The Gifts of the Spirit - Part 7: The Power Giftts

REVIEW
Now today, I believe we will be concluding our look at the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. And I want to again reiterate that we are studying this, not to win an argument against the skeptics and not to simply grow in our knowledge of these gifts; we are studying this subject so that we can experience these gifts more in our lives. Yes, we are looking at these nine gifts in order to receive more of a manifestation of them in first our own individual lives and then in our times gathering together. This is why we spent nearly the first half of this series covering three very foundational ways in which we can see more of a manifestation of the Spirit.
We then began studying the three vocal gifts (different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy). We spent a little extra time looking at these gifts because the apostle Paul spent much more time explaining them as well:
We first looked at prophecy and learned that this vocal gift is different than the office of a prophet. This is a gift of the Spirit that we all should desire to operate in (see First Corinthians 14:1). We learned that prophecy can be defined as a supernatural utterance given by the Holy Spirit in a known language. In other words, it is God-inspired speech that speaks into the other people’s lives to where they are edified, exhorted, and comforted (see First Corinthians 12:3). And, finally, we learned that we can prophecy in several different ways—not just the traditional way of giving a one on one “thus saith the Lord.” We can also prophecy in song, in writing, in preaching & teaching, etc.
Then, the following week, we looked at the gift of different kinds of tongues and saw that tongues apparently has different types or classifications. We saw that there are both the tongues of men and of angels according to First Corinthians 13:1—meaning, tongues is not just the ability to speak in another earthly language. So, we learned that while not everyone can speak in the ministry gift of tongues and tongues as a sign to the unbeliever is given as the Spirit wills, there is our heavenly prayer language that all believers have the God-given right to speak in (Mark 16:17). That kind of tongues is the prayer that speaks directly to God and builds us up individually. So, we looked at the myriad of benefits of this type of tongues in our own, individual lives, and there are some awesome benefits to utilizing our personal prayer language.      
Then last week, we looked at the three revelation gifts of the Spirit and saw that just as the vocal gifts “say” something, the revelation gifts “know” something. Yes, these three gifts see and know things about people, and then enable that person to minister more effectively to the person the Holy Spirit has revealed these things about.
 
We first looked at the gift of discerning of spirits—which, contrary to popular belief, is not a gift of discernment. While every born-again, Spirit-filled believer has a certain measure of discernment, this gift enables us to have insight into the spirit realm and distinguish between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. And we learned that the reason that this gift is so important to the church is because we need to have the supernatural ability to perceive these spirits in specific situations in order to get better results when helping people. Yes, this gift is important in order to set people free. We need this gift in order to identify the cause of many spiritual, emotional, and physical problems that people experience so that we can get them delivered. But we also learned that not only are we given this gift to be able to distinguish the activity of evil spirits in the lives of people such as sickness & disease, fear & doubt, etc. but we are also given this gift to help us discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So, we can see why this gift is so important in our lives.
 
Then I combined our study of the next two revelation gifts—the word of knowledge and word of wisdom—because oftentimes you will see these two gifts work hand in hand. Again, we saw that just as with the discerning of spirits, many use the incorrect terminology when describing these two gifts. You will hear believers saying that they have the “gift of knowledge” or the “gift of wisdom,” but these gifts are not just natural knowledge and wisdom. No, they are a supernatural “word” of knowledge and wisdom from the mind of God—meaning, they are simply small fragments of God’s vast knowledge and wisdom that are communicated to us as the Spirit wills and for the edification of the body of Christ.
Now we learned that the word of knowledge is a fact from the past or present, while the word of wisdom is direction for the present or future. In other words, the word of knowledge is a supernaturally revealed piece of information that either has happened or is happening and the word of wisdom is the direction or guidance that is supernaturally revealed to us for what is happening or what will happen down the road. And we saw that these supernatural statements from the Holy Spirit are not always the obvious, spectacular ones. Sometimes they are extremely subtle and it’s important that we act on or speak out the information given to us. 
Church, we need these three revelation gifts working in our lives because there are going to be times where simple knowledge and wisdom is not going to be enough to help others and avoid dangers ourselves. We will continuously need the supernatural wisdom, knowledge and discernment of the Holy Ghost to walk in the supernatural life that He has called us to walk in. 
 
THE POWER GIFTS
FAITH, WORKING OF MIRACLES,
& GIFTS OF HEALINGS
 
THE PROMISE OF POWER
Now the third and final category of gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to us are what I would call, “the power gifts.”
Now this is an appropriate title for certain manifestations of the Holy Spirit because when Jesus prepared His disciples for the gift of the Holy Spirit, He referred to Him as power. We see this in Luke 24:39 when Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Notice here that Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Promise of the Father.” Why does He refer to the Holy Spirit this way? It is because time and time again in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is forecasted and prophesied as to come. Therefore, He is the Promise made by the Father.
But what is He the Promise of? He is the Promise of Power! Hallelujah! Jesus said here that when the Promise—the Holy Spirit—comes from on high, we will be endued with power. The word “endued” means to be “clothed.” And what will we be clothed with? With power!
Jesus said something similar in the Book of Acts: In Acts 1:8, He said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
So, again Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, what we are receiving is “power.” I say all of this to say that with the Holy Spirit comes power! He is the power of God, and He is the Promise of that power! Amen. 
POWER WITHOUT MEASURE
Now it is important to realize two things regarding the Holy Spirit:
Number one, when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit there is a certain measure of power that we all receive an equal measure of. And this is described in Mark chapter 16.
Well, when Jesus said what He did in Mark 16:17-18, we must understand that these signs simply follow those that believe. Jesus did not say that these signs are given as the Spirit wills or that only certain believers are given these gifts. No. Jesus said that the following signs of power will follow the believer in Christ.
And what are some of these signs that follow us through the power of the Holy Spirit? Jesus said, “In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
You see, all of these signs through the life of a believer are manifestations of God’s power and flow through our lives because God has given us the authority to administer them! Yes, every believer can (and should) cast out demons! Every believer can (and should) speak with new tongues! Every believer can (and should) tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy! Every believer can (and should) be able to eat or drink anything harmful or deadly and it by no means hurt them! And, last but not least, every believer can (and should) be laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover. These things are supposed to accompany every believer in some degree or another and are all a part of the measure of Christ’s gift—the Spirit of Power.
However, there is something else that needs to be understood: And that is that there are gifts that the Spirit gives that go beyond this measure. There are gifts of power that He manifests as He wills that are not a part of this list.
For example, notice that Jesus says here that one of the signs that follow the believer is speaking in tongues. Now we know that Paul said that one of the gifts of the Spirit is the diversities of tongues, right? Well, as we learned, there are different kinds of tongues that are given to the body of Christ. There is the gift of tongues that is available to everyone who is baptized in the Holy Spirit for their own private devotional time and for their own personal edification. That was the kind of tongues that Jesus was referring to in Mark chapter 16 that is for every believer. However, there are other measures of tongues that are given as the Spirit wills which I call ministry tongues, tongues as a sign, etc. 
But notice also that Jesus said that another sign that should follow every believer is the laying on of hands—the laying on of hands for the purpose of ministering healing to the body. Now this too is different than the gifts of healings that Paul referred to as a gift of the Spirit. Yes, we all have a measure of the power that enables us to go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil. Just because God uses one to minister His healing power into someone’s body does not mean that they have a “gift of healing.”
So, my point is that while the Holy Spirit has been given to believers to administer healing power, that measure of power is walked in by our faith. In other words, a born-again, Spirit-filled believer can lay hands on people and see the Lord’s healing power make people well, but there is another measure of healing power that does not require faith on either the minister’s part or the one being ministered to’s part. This is one of the things that makes these power gifts “supernatural.”
So, let’s begin talking about these “power gifts” by talking about this particular gift of power I just briefly referred to— the “gifts of healings.”  
GIFTS OF HEALINGS
Now again, like it is with most of the gifts we have already covered, there are those who attempt to water down these supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit and turn them into natural things. In this case, there are many people who say that the “gifts of healings” are simply those whom God has blessed with the ability to be doctors, nurses, etc. No, no, no!  Doctors & medical science are just a natural means of healing. These gifts of healings & other methods of divine healing are a “supernatural,” not a natural means of healing!
But notice that this gift is not called the “gift of healing” but rather “gifts of healings.” In other words, the word “gifts” is plural and the word “healings” is plural. So, what does this tell us? It tells us the same thing that the gift of “diversities of tongues” told us—that there are different kinds of gifts of healings.
You see, Paul could have called this gift—the gift (singular) of healings—and that would mean that there is a gift that imparts different kinds of healings. And that is partly true. Paul could have also called this gift—the gifts of healing (singular)—and that would have meant that there are different kinds of gifts that bring healing to people. And that would have also been part of the truth of what this gift of the Spirit is.
But the Apostle Paul said that this gift of the Spirit is “the gift(s) of healing(s)” (i.e. multiple gifts of different kinds of healings). In other words, this means that Paul is describing different kinds of gifts of different kinds of healings.
You see, the same principle exists with this gift as did with tongues. While there are the tongues that every Spirit-filled believer can operate in, there are also other kinds of tongues that only certain parts of the Body can operate in. Likewise, there are different gifts of healings that are given. There is the gift given to all believers where we simply lay hands on the sick and see them recover and then there are the other gifts of healings where people are healed in other ways supernaturally.
So, let me explain what this means: It means that just as there are different kinds of tongues that the Holy Spirit gives us—some for one purpose and others for another purpose—there are different kinds of gifts of healings that are used for various purposes.  For example, some people may have more success with healing cases of bad backs, where another may have a stronger anointing to heal cancer cases. In other words, the Lord will sometimes specialize on the kinds of healings He will want to do through an individual believer.
Now people in the body of Christ tend to err in one or both of these areas: Certainly, there are natural means of healing that we need to be abide by such as eating good and healthy foods and physical exercise. Certainly, there are spiritual laws of faith and expectation that receive healing supernaturally in our bodies. But there is another way. I said, there is another way to receive healing—and it is through the gift of the Holy Spirit called gifts of healings. This is a supernatural manifestation of physical, mental, and emotional healing that overrides natural laws or even spiritual laws. It is a gift of healing given solely by grace.
Now many “charismaniacs” who believe in healing tend to err on the side of thinking that since God does still heal today that they can defy these other natural and spiritual laws and be sustained through these supernatural gifts of healings, but so is not the case. God does not want His bride depending on gifts of healings to live healthy and whole lives. He expects us to live by the laws that this world operates on, such as eating right and exercising and also living by faith and believing God to keep us. But these like to flock to healing meetings and get their drive thru breakthrough. They run to the healing evangelist who is certainly used in these gifts but this is not God’s best. Certainly, it is necessary to have these gifts as we will learn but they should not be a crutch that we lean on in our time of need. We must live by the laws of the land in order to eat the fruit of the land. Amen.   
But this particular gift of the Spirit—gifts of healings—are simply “gifts,” and that means that they are not earned. No, we don’t have to do anything to receive our healing when this gift of the Spirit is in manifestation.
This is why you hear of mockers and scoffers who, for instance, go to a healing evangelist’s meeting and end up getting completely healed themselves. And at the same time, you see other people in those same meetings who are supernaturally healed by just worshipping God. There is no laying on of hands. There are no nutritional supplements being given. No, thousands are healed simply through the gift of healing that is on that evangelist’s ministry.
But at the same time, those gifts of healings can be lost. We hear of this often—how a person gets healed at a special meeting with no signs or symptoms of the infirmity and then the symptoms return days later. Did that mean that they never got healed? Not necessarily. What needs to be understood is that these supernatural gifts of healings that are given from the Lord must be maintained through our faith, authority, and from just good sound wisdom. 
Let me give you a couple of clear, biblical examples of the “gifts of healings” in operation:
One good example is found in John chapter 5. In this chapter, we see the healing of the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, and in this story, we see how there was a supernatural phenomenon taking place where an angel would come and stir the waters to where whoever got in first was healed. Church, that is a perfect example of one of the various gifts of healings—because how many of you know that it was supernatural, and it was certainly a gift for whoever entered those waters first? But we also see another gift of healing taking place as Jesus healed this man with no apparent faith on his part. You see, Jesus healed thousands of people throughout the gospels but in most of the specific cases of healing, the person who received from Him had faith to receive. But not this guy! Jesus approached Him, initiating the healing Himself.
But it was not just Jesus who operated in the gifts of healings (nor was it just the apostles either); we see in the Book of Acts where the Evangelist Philip (not to be confused with the apostle Philip) preached in Samaria. In Acts 8:5-7, we are told— “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.”
Notice that here in Samaria, Dr. Luke makes specific mention that those who were paralyzed and lame were healed. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that people with other infirmities were not healed, but by specifically mentioning this shows me that there was a gift of healing in operation here because Philip was apparently super successful with healing those who were lame and paralyzed. 
Now on that note, I believe that we can see here that oftentimes it is the office of an evangelist that tends to operate in the gifts of healings along with the next gift we are going to look at, the working of miracles. I believe it is possible that we can see this in First Corinthians 12:28.
WORKING OF MIRACLES
Now regarding the working of miracles, this gift is very important as well. Therefore, we need to expect this gift of the Spirit to be manifested in our lives, churches, and ministries to the same degree that we expect tongues, prophecy, etc.
The Holy Spirit recently showed me something profound: He showed me how the majority of the Spirit-filled, charismatic community believes in the gifts of tongues & prophecy. We teach it. We expect it. And guess what? We walk in it. Well, what if we began to teach in this working of miracles with the same conviction? What if our churches began to expect that when someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit that miracles were to naturally become a part of their life like we believe these vocal gifts come? Do you suppose we might experience more of a manifestation of miracles in our churches? I guarantee you that we would!  
But you see, many believers have the notion that miracles are a greater category of gift than the others. They believe in their heart that they are rarer than all the rest of the gifts. But this is simply not true.
Miracles are to be as common in our lives and ministries as any other manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But, again, why aren’t they? It is because of our unbelief. It is because we have categorized miracles as infrequent and, in many cases, obsolete.
And I’ll give you a good example of this: We all have experienced the greatest miracle in our life the day we were born again. There is no greater miracle that we can witness and experience than the salvation of our soul. I mean, for God to replace our dead spirit with the spirit of Christ and thereby washing us of all our sins and making us the righteousness of God in Christ. Friends, there is no greater miracle than this! Most would consider someone being raised from the dead as the greatest miracle if asked. But I tell you—the greatest miracle is the raising of our spirit from the dead! Hallelujah! 
But I can assure you that if we truly believed that God can work a miracle as much as we believe He can save a soul, we would see too many miracles to count. Let me say it this way, if we believe we can see the dead raised as much as we can see a sinner saved, we would see the dead raised. It is just that simple.
Jesus actually taught this same principle in the instance of the healing of the paralytic man who was let down through the roof by his friends (see Mark 2:1-12) Do you remember the response of the religious leaders when Jesus looked at the man and said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you”? The Bible teaches us that when they reasoned in their hearts saying “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” that Jesus, perceiving the thoughts of their heart, answered and said to them—“Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you.’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? Well, the answer is found in Jesus’ point—that one is no easier than the other! Now, of course, Jesus was making the point that He had the authority to speak on behalf of His Father and offer forgiveness, but I want you to see that the complete restoration of movement in the body of a paralyzed man is just as easy to see as the forgiveness of one’s sin. Amen! In fact, it is actually quite amazing that we more readily believe in forgiveness than we do miracles in the natural realm. But do you know why? It is because we cannot see the forgiveness and salvation. Therefore, we are not tempted to walk by sight because we cannot see it. Physical and natural miracles, on the other hand, are seen. Therefore, we have more of an opportunity to have unbelief.
But we don’t have to! I said, we don’t have to! We can get to the place where it is not only just as easy to say, ‘Rise up and walk’ as it is to say, ‘God will forgive you right now’; we can get to the place where it is just as easy to see someone rise up and walk as it is to see someone forgiven of their sins. Amen and Hallelujah! 
So, what is this gift of the Spirit Paul called the “working of miracles”? The “working of miracles” is a supernatural intervention by God in the everyday, ordinary course of nature. In other words, this gift of the Spirit is God, through the Holy Spirit, interrupting the natural laws governing this earth. For example, a miracle would be things we see in the Bible like the parting of the Red Sea, the sun standing still, the floating ax head, (good) earthquakes that open prison doors and unlock chains.
Now it should be noted here the terminology: Paul called this gift— “the working of miracles.”
Actually, this word used to translate “working” is the same word used in First Corinthians 12:6 when Paul said that there are diversities of “activities” but the same God who works all in all. As we have already seen, this means that there are different ways that God works through the various gifts and ministries given to the body. In fact, these are the only two times this Greek word energema is used in the New Testament.
So, what does this teach us about this gift of the Spirit? It teaches us that what comes before the miracle is an activity or a working. What do I mean by that? I mean that there is an action or a work of faith that always precedes the miracle.
This is why I believe that the gift of faith usually works hand in hand with the working of miracles. Why? Because there is usually a supernatural, special faith that is deposited in the heart of someone before they step out and see the miracle. 
But let’s look at the first miracle that our Lord and Master ever performed because it shows to us how this gift of the Spirit comes forth:
In John 2:1-11 we have the account where Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.
Well, this is no doubt a manifestation of the gift of the Spirit called the working of miracles because for water to be supernaturally turned into wine is certainly a change in the natural course of nature. But what we need to understand is that there was certainly a “working” that preceded this miracle.
First, we have the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, exhorting the servants with the words— “Whatever He says to you, do it.” You see, herein lies the key to miracles: It is in simply doing what the Lord tells us to do—no matter how strange, no matter how impractical, no matter how unorthodox, no matter how inconvenient! No matter what; just do it! (Sorry Nike; this started with Mary 😊)
Well, in this case, Jesus tells them to fill the six water pots of stone up with water. How ridiculous does this sound? Why? They need wine, not water! This would be a waste of time, and we need to be looking for wine, not playing in the water! All of this would be normal, natural thoughts that a person might have if told to do what Jesus told these servants to do. Well, it would also be the mentality of the person who did not see the miracle too.
You see, there has to be some sort of cooperation between us and God for the miracle to occur. He will tell us to do certain things that just don’t make sense in order to position us for a miracle. But if we don’t “just do it” then we won’t “just see it.” It is that simple.
In fact, if you look at the instances of most miracles recorded in the Bible, you will find that there were some pretty strange directions given that led to the miracles like “Go dip in the Jordan seven times! Throw a stick in the water! Stretch out your rod! Strike the rock! Speak to the rock!” On and on and on, you see God giving specific directions and when those directions were followed—leprosy was cleansed, axe heads floated, plagues came upon God’s enemies, and water came out of the rock.
There was a cooperation, and then, there was a demonstration! And why? It is because God requires faith! Faith always precedes miracles! There is to be a working on our part—not just “works” but the “works of faith” (First Thessalonians 1:3)—and when there are those corresponding actions of faith that are based on what God has said, then we see miracles. Amen!  
SPECIAL FAITH
And this leads us to this final power gift of the Holy Spirit: the gifts of the Spirit simply called “faith.” Now many see this gift of the Spirit called, in the King James Version, faith, and say, “See, not all have faith. It is a gift of the Spirit.” Well, that is not completely true.
You see, there is a difference between our own faith and this gift of faith that the Holy Spirit gives: For instance, in Second Peter 1:1, Peter addresses his letter “to those who have obtained like precious faith” with him and the others who had called on the name of the Lord. What this means is that every believer has obtained faith, and not only just any faith, but faith that is of the same value and of equal specialness to that of even the great apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ! Wow! Now that is awesome stuff! So, yes, we all have a measure of faith (see Romans 12:3)—not just some of us.
So, we all have faith, and this faith is capable of growing exceedingly (see Second Thessalonians 1:3). We all have the capability to walk in mountain-moving, devil-stomping, life-changing faith! But this gift of the Spirit differs from the measure of faith that we have all received in that it is a supernatural endowment of special faith that transcends what we could receive with our own faith.
You see, as we have seen, our faith grows. We have all obtained like precious faith—having received the measure of faith. But that does not mean that we have all arrived at the place of mountain moving faith. We must let our faith grow by first hearing the Words of faith and then by putting it into practice by exercising our faith.
But sometimes there is a need for us to be at the place where we have not arrived through natural progression. Sometimes we need greater faith to be dropped into our hearts so that we can receive something for either ourselves or for someone else like we need the gifts of healings when we might not be at the place physically and spiritually to receive healing ourselves.
And there is another faith that can be had that far transcends where our faith is at. This faith can remove the largest of mountains, create planets, and give life to anything that needs it—and this is God’s faith!
Friends, I can assure you, there will be times that our own levels of faith in the Lord will not be enough to get the job done with what He may be asking us to do for Him. Here is an example: Say God has been manifesting a gift of healing through you from time to time to heal a few minor ailments or illnesses on a few people. Your confidence and faith levels are then starting to build up because God is now starting to use you in this manner and you now have had a few good successes on these smaller illnesses. But then all of a sudden God tells you to walk up to a paraplegic, lay hands on him, and then command him to get out of his wheelchair and start walking. All of a sudden you can immediately sense in your mind and in your spirit that your own levels of faith are not going to be good enough or high enough to try and do this, as you have never tried to heal someone of something this heavy before. And this is where the Holy Spirit will now be moving in big time so this miracle can be fully accomplished for the Lord. The Holy Spirit will then manifest His own divine faith in you so you can now believe and operate on that faith—so you will now have the actual courage to walk up to this person, lay hands on him, and then tell him to get out of that wheelchair and start walking.
Sometimes it will take higher levels of faith to receive a major miracle from the Lord, and where our faith levels will not be high enough or good enough to be able to do this, this is where the direct faith of the Holy Spirit Himself will then move up in us and pick up the slack with our own imperfect faith levels so God can then manifest the miracle that He will be looking to do through us.
Sometimes God may ask you to do something that will be out of your comfort zone. Fear and panic will immediately set in because you have never done what He is now asking you to do. This is when the Holy Spirit is needed to step in and give you another measure of God’s faith to help.
You know, it shouldn’t even need to be said, but there is a BIG difference between where we are at in our faith and where God is in His faith—A HUGE DIFFERENCE! I mean, have you spoken any planets into existence lately? Of course not!
Well, that is why this gift of faith is needed: It is because there are times in our life when we either personally need help in believing for something or when we need to operate at a greater level of faith for the benefit of one that we are ministering to.
And this is what this gift of faith is—It is a temporary impartation of His faith. Amen! In other words, it is the gift of faith by God taking a little amount of His faith and giving it to you for a specific situation.
Picture it like this: You have faith and God has faith. He obviously has a lot more faith than you and I do. So, this gift of faith is God taking a small portion of His faith and giving it you to borrow temporarily. Amen! Isn’t that awesome!?!
This is why I do not like to just call this gift of the Spirit—faith. I like to call it special faith—that is, faith that is different than our own faith which we have received. It is a temporary borrowing of God’s wonder working faith (see the Amplified Bible’s translation of First Corinthians 12:9) so that we can operate at a higher level than we are at at that time. Hallelujah!
Now concerning some New Testament examples of the gift of faith in operation, it is difficult to put a finger on one because, like I said, there is our own faith that can move mountains if it is fed & cultivated. So, when it might be a gift of faith versus our own faith, we can only speculate. But a good rule of thumb would be to continuously work on growing our faith while also believing God for this gift of faith in the times where we need it. Amen? 
Again, our faith—that is, the faith that has been put into every born-again believer and the faith that we walk by everyday—this faith comes by hearing. Romans 10:17 tells us this. This gift of faith, however, does not come by hearing—nor does it come by any effort on our part. It is completely a gift. This means it does not have anything to do with us. The development of our faith certainly does have to do with decisions we have made, but the gift of faith operating in our lives has only to do with our decision to hunger after it.
And as I have repeated time and time again throughout this series, we have been on for some time, hunger is the key to seeing the manifestation of these power gifts in our life, but not only just these power gifts, but all of the gifts of the Spirit.
THE FRUIT OF HUNGER
In Acts chapter 4, we have the account of the church gathering together after Peter and John were threatened by the chief priests and elders.
Well, we see in this passage of Scripture how, when they knew they had a need for God’s help, they gathered together and raised their voice in one accord.
You know, while things like prayer can certainly be done in vain and outside of faith, they can also be done in great faith and as an expression of this hunger that I am talking about.
Fasting is a good example of this. There is not really any power in the fact that we are not physically eating (except, of course, the health benefits of this), but the power that can come through fasting is in the hunger. No, I am not talking about the physical hunger that comes as a result of fasting; I am talking about the hunger in our hearts that provokes the fasting to start with. Amen!
So, the fact that this church began seeking the Lord and lifting up their voice in one accord was proof positive that they were hungry for His gifts and totally dependent on Him. And they specifically prayed that the Lord would grant them boldness to speak His Word by stretching out His hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of His holy Servant Jesus. Amen!
Friends, what they were praying for here were the power gifts—the gifts of healings and the working of miracles to be accomplished by the boldness received through the gift of special faith.
And look what happened next! “And when they had prayed, the place where they had assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.” Saints, you know you are praying right when God starts shaking the house! 
But it all began with hunger! And this is a major point that I believe the Holy Ghost is trying to get through to us through both this message today and also through this entire series!
I want you to take the things that have been reported to you here at High Point Church on these Sunday mornings and take them home with you. Go, therefore, and begin to seek God with your family, seeking after the manifestation of this power. It can be had by all—by all who seek after Him with all of their heart. 
And this is what happened here: In verse 33 we see that with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
And that is my prayer for all of you—that all of us would experience great power through our lives and ministries and give witness to the power of His resurrection. Great grace be upon you all. Amen.