Speaker: Mike Connell
Question & Answer
Can you share any secrets to how to keep your
sensitivity to the Holy Spirit?
I also mentioned that I would talk about praying. To
maintain sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, it’s a daily life with Him. So that
requires prayer; and it also requires that you act on the little impressions
the Holy Spirit gives. The more you act on the little impressions, the more
sensitive you become, and the more you seem to receive.
In Mark 4:24 Jesus said: “If you have ears to hear,
and you respond, then more will be given.” Listening and responding to the Holy
Spirit helps develop sensitivity. In my prayer time daily, I pray a number of
things. One of the things I pray, is that I spend time in worshipping and just
loving God for who He is. I try to keep extending that time out. I’m just
meditating in His presence, speaking in tongues, and just loving on Him. I’ve
learned that you can speak in tongues, sing with your mind, and picture Jesus -
all at the same time. You actually have the power to give yourself to Him in
worship.
Then I also take a time in my praying, probably about
20 minutes or so, I consciously yield differently parts of my life to Him, and
begin to speak over my life, what I’m believing for God to do. I’ll just give
you an example - I’ll just show you how I pray:
“Lord today I yield to You my hearing. I yield the
ears of my inner man and outer man to You. Thank you Lord I hear Your voice
clearly today. My heart is sensitive to Your voice. Lord I hear what You are
saying to me, and I respond immediately. I thank you Lord that You’re giving me
a hearing heart, to hear people, to ask questions that probe right to the root
of the problems. Thank you Lord that You’re giving me an ability to see what
the problem is - eyes to see, ears to hear, ability to discern exactly what is
happening.”
What I’m doing is, I’m picturing and declaring the
life I intend to live. Now there’s a basis for this. I’ll give you a scripture
- 1 John 4:17 - “As He is, so are we in the world.” As He is now, we are in the
world. I want you to think about that one. I don’t have to make myself become
something; the Bible says – as He is, so am I.
So what is He like? Jesus hears the voice of the
Father all the time. Jesus looks right into people’s hearts and knows what is
going on. Lord as You are, so am I in this world. I hear the voice of my Father
clearly. I instantly respond. I hear the voice of people’s hearts. I see right
into their lives.
You say, well, but actually you’re not living that
way. No, I am building the future I intend to have. I’m beginning to declare
the operation of His life through me. As I meditate in who I am in Christ, and
what I can do in Christ, and believe that, it shows up in my life. This is the
blessed life.
People try to work hard, to be able to get God to help
them to do stuff. What if you already have all, you are complete in Christ?
Everything you need, you have? How about this one: “We have an anointing, and
we know all things”. I don’t know all things. No, but I have an anointing that
knows all things - I need to be more conscious of the anointing within.
So, reflective prayer, prayer of meditation and
affirming the truth is crucial to building your life with God. So you don’t
wait until you’re in a ministry situation to become sensitive; you develop it
day by day. It’s something you build into your life, and it manifests through
your life.
I wish I’d know those things years ago. It would’ve
made my life a lot easier! I just didn’t know what to do to see the reality of
God moving - it’s taken me years to find it, because people who do - don’t
tell. They just do - and everyone thinks they’re wonderful. You know there’s a
magician and he shows off the magician’s tricks? That’s what I want to be! Show
what the tricks are; but it’s actually a lot easier than you realise, when you
understand the dynamics of the spirit man, and you begin to understand: I
already am that new creation man. I’m already complete in Christ. As He is, so
am I in the world.
So what is He like? So I meditate on Him - that’s what
I’m like. Oh, I see. I begin to see Him, and say: that’s who I am, that’s what
I’m like. Doesn’t the Bible say: we’ve been conformed into the image of Jesus?
Trouble is, you look in the mirror, and you see what you think you’re like. We
should look in the spiritual mirror, and see Christ, and say: “Ah - that’s who
I am, everyday I’m more and more like that”. So this is not like working hard
to make something happen; it’s like training the heart to believe the truth,
through meditation and confession: I’m in the presence of God.
The last thing on that, in Hebrews 5:14 it says:
“Having our senses exercised to discern”. So, you develop sensitivity by
practice; not by reading about it - you just have to try. So ask God to send
you plenty of people to practise on. Just practise, until you get the feel of
the flow of His anointing on you.
There’s a lady with a question. There is this
particular person in authority, in the office, like a manager. When this person
deals with her, he has this huge rage inside. He gets really mad, and there’s a
lot of anger. She can sense there’s a power behind it. He has no problem with
anyone else, just her! Every time she prays, or speaks in tongue, or tries to
control the situation. Now, she’s asking: besides prayer, is there anything she
can do to deal with this situation?
It’s most likely that there’s a spiritual reaction
going on. That sometimes happens. If he’s nice to everyone, and to you he’s
very angry- either there’s something in him reacting to you, or there’s ways
you’re operating that are irritating him very much. We’ve always got to be open
that perhaps God wants us to grow in the situation.
So Lord, help me to overcome evil with good. Romans
12: 21 I think, overcome evil with good, don’t be overcome by evil. I would, in
prayer, hold him up before the Lord. Get a picture, see his face, and begin to
speak and take authority over the spirits that are operating behind him. I
presume this is an unsaved person - this is why it’s such a big reaction. So
speak to the spirits. Picture a demonic spirit got a hold of him and is
manipulating him. Speak to that spirit. Command it to release him.
In other words, in prayer, assert your authority
spiritually over the driving power behind it. Decree that you already have
authority over it. Don’t fight to get the authority. Speak from the place of
authority: I tread on serpents and scorpions, over all power over the enemy.
Nothing shall harm me. No weapon formed against me shall prosper.
In Jesus’ name, I bind that controlling spirit. It’s
controlling through anger, and it’s very intimidating and frightening - it’s a
spirit of witchcraft. Take authority. Bind the spirit. Forbid its operation
against you. Decree its power broken. Hold a place of strength over the spirit,
in your prayer time.
Then you ask God for grace. To be able to love this
person, and to be able to relate and connect with them well. You have to, first
of all, get your heart right; address the spiritual power; and then you can
deal with the person.
When the person gets angry, there are some things you
can do. Here’s one thing. The Bible says – a soft answer turns away anger. One
thing I felt has helped me, is when someone is very angry with me - I would
just, in a quiet voice, ask questions to clarify what they’re saying. In other
words, I just act a little bit thick (stupid), and juts ask questions to
understand what they’re saying. When you speak quietly, and just enquire what
they’re saying - they have to calm down in order to answer the questions. That
is just one strategy I found has helped.
Another strategy is to be a little bit more direct;
one of trying to manage it. In other words, to say: excuse me, I notice you
seem to be very upset or angry with me. In other words, you bring to the open
what is hidden there. I notice you seem to be quite angry and upset; is there
something I’ve done that has upset you that I can put right? I really want to
help you and serve you; I don’t want to be doing things that upset you.
Sometimes you get: ‘I’m not angry!’ So, there’s a variety of ways to manage
someone who is difficult in the workplace, but you have to work with God to
find the best way through it.
First you have to manage yourself; then deal with the
Spirit world; then learn some skills in handling someone who is angry with you.
Use a soft voice, enquiring, clarifying, get the expectations clear; and if
need be, say: I’ve noticed this, is there something I’ve done that’s upset you
so deeply? Sometimes, just that quiet voice enquiring after the person, just
can have a good calming effect.
Another thing is acts of kindness towards that person
- acts of kindness can soften that person’s heart as well - a gift or card at
an appropriate time. There are many strategies you’ve got to find. In some
places in the west, they would actually take a more confrontational line; and
actually stand up and say: you have no right to speak to me in that tone. That
kind of response tends to cause a huge conflict, and employment laws in New
Zealand favour employees, so bosses have to be more careful. I don’t think it’s
the case here! So, therefore you have to carefully work out how to handle it.
The last thing in your situation, is that after such
an encounter, realise you’ve probably been quite knocked. As you turn away from
the encounter, “Lord, I just forgive this man, release him right now. Lord I
ask for love to come back to my heard. Amen”. So it becomes an opportunity for
you to grow.
You notice it’s a mixture of spiritual and practical -
both are needed to solve the problem. In military, first you win the battle in
the air; then you can win it on the ground. There’s always a spiritual
pressure.
The spirit of idolatry is very strong in their family,
both on the father’s side and mother’s side. For quite a few of them, they are
full time temple workers, and some of them are even in the committee of the
Taoist association in Taiwan - so they are a very high level in Taiwan. Even
when she prays very hard, she tries all kinds of anointing in the house; still
she is troubled by those spirits. So what can she do to break the power of
those evil spirits in the household?
The first thing to realise is that Christ has defeated
them. So here’s what I’ve noticed happens in Taiwan: people become very
impressed with the devil, very impressed with the idols, and very impressed
with demons; in spite of the fact that Jesus has defeated them! So, this is an
issue of what you believe in your heart.
Now, I’m not minimising the reality of demonic
oppression, and the high level this would be around family members involved in
the temple. What you must realise, is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the blood
He shed, the blood of a spotless King, is more powerful than any of their
offerings, or any of their gods.
For example, I want to Taichung, and there’s the big
temple there. I noticed that before I went, everyone was like: ‘Oh Taichung!’ I
was thinking: Jesus conquered the demon! But in the belief system, there was an
ascribing of power to these things, which they did not have. I said: ‘Let me
get to Taichung quickly’! Then I said when I got there: take me to this temple,
let me see what’s going on. I refused to be intimidated, because I recognised
that everyone was intimidated. When I got into the meeting of church workers,
they were some of the most depressed people I’d ever seen. Many were sick, and
many people had died! So you either look at it and say: “Woah, big devil”. Or,
you say: “Wow! Guys, rise up - you need to believe Jesus!”
So I decided the first night I was there, I will
preach on idolatry. I will be highly confrontational. Not only that, it was the
feast of Matsu. So Matsu’s coming through the streets with thousands of people
- so, I will preach against Matsu as well, and I did! It was a very difficult
heavy atmosphere, very oppressed. I spoke and preached, not to the people, but
beyond the people into the spirit world - declaring the authority of Jesus
Christ, the power of the blood.
We had a great deliverance meeting that night, lots of
people got set free - wonderful. Then I read the news the next morning. That
night in the temple, the temple committee had voting - and a fight broke out,
which became so violent that the police were called, and everyone was
dispersed. I realised then, how important it is, never to be intimidated. Arise
in who you are in Christ - the demons are terrified of you; don’t be
intimidated by them.
I’ll give you a couple of stories. I had a girl who
had been dedicated to Sai Baba; and in the home, there’s a huge alter to Sai
Baba. So she got massive deliverance. “But I got home and my father has this
huge alter to Sai Baba, right in the house!” I said, “Don’t worry about Sai
Baba.” I said: “Your room, that’s where you belong. Dedicate your room, make an
anointment with oil. Decree no spiritual oppression in this room. Invite the
Holy Spirit in. This room is my sanctuary. Play worship music. The rest of the
house belongs to your father. So this is what you do: you don’t criticise, you
don’t say all kinds of things against what they do, you honour your parents.
Every time you go past Sai Baba, then you pray in tongues; and you make a
declaration – Sai Baba shall decrease, Jesus shall increase. Every time you
walk past that idol, every time you walk past that alter: “Sai Baba decrease,
Jesus increase”. Not a big prayer, very easy prayer.
I come back one year later, I said how are you getting
on? “I’m a cell leader now, doing very well.” I remembered her, so I said,
“How’s Sai Baba doing?” “Not so good.” She said, “We had some financial
difficulty. We had to move out of our apartment to a smaller apartment where
there’s no alter - only a picture.” “Ah, very good - Sai Baba is decreasing!
Keep praying.” So next time I went back, I asked how are you doing? “Oh, I have
3 groups now.” “How’s Sai Baba doing?” “He’s not doing good at all. The picture
fell off the wall and got broken. Now we have a smaller picture. Sai Baba is
definitely decreasing; Jesus is increasing”.
The point is this: you must not be intimidated. You
are in spiritual places in Christ, seated with Him. What does it mean to be
seated with Him? He’s done all the work! If I’m in heavenly places, far above
every principalities and power, there’s no devil up here, the devil’s down
there. It’s all in my believing. I encourage you to meditate in scriptures, and
establish clearly faith in your hearts, that these are nothing – nothing! That
doesn’t happen straight away. It takes time to build in your heart, that you
are joined to Christ, the demon conqueror. You have authority over these
things. As you speak to those things, each one will be subdued and go.
So in your prayer, firstly you arise in spirit in a
place of worship near God. Put on the armour of God. Speak in Jesus’ name.
Stand as a representative of this family. Counsel this wickedness and idolatry.
Bind each and every spirit power. In Jesus’ name, I forbid your operation
against me, against my family. Jesus of Nazareth has conquered you already. You
are defeated.
So don’t fight against them; stand and declare your
victory against them - it’s a big difference. The wrestling is to establish
what is true. What seems to be true is that they have all the power; but what
is true, is that Jesus has all the power, and you have also - but you do not
believe that yet, and that’s why this thing affects you. The struggle is not
outside you, it’s within you, to come to a place of total confidence over these
things.
Obviously it’s brought grief to you; obviously you’re
distressed about this. It’s a great chance for you to become stronger. The
Roman Caesar, his house was full of idols, but they had a worship meeting in
his house. I’ve learned you must never be intimidated; intimidation is the big
weapon the devil uses against us. So it says, beware, the devil prowls as a
roaring lion - big idols, big temples, little Christian - seeking to devour
you.
It says: resist, steadfast in faith. When you start to
resist like that, there might be all kinds of upheaval take place. Just let
that happen, it’s part of walking with Christ. In City Harvest Singapore, when
the young people came to Christ, their idol-worshipping parents often beat
them! I can remember when Pastor Yi Ping Tsang was 18, when many of them were
very young in high school, they’d come back and they’d been beaten up by their
parents - but almost all that generation have seen their parents saved.
Pastor Kong, I took the meeting where his parents got
saved. You have to believe that what we have is stronger; even if temporarily
it doesn’t appear to be so. So you have what appears to be true; you have what
is true. This one seeks to intimidate you and capture your heart; you have to
come back into the place with confidence in God.
Part of that will be that you will bring your grief
and pain to Him, bring your fear to Him, and undoubtedly there’d be some anger
in all of this. You need to bring that to Him too and forgive your parents. Ask
God to give you great love for them. Choose to be the great representative. I
understand this is not easy. But that’s the journey we have in Christ. We have our challenges.
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