ames 4:7-10 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (NIV)

This scripture has two major parts:

• First: humbly submit (to move in close) to God through love, prayer, worship and living in his word. This attitude actually pushes you into God's presence. It allows the Holy Spirit to minister to you. He will give you insight for recognizing the strategies of Satan when he attacks; and all the power you need to put him to flight.

• Second: resist the devil. When you resist the devil you make a stand against anything and everything that Satan stands for. I like to think of it as an aggressive attack on Satan produced through me by the power of the blood of Jesus. Put out of your life anything and everything that God's word tells us is wrong. Completely clean house spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.

1John 5:17 All wrongdoing is sin... (AMP)

Put out of your life anything and everything that God's word tells us is wrong. Clean house completely.

Ephesians 5:8-11 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. (NIV)

(See reference #2: Ephesians 4:29-32, Ephesians 5:3-7, Collosians 3:5-10 Acts Of The Flesh)

Submitting Yourself To God

In order to submit to God you must examine yourself. Are you doing everything you know to do that is right according to the Bible? Since God doesn't honor faith without action, do everything you know to do.

James 4:17 To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (ASV)

You don't have to feel like doing it, just do it. It will please God and soon the Holy Spirit will move in to help you and you'll wonder why you didn't make the change years ago. Great faith grows by thinking, talking and acting in righteousness according to the Bible. It pleases God when you submit to His ways in spite of how you've been taught, what your circumstances are or how you feel and His blessings and rewards are priceless.

James 2:18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (NIV)

James 2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (NIV)

Jesus produced acts of obedience for everything he taught. We also must put acts of obedience to our faith.

1. Check if your service to God is stable, such as reading, praying, church attendance, praise and worship, tithing, etc.
2. Check to see if you have anything you need to clear up with God through repentance.
3. Check yourself for any attitude problems toward God or other people. A major way that we show love toward God is how we treat other people.

(See below #3: Matthew 25:34-41 doing for others is doing unto Christ)

1Peter 4:7-8 ...Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (NIV)

Be Obedient

James 5:13-16 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any among you sick? Let him call for 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 him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. (ASV) (powerful and effective)

Don't feel you can do it all by yourself, God never honors stubbornness. Most healings and miracles take place where people are gathered together in worship. The collective faith of people increases the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 18:19-20 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (ASV)

Search For God's Truth And God's Power

Luke 5:17-25 And it came to pass on one of those days, that he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, men bring on a bed a man that was palsied: and they sought to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And not finding by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And seeing their faith, he (Jesus) said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But Jesus perceiving their reasonings, answered and said unto them, why reason ye in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he said unto him that was palsied), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God. (ASV)

TThe Pharisees kept the Law of Moses and the unwritten tradition of the elders, although often hypocritically. They should have believed in the "Power" by which all the things Jesus was teaching and doing because it was the Power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick means that the Holy Spirit was working through Jesus in a miraculous way at that particular time. Jesus was human like us; however, through his dedication to God, the Father, he continually gave us examples of how to live so God's power could work through us.

The Holy Spirit not only did such a wonderful thing in recreating this man's muscles, nerves, bones or whatever he needed to get up and walk but he also received the strength to carry his bed home, yet the Pharisees and teacher's were blind to the work of the Holy Spirit. They showed the extent of their true "evil" spirit when they called the works of the Holy Spirit blasphemy. What a dangerous thing to say; if they didn't believe, it would have been better to say nothing.

Matthew 12:30-32 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. (ASV)

You will notice the men did not take the paralytic to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, they knew they were lacking in miracle power. If your church doesn't have prayer for healing, with results, something is wrong. Begin looking for a church that has a good tract record with God's power. Choosing a church is one of the most important choices you will ever make. It affects every aspect of life and eternity for you and those you love; give it a lot of research, prayer and meditation. Interview the preacher, listen carefully to the sermons, take notes and compare what is taught and preached to God's word. Don't put all your trust in others, find out for yourself because only you are accountable to God for yourself.

Don't be afraid to move on if that church is not in complete agreement with the Bible. You must find a good church, you deserve God's best. You wouldn't take a dose of poison once a week because it was wrapped in a pretty bottle would you? If a church lacks in teaching God's promises, then Satan has stripped it of God's authority and blessings in at least those areas, just as he stripped Adam and Eve of God's power and authority in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle (crafty) than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made; and he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ("Did God really say..." - NIV) ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? (Satan undermined what God said.)

Genesis 3:2-3 And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Eve knew exactly what God said and never should have submitted herself to Satan's questioning of God's word.)

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Satan gained her full attention by appealing to her selfish desires and proceeded to contradict God with a lie.)

Genesis 3:5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. (Now the lie of deceit exploded in Eve's spirit causing her irreverence for the truth of God, thus resulting in an act of sin, giving Satan and the curse he lives under authority over the earth and all mankind.)

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. (ASV) ) (Eve's eyes, heart and mind was no longer on the words and blessings of God but totally fixed on the deceit of lifting herself up. That deceit reached out from Eve and snatched Adam. Deceit can reach out and overtake you if you don't stand firm in the word of God.)

Preachers and teachers that don't believe the whole word of God have fallen into the same category as Eve, believing a lie undermining what God has said in his word. Don't be fooled by appearances and be snatched into deceit. Pray with a sincere heart and receive the truth. Fast if you need to but get the leadership of the Lord.

Matthew 12:25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; (ruin) and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand... (ASV)

Read the Bible, pray and stand firm. If there isn't a good church near you there are some on TV. I've had two healing through TV ministries; one while standing in my dinning room and the other standing in my bedroom. One excellent teacher on healing is Gloria Copeland. You can download, for free, teachings on healing and faith or buy books and tapes on healing at Kenneth Copeland Ministries. God is responsible for his word where ever you are, if you believe he will heal you.

Continue to Part 3...