The Flow of Life

I have been sharing with you for the last two blogs about the primary flows of the Spirit. When we understand the primary ways the Spirit moves through us and cooperate with Him, we will experience a radical increase of the supernatural in our lives. That has certainly been the case in my own life and ministry. This is my desire and, more importantly, God’s desire for you.

The first two of the three primary flows of the Spirit are the flow of love and the flow of light. I want to share with you now about the flow of life. This flow of the Spirit is not as common as the first two. But it has occurred a number of times in my own ministry and many times has resulted in healings and miracles. Early on I was not aware of it and did not know how to cooperate with it. Once I understood it and yielded to it, I saw much greater results in the release of the gifts of the Spirit through my life. 

…He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11).

These two verses of Scripture are the foundation for our understanding of the flow of life. In Romans 8 in the King James version it says the Spirit will “quicken” or make alive, give life to our mortal bodies. And then in Second Corinthians 4 it says the life of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh. This flow of life involves the tangible presence of Jesus and the anointing of His Spirit that produces divine quickening in our mortal bodies.

FALLING UNDER THE SPIRIT’S POWER

We know God is present in us and with us at all times. But there are times when His tangible presence is manifest so strongly that even our mortal bodies can feel it, sense it, and be impacted by it. Have you ever known someone who has experienced “falling under the power of the Spirit”? There are several references for this experience of an individual’s flesh giving way to the Spirit. I will share three of these with you. 

“…then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God,” (2 Chronicles 5:13-14 KJV).

“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He” …Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground,”(John 18:4-6).

“As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:3-4) 

Here are three cases where the presence of God was so strong individuals could not stand. The priests could not stand to minister because of the glory of God. The soldiers fell backward to the ground because of the presence and words of Jesus. And Saul (Paul) fell to the ground when a light shined from Heaven and he heard the voice of Jesus. There is a manifest presence of Jesus I call the flow of life that will have an effect on your physical body.  

When we understand the purpose of that tangible presence of God and cooperate with it, life will be the result. With the priests there was a focus on the presence of God. With the soldiers it resulted in the fear of the Lord that most likely caused them to spare the lives of Jesus’ disciples and let them go. With Saul, it caused him to get saved. I shared with you earlier about my daughter-in-law, Jessica, who fell out under the power of the Spirit when Dave Duell prayed for her. The result of that was she was healed of scar tissue and able to conceive and give us three more grandchildren!

When that tangible presence and anointing—the flow of life— manifests in some way in your life, the Bible says the anointing in you will teach you.

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him (1 John 2:27).

His anointing is in you to teach you about all things, including the purpose of these times of His manifest presence and flow of life in your life. If you will simply take time to pray in the Spirit and seek Him, He will show why He has manifested Himself in this fashion. And He will show you how to respond to Him that His life will manifest in your life.

COOPERATING WITH THE FLOW OF LIFE

The first year I served as pastor of our church in Decatur, Texas, I learned an important lesson about cooperating with the flow of life. One Wednesday evening we had a service with about 50-60 people present. During the worship service I felt heat and a tingling in my left hand. I had been lifting my hands in worship, so I pulled my left arm down, thinking my arm or hand had somehow had the blood cut off to it and that was producing the tingling feeling. 

But that was not what was causing the heat and tingling in my hand. As we worshiped it got stronger. I remembered hearing Kenneth Hagin share that sometimes he could feel a burning sensation in his hands. He said whenever that happened he learned to cooperate with the Spirit and call for people who needed healing right away. He said that anointing in his hands released the gifts of healings to many people, especially those with growths and goiters. 

As we continued to worship that night, I began to pray quietly in the Spirit, knowing I had the Holy Spirit and His anointing in me and He would teach me what to do with this heat and tingling in my left hand. As I continued to pray in the Spirit and worship, it became clear to me He had already given me a reference point in Kenneth Hagin what to do when I have a strong heat or sensation in my hands. This was the first time I had experienced this, and I knew I needed to call people forward who needed healing. 

As soon as we finished worship, I took the mic and asked if anyone needed prayer for healing. Several people came forward. But there was a man I had not noticed before the service who was seated at the back of the church and had come in late. His name was Bill and he had just been released from the hospital after experiencing a heart attack. He still had the hospital tag around his wrist. 

I knew I was supposed to lay my left hand on him and God would heal him. When I did, it felt like electricity flowing through my left hand to him and he fell out under the power of the Spirit. He stayed down for several minutes; when he got up he was lifting his hands, praising God, and doing a little dance because he said he felt 100 percent better. Then he told us the story of his recent heart attack, his stay in the hospital, and how the Lord told him to come to our service that night and he would receive a new heart. 

HEAT AND TINGLING

The flow of life manifested through heat and tingling in my left hand that night and it resulted in Bill receiving a new heart. Praise God! This has happened a number of times since that service where one or both of my hands are burning or tingling and it doesn’t go away until I get my hands on someone who is sick. This flow of life works in conjunction with the gifts of healings and working of miracles. And it especially works through me in people who have heart problems.

Don’t get me wrong. I will pray for anyone. But I have learned this flow of life that manifests through heat and tingling in my hands will release one of the gifts of healing for anyone who has a bad heart. With Brother Hagin it was especially for people who had growths or goiters. I will still lay hands on anyone who needs healing when that flow of life is at work in my hands. But I have seen more results with hearts being healed than anything else when this occurs.

There is one important thing I need to mention here. It is very easy for people to receive healing through the gifts of the Spirit. But they cannot maintain their healing through the gifts of the Spirit. You stay healed by your faith in the Word and the finished work of the cross! I cannot pray the flow of life into manifestation to have my hands burn and tingle whenever I want or whenever I know someone needs healing for their heart. But I can speak the Word to them, lay hands on them in faith, and know the Lord will still confirm His Word with signs following.

I want to share one additional manifestation of the flow of life you may experience from time to time. This is a burning or bubbling forth of the Spirit within that will move us to prophesy, preach, teach, or respond to some invitation or command from the Lord.

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue (Psalm 39:3).

Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not (Jeremiah 20:9).

I have experienced this a number of times where the passion and fire within me to prophesy, preach, or teach a message was so strong it seemed like I would burst on the inside. It seemed as though I could not control it. Yet I know I can because the Word says the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; see First Corinthians 14:32. In other words, we do have control over ourselves and what we say or don’t say.

A WORD FROM GOD

A few years ago at an Andrew Wommack Minister’s Conference, this kind of f low of life was manifesting within me. During the worship time in one of the night services I knew I had a word for the pastors there regarding fresh encounters with the Living God. I knew I needed to share this with them and then have several of us lay hands on them and minister to them. It was bubbling up from my spirit and my heart was hot within me. It was like a fire burning in my bones as Jeremiah said. I prayed in the Spirit for a short time and then told the Lord, “Lord, this is not my service. If You want me to share this, speak to Andrew or someone in charge and I will respond.”

As soon as I spoke that prayer out, Charlie LeBlanc, the worship leader for that conference said, “The Lord has shown me someone has a word for the pastors and ministers here tonight.” As soon as Charlie shared what the Lord had shown him, I knew that was me. I jumped up on the stage immediately and shared that word. And we had a powerful move of God among the pastors and ministers present as we laid hands on them, blessed them, and prayed for them.

The point is, whenever this kind of flow of life is moving in you, take time to pray over it and seek God about how and where you are to deliver the word He has burdened your heart with sharing. As you pray in the Spirit, He will show you where, how, and with whom to share what your heart is burning within you to share.

One final point I want to address in the context of the flow of life is “empathy pains.” I have heard some people testify how they received certain pains in their body to let them know to pray for someone who had the same pain. This is like a word of knowledge that supposedly comes to them in the form of a pain. I am not going to split hairs or debate with anyone on this point, but I don’t believe this is part of the flow of life.

If you know of someone who was healed through someone else receiving a similar pain to let them know to pray for them, praise God. As long as their testimony includes their “empathy pain” left too, I am not going to argue with you about it. My struggle with this is on a biblical basis found in Isaiah 53.

Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses] and carried our sorrows [pains]… (Isaiah 53:4).

Since Jesus carried our pains for us, I have difficulty believing He will give us pains to help relieve pain in others. That seems very counter-productive to me. What I have experienced and see in the Word is a sense that someone is experiencing pain in a particular area that produces great empathy and compassion in me for what they are going through. The writer of Hebrews puts it like this:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities… (Hebrews 4:15 KJV).

I know the Lord is touched with what touches us and impacts us. Allowing ourselves to be touched by the tenderness of the Good Shepherd toward hurting people will open us up to receive words of wisdom and words of knowledge regarding their condition and release healing to them. I am convinced this is more a work of the flow of love than the flow of life.

The bottom line—God is after people being well, free from bondage, and free from pain. And He has equipped you and me to be healing and delivering agents of His by recognizing and following the three primary flows of the Spirit: the flow of love, the flow of light, and the flow of life. 

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s Book, Flowing in the Supernatural

Watch Pastor Greg’s television series on Living a Supernatural Life to learn more.