Sometimes in a euphoric mood that follows the recognition of the
authority that God has given us as His children, some of us tend to
forget what we are, where we have come from and what we will be, and
imagine foolishly high thoughts about ourselves. Some preachers have
proclaimed that they are 'gods' or 'little gods', and some have even
gone to the extent of saying, "When I read in the Bible where he
[Jesus] says, 'I Am,' I just smile and say, 'Yes, I Am, too!'
Now most of us may never say such things. We know we are not God, or
even gods. We are children of God, by His sovereign choice of grace
(1Jn.3:1). God has created something new in us, and we have been born
again in our spirit (1Pe.1:3). However, we are created beings with
plenty of limitations in every direction. We cannot create anything
like God can, and we cannot do anything supernatural without God. We
are not God.
Yet it is true that God has given us exceptional authority in Jesus'
name. We have been given authority over all the power of Satan and his
demons (Lk.10:19). We have authority to forgive sins (Jn.20:23). We
may bring healing or even raise people from the dead. But in all these
cases, the authority is in the name of Jesus and not in ourselves. It
is as if we are ca****ng cheques that Jesus has signed.
Then again, while we have been given such authority, we don't have the
power in ourselves to do any such thing. We are like traffic policemen
who have the authority given to him by the government to stop a heavy
truck on the road by putting up his hands, but has no power even to
stop a car physically. In other words, our authority comes from God
(the government) by being His children, but our power is only that of
a frail creature.
Suppose this traffic policeman goes into a hospital and tells a
surgeon how to do his job, he would not be taken seriously. That is
because a hospital is outside the policeman's domain of authority. We
too have our domain of authority given to us by God. That is called
'the will of God'. When we pray in Jesus' name but according to our
own will, there is no authority for that prayer. Actually, to pray in
Jesus' name does not mean that we just add the words "In Jesus' name"
at the end of our prayer, but that we pray according to the will of
God. When we pray according to God's will, then we get what we pray
for (1Jn.5:14,15).
So we have no power to make anything happen, by our prayers, words of
confession, fasting, or anything we do. Only God has that power. He
can say, "Let there be light", and light will come. But however
forcefully or positively we may speak anything, nothing will happen,
unless God asks us to speak those specific words. When we speak what
God tells us, then it is according to His will.
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