The  spoken  word has powerful creativity, and its proper use is vital to a victorious  Christian  life. This spoken word, however, must have a correct  basis  to  be  truly  effective.  The principle for discovering the correct basis  for  the  spoken word is one of the most important portions of God's
truth. It is concerning this topic that I want to share with you now.

Faith in God's Word: Problems and Productivity.

One  day,  a  lady  on  a  stretcher  was  carried  into my office. She was paralysed  from  her neck down, and could not even move her fingers. As she was  being carried into my office on a stretcher, I began to feel a strange sensation.  It  felt  as  if my heart was being troubled. Just as there was expectancy  by  the  pool  of  Bethesda, I knew that something was going to happen.  I  went  beside  her stretcher, and when I looked into her eyes, I realized  the  faith  to be healed: not a dead faith, but a living faith. I touched  her  forehead with my hand and said, "Sister, in the name of Jesus
Christ,  be  healed." Instantly, the power of God came, and she was healed. She stood up from her stretcher, thrilled, frightened and amazed.

She later came to my house bringing gifts, and after entering my study, she
asked, "Could I please close the door?" "Yes," I replied. "Close the door."
Then  she  knelt down before me, still amazed that she had been healed, and
said,  "Sir,  please reveal yourself to me. Are you the second incarnate of
Jesus?"  I laughed, "Dear sister, you know that I eat three meals a day, go
to  the  bathroom, and sleep every night. I am as human as you are, and the
only way I have salvation is through Jesus Christ."

The  woman  received  such  a  miraculous healing that word of it instantly
spread.  Soon  afterward,  one  rich  woman  came to the church, also being
carried  in  by a stretcher. She had been a Christian for a long time and a
deaconess  in  the  church.  She  had  memorized  scripture after scripture
regarding divine healing: "I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26);
"With  His  stripes  we  are  healed"  (Isaiah  53:5); "He Himself took our
infirmities,  and  bore  our  sicknesses"  (Matthew 8:17); "And these signs
shall  follow  then that believe…they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall  recover" (Mark 16:17-18). So I prayed for her with all my might, but
nothing happened. Then I shouted, repeating the same prayers for healing. I
used  the Word of God, and I even jumped, but nothing happened. I asked her
to  stand up by faith. Many times she would stand, but the moment I took my
hand away, she would fall down like a piece of dead wood. Then I would say,
"Have  more  faith  and stand up." Again, she would stand up, and again she
would  fall  down. She would then claim to me that she had all the faith in
the world, but her faith never would work.

I  became  quite  depressed,  and eventually she began to cry. She claimed,
"Pastor,  you  are  prejudiced. You loved that other woman so much that you
healed  her.  But  you  don't  really  love me. So I am still sick. You are
prejudiced."  "Sister,"  I  replied, "I have done everything. You saw me. I
have  prayed, I have cried, I have jumped, I have shouted. I did everything
that  a  Pentecostal  preacher  can  do,  but nothing happened, and I can't
understand  it."  In my church, this bothersome problem of one being healed
while  another  remains  ill  has not limited itself to this one situation.
World  famous  evangelists  have  come  to  my  church and enthusiastically
preached,  "Everyone  of  you is going to be healed! Everyone of you!" They
poured  out words of faith, and many people would receive healing. But then
they  would  leave, receiving all the glory, and I would be left to contend
with  those not healed. These people would come to me, discouraged and cast
down,  and  say,  "We  are  not  healed.  God  has  given  up on us; we are
completely  forgotten.  Why should we continue to struggle to come to Jesus
Christ and believe?" I then travailed and cried, "Why Father? Why should it
be like this? God, please give me the answer, a very clear-cut answer."

And  He  did.  So  now I would like to share this answer with you, and some
realizations  that led me to this understanding. People think that they can
believe  on  the  Word  of  God.  They  can. But they fail to differentiate
between  the  Word  of God which gives general knowledge about God, and the
Word  of  God  which  God uses to impart faith about specific circumstances
into a man's heart. It is this latter type of faith which brings miracles.

In  the  Greek language there are two different words for 'word', logos and
rhema.  The  world  was  created  by  the Word, logos, of God. Logos is the
general  Word  of God, stretching from Genesis to Revelation, for all these
books  directly or indirectly tell about the Word, Jesus Christ. By reading
the logos from Genesis to Revelation, you can receive all the knowledge you
need  to  know  about  God and His promises; but just by reading you do not
receive faith. You have received knowledge and understanding about God, but
you  do  not receive faith. Romans 10:17 shows us that the material used to
build  faith is more than just reading God's Word: "Faith comes by hearing,
and  hearing  by  the Word of God." In this scripture, 'word' is not logos,
but  rhema.  Faith  specifically  comes  by hearing the rhema. In his Greek
lexicon, Dr Ironside has defined logos as "the said Word of God," and rhema
as  "the  saying Word of God." Many scholars define this action of rhema as
being  the  Holy  Spirit  using a few verses of scripture and quickening it
personally  to one individual person. Here is my definition of rhema: rhema
is a specific word to a specific person in a specific situation.

Once  in  Korea  a lady by the name of Yun Hae Kyung had a tremendous youth
meeting on Samgak Mountain. She had a great ministry. When she stood up and
people  came  forward,  they  would fall down, slain under the power of the
Holy  Spirit.  Many  young  people would flock to her meeting, and when she
held a youth campaign on Samgak Mountain, thousands of young people came to join  in.  

During the week of the youth campaign it rained heavily, and all
the  rivers overflowed. A group of young people wanted to go to the town on
the  opposite  side  of  the river, where the meetings were being held. But
when  they  came  to the bank of the river, it was flooded. There was not a
bridge or a boat to be seen, and most of them became discouraged. But three
girls  got  together  and  said, "Why can't we just wade through the water?
Peter walked on the water, and Peter's God is our God, Peter's Jesus is our
Jesus, and Peter's faith is our faith. Peter believed, and we should do all
the  more.  We  are  going to go over this river!" The river was completely
flooded,  but these three girls knelt down and held hands together, quoting
the scriptures containing the story of Peter walking on the water, and they
claimed  they could believe in the same way. Then, in the sight of the rest
of  their  group,  they  shouted  and  began  to  wade  through  the water.
Immediately,  they were swept away by an angry flood, and after three days,
their dead bodies were found in the open sea.

This   incident   caused   repercussions  throughout  Korea.  Non-Christian
newspapers  carried the story, making headlines of it: "Their God Could Not
Save  Them"; "Why Did God Not Answer Their Prayer of Faith?" So unbelievers
had  a real heyday as a result of this occurrence, and the Christian church
experienced  a slump, feeling depressed and discouraged, having no adequate
answer.  This  became  a  topic  of  discussion  all  over  Korea, and many
previously  good  Christians lost their faith. They would say, "These girls
believed  exactly as our ministers have taught: they exercised their faith.
From the platform our pastors constantly urge the people to boldly exercise
their  faith  in  the Word of God. These girls did just that, so why didn't
God  answer?  Jehovah  God  must  not  be a living God. This must just be a
formalistic religion we have been involved in."

What  kind  of  answer  would  you  give  to these people? Those girls have
believed. They had exercised faith based on the Word of God. But God had no
reason  to  support their faith. Peter never walked on the water because of
logos,  which gives general knowledge about God. Peter required that Christ
give  a specific word to him: Peter asked, "Lord, if you are Jesus, command
me  to  come." Jesus replied, "Come." The word Christ gave to Peter was not
logos,  but  rhema.  He gave a specific word, "Come", to a specific person,
Peter, in a specific situation, a storm. Rhema brings faith. Faith comes by
hearing  and hearing by rhema. Peter never walked on the water by knowledge
of  God  alone.  Peter had rhema. But these girls had only logos, a general
knowledge  of God, and in this case, the working of God through Peter. They
exercised human faith on logos: that was their mistake. God, therefore, had
no  responsibility  to  support their faith, and the difference between the
way these girls exercised faith and the way Peter exercised faith is as the
difference between night and day.

Two  years ago, two Bible school graduates failed completely in their first
venture  into  the  ministry. These two fellows had been disciples of mine.
They listened to my lectures, they came to my church and learned in concept
the  principles  of faith. They began their first venture into the ministry
with  what  seemed to be a great deal of faith, clinging to such scriptures
as:  "Open  your  mouth  wide and I will fill it" (Psalm 81:10); "If ye ask
anything  in  My  name, I will do it" (John 14:14). They went to a bank and
made  a  large  loan.  Then  they went to a rich man and made another large
loan.  With  this  money they bought land and built a beautiful sanctuary –
without  even  having  a  congregation. They began preaching, expecting the
people to flock in by the hundreds, and their debts to be paid; but nothing
like that happened. One of these young ministers had borrowed approximately
$30,000,  the  other  about  $50,000,  Soon their creditors came to collect
their  payments, and these young men were cornered in a terrible situation,
arriving at a point where they were near to losing their faith in God. Then
they both came to me.

They cried, "Pastor Cho, why is your God and our God different? You started
with  $2,500,  and now you have completed a five million dollar project. We
went  out and built things which cost only a total of $80,000. Why wouldn't
God  answer  us?  We  believed  in  the same God, and we exercised the same
faith.  So  why  hasn't  He answered?" Then they started quoting scriptures
containing  promises  from the Old Testament and New Testament, adding, "We
did  exactly  as you taught and we failed." Then I replied, "I am glad that
you have failed after hearing my word. Surely you are my disciples, but you
have  not  been  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  misunderstood  my
teachings.  I started my church because of rhema, not just logos. God spoke
clearly to my heart, saying, "Rise up, go out and build a church which will
seat  10,000 people. God imparted His faith to my heart, and I went out and
a  miracle  occurred. But you went out just with logos, a general knowledge
about  God  and  His  faith. God therefore has no responsibility to support
you, even though your ministry was for the Lord Jesus Christ."

Brothers  and  sisters,  through  logos  you  can  know  God.  You can gain
understanding  and  knowledge  about  Him. But logos does not always become
rhema.  Suppose  a  sick  man were to have gone to the pool of Bethesda and
said  to  those  around it, "You foolish fellows, why are you waiting here?
This  is always the same pool in the same location with the same water. Why
should  we  wait  here  day  after  day?  I'm just going to jump in to wash
myself."  Then he might have dived in and washed himself. But if he were to
come out of the water, he might not have been healed. It was only after the
angel  of  the  Lord came and troubled the water that the people could jump
in, wash, and be healed. Yet, it was the same pool of Bethesda, at the same
location,  with  the  same water. Only when the water was troubled by God's
angel  could a miracle occur. Rhema is produced out of logos. Logos is like
the  pool  of Bethesda. You may listen to the Word of God and you may study
the  Bible, but only when the Holy Spirit comes and quickens a scripture or
scriptures  to  your  heart, burning them in your soul and letting you know
that  they  apply  directly   to  your specific situation, does logos become
rhema.

Logos  is  given  to  everybody.  Logos  is  common  to Koreans, Europeans,
Africans  and Americans. It is given to all so that they may gain knowledge
about  God;  but  rhema  is  not  given to everyone. Rhema is given to that
specific person who is waiting upon the Lord until the Holy Spirit quickens
logos  into  rhema.  If you never have time to wait upon the Lord, then the
Lord can never come and quicken the needed scripture to your heart. This is
a  busy  age.  People come to church and are entertained. They hear a short
sermon and are dismissed, without having any time of waiting upon the Lord.
They  get  the logos, but since they do not receive rhema, they miss out on
seeing the miraculous workings of God, and begin to doubt His power. People
must  come  to  the main sanctuary, listen attentively to the preacher, and
wait  upon  the  Lord.  But  they do not come and listen prayerfully to the
preacher,  waiting  upon  the Lord to receive rhema; therefore, they cannot
receive  the  faith  they  need  for the solutions to their problems. Their
knowledge  of  the  Bible  increases as their problems increase, and though
they  come  to church, nothing happens. So they begin to fall away and lose
faith.

Another problem with many churches in this active age is that ministers are
busy  with  too  many  matters.  They  spend  hours and hours as a janitor,
financier,  constructor,  and  contractor,  going  in  a  hundred different
directions.  By  Saturday, they are so tired that they fumble around trying
to  find  some logos to preach on. They are so tired that they have no time
to  wait  upon the Lord, no time to change the green grass into white milk.
Their  congregations  are  simply  fed grass, and not given the milk of the
Word.  This is a grave mistake. Lay persons are not the preacher's enemies,
but his friends. As did the apostles, so should the minister concentrate on
prayer and the ministering of the Word of God, delegating any other type of
work  to  his  deacons,  deaconesses  and  other lay leaders. I follow this
pattern  in  my  church, and I dare not go up to the platform without first
waiting  upon  the  Lord and receiving the rhema God would have me give for
that  message. If I do not receive rhema, I will not go to the platform. So
I  go  up  to  Prayer  Mountain on Saturday, crawl into a grotto, close the
door,  and  wait  there  until the Holy Spirit comes and give me the needed
rhema.  Sometimes I stay the whole night through, during that time praying,
"Lord,  tomorrow  the  people  are  coming  with  all  kinds  of problems –
sickness,  disease,  family  problems, problems in business – every type of
problem  that  can  be  imagined.  They are coming not only to hear general
knowledge  about You, but they are also coming to receive real solutions to
their  problems. If we don't give them a living faith, rhema, then they are
going  to  go back home without receiving their solutions. I need to have a
specific message for specific people at a specific time." Then I wait until
God gives me that message.

When  coming  to  the platform, I march in like a general, knowing that the
message I preach is under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. After I preach,
people  in  the  congregation  come  to  me  and say, "Pastor, you preached
exactly  the word I needed. I've got faith that my problem will be solved."
This is because I helped supply to them the rhema. Brothers and sisters, we
are  not  building  a  holy country club in the church; we deal rather with
matters  of  life  and  death.  If  the pastor does not supply rhema to his
people,  then  you  have  just a religious social club. In the social world
already  one  can see organizations such as Kiwanis Clubs and Rotary Clubs,
and  their  members pay a type of tithes, too. The churches we build should
be  places where people get their solutions from the Lord, receive miracles
for  their lives, and can gain not just knowledge about God but get to know
Him  in  a  vital  way.  In order to do this, the pastor must first receive
rhema.  Christians  should be given time to wait upon the Lord, so that the
Holy  Spirit  can  have  a  full  opportunity  to deal with their lives and
inspire them through the Scripture. The Holy Spirit can take Scripture, the
"said Word" of God, and apply it to a person's heart, making it the "saying
Word" of God. The logos then become rhema.

Now  I  can  tell  you  why  so many people cannot receive healing. All the
promises are potentially yours – not literally – yours. Never simply pick a
promise  out  of  God's  Word and say, " Oh, this is mine; I will repeat it
over  and  over  again.  This is mine, this is mine!" NO! It is potentially
yours,  yes,  but  make  it  yours in practical reality by waiting upon the
Lord.  Before  the Lord quickens a scripture to an individual, the Lord has
many  things  to  do.  The  Lord  wants  to  cleanse your life and make you
surrender  to  Him, the Lord will never give you promises promiscuously. As
the  Lord deals with you, take time to wait upon Him; confessing your sins,
and  surrendering your life to Him. When these conditions are met, then the
power of God comes. Your heart – like the pool of Bethesda – is troubled by
a  particular  scripture;  and  you know that its promise is yours, and you
have the faith to bring about the needed miracle. God's Uppermost Goal. The
healing  of  the  physical body is not the Spirit's ultimate goal. You must
know  where  the  priority  lies.  His  ultimate goal is the healing of our
souls.  When  God  deals  with  you,  He  always deals with you through the
healing  of  your  soul.  If  your soul is not right with God, no amount of
prayer,  shouting  or  jumping   will bring the rhema of healing to you. You
must  first  get right with the Lord. Confess your sins, apply the blood of
Jesus  Christ,  be  saved and receive eternal life; then the Holy Spirit is
going  to  prick your heart with a scripture of divine healing, inspire you
and  give you the rhema you need. But in order for this to happen, you must
wait on the Lord.

Divine healing is all according to God's sovereign will. Sometimes a person
receives  healing instantly; another person must wait a longer time. One of
our  church's finest deacons became ill; this deacon gave everything to the
Lord,  loving  God, and working for the Lord in an amazing way. He was told
that he had a growth inside his body and that the doctor wanted to operate.
But  everybody in my church knew that God was going to heal him, for he was
a tremendous saint with great faith. This was their reasoning. I prayed for
his  healing. All of our then 40,000 members prayed, storming the Throne of
Grace. And that deacon claimed the healing. But nothing happened. He became
worse  and  worse.  Eventually,  he  bled  so  badly  he was carried to the
hospital  and  operated  on.  Many  of  my  members  were worried, and they
complained,  "Where  is  God?  Why  is  God  treating him like this?" But I
praised  God,  for  I  knew  that  He had some specific purpose in what was
happening.  When  he  was  hospitalized  in the ward he began to preach the
Gospel to all the people with whom he made contact. Soon the whole hospital
knew  that  there  was  a  living  Jesus, His representative right in their
hospital.  The  doctors,  nurses,  and all the patients daily became saved.
Then  our  members rejoiced, saying, "Praise God. It was far better for him
to  be  in the hospital than to be divinely healed immediately." God showed
that  His priority was the eternal healing of souls rather than the earthly
healing of the physical.

When there is pain and suffering, we are apt to claim deliverance. But this
we should not do. If your suffering should bring about redemptive grace, or
if  your suffering becomes the channel for the flowing of God's grace, then
your  suffering has been God-appointed. If, however, your suffering becomes
invalid  and starts to destroy you, then this is from satan, and you should
pray  through and rid yourself of it. I will relay to you one case in which
God  did  not deliver people from their suffering. It was during the Korean
War when 500 ministers were captured and immediately shot to death, and two
thousand  churches  were  destroyed.  The  Communists  were  vicious to the
ministers.  One  minister's  family  was captured in Inchon, Korea, and the
Communist  leaders  put  them  on  what they called a 'People's Trial'. The
accusers would say, "One man is guilty of causing this kind of sin, and for
that  kind of sin it is proper that he be punished." The only response then
given  would be a chorus of voices agreeing, "Yah, yah!" This time they dug
a large hole, putting the pastor, his wife, and several of his children in.
The leader then spoke, "Mister, all these years you mislead the people with
the  superstition of the Bible. Now if you will publicly disclaim it before
these  people,  and  repent  for this misdemeanor, then you, your wife, and
your  children will be freed. But if you persist in your superstitions, all
of  your  family  is going to be buried alive. Make a decision!" All of his
children  then blurted out, "Oh daddy! Daddy! Think of us! Daddy!" Think of
it.  If  you were in his place, what would you do? I am the father of three
children,  and  would  almost  feel  like  going to hell rather than see my
children killed.

This  father was shaken. He lifted up his hand and said, "Yes, yes, I'll do
it.  I  am  going to denounce…my…" But before he could finish his sentence,
his  wife  nudged  him, saying, "Daddy! Say NO!" "Hush children," she said.
"Tonight  we  are  going to have supper with the King of kings, the Lord of
lords."  She  led them in singing 'In the Sweet By and By,' her husband and
children  following,  while  the  Communists  began  to bury them. Soon the
children  were buried, but until the soil came up to their necks they sang,
and  all  the  people  watched. God did not deliver them, but almost all of
those people who watched this execution became Christians, many now members of  my  church. Through their suffering the grace of redemption flowed. God gave  His only begotten Son to be crucified on the cross so that this world could  be saved and redeemed. That is God's uppermost goal – the redemption of  souls.  So  when  you  desire  divine healing, or an answer from above,
always  focus  through  the  lenses of the uppermost goal, the redeeming of
souls.  If  you  see  that your suffering brings about more redemption than
your  healing,  then  do  not  ask for deliverance, but ask God to give you
strength  to  persevere. To discern between suffering brought by satan that
God  would  rather deliver, and suffering that God would use to bring about
the  flow  of  redemptive  grace,  is not always easy. To make this kind of
decision  you need to wait upon the Lord, and to know the will of the Lord.
Do  not  become discouraged, and go around receiving prayer from one famous
evangelist  and  then  another. But through your prayer, fasting and faith,
let  God  show  you  His  will.  When the Holy Spirit quickens the logos of
scripture  to  you,  a miraculous faith is imparted to your heart. You know
that  the  scripture  no  longer  belongs to the "said word" of God, but is
instantly  the  "saying word" of God for you. You must then stand upon that
word, and go ahead and do it, even though your life is pitch dark, once you
receive  the  rhema  do  not  be  frightened. Just go ahead and walk on the
water, and you will see a miracle.

Be careful, however, not to move ahead of God. Many people do move ahead of
God,  even  as  did  Paul,  in  his  eagerness to bring the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.  Jesus Christ had commanded that we go to the ends of the world and
preach  the Gospel; so Paul went out on the logos, and headed for Asia. But
the  Spirit of Jesus Christ did not permit him to go there. Then Paul said,
"I  will go to Bithynia." But again the Spirit of the Lord said, "NO." Paul
and  his  company  then went down to Troas, an unknown city. We can imagine
his  wanderings  there,  that  he was confused, thinking to himself, "I was
obeying the command of Jesus. Jesus said to go to the ends of the world and
preach  the  Gospel.  Why  am  I such a failure?" But as he was praying and
waiting  upon  the  Lord,  he  received the rhema, and a man from Macedonia
appeared  in  a  vision  and said, "Come into Macedonia and help us!" So he
took  a boat and crossed over to Europe. Though Paul's example we can again
see  the  difference  between  logos and rhema. Receiving Rhema People have
come  to  me  and  commented,  "Brother  Cho,  I can pray through about the
various  promises from the scriptures, and I can wait until the Holy Spirit
quickens  and  applies them to me. But how can I get rhema about choosing a
husband,  or  a wife? I read all the scriptures, but the Bible does not say
whether  I should go marry Elizabeth, Mary or Joan. How can I get the rhema
about  this?  Also,  the  Bible does not say that you should go and live in
Lakeland,  Los  Angeles,  or in some northern area. How can I receive God's
will  about that?" These are legitimate questions. Let me show you the five
steps I use to get the rhema about these types of questions.


Neutral Gear

The first step is to put myself in neutral gear – not forward
or  backward,  but  completely calm in my heart. Then I wait upon the Lord,
saying,  "Lord,  I'm here, I will listen to your voice. If you say 'yes', I
will go; if you say 'no', I'm not going. I don't wish to make decisions for
my  own benefit, but to decide according to your desire. Whether it becomes
good  for  me,  or bad for me, I'm ready to accept your guidance. With this
attitude  I  wait  upon  the Lord. Many times the best action to take is to
fast  and  pray,  for  if you eat too much you get so tired that you cannot
pray.  Then,  if  you know that you are really calmed down, you come to the
second step.

Divine  Desire 

The  second  thing I do is ask the Lord to reveal His will
though  my desires. God always comes to you through your sanctified desire.
"Delight  thyself  also  in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of
thine  heart"  (Psalm 37:4). "The desire of the righteous shall be granted"
(Proverbs 10:24). "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that
ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). Desire, then, is one
of  God's focusing points. Moreover, Philippians 2:13 reads, "For it is God
which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Through
the Holy Spirit God puts in your heart the desire, making you to will to do
His  will.  So pray to the Lord, "Lord, now give me the desire according to
Your  will." Pray through and wait upon the Lord until God gives you divine
desire. As you pray many desires, beautiful desires, will probably flow in.
In  your  praying, then, also have the patience to wait for God's desire to
settle  in.  Do  not  stand up and say, "Oh, I've got everything," and rush
away.  Wait upon the Lord a little longer. Desires can be given from satan,
from  your own spirit, or from the Holy Spirit. Time is always the test. If
you  wait  patiently  your  own  desire  and desires from satan will become
increasingly  weaker,  but the desire from the Holy Spirit becomes stronger
and stronger. So wait, and receive the divine desire.

Scriptural  Screening  

After  my  desire  becomes  very  clear-cut, then I
proceed  to  step  three: I compare this desire with Biblical teaching. One
day  a  lady  came  up  to me. All excited, she said, "Oh, Pastor Cho, I am
going to support your ministry with a large amount of money." "Praise God,"
I exclaimed. "Have a seat and tell me about this." She explained, "I have a
fantastic  desire  to go into business. This business deal is going on, and
if  I join in I think I can make big money." "What kind of business is it?"
I  asked.  She  replied,  "I have a burning desire to get a monopoly on the
cigarette business. Tobacco, you know." "Forget about it," I retorted. "But
I  have  the  desire!"  she  said.  "The  burning  desire, just like you've
preached about." "That desire is from your own flesh," I replied. "Have you
ever  gone  through  the  Bible  to  see  if  what  you  would  be doing is
scriptural?  Your  desire  must  be  screened  through  the  scripture,"  I
instructed  her. "The Bible says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit
(1 Corinthians 6:19). If God ever wanted His people to smoke, then He would
have  made  our  noses  differently.  Smoke  stacks are supposed to be open
upward  to  the  sky,  and  not  downward.  Think about the nose; it is not
pointing  upward,  but  downward.  God  did  not purpose that people smoke,
because  our  smoke  stacks  are upside down. The Holy Spirit's dwelling is
your  body. If you pollute it with smoke, then you are polluting the temple
of  the  Holy  Spirit with smoke. Your desire is out of the will of God. It
would  be best if you just forget about this new business." One man came to
me and said, "Pastor, I've struck up a friendship with a beautiful woman, a
widow.  She  is  sweet,  beautiful and wonderful, and when I pray, I have a
burning desire to marry her. But I also have my wife and children." "Look,"
I  replied,  "you forget about this, because it's from the devil." "Oh, no,
no.  This  is  not  from  the devil," he disagreed. "When I prayed the Holy
Spirit  spoke in my heart and told me that my original wife was not exactly
the  right  kind  of  rib  to fit into my side. My present wife is always a
thorn  in  my  flesh.  The Holy Spirit spoke and said that this widow is my
lost  rib,  which  will fit exactly into my side." I told him, "That is not
from  the  Holy  Spirit.  That's from the devil's spirit." Many people make
this  kind  of  mistake. If they pray against the written Word of God, then
the  devil  will speak. The Holy Spirit will never contradict God's written
Word.  That  man  did  not  listen  to  me, and he divorced his wife and he
married  that  widow. He is now of all men the most miserable. He found out
that  his  second  rib  was  even  worse than his first. So all our desires
should  be  carefully  screened  with  Scripture.  If  you  do not have the
self-confidence to do this yourself, then go to your minister or pastor.

A  Beckoning Signal

After I screen my desire through the written Word, the
teachings of God, then I am ready for step four: to ask God for a beckoning
signal  from  my circumstances. If God truly has spoken to your heart, then
He  is  bound  to  give  you a signal from the outside external world. When
Elijah  prayed  seven times for rain, he received a signal from the eastern
sky  –  a  patch  as  large as a man's fist, a cloud, appeared. Gideon also
provides  us  with an example, for he, too, asked for a sign. And God would
always  show  me  a sign from my circumstances; sometimes this sign is very
small, but it still was a sign.

Divine  Timing

After I have received a sign, then I take the final step: I
pray  until I know God's timing. God's timing is different from our timing.
You  must  pray  until  you  have a real peace, for peace is like the chiefumpire.  

If  after  you  pray you still feel a restlessness in your spirit,
then  the  timing  is not proper. That means there is still a red light; so
keep  praying  and  waiting. When the red light is switched off and you see
the  green  light, peace will come into your heart. Then you should jump up
and  go.  Go  then  with  full speed, with God's blessings and God's rhema.
Miracle after miracle will follow you.

All though life I have carried out and conducted my business by using these
five  steps. So far God has always confirmed this way of walking with signs
and  miracles  following.  These  results  must show clearly the difference
between logos and rhema. In the future you need no longer be confused about
the  promises  of  God.  No  amount  of  claiming,  travailing, jumping, or
shrieking  will  convince  Him.  God  is  going  to convince you Himself by
imparting  His  faith  into  your  heart.  The  English translation of Mark
11:22-23  says that you should have faith in God and then you would be able
to  command  a  mountain  to  be  removed and cast into the sea. The Greek,
however,  says  that you should have the faith of God. How can you have the
faith  of  God? When you receive the rhema the faith given is not your own;
it  is imparted faith that God has given you. After receiving this imparted
faith,  then  you  can  command  mountains to be removed. Without receiving
God's  faith  you  cannot  do  this.  If  for  no other reasons, you should
carefully  study  the  Bible – Genesis to Revelation – in order to give the
Holy  Spirit  the  material with which He needs to work. Then when you wait
upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit will impart His faith to you. Great miracles
will  follow you as you act on this faith, miracles in your ministry and in
your  home.  So wait upon the Lord; never consider it a waste of time. When
God  speaks  to  your heart He can in one second do far greater things than
you could do in one entire year. Wait upon the Lord, and you will see great
things accomplished.