DESPITE PRIOR SUCCESS

"And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out" (Matt. 17:18, 19).

That's a valid question because Jesus had already given them power over the devil.

"And when he [Jesus] had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease" (Matt. 10:1, brackets and emphasis mine).

Not only did they already have all the power they needed to see that demonized boy set free, they had prior success in using it!

"And they [the disciples previously] cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them" (Mark 6:13, brackets mine).

These were not people who had never flowed in God's power and the miraculous. These were followers of Jesus who apparently had a 100 percent success rate before this, which makes their question even more significant. These were believers who had seen God's power flow through them before to heal the sick and cast out devils.

They knew it was God's will and that He'd already given them the power. Yet, they exercised their faith, acted on it, and spoke to the mountain, but still didn't see the desired results. Sound familiar?

You've probably had a situation in your life when you released your faith, acted on it, spoke to the mountain, but still didn't receive your desired results. You believed God for healing, prosperity, deliverance, or whatever, but it didn't come to pass. I'm not talking about those who pray, "God, if it be Your will," and aren't surprised when

nothing happens. These disciples were shocked, hurt, and surprised. They asked this question because they did believe, and they'd seen it work in the past, but not this particular time.

Why do you think certain demons don't come out? Why are specific individuals not healed? Why don't financial breakthroughs come sometimes? Why do you think people pray, really believing, but what they ask for

doesn't come to pass? Although there are multiple reasons for this, the dominant answer to this question is, "It must not have been God's will." Hogwash!

"GOD'S WITT?"

God wants you to prosper in every area of your life! It's not God's will for you to be sick, to not have your needs met, to be oppressed. It's not God's will for you to be discouraged and defeated. He isn't punishing you or trying to teach you something. That's simply not true! A large segment of the Body of Christ lumps every

"unanswered" prayer into "Well, God is sovereign." God is Almighty and He can do anything He wants to, but He's

already done what He wants and has given us the authority and power to bring His will to pass.

Many things happen today, not because it's God's will, but because we're reaping what we've sown. Take, for

instance, the terrorist attacks that happened on

September 11, 2001. Many people viewed them as "God's judgment on America." Well, America is worthy of being judged, but the Lord isn't releasing His judgment. Neither did He "sovereignly" allow it. God has set up laws that we reap what we sow. (My message "The Sovereignty of God" deals with this.)

America has been systematically trying to become a secular nation. We've kicked God out of our schools and public lives. We've been busy doing our own thing and ignoring Him. By denying God the right to move freely in our society, our defenses were down.

Satan attacks whether you're godly or not. You don't have to be doing something wrong in order to draw his attack. You could actually be doing something right and be attacked. David had people attack him when he was seeking and serving God. Although he won, he was still attacked and had to fight. It's just that there's often more damage when your defense is down.

"BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF'

When we ask the question, "Why don't things work?" two main perspectives—both wrong—come forth. First, many people think, Que sera, sera. Whatever will he, will he. God is sovereign and He controls everything. Second, a popular charismatic "faith" answer would be, "They don't have enough faith." That's presented as being the only

reason people don't see their answer to prayer. It's too simplistic and condemns people because it puts all the responsibility on them without any grace. This drives them away from faith-oriented teaching. It is a reason, but not an all-encompassing one!

In ministering to another person, their faith does affect the process. You can't make them receive based on your faith alone. Jesus quickened people's faith when He ministered to them. He told them "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14), implying that they had a part to play in their healing. We know that Jesus operated in faith perfectly. Yet, He couldn't do many miracles in His own hometown. This wasn't because of any problem with His faith, but the people were full of unbelief. There needs to be some degree of faith present on the part of the person receiving. However, if the healing doesn't manifest, it could also be a problem with the minister's faith and ability to receive from God. It's just not always as simple as, "Believe and receive or doubt and do without." Sometimes you can believe and still not receive. That's what happened to the disciples here. (Matt. 17.) They asked, "Jesus, why couldn't we cast the demon out? We believed and received, but didn't get our desired results."

"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief" (Matt. 17:20).

Many people mistakenly think they can't have both unbelief and faith at the same time. They believe that faith and unbelief are mutually exclusive. That's not true. When Jesus told them, "It's because of your unbelief," He