by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
John G. Lake operated in one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring gifts of healing that the world has ever seen. In a single ten-year span, Lake saw over 250,000 confirmed physical healings. In 1918, Spokane, WA, was declared the healthiest city in the U.S. because of Lake’s Healing Rooms. His congregation fondly called him “Dr. Lake” because he saw more people get healed than the local physicians.
Lake was saved at the age of 16, learned about sanctification around the age of 20, and then entered into a ministry of healing after experiencing the power of healing in his own family through the ministry of John Alexander Dowie in Chicago. Lake continued to operate in the gift of healing for the next 10 years and saw hundreds healed.
At the end of those 10 years, Lake was more hungry for God than ever. Although he walked in the miraculous, he claimed that he had not yet experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He would often walk the streets and spontaneously cry out loud to God, surprising all those around him. Lake said, “It was the yearning passion of my soul, asking for God in a greater measure than I then knew. But my friends would say: ‘Mr. Lake, you have a beautiful baptism in the Holy Ghost.’ Yes, it was nice as far as it went, but it was not answering the cry of my heart. I was growing up into a larger understanding of God and my own soul’s need. My soul was demanding a greater entrance into God, His love, presence and power.”
Driven into the wilderness by his hunger for more of God, Lake fasted and prayed for 9 months, waiting on God. Several months into his fast, the Spirit spoke to Lake and said, “Be patient until autumn.” Lake was encouraged and kept going. He prayed, “God, if you will baptize me in the Holy Spirit, and give me the power of God, nothing shall be permitted to stand before me and a hundred-fold obedience.”
At the end of nine months, Lake was weary. He later recounted, “I prayed for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for nine months, and if a man ever prayed honestly, and sincerely in the faith, I did. Finally one day I was ready to throw up my hands, and quit. I said, ‘Lord, it may be for others, but it is not for me. You just cannot give it to me.’ I did not blame God.”
Shortly after this, a man named Pierce invited Lake to join him and a group of other believers at his house who had been praying for the past year for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. None of them had yet received the Baptism. Lake accepted the invitation. Five minutes into prayer, Lake was overcome as “the light of God began to shine around me, I found myself in a center of an arc of light ten feet in diameter, the whitest light in all the universe. So white! Oh how it spoke of purity. The remembrance of that whiteness, that wonderful whiteness, has been the ideal that has stood before my soul, of the purity of the nature of God ever since.”
After this experience, Lake was invited to pray for a woman suffering from rheumatism and bound to a wheelchair. As he prayed with her, suddenly “the Spirit said, ‘I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. You are now Baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ Then currents of power began to rush through my being from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. The shocks of power increased in rapidity, and voltage. As these currents of power would pass through me, they seemed to come upon my head, rush through my body, and through my feet into the floor… Even at this late date, the awe of that hour rests upon my soul. My experience has truly been as Jesus said that He shall be within you ‘a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.’ That never-ceasing fountain has flowed through my spirit, soul, and body day, and night, bringing salvation, and healing, and the Baptism of the Spirit in the power of God to multitudes.”
Lake sold all he had and entered into full-time ministry. God spoke to him that he would soon go to Africa.
“One morning when I came down to breakfast, I found my appetite had disappeared. I could not eat. I went about my work as usual. At dinner I had no desire to eat, and no more in the evening. This went on till the third day. But toward the evening of the third day, an overwhelming desire to pray took possession of me. I wanted only to be alone to pray. Prayer flowed from my soul like a stream. I could not cease praying. As soon as it was possible to get to a place of seclusion, I would kneel to pour out my heart to God for hours. Whatever I was doing, that stream of prayer continued flowing from my soul… On the night of the sixth day of this fast, that the Lord had laid on me, while in the act of washing my hands, the Spirit said, ‘How long have you been praying to cast out demons?’ and I replied, ‘Lord, a long time.’ And the Spirit said, ‘From henceforth, thou shalt cast out demons.’ I arose and praised God.”
Within a week, a violently insane man was brought to Lake. Lake commanded the demon to come out of him in the name of Jesus and the man was instantly delivered. Two days later that same man was released from the institution where he had been confined.
Within the next year, Lake and his family were called by God to South Africa. Over their next five years of ministry in South Africa, Lake saw over one million people give their lives to Jesus, 625 new churches planted, and 1,250 preachers raised up. By the time Lake returned to America, the work in South Africa continued through the hands of those Lake had trained. Lake’s five short years of ministry in South Africa were so impactful that Lake was given the title, “Apostle to Africa”. Gordon Lindsay stated that Lake was “engaged in a ministry which in some respects rivaled that of the Early Church.”
Lake always knew there was something more, but it was the keys of fasting and prayer that opened the door to satisfying his hunger for more of God. By giving up physical satisfaction and hungering in his flesh, he satisfied the hunger of his soul and the world was blessed by it.
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by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” – John 12:24, ESV
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” – Tertullian, 197 A.D.
After experiencing such an incredible revival in Bolivia (see yesterday’s devotional), Julio Cesar Ruibal and his wife, Ruth, were called by God in 1978 to move north to Columbia. However, revival didn’t spring up so quickly like it had in Bolivia. Cali, Columbia, was one of the world’s largest exporters of cocaine, exporting roughly 500 million dollars worth of cocaine each month. The city was controlled by cartels, occultic practices were widespread, and on average fifteen people were murdered every day.
The church in the city wasn’t faring well in the midst of this darkness as it lacked any semblance of unity. Ruth Ruibal said that “There wasn’t really unity among the churches. You did your thing and I would say, ‘God bless you, brother, and have a wonderful time in your church, but this is my church and this is what I do.’” Another pastor later said that “The pastor’s association used to consist of nothing more than a box of files. Every pastor was working separately on his own; no one would join together.”
As Julio and Ruth got to work, Julio soon had a disagreement with another pastor in town and subsequently removed himself from the already weak pastor’s association. God spoke to Julio and said, “You don’t have the right to be offended. You have to forgive.” Julio realized that if he was going to reflect Jesus, he could not be offended in any way. Julio went back to the pastor’s association and begged for their forgiveness, citing the urgent need for unity in light of the incredible challenges facing their city. Against all odds, the Ruibal’s and their small team did the only thing they knew to do: fast and pray. In their prayers, they targeted the church’s lack of hunger for prayer, unity, and holiness.
In 1995 (17 years after they moved to Cali), the Ruibal’s attempted their first unity-based event with a small group of pastors, hosting it in the city’s civic auditorium. Many said it would fail, but they moved forward with it anyway. They expected only a few thousand to attend, but to their surprise, more than 25,000 people showed up! During the event, they spent much time in prayer, binding the principalities and darkness over the city. At one point, the mayor of Cali took the podium and publicly declared, “Cali belongs to Jesus Christ!” The auditorium was filled with such a surge of energy that the crowd stayed and prayed until 6 AM.
Two days after the all-night prayer event, the newspaper headlines read, “No Homicides!” For the first time that anyone could remember, Cali went an entire weekend without a single murder! Ten days later, the first drug lord was arrested. As the church fasted and prayed in unity, the darkness began to flee.
Filled with faith, the united church leaders rented the largest stadium in town, the 55,000-person Pascual Guerrero soccer stadium. More than 60,000 believers showed up, representing many different denominations. The church regained its power through fasting, prayer, and unity and had once again found its roar!
That summer of ‘95, the Columbian government declared all-out war on the drug cartels, dispatching 6,500 elite commandos to apprehend the cartel ringleaders. In the first nine months when the united church started praying together, six of the seven top drug lords were arrested. The seventh drug lord turned himself in another nine months later. Furthermore, 900 police officers with links to the cartel were fired. Julio Ruibal declared that “the whole spiritual atmosphere of Cali has changed!”
In the midst of this, Julio began to receive death threats from a neighboring drug lord who was in a dispute with Julio over property rights. In response to this, Julio set his face to fast and pray to seek understanding. On the third day of his fast, the Lord spoke to Julio and said, “He [your neighbor] will do you great damage, but from what he does the revival in Cali will spring forth.”
On December 13, 1995, Julio was on his way to an afternoon pastor’s meeting. As Julio set foot outside of his car, two gunmen were waiting for him. Julio was shot and killed.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” – Psalm 116:15
On the day he was martyred, Julio was on his sixth day of an extended fast, praying that God would strengthen the unity of Cali’s emerging church. Although progress had been made in the area of unity, Julio knew that unity was a fragile thing. Little did Julio know that his death would be the catalyst for the fruit of his prayers.
1,500 people gathered at Julio’s funeral, including many pastors who had not spoken to each other in months or years. After the memorial service, the pastors withdrew together and said, “Brothers, let us covenant to walk in unity from this day forward. Let Julio’s blood be the glue that binds us together in the Holy Spirit.” And so it was.
Over 200 pastors signed the covenant of unity. Together, these pastors strategically mapped out the city and began to target every area of the city in prayer and evangelism, with each church focusing on its own surrounding area. As the drug lords fell and salvation began to reach every level of society, Ruth Ruibal said, “God began changing the city because His people finally came together in prayer.”
By 1998, the citywide church was growing at an incredible rate. When asked about their church growth plan, one pastor said, “We don’t have time to plan. We’re too busy pulling the nets into the boat.” At Christian Centre of Love and Faith’s 35,000-person church, a church staff member was asked what their secret was. They immediately pointed to a 24-hour prayer room behind the stage and said, “That’s our secret.”
In reality, it isn’t a secret. It’s an invitation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
This is the pattern that God created before the beginning of time. As we continue this 40-day fast, let these stories fill you with faith for your nation, that prayer and fasting can turn your nation back to God. As George Otis Jr. said regarding Cali, Columbia, “The city that has long carried a reputation as an exporter of death is now looked upon as a model of community transformation. It has moved into the business of exporting hope.”
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by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” – Ephesians 1:1
“In weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” – 2 Corinthians 11:27
In the early 1970s, a young man attended a large gathering hosted by the famed and controversial healing evangelist, Kathryn Kuhlman. This young man had been invited to the event by a friend and was a pre-med student at Pasadena City College. He had just recently moved to the United States from Bolivia to receive his education. That night, this young man received Jesus Christ as his Savior, forever changing the fate of his home country of Bolivia. This young man’s name was Julio Cesar Ruibal, later dubbed the “Apostle of the Andes” by the press.
Ruibal’s conversion experience was marked by deep repentance, deliverance, and inner healing. He would lie on the floor in his living room and say, “Jesus I have found You; I have found everything.”
A month after giving his life to Christ, Ruibal went back to attend another Kuhlman event. The doors were locked at the Shrine Auditorium because the building was already filled with 7,000 hungry attendees, which was all the fire code permitted. Surrounded by several thousand other people who were also locked out of the building, Ruibal found a folding chair, stood up on it, and began to tell the large crowd in broken English about his marvelous conversion experience in the previous month. As Ruibal preached, God gave him the gift of healing! At the same time that many indoors were being healed by Kuhlman’s ministry, many outdoors were being healed by the new ministry of the teenager, Ruibal.
Within the next year, Ruibal returned to his home town of La Paz, Bolivia, and began to host a small Bible study and preach the gospel with some friends. God made a promise to Ruibal that even the stadiums would be too small to hold the crowds. This seemed impossible at the time. The largest evangelical church in the city contained only 90 people and missionaries from many different denominations had worked for decades in La Paz with little fruit. Ruibal took a different approach.
Ruibal, only 19-years-old, was a man of fasting, prayer, and obedience. He taught others to do the same. His small group would gather every night to pray from 10 PM until 2:30 or 3 AM. More and more people got saved until suddenly 5,000 had been saved!
Before he knew it, Ruibal found himself sitting before Bolivia’s president, Hugo Bánzer Suárez, and his wife. This meeting happened because the Lord had used Ruibal to heal a member of the president’s cabinet who had been paralyzed. After praying together, President Suárez gave Ruibal an open door to evangelize the entire country. He gave him access to stadiums across the nation and required the mayors of cities to declare a holiday when Ruibal was in town preaching the gospel. The president even allowed Ruibal to use his own personal jet.
Ruibal and his team started with the stadium in the capital city of La Paz. Thousands attended. Because of the thronging crowds, the police would escort Ruibal out of the stadium in an ambulance after he had preached. Ruibal would return to his home and listen to the radio for hours as the radio stations reported all of the miracles taking place in the stadium even after he left! Ruibal’s wife later stated that he would spend days fasting and praying behind the scenes.
Soon God fulfilled His promise to the young evangelist. One morning, when a gathering was supposed to begin at 10 AM, the police called Ruibal at 5 AM to let him know that the stadium was already full and there was an overflow crowd of 40,000! The crowd had spent the night at the stadium! Ruibal first preached to the crowd in the stadium and then preached from the stadium wall to the overflow crowd gathered outside. The stadiums were too small to hold the crowds. Instead, they gathered on mountainsides and in plazas. Because there was no sound system that could reach such crowds, the people were encouraged to bring transistor radios and tune-in to the radio stations that were broadcasting the preaching.
Over the next few years, hundreds of thousands came to Christ. Events were marked by the power of God as He accompanied the preaching with signs, wonders, and miracles too numerous to count.
God soon called Ruibal to Columbia.
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by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
Unable to make it all the way to India due to financial constraints (see yesterday’s devotional), T.L. Osborn and his wife Daisy made it to their first stop along the route, Jamaica. Their lack of funds was no accident. God was divinely orchestrating their path. Osborn tells what happened next in a thank you speech he gave to Franklin Hall that was published in Franklin Hall’s newsletter.
One day, while in deep consecration, the Spirit spoke thus: “My son, as I was with Price, Wigglesworth, and others, so will I be with thee. They are dead, but now it is time for you to arise, to go and do likewise. You can cast out devils; YOU heal the sick; YOU raise the dead; YOU cleanse the lepers. Behold I give you power over all the power of the enemy. Be not afraid. Be strong. Be of good courage. I am with thee, as I was with them. No evil power shall be able to stand before THEE all the days of thy life, as you get the people to believe my Word. I used those men in their day; now I desire to use THEE.”
Osborn said that, “the challenge of this commission, given directly from the Lord, caused me to tremble exceedingly, but I knew God meant every word He had spoken. More days and weeks of fasting and prayer followed this tremendous commission, and more healings and miracles were the result.”
We have been able to conduct Healing Campaigns already in over a dozen of our states and on the island of Jamaica. In a single campaign which we conducted [in Jamaica], as many as one hundred and twenty-five deaf-mutes, ninety totally blind, and hundreds of other equally miraculous deliverances have resulted. Happy and joyful conversions have numbered as many as nine thousand in one revival.
We found people all over the island acquainted with your books and tracts. Many were fasting and praying for this revival before we came.
Brother Hall, we wanted you to know, we do appreciate your vision, and the tremendous way you have STIRRED THE WORLD with FASTING AND PRAYER. We shall do all we can to push that part of the Gospel.
Yours in Christ for the deliverance of all,
T.L. Osborn
Fasting is that part of the Gospel. It was never to be excluded from the ministry of evangelism. Even as thousands fast in these 40 days, we are joining GO 2020 (go2020.world/home), a ministry mobilizing one hundred million believers to evangelize their families, cities, and nations during the month of May. Could we believe that this fast will clear the skies of demonic interference all over the world, and that in May signs and wonders will break out and people will be saved in unreached people groups across the globe? It could be the global sledgehammer of God! Friends, we believe that Jesus’ fast was not an anomaly, but a prototype. A generation is arising who will come out of the fast in the power of the Spirit and those who sit in darkness will see a great light!
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by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
T.L. Osborn and his wife Daisy were in their early twenties and were pastors of a Portland, Oregon, church when they invited a female missionary from India to speak at their church. As she spoke, the Osborn’s felt an instant calling to international outreach. They immediately made a five-year plan for evangelizing India, raised the money, and moved to India.
Less than a year after moving to India, the Osborn’s began to realize their limitations. T.L. Osborn said in an interview with Charisma Magazine, “We couldn’t convince the Hindus and the Muslims about Jesus, about the Bible.” Osborn recalled telling himself, “You can’t do anything with people who don’t believe in the Bible.” He then said, “I didn’t know that the Bible could be proven because I didn’t know about miracles.”
T.L. and Daisy moved back to America filled with shame at their perceived failures on the missions field.
Coming back to America, the Osborn’s began to hunger for the power of God that was being manifested through miracle-working evangelists of their day like William Branham and Gordon Lindsay. Osborn said, “That was the big thing that happened to us in India. We realized that without the miraculous, we couldn’t prove what we believed. I hadn’t thought of that before India. So we were going to find somebody that performed miracles.”
They learned about a Smith Wigglesworth meeting and they made plans to attend. But then, unfortunately, Wigglesworth died. They then planned to go to a Charles Price tent revival, but Price also died. Osborn broke down and wept when he learned of Price’s passing. He felt that all the healing evangelists had passed away and he didn’t get to hear even one of them speak.
At the passing of Price, the Osborn’s learned of his successor, a lady named Hattie Hammond, and obtained a meeting with her. Hammond encouraged the Osborn’s that their experience in India was not a failure but was a glimpse into the harvest of souls God had planned for them to reach. She ended the meeting by encouraging the Osborn’s that “If you ever see Jesus, you’ll never be the same.”
Gripped with hunger, T.L. and Daisy prayed late into the night to see Jesus. “The next morning at 6 o’clock, Jesus Christ walked in our room,” Osborn vividly remembers. “I saw Him like I see you. He didn’t walk on the floor. He walked on the air. I’ll never forget it. And I laid there. It was like I was dead. I couldn’t move a finger or a toe. I finally laid on my face on the floor until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. It changed my life. I was totally, totally bathed in a new life. That’s the best way to describe it.”
Shortly after this, the Osborn’s had an opportunity to see Gordan Lindsay minister. Osborn was shocked at the simplicity with which Lindsay shared the gospel and then prayed for the sick. Many gave their lives to Jesus and the sick were instantly healed when Lindsay prayed for them. Osborn said, “It shocked me. It profoundly affected me, and it seemed to me like a thousand voices swirled over my head saying, ‘You can do that. That’s what Jesus did. That’s the way Peter did it. That’s the way Paul did it. That proves the Bible is true today. You can do that.’”
T.L. and Daisy began to pour over the four gospels, seeing Jesus’ ministry through a new lens. During this same period of time, Osborn had come in contact with the writings of Franklin Hall on fasting and prayer. He and Daisy had begun to go into many days and weeks of fasting and prayer. At one point, T.L. fasted all food and water for three days as he sought God’s presence. The Lord spoke to him and said “As I’ve been with others, so I will be with you. Wherever you go, I will give you the land for your possession. No demon, no disease, or no power can stand before you all the days of your life, IF you get the people to believe my Word.” The Osborn’s made a commitment, saying, “Whatever Jesus said He would do, we would expect Him to do it. Whatever He told us to do, we would do it.”
The Osborn’s decided it was time to host their first healing service at their church in Portland. They promoted their event through the newspaper and radio and, when the night came, their church was packed. Many gave their lives to Jesus as Osborn preached the gospel. Soon, lines formed to receive healing. “It worked,” Osborn stated. “We prayed for them and they were healed. I discovered Jesus in me. When that happened, Daisy and I said, ‘Now we can go back to India. Now we can convince them.'”
Attempting to return to India, the Osborn’s were unable to raise the necessary funds to make it all the way there. They mortgaged their car, sold their furniture, and began to travel. Headed towards India, their money only took them as far as their first stop – Jamaica.
by Bruno Arnesi | Sep 16, 2020 | The Jesus Fast 2020
“First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word.” – Smith Wigglesworth
Filled with compassion for the sick, Smith Wigglesworth gathered the sick week after week and transported them all the way down to the Leeds Healing Service, paying for their fare with the money he made as a plumber. This was his way of helping. An illiterate, untrained man, he was happy to help bring the sick to those who could minister to them. Although this didn’t keep him from speaking his mind. He would often criticize the healing service leaders because they wore glasses. He would ask them, “Why do you wear glasses if you believe in Divine Healing?” Despite Wigglesworth’s sometimes cantankerous nature, the Healing Service leaders appreciated his heart for the sick and needy.
One week, Wigglesworth was approached by the leaders of the Healing Service. They told him that they would all be out of town the next week and they wanted Wigglesworth to conduct the service. “I couldn’t conduct a healing service,” he said. “We have no one else,” they replied. A thought donned on Wigglesworth. All he would have to do was organize the meeting; he could always find someone to speak. “Plenty of people know how to talk,” he reasoned.
The following week the place was packed with people. As Wigglesworth searched for someone to speak, everyone responded with the same statement, “No, you have been chosen and you must do it.” Out of time and with no one else to speak, Wigglesworth took the podium. He didn’t remember what he spoke about, but after he was done sharing, 15 people lined up to receive prayer for healing. One man had come all the way from Scotland and struggled to stand up on his crutches. Wigglesworth prayed for him and the man was instantly healed! No one in the room was more surprised by these results than Wigglesworth himself. How had God just used his hands to heal this man? The healing sparked faith in the room and the remaining 14 people were all miraculously and fully healed. This humble moment began the powerful healing ministry of the man known as the “Apostle of Faith”.
Born into a very poor family in England in 1859, Smith Wigglesworth was forced to work 12 hours a day picking and cleaning turnips at the young age of six to help provide for the family. Saved at the age of eight while accompanying his grandmother to a Wesleyan Methodist service, Wigglesworth immediately became a soul-winner by leading his mother to the Lord. At the age of 16, he joined the work of the Salvation Army in his hometown of Bradford. Moved with compassion for the lost, Wigglesworth began to fast and pray weekly. He and the Salvation Army members would often spend entire nights praying for the lost. They would pray for the salvation of 50 to 100 souls each week. Week after week their prayers were answered as many were saved.
Wigglesworth moved to Liverpool to be a plumber when he was 20 and began to surround himself with scores of ragged and hungry children. Although he made good money, he spent all he had to buy food for the children. These children became his congregation and he would hold weekly meetings with them. Wigglesworth said, “I fasted all day every Sunday and prayed, and I never remember seeing less than fifty souls saved by the power of God in the meetings with the children, in the hospitals, on the ships, and in the Salvation Army. These were the days of great soul awakening.”
One day, later in his life, the Lord spoke to Wigglesworth and said, “I want you to go raise Lazarus.” Lazarus was an invalid that Wigglesworth had heard of who lived in another city and had been bedridden and spoon-fed for six years after falling ill from his work in a tin mine. This man’s body was in full decay and there seemed to be no life or hope left in him. Wigglesworth left to go raise him up.
Upon arriving, Wigglesworth was met by a dark gloom of unbelief. Nearly everyone in the village had given up on Lazarus, including Lazarus himself. Wigglesworth searched to find another six people with any level of faith who would join him in praying for Lazarus’ healing. In telling of this account, Wigglesworth said, “It will never do to give way to human opinions. If God says a thing, you have to believe it. I told the people that I would not eat anything that night. When I got to bed it seemed as if the devil tried to place on me everything that he had placed on that poor man in the bed. When I awoke I had a cough and all the weakness of a tubercular subject. I rolled out of bed on to the floor and cried out to God to deliver me from the power of the devil. I shouted loud enough to wake everybody in the house, but nobody was disturbed. God gave victory and I got back into bed again as free as ever I was in my life. At 5 o’clock the Lord awakened me and said to me, ‘Don’t break bread until you break it round My table.’ At 6 o’clock He gave me these words, ‘And I will raise him up.’ At 8 o’clock they said to me, ‘Have a little refreshment.’ But I have found prayer and fasting the greatest joy, and you will always find it so when you are led by God.”
Wigglesworth and the others went to Lazarus’ room, gathered round him, and began to pray, simply repeating the name of Jesus again and again. Five times the power of God fell on the room and then lifted. On the sixth time that it fell, Lazarus began to speak and repent for bitterness of heart and for grieving the Spirit of God. One final time the power of God fell and Lazarus was fully healed! He got up, dressed himself, came downstairs and from that day forward began to boldly proclaim what the Lord had done for him. Word spread throughout the countryside of his healing and many were saved, for Lazarus had been sick for six years. This is just one of many remarkable accounts of healing that God performed through the life of Smith Wigglesworth.
Wigglesworth lived until the age of 87 and traveled the world ministering with a powerful gift of healing. His life and ministry were marked by an unyielding faith. He said, “I am not moved by what I see. I am moved only by what I believe.” If ever Wigglesworth felt himself straying from his faith or declining in his fire, he would fast and pray until he regained it. His great faith in God led to seeing 14 dead people raised to life, many multitudes healed and saved, and millions touched by his ministry. He was an inspiration for the healing evangelists who followed, such as T.L. Osborn.
For stories of more great spiritual fathers from the United Kingdom who fasted and prayed, look into the lives of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Rees Howells, Hudson Taylor, and so many others whose lives were marked by fasting and prayer.
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