From the Book, Rules For Life: According To Jesus

23. Exercise Spiritual Power 

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”

John 14:12-14

This one is a bit of a touchy subject.

One group of believers says that because Jesus told the Twelve and the Seventy-Two to do miraculous things that we can all do them. Another group says that His instructions were only for those two groups of disciples.

Wherever you come down on this debate, we are to exercise spiritual power, through prayer if nothing else. 

As for me, I am leaning more toward all believers being able to do these miraculous things. Why do I lean this way? Because of what is given right here in John 14. He says “anyone who believes in me”. (We already looked at this in section 5.) 

All of my life I’ve been a believer. But I was raised to not be presumptuous regarding God’s will. I have even been a bit scornful of those who claim to have the gift of healing, as one example. 

If you aren’t familiar with the things that believers are supposed to be able to do (either by gifting or not), here is a list of nine gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Church. There may be more. 

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.  There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.  God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.  He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Whether you think you should simply pray, or you think you should act, whether you think that you should pursue all of the gifts or simply use what God gives you, the command remains the same: “anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works”… “Yes, ask me”. 

The thing to figure out is How and When do we do these things. When you figure that out, please let me know. Until then, everyone should be praying for all things, all the time. Because there is spiritual power in prayer!

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Sections in this study:
Introduction
1: Repent
2: Be Born Again
3: Place God First
4: Love and Serve One Another
5: Live By Faith
6: Forgive Others
7: Remain in Jesus
8: Live Righteously Before Men
9: Avoid Bad Influences
10: Stay On The Narrow Path
11: Do Not Return Evil With Evil
12: Give More Than Is Demanded
13: Love Your Enemies
14: Check Your Motives
15: Pray Simply
16: Do Not Worry
17: Store Up Treasures In Heaven
18: Do Not Be Judgmental
19: Guard what is Sacred
20: Care For Those In Distress
21: Do Not Swear Oaths
22: Watch out for false prophets
23: Exercise Spiritual Power
24: Have Childlike Faith
25: Do Not Exalt Yourself
26: Settle Disputes Quickly
27: Settle Disputes Between Believers
28: Do not Oppose Brethren
29: Remember Me
30: Be Merciful
31: Make Disciples
32: Be Ready
33: Obey Jesus’ Commands
Closing Comments