for His children here on earth to be sick? Well, God doesn’t have one will for those who have gone on to the other side and another will for His family on earth. God’s will for His children is God’s will for all His children. He’s no respecter of persons. He doesn’t play favorites.

You don’t plan to be sick when you get to heaven, do you?  (If you do, stay away from my mansion!) No, there’s no sickness in heaven. Besides, sickness wouldn’t be able to touch you even if it were there. It couldn’t attach itself to you, because you’ll have a changed, glorified body, just like the body Jesus had when He was raised from the dead and walked through walls. No, you’re not going to be sick when you get up there.

"Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Whatever God’s will is for you up in heaven is His will for you down here. I plan to walk in God’s wisdom while I’m on this earth, because I know I will walk in His wisdom in heaven. I plan to enjoy divine protection down here, because I know I will enjoy it up there. And I plan to be healthy in this life because I know I will be healthy in the next. If God doesn’t want us to be sick in heaven, He certainly doesn’t want us to be sick here on earth.

Sickness is in the world, and it does attack. It even has the bold audacity to attach to Christians. Can you imagine? But thank God, we don’t have to take it. We don’t have to put up with it. We can rise up in the name of Jesus, and our faith in God’s Word will run it off. Why? Because healing belongs to us!

CONFESSION:

God’s will for me is that I walk in perfect health. So when sickness tries to attack me, I don’t wonder whether or not it’s from God. It isn’t, and I don’t put up with it. I command sickness to leave in Jesus’ name!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Our Family Is Cheering Us On!

And it came to pass, that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them, when you pray, say; Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done as in heaven, so in earth. -Luke 11:1-2

Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. One part of the prayer Jesus taught them said, “Your will be done, as in heaven, so in earth”. You see, God doesn’t have one will for His children in heaven and one will for His children down here on earth.

Many of us have always thought that the early Church and later Church are two separate churches. No, there’s just the Church.

Then we’ve thought there are two different families of God: the family already in heaven and the family still on the earth. No, it’s just one family.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:14:15) Our family members in heaven are just as real as we are. They’re leaning over the balcony of heaven, cheering us on, saying, “Go for it! Get with it, folks!”

All those great faith men and women in Hebrews 11 are watching, along with our relatives, friends and loved ones who have gone on before us. They’re all cheering us on, encouraging us to overcome every obstacle in our spiritual race. That ought to make us excited!

CONFESSION:       

I want God’s will to be done on earth, just as it is done in heaven. I know heaven has no sickness, so sickness must leave my body now in Jesus’ name! God’s healing power is continually at work in me to drive out sickness and make my body whole again.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

The Spirit Without Measure

For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. -John 3:34,35

We’ve been talking about learning the ways of God’s Spirit—how He works, how He moves. Of course, the best way to understand God’s ways is to look at Jesus. Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, but He laid aside His omniscience, His omnipresence, His omnipotence and glory to become a man.

Jesus had been with the Father from the beginning, but He put Himself in the little box called a human body, in which He could only know what God showed Him. He could only be in one place at a time, and He could only do what God did in Him and through Him. He paid a huge price just in leaving heaven and coming down to earth.

The more we know about the price Jesus paid for us, the more we will love and appreciate Him. He left the rightful dignity and privileges He had enjoyed with the Father and was born on the earth as a baby. He grew to be a man, never working a miracle until He was thirty years old, after the Holy Spirit had come upon Him.

The Bible says, “God does not give the Spirit by measure to Him.” In plain English, that means God gave Jesus the anointing without limitation. Jesus didn’t have one strong point, because He had all strong points. But when Jesus left this earth and went to the Father’s right hand, He distributed the anointing that was on His earthly body throughout His new body of believers.

Individually, no other person will ever walk in the anointing without measure. Human beings were not designed for that capacity. But the body of Christ as a whole has the anointing without measure. So whatever manifestations of God’s power we saw in Jesus’ ministry, we should see operating through the body of Christ today as believers learn more about the ways of God.

CONFESSION:

I’m a child of God, and I’m learning to follow the ways of my Father. He wants me to be healthy and whole. Healing is mine. It’s bought and paid for by the blood of His Son, and I receive it by faith.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

The Two Flows of Anointing

 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. -Acts 10:38

We can learn God’s ways as we watch the ministry of Jesus. It appears that two major flows of anointing operated in Jesus’ ministry, and these same flows are still on the body of Christ today.

One flow is like lightning. It just hits every now and then, we don’t know when, where or how. These “bolts of lightning” are manifestations of the Holy Spirit as He wills. The other flow of anointing is like electricity. It flows freely when activated by faith.

I was reading The Companion Bible in which a man named Bullinger wrote most of the notes. Bullinger said, “There are fifty-two times in the New Testament where the term ‘Holy Spirit’ should literally be translated not ‘the Person of the Holy Spirit,’ but the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 10:38 is one of those verses in which technically, “Holy Spirit” should be translated as “the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.” So it should say, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and with power.

At times, Jesus would walk into a city or village and approach a specific individual. Then He would operate in the gifts of the Spirit, delivering a miracle with no faith required on the recipient’s part at all. These were manifestations of God’s sovereign side.

But a majority of the time, Jesus would go into a city or village and begin teaching and preaching. His focus in ministry was to put God’s Word into people to develop their faith. Then they’d touch Him or He’d touch them, and healing power would flow out of Him.

Jesus was anointed with power, and faith would draw that power out. The power would flow like electricity after the people had heard the Word. That’s how about 70 percent of the people healed under Jesus’ ministry received their healing.

Jesus hasn’t changed since the days He walked on this earth. His healing virtue is available to flow out to you as you come to Him expecting your miracle and touch Him with the hand of faith!

CONFESSION:

I come to Jesus to hear His Word and believe it, and I receive everything I need. His healing power flows to me and through me because I ask in faith.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Walk In God’s Ways

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. -Psalm 103:7

God has two sides. His acts are the miraculous deeds. He performs, but His ways are the road that takes you to the miracles.

Most believers have been satisfied for years to go to church and see God perform a few supernatural acts. Then they return home saying, “I’ve been blessed.”

But we can get a step beyond that. Not only can we see His acts, but we can also learn His ways. Once we learn His ways, we’ll find the pathway that takes us into the realm of continuous acts.

Everything God does on the earth He does through the Holy Spirit. Think of it in terms of electricity. A power plant has plenty of electricity, but that power has to be moved from the power plant to electrical outlets so people can access it. That takes a conductor.

Well, God has plenty of power, and He wants to manifest the benefits of salvation in our lives. So He makes His divine power available to us through the blood of Jesus. I once heard salvation defined as the sum total of all the blessings bestowed on man by God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus purchased our salvation and God sends forth the blessings, but the Holy Spirit is the conductor.

That’s why it’s important for us to know more about the Spirit of God. He delivers salvation to our spirits and healing to our bodies. He is the teacher of the Church, the One who declares, discloses and transmits to us what the Father has. He leads us into all truth and shows us things to come.

Psalm 103:7 says that God made His ways known to Moses. As the leader of God’s holy nation, Moses in particular had to know God’s ways.

But I’m convinced that we Holy Ghost-filled believers ought to know the ways of the Spirit of God as well. We’re not supposed to just sit back and watch God move. He wants us to know His ways so we can be right in the middle of what He’s doing on this earth!

CONFESSION:

God is making His ways known to me. I walk in the ways of God, and the Holy Spirit delivers the healing Jesus purchased for me.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Tap Into God’s Higher Ways

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8,9

If the point God is making here ended in verse 9, we might as well just throw in the towel and quit because God’s ways and thoughts are so far above ours. But don’t quit! Look at what God goes on to say, “So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth, it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where I sent it” (v. 11).

How can His Word prosper if we can’t reach the height of His thoughts and ways? God says, “Since you won’t find My thoughts or My ways on your own, I had holy men of old write them down as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit. I’ve given you sixty-six books of My ways and My thoughts. These books include My old ways and thoughts, as well as My new ways and thoughts. The new ones are even better than the old, so make sure you live by the new.

You see, God is always the same, but He enacted two covenants, or contracts. Don’t go back and try to live under the contract He gave to people who were lost. They were living under the old covenant—spiritually dead and separated from God. Their sinful, old nature was covered, not cleansed.

Today, we are new creatures in Christ. We aren’t just forgiven, our sins are washed away, and we’re made new. We’re alive, redeemed, liberated, delivered, healed and set free!

You can leave the lower, carnal ways of the flesh. Just keep feeding on God’s Word. Let it renew your mind and bring life to your mortal body. As you do, God promises that His Word will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it—that is to help you walk in His higher ways of freedom, abundance and divine health!

CONFESSION:

God sent His Word to heal me. He heals my body and renews my mind so I can think His thoughts and follow His ways. Gods Word prospers in me!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

The Holy Spirit, Our Teacher

But the Comforter; which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. -John 14:26

Does God use sickness to teach us? This Scripture says that the Comforter will teach us all things. How much is “all things”? All means all! Well, if the Holy Spirit teaches us all things, how much does God reserve for us to learn through sickness and disease?

According to this verse, nothing is left for us to learn through sickness and disease. You’ll never find one place in the Bible where sickness is the teacher of the Church. It’s always the Holy Spirit who guides and teaches.

   “Well, yes.” someone might say, “but God sometimes teaches us through sickness and disease too.” No, He doesn’t. How could He teach through sickness and disease when He doesn’t have any sickness or disease to give?

Second Timothy 3:16-17 shows us how the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to teach us:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

So, the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and God’s Word is our perfecter, corrector and instructor. The Spirit of God and the Word of God operate together in our lives to help us grow spiritually.

If we don’t take advantage of the Holy Spirit and the Word, we leave the door open for the devil to have access to our lives. And the devil isn’t trying to teach us when he attacks with sickness and disease—he’s trying to kill us!

So draw on the ministry of the Word and the teacher within. Don’t look for lessons to be learned from sickness and pain. Let the Holy Spirit take you higher to God while you enjoy His divine health!

CONFESSION:

I don’t look to sickness and disease to teach me anything. I treat them as enemies and cast them out of my body in Jesus’ name. The Holy Spirit and the Word teach me everything I need to know to walk victoriously in life.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Do the Works of Jesus

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. -John 14:10

Jesus said, “I’m not healing people. The Father inside Me is the One doing the works. He’s healing them through Me.” He also said, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do; for what things he does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19)

Anytime God can get inside a human body, He’ll start doing the same works He did through Jesus. That’s why in John 14:12, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes in me, the works that I do he shall also do, and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.” Jesus was saying, “I’ll go to the Father, and God will come live inside you.”

The entire plan of God is to dwell inside of us: “Do you not know that you are the temple of the living God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. That’s why the believer’s ministry is so powerful.

If you’re a believer, God already lives inside you. Now its up to you to release His power residing within you through faith. As you do, He will start doing the same works through you that He did through Jesus!

CONFESSION:

I am the temple of the living God; the Spirit of God dwells in me. Jesus said that as I believe on Him, I am able to do the works He did—and even greater works—because my Father does the work through me.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Was It Profitable That Jesus Went Away?

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go  not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him to you. -John 16:7

Jesus is the healer, but the Holy Spirit is the means by which Jesus manifests healing to us.

Jesus said in John 17:7 that it was expedient or profitable, for us that He should go away. How could it be profitable for us if it would mean we’d have to live below what He provided for us? It couldn’t. That’s why Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16).

Jesus was saying, in essence, “There’s only one of Me. But if I go, I'll pour out the Holy Spirit. He will come into anyone who accepts Me as Lord and Savior, and that same power will dwell in him.”

Jesus was also saying, “I’m not taking away healing when I go away. When I send the Holy Spirit, my healing power in the earth will be multiplied many times over!”

Regardless of what some people say, healing didn’t stop when Jesus ascended to heaven. It hasn’t dwindled down to nothing. On the contrary, it has been multiplied hundreds of thousands of times over! Just ask the countless people living on this earth today who have been healed by God’s power!

CONFESSION:

The greater One dwells within me and infills me with His power: Healing is mine because the Spirit who breathed life back into Jesus’ body also quickens life to my mortal body!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

The Holy Spirit—God’s Powerhouse

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. -Romans 8:11

I’ve heard people say, “Well, miracles don’t happen anymore. God doesn’t heal people anymore.” Those people sure don’t get that idea out of the Bible. No one could prove that by God’s Word. Those people may be speaking their own opinions, experiences or ideas, but they can’t give Scripture to back up that statement.

Who is the healer? Jesus is the Healer! He’s the One who purchased and provided healing for us. And who is the powerhouse who manifests healing in our physical bodies? This Scripture says the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead quickens our mortal bodies. So, the Holy Spirit is the One who has the power to manifest what Jesus purchased and provided for us.

The Holy Spirit operated in a measure in the four Gospels. First, He operated through Jesus. Then Jesus gave power to the twelve disciples and seventy others. (Luke 10:1,17.) So, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, about eighty-three people had the power of God on them to heal people at one time or another.

Today, the Holy Spirit is the One doing the mighty works of God through those who yield to Him. But the Holy Spirit didn’t even come into the fullness of His ministry until the Day of Pentecost, when He was poured out on all flesh.

So, to those who say that God doesn’t perform miracles today, I ask this question: How could healings and miracles have stopped at the very time the One who manifests those healings and miracles came into the fullness of His ministry?

The truth is, healings and miracles have not stopped. The Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh almost 2000 years ago, and He’s still moving over all the earth like a mighty wind!

CONFESSION:

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father; He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within me and upon me. The Holy Spirit’s power manifests the healing Jesus purchased and provided for me. His healing power is working in me right now.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Helping Others Make Contact With God

Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. -James 5:16

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew what the Word said, you knew how to believe God, you were keeping your words in line with the Bible—and still you were getting nowhere fast?

Those are the times when you need to get before God and say, “God, I’m missing it. You never miss it because You can’t change. Let me know where I’m missing it, and I’ll make the adjustment.”

But sometimes people get into situations where, for some reason or another they just can’t seem to make that contact with their answer. In many of these cases, other believers can go before God’s throne on their behalf and help them make a connection in the Spirit.

For example, years ago the daughter of a friend of ours became very ill. Although her friends and family were doing all they knew to do, she continually grew worse. She wasn’t making contact with her healing.

Another friend of ours came home from work one day and told his wife that he sensed a strong urge to pray for this young lady. The couple prayed about five hours before the unction to pray lifted off them. They knew they had the answer.

This couple found out later that the very evening they prayed for the sick young woman, she suddenly started getting better, until soon she was perfectly normal.

We don’t know why the young woman was having trouble making contact with her answer for herself. But God supernaturally moved on another believer to pray and “make tremendous power available” on her behalf.

CONFESSION:

I am faithful to pray fervently for others, and God’s power is made available for their healing. When I don’t know how to pray as I should, the Holy Spirit helps me pray, making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Persistence in Prayer

One of (Jesus’) disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. -Luke 11:1

Apparently, the disciples were impressed by Jesus’ prayer life because He got results. So they asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus first taught the Lord’s Prayer. Then He shared another key to prayer:

And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him?      Luke 11:5,6

What is bread? Well, when the woman of Canaan in Matthew 15 asked for healing for her daughter, Jesus called healing the children’s bread. (v 26) So in this parable, when the man asked for three loaves of bread, he could have been asking for healing for his friend.

And he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.       Luke 11:7,8

Jesus said the man finally gave the bread to the petitioner because of his persistence. The Amplified Bible says, “because of his shameless persistence and insistence…”

Do you know someone with a need who can’t seem to make contact with God for himself? You can go into the presence of God on his behalf. God will hear your persistent prayers and provide your friend with exactly what he needs—the children’s bread of healing.

CONFESSION:

I boldly go to my Father on behalf of another, and my Father gives me what I ask for in faith. I am persistent to ask and to believe God will answer because healing is the children’s bread.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Coming to Jesus for Others

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. -Matthew 8:16

The verse says “they” started bringing people to Jesus. Let’s talk about how prayer relates to this Scripture. You’ll find cases again and again in the Bible where people were healed because someone went to Jesus on their behalf.

For instance, did you ever notice in Matthew 8 that the centurion’s servant who needed healing stayed home? This servant had palsy, or what we’d call paralysis, but he was healed because someone went to Jesus on his behalf. In a sense, the centurion was an intercessor because he went to Jesus on behalf of someone in need. (vv. 5-13.)

In Matthew 15, the woman from Canaan came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, who was grievously vexed with a devil. This girl was healed because of her mother’s faith. (vv. 22-28.)

In John 4, the nobleman traveled approximately twenty-five miles from Capernaum to Cana of Galilee to reach Jesus. The nobleman said, “My son is at home at the point of death. Come and heal him.” Jesus said, “Go your way, your son is all right.” The man went his way believing the word Jesus had spoken. And because he had gone to Jesus on his son’s behalf, his boy was healed. (vv. 47-53.)

Years ago, when someone in a church was sick, it was a common occurrence for the church to rally around and pray twenty-four hours a day until that person was healed. It wasn’t something they organized; it was Holy Ghost-inspired. We need to continue in this practice today because “the earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working)” (James 5:16 AMP).

CONFESSION:

It’s God’s will that all be healed. Today I can bring people before God’s throne in prayer so Jesus can work His healing power in their lives. Healing belongs to them and to me because we serve a good God!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

The Power in Prayer

Is any sick among you? Let him call the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. -James 5:14-16

Who is the “you” in the phrase, “that you may be healed”? “You” is the body of Christ. Each of us in the body of Christ is to pray for one another so that those in the Church may be healed.

We Christians will begin to be healthier when we start praying for one another. We need to understand that we have great power in prayer. James 5:16 AMP puts it this way, “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).”

Now, we’re not going to be able to help others receive their healing in every situation. The Holy Spirit will let us know when we can help and when we can’t make any progress. In some situations, people stay afflicted because they let someone else do all their praying for them. That’s why James 5:13 says, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.”

But in other situations, praying for each other can make the difference. You see, there are people in the Church and in the world today, who will never be healed unless someone goes to the Father in prayer for them. Why? Some people have never even heard about divine healing. Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” Others can’t receive divine healing because they’ve never been taught how to receive from God. These people need someone to go to the throne of God in prayer for them.

You can be that someone! Your earnest, heartfelt and continued prayers for another can make tremendous power available to heal, deliver and set free!

CONFESSION:

I pray effectually and fervently for others so they can receive their healing. As I pray, tremendous power is made available to effect a healing and a cure in others and in me!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

“Ask, and It Shall Be Done Unto You”

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done to you. -John 15:7

Jesus said to His disciples, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, My words abiding in you will produce faith. Then you’ll ask whatever you will, and it will be done unto you.” I didn’t say that—Jesus did!

Now, Jesus did put limits on that promise. He didn’t give us carte blanche. He wasn’t saying, “Ask for anything you want, period.” No, Jesus said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you…”

You see, if His Word is abiding in you and you’re walking with Him, you won’t be able to ask in faith for anything that’s unscriptural; you’ll only ask for things that line up with the Word. That’s God’s checks-and-balances system.

What Jesus is saying in this verse is that you can have a miracle at your own discretion. You don’t have to sit back and wait to see whether its God’s own good time. He said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” You have Jesus’ word on it—you can initiate a miracle any time you want!

CONFESSION:

I abide in Jesus, and His Word abides in me. Therefore, I ask whatever I will, and it is done to me. Healing is in God’s Word. When symptoms try to come, I ask for healing, and it’s given to me. I am healed!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Switch Over to the Realm of Faith

We have the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore I have spoken: we also believe, and therefore speak. -2 Corinthians 4:13

Perhaps you need a miracle and have been waiting for God to manifest Himself through the gifts of the Spirit. The trouble is that He hasn’t done it. So what do you do now?

Do what the Bible says you’re supposed to do. Switch over to the realm of faith. Believe God, and draw that power out of Him.

You see, Jesus ministered to people in two different ways when He walked on the earth. At times He walked up to individuals and sovereignly performed miracles that required no faith on their part. Other times people crawled up behind Jesus in a crowd and pulled power out of Him when He didn’t even know they were there. (Matt. 14:36) Their faith released the power of God.

Jesus still ministers both ways. In His sovereignty, He sometimes works miracles as He wills. But our faith in His Word will work every time at our will.

So don’t wait for a miracle to happen—make one happen with your faith in God’s Word!

Someone once said to me, “Oh, you make God sound like a heavenly butler.” No, I don’t make God sound like anything. I just tell you what He already said to you in His Word.

Besides that, there’s a big difference between a heavenly butler and a heavenly Father. You tell a butler what to do. But with your heavenly Father, you find out what He has already done for you through His love and then you take hold of it by faith!

CONFESSION:

My God always makes His healing power available to me. Therefore, I draw on God’s power for my healing and appropriate what I need from Him by faith.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Believe the Word, Not the Symptoms

For we walk by faith, not by sight  -2 Corinthians 5:7

I once heard about a lady who was a member of a particular church and had a big, visible cancerous growth on her face. Apparently, she made a point of contact, praying and believing she received her healing. But there was no change in her appearance.

Later at a testimony service, this woman stood and said, “I want to thank God for healing me.” She sat down and people started looking at her funny. The next Sunday, she stood and said, “I want to thank God for healing me. This went on for several weeks.

Some people got upset about it, and one person said to her, “Everyone can see you’re not healed. You’re causing confusion. You can’t keep standing up telling people you’re healed.”

She went home that day and stood in front of the mirror. Then she prayed, Now, Father, in Jesus’ name, I know I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus. I know what the Bible says, and I know I believe it. I’d sure appreciate it, though, if You’d get rid of these ugly symptoms.” All of a sudden, while the woman was still standing in front of the mirror, that big cancer just fell off and hit the floor! She looked in the mirror. The area where the growth had been a moment before was now covered in fresh baby skin!

When we make a point of contact with God, believing we receive our answer, we may not immediately look different. But we don’t have to look different—we just have to believe what the Bible says and then say what we believe!

CONFESSION:

Thank God, I’m healed! I know in my heart that when I prayed, my Father heard me and gave me the petition I asked for. I believe I have received my healing!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Live Out Your Full Life on Earth

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.  -Psalm 91:16

God wants you to live out your full life on the earth. But if you don’t, He won’t be mad at you.

We should never criticize anyone for going home early. For instance, Janet and I had a friend who was extremely ill and couldn’t seem to get his healing. He was too young to go, but he saw a glimpse of the other side and told his family, “I’m not staying. I just can’t stay anymore.”

Sometimes people get a glimpse of the other side, and you can’t hold them back. When we say it’s not the will of God for people to go home early, we’re not being critical of those who have. We’re just saying to those who are still here, “Let’s press on and stay as long as we can!”

Don’t ever feel sorry for someone who has gone to heaven. Don’t try to figure out why he didn’t get his healing. Faith is a matter of the heart, and the only One who can look into the heart is God.

Someone may say, “Well, I knew so-and-so. He was believing God and it didn’t work.”

No, that isn’t right. It may have looked as if that person was believing God but God doesn’t fail. Sometimes people just don’t make contact with their answers.

Don’t try to figure it all out. Rejoice with those who have made it to the other side and keep the Word working for yourself in this life!

CONFESSION:

My God shows me His salvation. He preserves my life. He heals my body. I make contact with the promises of God, and His Word works mightily in me. I’ll be satisfied with a long, fruitful life for His glory!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Believe God for Length of Days

So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. -1 Kings 3:14

I knew a man who was only thirty-nine years old when he went home to be with Jesus. He had been sick for a while. People had prayed and done everything they could, but he never got healed.

Later, this man’s brother was talking to someone and said, “You know, it’s the strangest thing. When my brother and I were younger, we spent a lot of time together. Every now and then he’d get really serious and say, “I’ll never live to be forty.”

The man didn’t have any particular reason for believing that, but he kept thinking and planning for an early death. Just a matter of weeks before this man turned forty, he went home to be with the Lord. He could have had thirty, forty, or fifty more years on this earth and done a particular work for God. He could have fulfilled God’s will for his life.

Now, I don’t mean to criticize people who go home early, and I don’t want to make it sound as if they didn’t have faith. But we need to keep our thinking right. The Bible says believers can enjoy abundant blessings in this life. We don’t have to go home sick.

And the good news is that whether a Christian gets healed or goes home to be with the Lord, he can’t be defeated. If he gets healed, he’s going to go tell everyone about it. If he dies and goes home, he’ll be with Jesus. Either way, he wins!

We have an eternity to spend in heaven, but we might as well accomplish all we can down here. Let’s get the job done first. Let’s finish what God has for us to do and then go home!

CONFESSION:

I obey God’s commands with my whole heart. Therefore, long life and peace are added unto me. If Jesus doesn’t come to take me and His Church home first, I’ll live on earth until I’m satisfied!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Faith in God’s Word Prolongs Life

My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. -Proverbs 3:1,2

Someone might say, “Well, what is our full length of time on this earth?” Perhaps it’s one age for one person and another age for another person. If God were making the appointment, we’d know that from the Bible.

But look at what Ephesians 6:1-3 says:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

In other words, the Bible tells children, “There’s something you can do that will cause you to have a long life.”

The book of Proverbs also talks about increasing the length of our lives:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.                                                                              Proverbs 9:10,11

The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.                                                                                                    Proverbs 10:27

There are many other Scriptures that say, “If you do this, you’ll live long on the earth,” or “If you do that, you’ll cut your life short on this earth.” But the Bible doesn’t say, “There’s an appointed time, and when your time comes, you’re going. No, God gives us all kinds of things we can do to prolong our lives. He puts it more in our hands than in His own.

CONFESSION:

The life I find in God’s Word drives sickness and disease far from me. My days are multiplied, and the years of my life are increased as I fear and reverence the Lord.

 

You Can Finish Your Course

It is appointed to man once to die, but after this the judgment. -Hebrews 9:27

Some people think that there is an appointed time to die and when that time comes for a person, he dies. But that’s wrong thinking, and it leaves the door open to the devil.

Notice that this verse doesn’t say there is an appointed time to die. It says it is appointed to man to die once. I heard someone say, “It’s appointed to man once to die, but we don’t have to let the devil set the appointment!”

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:23-24, “For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” In other words, Paul was saying, “I haven’t decided yet whether to go or stay. He was writing from prison, and they were ready to take his head off. Yet Paul was saying he hadn’t decided whether to go or stay—as though he had a choice!

Paul did have a choice. Later in his writings, he said, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:6,7) He left when he was good and ready, and that wasn’t until he’d finished his course.

You should desire to do the same thing. Dare to believe God for a long, satisfying life. Determine in your heart that you won’t leave this earth until you can say with confidence, “I have finished my course!”

CONFESSION:

My God is a healing God. I live to declare the works of the Lord. I’ll live out my full time on this earth. I’ll fight the good fight of faith, and I’ll finish my course with joy!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

God’s Word Works for Me!”

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever… -Deuteronomy 29:29

Sometimes God won’t tell us why a particular individual didn’t get his or her healing. For instance, one time Janet and I were at a certain church and someone asked us to pray with a man in the hospital who was very ill. When we went to visit the man, he was lying in his bed, saying everything right: “By Jesus’ stripes I’m healed. (Isa. 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24) Himself took my infirmities and bore my sicknesses. (Matt 8:17.) I won’t die, but I’ll live and declare the works of the Lord. (Ps. 118:17)”

We prayed for the man, but when we walked out of the hospital, we looked at each other. We both knew in our spirits he was going home to be with the Lord. We sensed that the man was talking right because if he didn’t, his family would be angry at him but that in his heart he’d seen a glimpse of heaven and wanted to go home. He was tired of fighting.

In just a short time, the man went home to be with the Lord.

Some said of this man’s death, “Well, all this faith stuff doesn’t work. He was believing God.” Yes, but he was believing God to go home.

So don’t base your faith walk on what happens in another person’s life. You can’t let someone else’s experience with faith affect you, because you never know what is in that person’s heart. Don’t look at another person’s situation and say, “Well, if it didn’t work for him, it sure will never work for me.” Get your eyes back on the Lord and say, “Well, I don’t know why it didn’t work for that person, but I know one person it will always work for—me!”

CONFESSION:

The Bible says God sent His Word and healed me, and I’m not letting go of that. My faith is not based on the experience of others but on the Word of God.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Redeemed From the “Curse Causeless”

As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. -Proverbs 26:2

Sometimes people get sick and think, There must be some deep dark hidden sin in my life I don’t even know about that’s caused this curse to come on me. But this Scripture indicates that some problems in our lives are causeless.” They are simply attacks from the enemy. So if you don’t know about a deep, dark, hidden sin in your life, it’s probably not there.

I was recently with a fellow in Europe who was upset because a physical ailment had come on one of this relatives. He told me, “We’ve gone all through her childhood, turning over every rock to see if she had any bitterness in her past that might have caused this condition. We found out she got angry at her mother one time when she was a little girl.

This man was viewing his relative’s sickness from a psychological perspective. Now, sometimes bitterness can cause illnesses. But we need to be careful about getting into the realm of psychology. Although psychology can sometimes help locate the source of a problem, it doesn’t have the ability to free us from it.

We don’t need to go digging past the time we were born again. At that moment, we became new creatures, and our old man died. Any problems we had before that are gone.

Thank God, we’ve been redeemed from the “curse causeless” and every evil work of the enemy!

CONFESSION:

I’m a new creature in Christ Jesus. When I was born again, my past was wiped away. In Christ, I am made righteous. Therefore, I come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Jesus, Our Advocate

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. -Hebrews 3:1

The word profession in the original Greek language is the same as the word used for confession. First John 2:1 says, “If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteousness.” Jesus is our Mediator, our legal representative, our attorney.

We can better understand Jesus’ role if we think of in terms of a big court case. God is the judge. He makes the final decisions. Over in the far corner is the prosecutor—the devil, accuser of the brethren. (Rev. 12:10.)

But thank God, in our corner, we have a legal adviser—Jesus! He shed His blood to redeem us, and now He’s the apostle and High Priest of our confession.

Thank about this scenario. The devil whispers to your mind. I’m going to put sickness and disease on you. Meanwhile, your Advocate is saying to you, “All right, give Me something to work with. But, instead, you agree with your accuser, “Oh, I’m so sick. Everything goes wrong for me. I hurt from head to toe. I’m sick and I’m probably getting sicker.”

Jesus looks at the Father and says, “I haven’t got a thing to work with.”

Now let’s go back to the moment the devil whispers in your mind, I’m going to put sickness and disease on you. Suppose Jesus, the apostle and High Priest of your confession, checks with you and finds you boldly saying: “Thank God, by Jesus’ stripes I was healed! (Isa. 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24.) Jesus took my infirmities and bore my sickness. (Matt. 8:17.) I’m redeemed from sickness, poverty and spiritual death. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even my faith. (1 John 5:43) Glory to God!”

That’s what Jesus has been waiting to hear. Now He turns to the judge and says, “Father, be it unto Your child according to his faith!”

CONFESSION

The Lord is my refuge and my fortress; in Him do I put my trust. God is my life. He heals me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Boldly Proclaim God’s Truth

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” -Hebrews 13:5,6

Notice those two phrases “He Himself has said” and “So we may boldly say, “ As Christians, we ought to take what God has said about us and boldly say it. If He said, “By Jesus’ stripes, you were healed,” then we ought to boldly say, “By Jesus’ stripes, I am healed. If He said, “I’ve delivered you from your fears,” then we ought to boldly say, “Thank God, I’ve been delivered from fear! He has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7.)

We need to go through the Scriptures, find out what God said and then boldly say it with our mouths. Not timidly—boldly!

Now, we don’t have to speak it out in front of everyone. Some won’t believe or understand. But we can get before God and boldly plead our case according to His Word. We should let the devil hear, too, because there’s not a thing he can do about it!

Some might say, “But I don’t feel like it.” But you never will feel like it until you start saying it!

So when the devil tries to remind you of mistakes you’ve made, you can boldly say, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he’s a new creature. Glory to God. I’m a new creature in Christ! Old things have passed away. All things have become new!” (2 Cor. 5:17.)

Or when the devil says, “You’re just and old, unworthy thing, a miserable creature, you can say, “He who knew no sin was made to be sin for me so I could be made the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21.) I’ve been given the free gift of righteousness. I reign as a king in life. Glory to God.” He has said, so that you may boldly say the truth and then watch the enemy flee!

CONFESSION:

I boldly say the Lord is my strength and my helper. No plague shall come near my dwelling. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Jesus Himself took my infirmities and bore my sickness, so I am healed!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999