Real Reality

Can we declare healing or deliverance? Is that biblical?

Psalms 96:3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

Here’s a quote from a website that will go unidentified: “Repeatedly throughout the Bible we see God encouraging us to ask in prayer, not to decree. I could even make the argument that these two things of asking and decreeing are not in congruence with each other. One major difference between the two is that decreeing puts the onus on us to cause it to happen, while asking puts the onus on God to bring it to pass.”

I use this quote as an example of many similar types of decrees on the Internet. It’s not to attack any organization or person. People make mistakes. People get spiritually stuck. This is one example of an error that’s widespread. I’m specifically not mentioning the website because this is a spiritual battle. Satan is trying to stop what God is doing, and we don’t need to attack other Christians.

We should consider these claims. These claims can be taken in a way that is neither biblical nor rational. Some parts of the claim are true. Here is a lie in this statement: “not to decree.” That’s a lie. The Bible never says, “Do not decree.” A decree is a statement made with authority. In fact, the statement above is a decree since it claims to have authority, but is this a decree from a false teacher who has no real authority. Is this person speaking on his own authority or God’s authority? If God reveals something to us, we have full authority to decree it. If God tells us to decree something, we have full authority to decree it. God tells us we can speak by the Holy Spirit or by some other spirit. If we speak by the Spirit, it is God speaking through us. It is not us. It is God. This person writing that article, who refuses to listen to the voice of God, has no authority to decree anything. And yet, this person issues decrees without the unction of the Holy Spirit. If it’s not the Holy Spirit, it’s a different spirit.

The second lie in the paragraph from this website is “these two things of asking and decreeing are not in congruence with each other.” That’s a lie. They are not the same thing, but there is no conflict.

The third lie in the paragraph from this website is “decreeing puts the onus on us to cause it to happen, while asking puts the onus on God to bring it to pass.” When you do anything in Jesus’ name, it is Jesus who does it. Some people do decree their own unrighteous decrees. In fact, that paragraph above from this website is an example of someone decreeing something on their own. They are making claims God never made. Many of them don’t even believe God can lead them in any real way. They totally follow their own fallen minds. When God tells you to speak in His Name, you are to yield to the Holy Spirit to the point the God can speak His words through you. When God tells you to do something in His Name, He is asking you to yield to the Holy Spirit to the point that God can do His works through you.

Consider Moses at the Red Sea. Do you remember Him saying, “Lord, could you please part the Red Sea for us if it is your will?” Perhaps. We don’t know. We know God’s reaction to whatever Moses said.

Exodus 14:15-16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea.

Notice God’s question to Moses. And notice God’s command to Moses: “Stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it.” If Moses had stretched out his hand over the sea without that command from God, do you suppose anything would have happened? I don’t think so either.

Do you see the way this works? God speaks. God leads. We yield in willing obedience. Miracles happen according to God’s will. God is always the first mover. If we start running on our own, we are on our own. Now notice this statement from this article. “One major difference between the two is that decreeing puts the onus on us to cause it to happen, while asking puts the onus on God to bring it to pass.” What is this man saying? What is this man assuming? Does his statement even make an ounce of sense when we realize how God works?

Let’s take a New Testament example. Peter and John went to pray and there was a man lame from birth at the gate of the Temple. Have you read how Peter and John prayed, “Oh Lord, if it is Your will, we know You can heal this man. Please heal him.” I didn’t read it that way either. Here’s how my Bible says it, “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted [him] up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”

When Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk,” that is a declarative sentence. Peter was not demanding from God. He wasn’t commanding God. He knew God’s will because He knew Jesus Christ in a real and practical way. Some people believe that no one can know God in this way. They believe in a distant and unknowable Jesus Christ. Jesus is real and knowable. When God tells you something, He speaks His word. Jesus Christ is the word of God. This word of God, this leading, teaching, and correcting word of God is available to every Christian. We can know Jesus Christ. Some Christians don’t want to know Jesus Christ.

Many naturalistic Christians have ways to explain away these types of Scripture. Some say, “There is a naturalistic explanation for that.” They say this as if there is such a thing as naturalistic. They say this as if they can separate God from life.

Others say, “That was for another age but not for now.” Some of the “not for now” Christians even have the gall to quote Scripture to back up their “not for now” claim. The reason I call this gall is that the Scriptures they quote are twisted and taken out of context. Challenge these false teachers. Check the Scriptures they quote. Notice that the Scriptures quoted don’t fit the claim.

One of my favorites goes something like this. “First Corinthians 13 in the 8th verse it says, ‘Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.’ Then, in the 9th and 10 verses it says, ‘For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.’ The word ‘perfect’ means ‘complete.'” All of that is true, but look how they twist this. They go on to say, “That which is perfect is the Bible, and the Bible is complete, so that means God no longer speaks to His people.” If that’s true, where do those people get that “revelation?” They just told you they didn’t get it from God. And yet, they added to Scripture without divine revelation. This is either a pipe dream of the fallen human mind, or it’s a doctrine from a demon. Here’s what the Holy Spirit tells me about this Scripture. That which is complete is referring to something that’s coming. It’s mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-13. It will be a day when we all come to the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, unto a complete (perfect) Man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Follow the Holy Spirit without fear. Listen to His voice. Speak only the words that come from Him. If God tells you to declare something, be obedient. If God doesn’t tell you to declare something, keep silent and stand in God’s presence until you know His will and can go forward in His will. He will give you power for anything He asks you to do.