"Expect a Miracle" - Part 7

Oral Roberts valued the anointing. Here is what he said.

“I tried each time to be absolutely certain I was anointed by the Holy Spirit.

We must give the message and stay anointed while we give it. I discovered that secret the hard way. There were times when I felt my message so strongly in me that I got cocky and didn't spend enough time seeking God to anoint me as the messenger to help deliver those who were suffering.

God's Word is already anointed. Preachers or teachers must also he anointed. We are handling divine material, not just a secular message or some argumentative theory. We are to deliver the Word as an oracle of God, knowing God personally and intimately, feeling the needs of the people to the extent we feel what they feel, and knowing that as mortal beings, we cannot of our own knowledge and ability do anything in the spiritual realm by ourselves. 'And the Lord went with them, confirming his word with signs following' (see Mark 16.20).

I soon knew when I was anointed and when I was not. It is awesome to face a group of people, few or many, knowing that they have mortal bodies but immortal souls, that some are terminally ill, that all are sick in some way, and understanding they came not only to hear me but also to hear God's voice speaking inside them through the Word preached. Not feeling that awesomeness leads to tickling their fancy with a message that has no heart or soul in it, or lulling the people to believe God is not all-powerful and able to do 'exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think' (Eph. 3:20).

That is the reason many who are called do not enter the ministry; the awesomeness of it intimidates them. That is also why some feel they must preach the gospel, but they seek an easy way out by preaching surface-type talks, without the Holy Spirit's powerful anointing to prick the hearts of their hearers.

One day as I was studying Jesus' words in Luke 4: 18 on the anointing, the Lord spoke these words to me:

"'The anointing is that divine energy that separates you from yourself and fills you with the glory of God so that when you act, it is like God acting, and when you speak, it is like God speaking.

I knew it was God speaking because it lined up with His Word and with what happened in Jesus Himself when He had preached and taught and healed-the three things He did during His earthly ministry. Those three things He did have burned in my spirit, and I have risked everything to understand how to apply them to myself and to my preaching, teaching, and healing in Jesus' name.

The anointing separates you from yourself so that God is in charge of you. The anointing fills you with divine energy so that you are not limited to preaching or doing God's work solely in your own strength or reason.

That is one reason the prophet said, 'The anointing breaks the yoke." (See Isa. 10..27.) There is a yoke on people, and it's not Jesus' yoke, which is "easy," as He says in Matthew 11.30. It is the yoke of bondage to sin, fear, hate, vengeance, jealousy, ego, lying, stealing, murder, sickness, disease, lack, and demon possession - in fact, to everything that destroys human beings and their dreams and hopes.

The anointed preacher, who has spent hours preparing himself and his message, sends the hot fires of the Holy Spirit to bum the yoke off people who believe, and supernaturally brings them into totally new attitudes, new purposes, new commitments, and new expectations. There is simply no other way to do this through ministry for people.

Jesus explains it in Luke 4:18:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he bath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised.

The mortal person doing the preaching can prepare until he or she memorizes every word of
the message and delivers it flawlessly, but unless he or she is anointed, the message will not cut through Satan's wall of bondage, it *W not open the eyes of the understanding of people to their possibilities in God, it will not activate the listener's faith, and it will not heal, deliver, recover, set free, or bind up the wounded!

I discovered that the difference in being anointed and not being anointed is monumental. Without it, you're on your own. With it, all your senses come alive, your mind blossoms, your body feels light and graceful in its moves, your spirit is in control, and you realize what you're doing is God inspired beyond any measure you know. People hearing or dealing with you know all this, too. That is, they feel something powerful and wonderful that they can't always understand or explain. But it reaches inside them for a decision to be made one way or the other toward the Lord.”


(Roberts, Oral. 1995. Expect a Miracle: My Life and Ministry. Nashville Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers. p 352)

"Expect a Miracle" - Part 6

Davies (1992, p 217) states that there are a number of revival principles that constantly recur including persistent prayer; powerful preaching and testimony; and a deep awareness of the presence and holiness of God leading to a strong sense of conviction of sin and repentance. Among the more variable factors include miracles of healing and the exercise of spiritual gifts. The revival ministry of Oral Roberts includes these, especially in the areas of powerful preaching and testimony, and miracles of healing. Davies (p 235) also notes that when miracles appear to be taking place in connection with a work of God in revival it is worth asking a number of questions:
1. Do they contribute to the work of the Gospel?
2. Do they distract from the spiritual work?
3. Is Christ glorified as a result?
4. What is the spiritual character of those manifesting these gifts and powers?
The overwhelming evidence would suggest a confident “yes” to all four questions.

Dr L.D. Thomas Jnr (in Roberts, 1975, p 12) believes that “Oral Roberts is the one man most responsible for a genuine spiritual revival in our time. During the terrible 60's - one of the most tragic declines ever in both the church and the moral fibre of America- here was a man who refused to join the pessimists. Wherever he could he stood up and shouted as loud as he could, 'God is alive!' ... When I entered the ministry in 1959 there were barely a half dozen good books on the Holy Spirit. Now throughout the church, the work of the Holy Spirit is the most talked about and the most exciting thing that has happening in the church and in people's lives today. And the man most responsible for this, in my opinion, is Oral Roberts.... I thank God that Oral has allowed God to use him as an instrument for a spiritual revival in our time that is giving new life to the church and new life to our nation." The comments of Dr Thomas are indicative of the powerful effect that Oral Roberts and his ministry have had. A fuller transcript has been included in Appendix A because of its illustrative comprehensiveness.

Not all people consider the healing and evangelistic ministry of Oral Roberts favourably. Roberts (1985, p 386) states that he has never claimed to be perfect. Criticism is a fact of life and leaders must face it according to the Word of God: “I live with both failure and successes. That is one way that I believe God builds character in me...I must not only look on my failures but I must look to the successes of what God did in healing so many people through me as His instrument.” He was always concerned to do the right thing and to live a life of integrity. His wife, Evelyn notes that Oral once said after failing in an area; “I can’t afford to make mistakes like other people do. I am God’s instrument to deliver the people. This will hinder my work for God. I’ve got to make it right” (Roberts, 1956, p 41). She also notes that “I have seen Oral tested and tried by almost every circumstance of life that could possibly come to him. In such times he goes to the Bible for strength (p 43).

For fifty years the ministry has continued through success and scepticism, and without scandal. Lee Braxton (in Roberts, 1952, p 10) summarises the ministry succinctly : “I am unshaken in my faith in God and that He has raised up Oral Roberts to reach our generation with the message of Bible Deliverance.”

"Expect a Miracle" - Part 5

The ministry of Oral Roberts is very personal.

His experience of laying hands on almost 1.5 million people and praying for them has given him a sense of person-centeredness. He has found no two sick people alike, but faith is always the same and so is hope. The principles of his ministry were to do everything possible to help a sick person get into faith and hope.

In regard to the completion of the writing of his book "A Daily Guide To Miracles and Successful Living Through Seed Faith" he notes "here it is, my seeds of faith for your life. As I've worked and planted them I've tried to visualise you picking up this book, holding it in your hands, reading, stopping...reading. smiling, crying. meditating, believing, receiving and finally knowing that you know that you know that you know...God is the greatest power you have and He is in the middle of the n-o-w of your needs" (Roberts, 1975, p 17).

Dedicated to the Lord before he was born, Oral Roberts grew up in a Christian family where he learned that Jesus is a person and that He is real to people in this life. From his parents’ reality of Jesus to them and their being on intimate terms with Him made it seem to Oral that Jesus was there in person. He notes in Roberts (1995, p 8) : “An indelible impression was made upon my mind as a child that you could be so close to Jesus that you could talk to Him. I shudder to think what might have happened to me if I had not been birthed and raised by the parents God gave me.” This relationship with God and prayer allowed God to speak to Oral Roberts personally and powerfully some twenty-three times to date in his life and ministry (ibid, p 385).

He has a very strict daily timetable of prayer, work and rest, of which his wife notes, “It is a great sacrifice for him to follow this pattern so consistently. It is a price few preachers are willing to pay. Perhaps that’s one reason Oral has God’s power” (Roberts, 1956, p 39).

She also powerfully reflects on Oral’s time in prayer: “I’ve slipped in while Oral was talking with the Lord. Many times he doesn’t know I’m there. I’ve heard him plead with God to be with him, to open his mind, to help him understand the deep truths of deliverance and give them to the people in a simple manner. He seems to know the Lord better than he knows me...This may seem strange but I’ve known for sometime now that he has a love for Jesus that he has never had for me or the children....The Lord has a magnetic power over him and Oral gives back a love that seems to come from the depths of his soul” (ibid). Oral said regarding losing relationship with Jesus, “If I thought I would ever lose Him, I’d rather die right now” (Ibid, p 43).

"Expect a Miracle" - Part 4

I am inspired by this book by Oral Roberts. Here is part 4 of my reflections.

Dr Oral Roberts is a pioneer in the fields of television and radio ministries and is one of the best-known Christian ministers of the twentieth century. He has held more that three hundred evangelistic and healing crusades on five continents, has authored more that fifty books, and is the visionary who founded Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has been a true leader of revival across the world.

Oral Roberts has poured out his life with an unquenchable thirst to obey God and not man in every area: “My life and my ministry are not over yet...I am healthy, enthusiastic, energetic, still believing, still working, and I won’t give up - never, never, never with everything that’s in me. I believe the best is yet to come!” (Roberts, 1995, p 387).

After a study of the book of Acts, he "saw that the only thing that would bring a revival to our church today was a repetition of Pentecost, a revival of signs and wonders, a visitation of God's power upon us through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost" (Roberts, 1952, p 68). He gave himself to the task and to obey God in every area of his life: "I could have the anointing of Jesus of Nazareth if I wanted it badly enough. I wanted it. I sought it. It was not easy. I had to give up many things and many friends...I live for one thing: for the deliverance of the lost and suffering humanity. Everything is subordinated to that cause...I cannot help it. I have seen the world's hurt. I have felt the heartbeat of lost and suffering humanity....I have to go. I have no choice. I am on fire and I can't stand still. The call of God to deliver mankind rings in my ears day and night. I must go" (Roberts, 1952, p 158). His wife, Evelyn reflects powerfully on this time: “What people don’t understand and I guess will never understand is that Oral was never a great person until he made the supreme consecration of his life in 1947 in Enid” (Roberts, 1956, p 30).

Oral Roberts became the nation's greatest soul winner, winning over 50 000 souls a year in his meetings. His ministry was powerful and the 12 500 seat “canvas cathedral” paved the way for the big tent revivals. It many instances the tent was not big enough to contain the masses who came to hear the gospel and be healed.

Eyewitness accounts of these meetings (Roberts, 1997) include: “Inside the tent you could definitely feel the presence of God...there was an expectancy in the crowd...Oral expected God to do something...and He did! We always saw hundreds of people’s lives changed and people’s bodies healed.” He gained a reputation as an eloquent and passionate speaker. His wife reflects that “he is more at home in the pulpit than he is in his own backyard. The words flow out of him until I don’t know him as my own husband. He is another man...when he is in the pulpit something comes over him and he becomes another man. His voice becomes vibrant; every word has great power” (Roberts, 1956, p 39).

"Expect a Miracle" - Part 3

It's time for part 3 of some of my book review notes on "Expect a Miracle - My LIfe and Story."


If you have missed the start of this blog series please click here.


You can check back later on previous issues by searching my blog for the label "Oral Roberts" or by ptting the word "Miracle" in my blog "search" box.


Enjoy - and see you tomorrow for part 4.

Oral Roberts experiences with the spirit realm provide some interesting insights.

He states (1975, p 112) that the greatest source of supply a believer can have and the greatest security a believer can feel is when they don't have anything. It is then that the believer has to learn to be lean and hungry and to trust God. When Roberts was aged 17, God said to him, "Some day you are to build me a university. You are to build it on My authority and on the Holy Spirit" (p 262). God had never permitted him to have any money when he started a project and when it came time to build the university, God said, "I'm going to let you start with the same ingredient I used when I made the earth - nothing" (p 113). He relays a potent experience which demonstrates spiritually magnified sight in the spirit realm and seeing what God sees:

"One day I was walking across a piece of pasture land at the edge of Tulsa which hopefully would some day be the campus of Oral Roberts University. I was praying with my understanding - that is, in my own language, and getting nowhere. My mind was saying:
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!...YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!!"
Then I shifted - by my will - and began to pray in tongues and my heart began saying:
"YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!"
"You can!"
"You will!"
"You can!"
"You will!"
Then this knowing was transferred to my understanding. It came out of my belly - my inner man - it came up like a river. It came up into my mind AND I SAW IT. My mind began to blossom, to sharpen, to come alive to what God was saying to me.
All at once - believe me, friend, when I say this - I understand enough to build a university. I didn't understand all the details but i understood the basics...I saw that we would create a higher education for your sons and daughters and mine...they would get a total education - for the whole man.
I SAW IT!
I KNEW IT!
Today Oral Roberts University is a reality and growing all the time, including it's graduate schools, and fully accredited" (ibid, p 263).

His ministry also depended heavily on the understanding and guidance of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of speaking in tongues. He believed and taught that the ultimate purpose of the prayer language of the Spirit is that it goes to God. Then God has the prayer that originates in our spirit and that is carried to him by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It is a prayer that was prayed in the will of God.
It is a prayer that was prayed without the inhibitions of the intellect.
It is a prayer that originates in our spirit by the Holy Spirit.

This is why God responds....always!
How does God respond? How does this take place?
Paul makes it clear: "For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says" (1 Cor 14:13). He encouraged believers: “After you pray in tongues ... or in the spirit...just stop a moment and ask God to give you the interpretation...to speak back in your own understanding. Then begin praying again in English or your own language. For in the process of praying in the spirit the Holy Spirit has enriched your mind and you will find God's response comes back in the mind.

I have discovered that what I have said with my spirit now becomes what I say with my intellect - and so I am able to pray with the understanding. When I pray I start in the spirit or in tongues (the prayer language of the Spirit), then I immediately go to my own tongue, my own language. I pray back and forth in tongues and then with my understanding until it is like they are one. I feel the nearness of being a whole man - to the extent that I can think more properly, I can make decisions more decisively and wisely, I can reach the highest degree of what I am to be on this earth - when I pray with the spirit and with the understanding also... I have a much deeper assurance of life.

I seem to develop a 'knowing' of what I am to do.
When I pray in the spirit or praise God with the spirit I always pause and ask God for the interpretation. I feel I receive the interpretation almost every time... What usually happens is I receive an almost uncanny awareness in my mind, an opening up of my understanding... I find I'm saying words in my own tongue that feel exactly like what I felt when I was praying in the spirit... the results prove it to me...and in time I get more knowledge, more wisdom. It is like my brain works better or like I am being handed inside information” (Roberts, 1975, p 257, 261).

“Expect a Miracle" - Part 2

I started a series of posts yesterday based on the book “Expect a Miracle – My Life and Ministry” by Oral Roberts. You can read part 1 here.

It is a very good book.

Here is a cut n paste from a book report I did while at bible college - be inspired!

He gained a reputation as an eloquent and passionate speaker. His wife reflects that “he is more at home in the pulpit than he is in his own backyard. The words flow out of him until I don’t know him as my own husband. He is another man...when he is in the pulpit something comes over him and he becomes another man. His voice becomes vibrant; every word has great power” (Roberts, 1956, p 39). Lee Braxton, a businessman and key associate of the ministry powerfully notes of Oral Roberts preaching:

"He was a human dynamo charged with God's power. His voice took on a vibrant tone as if it were charged with magnetism. He preached like a man possessed with God. In a few seconds he brought Jesus to that crowd and I am sure every person present saw Jesus so real and close that he could reach out and touch him....he then announced he always put first things first in his meetings. 'I never pray for the sick,' he said, 'until I have led people to Christ to be saved. The saving of a lost soul is God's greatest miracle.' Then the healing line was called and he began praying for the healing of the sick...as he prayed for the people he seemed lost in his prayer, completely oblivious of the crowd. His soul was in his voice and the words of his prayer rang with sincerity." (Branxton in Roberts, 1952, p 6),

Powerful preaching was a hallmark of the ministry of Oral Roberts. His wife, Evelyn, states (Roberts, 1956, p 31) that he feels that the preaching of the gospel is the most important thing in the world. He says that he has no faith apart from God’s Holy Word and the only way he can get people delivered is to build up their faith by the preaching of the Word. I know that his faith reaches its strongest point just after he has finished preaching. He does his most successful praying for the sick following his sermon. He feels that if he can bring their faith to a climax through his preaching, then his prayers for their healing will be answered. For that reason he intensely dislikes praying for the sick privately. A lot of people can’t understand why. He always quotes that verse: ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10: 17).

The anointing of the Holy Spirit was another feature of the ministry. Roberts discovered that the difference in being anointed and not being anointed is monumental: “Without it, you're on your own. With it, all your senses come alive, your mind blossoms, your body feels light and graceful in its moves, your spirit is in control, and you realize what you're doing is God inspired beyond any measure you know. People hearing or dealing with you know all this, too. That is, they feel something powerful and wonderful that they can't always understand or explain. But it reaches inside them for a decision to be made one way or the other toward the Lord” (Roberts, 1995, p 352). He relays a powerful illustration of the anointing working through his in a meeting:

"I began to preach , and I had not preached more than ten minutes until the anointing of God struck my mortal flesh. I began to tingle from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet with the presence of God. My brain became clear and sharp, the words started rolling out of my mouth like volumes of water. I heard myself saying things I had never dreamed were possible for any man to say. The spirit of prophecy came on me and I began prophesying...I told the people that this last worldwide revival would be a revival of signs and wonders and that it would be characterised by a great wave of healing power coming from heaven upon the sick bodies of mankind....I was just a little over halfway through in this sermon when the anointing of God became so great that I could not stand still. Suddenly I leaped off the high platform down to the lower floor. When I did it, it seemed the audience was swept off its feet...I saw at a glance that I would not get to finish my sermon, that the power of the Lord was present to heal and I must act immediately...a lot of people were healed that day...both the people and I knew I was called of God for we had seen His outstretched hand that day and many, many people had felt His healing power upon their souls and bodies...I felt I could go out with God's anointing and set the world on fire" (Roberts, 1952, p 93).

The anointing would move powerfully through Oral Robert’s right hand and was a sign to him of God’s presence. As he felt the warmth running through his hand, faith for healing seemed to leap out of his heart and up to God. It helped him understand the absolute necessity for him to release his faith and to inspire the people to release their faith in God also. The rallying cry since this revelation in his ministry has been : “Turn your faith loose! Release your faith to God! Let it go up and out of you to God!” Roberts notes that his ministry was being a faith releaser.

In his preaching and praying for the sick he could encourage people to become God-conscious, then faith-conscious, then learn to turn their faith loose to the Lord and see what the Lord would do. His touching the people with the presence of the Lord pulsating through his right hand became a point of contact for their faith and his faith to be loosed to God for their healing. Before a meeting, Oral Roberts discovered that if he hung on expectantly the presence of God would start coming into his right hand for a few minutes before he went to minister and would cause his faith to become active inside him (Roberts, 1995, p 104).

See you for part 3 tomorrow!

“If… Put a Full Stop Over Your Ministry Right Now “

Pastor Peter Earle is a passionate man.
And he was my bible college principal.

It was during chapel one morning in 1998 that he boldly declared…

“If you have not yet read this book (“Expect a Miracle” by Oral Roberts) you can put a full stop over your ministry right now!“

Wow!!

I did not have a copy of the book and I had not read the book!!

So off I went later that day – and I got me a copy of “that” book… and boy, and I glad that I did.

I read the book, I summarised the book, I tried to devour the principles of the book, I prayed the concepts of the book.

And in our year of UNLEASHED! I challenged our leadership team last Friday to consider reading such a book. So I have dug my copy off the bookshelf and am reacquainting myself with an old friend.

Today I am starting a series of posts reflecting on the book, “Expect a Miracle – My Life and Ministry” by Oral Roberts.

I hope you can stick with me.

I am sure you will be inspired!