The highest form of faith comes from just believing God’s Word alone (Matt. 8:10) and not needing something else to quicken your faith. Jack Coe would minister to people in the front of the tent first, the ones who looked like they were crippled but really weren’t, or were crippled to a degree but could still move. Then, once the crowd’s faith had risen, he would go to the back of the tent and minister to those who were totally paralyzed, and he would see them healed. This is an example of how things can be done to quicken people’s faith.
Jack used this technique to create an atmosphere of faith where he could go back and minister to the people who were totally paralyzed and see them healed. Even though I don’t believe that this is God’s best, there is some validity for doing this.
In my meetings, I go out of my way not to use any hype or try psych people up. I just try to get them to trust the Word and believe God. I reach for a purity of faith like the centurion had. But the Lord showed me that most people aren’t to that level yet. There are some folks who have sincere, desperate needs in their lives. And because I go out of my way not to do anything to lead people into some kind of momentary faith, there are people I choose not to minister to.
AN ATMOSPHERE OF FAITH
I went to a famous evangelist’s meeting who was known for the supernatural things that regularly happened in his services. I don’t doubt that God does the miraculous. I believe it, and I’ve seen it. But I wanted to find out if there was anything that this man did to help create this atmosphere for miracles.
Other than during an offering, he didn’t actually teach the Word for the first four or five meetings. Now, he did later. But for the first four or five services, he brought hundreds of people with him whose lives had been changed in his meetings. He would have these people start giving testimonies. They would get up and talk about the miraculous things that God had done. Through this, this man created an atmosphere of faith. He built people’s expectancy to such a high level that anybody could have stood up there and seen miracles happen because the people’s expectancy had been brought to such a high place by all the testimonies.
When I perceived what he was doing—in a sense, manipulating the crowds—my first reaction was to discredit that. But when I pondered on how he was getting all these people together into an atmosphere of faith, I realized that so many people just live submerged in an atmosphere of unbelief. They really do need something to jump-start them and get them moving toward the Lord and His Word in faith.
I don’t want to do things that discourage people’s faith. My aim and goal is for them to receive. So, when I minister in a prayer line and perceive when the anointing of God flows through my hands into a person, I’ll say something to them. It used to be that I’d perceive it but wouldn’t say anything about it. I’d know that God was healing them and I’d say, “Praise God. Thank You, Jesus,” and go on.
Just like Jesus did when He perceived virtue flowing out of His robe and into this woman who was healed (Mark 5:30), I’ve learned to stop and say something to the person I’m ministering to when I feel the anointing of God. I’ll say, “That’s the anointing of God flowing into your body.” Instead of just ignoring it and moving on like I used to do, my pausing and saying something to the person helps quicken their faith.
THE LORD MET HIM
Now, people shouldn’t put their faith in what I feel or what I say. The ultimate is to be like the centurion with great faith who said, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed” (Matt. 8:8). That’s what I try to encourage. Our whole ministry is about the integrity of God’s Word. That has to be the foundation. However, until people get there, they need help. Sometimes encouraging them a little helps them to receive the miracle they need. That little jump-start to their faith gets them to where they can believe the Word of God and receive.
There are two different ways of receiving from God. One of the ways is to be like Thomas, the disciple of Jesus who said, “I’m not going to believe unless I can see it, feel it, or touch it. Unless there’s some kind of physical, carnal proof that comes across my path to quicken my faith, I won’t believe” (John 20:25). Do you know what? The Lord met Thomas where he was. He said, “All right, Thomas. Put your finger into the print of the nails. Put your hand into My side. Don’t be faithless, but believing.” The Lord met him at his inferior, immature level of faith.
But when Thomas fell down and declared “My Lord, my God,” Jesus didn’t respond by saying, “Well, Thomas, you’re awesome. This is the way it’s supposed to be.” Really, the Lord said, “Thomas, you’ve seen and therefore you believe.”
The other way of receiving from God is to believe without seeing, to believe without somehow or another being manipulated or encouraged (John 20:29). God was saying that there’s a greater blessing on the person who just takes God’s Word and believes it without needing to have three dreams, two prophecies, and a vision to confirm what He says.
This truth changed my life! As a boy, I was raised in the Baptist church. Back then, they strongly preached salvation. But other than the miracle of the new birth, they didn’t really say much. They didn’t necessarily teach against miracles, but they certainly didn’t teach for them either.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
The absence of such teaching led us all to believe that God didn’t do miracles today. The church just taught a person how to get saved, and that was basically it.
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
When I came into the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I began to recognize that miracles didn’t pass away and that God is still doing supernatural things on the earth today. I started hearing testimonies of people who saw angels, received visions, and had dreams. All of it was scriptural. All of it was in the Bible.
When I began to realize that these things were possible, I started craving them. I prayed, “Oh God, show me an angel. Oh God, let fire come down and burn in my hands when I pray for people.” I was praying for all these physical manifestations. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, “Andrew, if you keep pressing Me in this area, you can see visions and dreams. It’s not evil or bad, but it’s not My best. There’s a greater anointing on a person who believes because of the promise of My Word alone and not because they see angels, visions, or dreams. That’s My best.”
That’s when I changed my prayer to “God, I want Your best. I don’t care if I ever see a vision or an angel.” Do you know what? I’ve never seen an angel. I have never heard an audible voice. And yet God has spoken to me supernaturally through the Word.
People have come up to me at my meetings and reported that they’ve seen angels standing on either side of me. Many miracles have happened!
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Lord told me one time that He was going to show me how angels were supernaturally at work in my meetings. I didn’t tell anyone, but I was expecting to hear some testimonies about it. Over the course of the week’s meetings, four or five things occurred.
THE HIGHEST FORM OF FAITH
One of them was when I called out a healing and a young man came forward. The power of God hit him, and he fell on the ground. When he got up, we asked him to give a testimony. He said, “When you called that out, somebody put their hand on my shoulder. It was so real, but when I turned around and looked, no actual person was there.” This was the rebellious son of a woman who had come to my meeting. This guy didn’t want to be there. He didn’t believe in any of this, yet he physically felt someone touch him. He said, “I turned around, I saw an angel, God spoke to me, and I came forward.”
Things like that happen. I’m aware that they exist. I believe it. I’ve never seen it personally, yet I believe. And the Lord showed me that this is the highest form of faith—to simply take the promise of God’s Word and believe it.
What about you? Maybe you believe in the supernatural power of God. Maybe you know some of the promises, but the truth is, God’s Word isn’t enough for you. You have to have two angels, three visions, and four goose bumps before you’d believe anything. If that’s where you are, God will meet you there as much as He can, but it’s not going to be His best. God’s best is for you to become like the centurion and say, “Lord, I don’t need You to touch me. I don’t need to see You. I don’t need anything except Your Word” (Matt. 8:8).
The good news is, God has given you lots of promises in His Word. You have so many promises! If you could just move into that realm of faith, a great and pure faith, to where God’s Word becomes as real to you as something you can see, taste, hear, smell, or feel, it’ll cause you to receive greater blessings.
That’s what I want. I’m not after His second best or third best. My aim and goal is God’s best—believing His Word alone. Hallelujah!