Bill Johnson - The Pathway to Promotion (Having the Heart of a King)
So, if ever there was someone disqualified from being King of Israel, it was Saul. David has now been prophesied over that God is going to turn him over to him, but he refused to fall into the trap of self-promotion. Self-promotion causes many ministries and many individuals to never reach their potential. A policeman says, «You’re going too fast.» He responds, «I was just trying to keep up with traffic.» The cop says, «There isn’t any.» He says, «I know, that’s how far behind I am.»
I was in South Africa, and somebody left me a little gift. I don’t remember if it was in my hotel room or not, but I got there, and it was just a little gift with a name tag and a note. I read the note and realized we must have different senses of humor in the U.S. than in South Africa because the note said, «Bill, small appreciation for breaking the wind in the spirit for us.» I couldn’t believe it! I took a picture of it.
Every time I say no, my kid hears, «Ask again.» She didn’t understand the question. Two ladies are talking. «My memory is so bad.» «How bad is it?» «How bad is what?» «I’m not old. I’m 25, plus shipping and handling.» This may offend you, but it’s Sunday night, so who cares? You come with thicker skin if you show up on Sunday night, or you got dragged here.
Ignorance can be educated, crazy can be medicated, but there’s no cure for stupid. The four stages of life: one, you believe in Santa; two, you don’t believe in Santa; three, you are Santa; and four, you look like Santa.
This is for anyone who travels overnight overseas: do you ever wake up and kiss the person sleeping beside you, feeling glad you’re alive? I just did that, and apparently, I will not be allowed on this airline again. I think that’s funny.
Alright, you know what? We’re going to pray. I felt strongly earlier today and tonight that the Lord is going to heal people of head trauma, brain disorders, diseases, and infections—all kinds of brain issues, from dyslexia to head trauma from multiple concussions. I feel like the Lord is just sweeping through tonight. We had this happen several years ago, and it lasted for quite some time. I was down in Las Vegas with a friend at his church, and 16 people were healed in one night of dyslexia alone. They all got up and proved it.
I have this sense that God’s healing brain issues tonight. So anything… if you want a bigger brain, pray for that one on your own; I don’t have the faith for that. But if you have any disorder or disease, we actually saw… I had a guy brought to me in Dallas a few years ago. He had eaten some food that was bad, which had worms, and this ended up getting into his brain and created nests there. They gave him treatments to kill the bugs, but the nests had crystallized, and he was dying.
They walked him up on stage, heavily medicated, and told me the situation, and I prayed for him. I’ve had this happen twice, where I didn’t know there was an evil spirit present, but I could tell when it left. I had it happen with a gal who had bulimia; she was laid out on the ground as I prayed. This strange thing happened: the area felt minty fresh—it was literally the absence of something. I could tell there was a fragrance of freshness there; I didn’t discern the presence of the enemy, but I recognized when he exited.
I had this happen the same way with the guy, who was heavily medicated. I leaned into him and asked if he felt that go. He nodded his head. One of his relatives came here and told me the rest of the story months later, and it took three days, but in three days he was completely whole.
Are you here tonight, Dixon Slater? He was healed here several years ago of a very traumatic brain injury. He couldn’t play with his children. Sudden movements overwhelmed him, but he was healed on a Sunday night.
We had a child healed here who didn’t associate well with adults. He had been severely abused as a two-year-old, and his head was misshapen. I believe he was four at the time. He woke up every morning agitated, unable to connect with people. Some of our students prayed for him, and when he got up the next morning, he came to his mother and said, «Mommy, I’m okay now! I had a dream last night, and I’m okay now!» Jesus literally reshaped his head!
There’s just an anointing for head trauma. If you’ve had any injury to the head or disease, it could be epilepsy; it could be frequent concussions; it doesn’t matter what it is—dyslexia, any learning disorder—if that’s you, stand up. We’re going to pray, and those watching online should get in on this. There is such powerful anointing.
Let me tell you where this started because I want you to understand how the Holy Spirit works. At times, you will find yourself pondering something, and in that pondering, you’ll discover that He’s the one who brought it up. I was flying back from New Zealand and had just heard about the incredible miracle in Roland Baker’s brain. His brain was literally dying; they have X-rays showing it. The family showed up to say goodbye, and Jesus performed an absolute miracle, resurrecting his brain.
I spent a little time with Winky Pratney, who had suffered a stroke where a quarter of his brain blew up. His mind is functioning, and these are the two smartest guys I know. Their brains were traumatized, and it made me realize that the Lord wants to restore what the enemy is trying to steal because He’s raising up sanctified intelligence.
Sometimes, in Pentecostal circles, we put intelligence down. It doesn’t rule over the spirit, but sanctified intelligence becomes the banks of the river that faith flows into; it gives context for great faith. Now, we’re going to pray for those folks here. All of you standing, put a hand up. In a moment, I will have the rest stand up, and they need to know who to go to, so if you can get to somebody, do it now.
Don’t pray until I tell you to! Just get to them. As soon as someone comes to you, you can put your hand down; that will help me know that everyone is being ministered to.
Okay, still seeing some hands up. If you’re about to pray for someone who still has their hand up, please help pull it down for them. Now, just hold on—you need to find out what’s wrong. Some need healing; listen carefully, please, because I’m going to give you instructions you need to know.
For some people, we had a gal who was dying of terminal systemic lupus of the brain. You’ve seen the video we have of her miracle. She stood right back there, and Chris Vallotton called out a word of knowledge. She stood in the middle, and God was really touching her, but the spirit of trauma had to be broken. As soon as that was broken, she was completely healed.
If you’re praying for someone who was in any kind of traumatic accident, I want you to declare, «Spirit of trauma, you have no place here.» Some of you may pray for someone born with dyslexia or a learning disorder; perhaps just a malfunction needing restoration or a creative type miracle doesn’t matter what it is. Pray with the declaration that «Jesus makes all things new!» as you lay hands on the person.
Those praying for those with trauma, I want you to pray for a few minutes, but towards the end of that prayer time, I want you to lift, as if it were a steel band, and declare, «This ends tonight!» Make a proclamation.
Holy Spirit, we do welcome you. Come and restore once again. We thank you for the testimony of Roland Baker, of Winky Pratney—how you healed them, and let that testimony provoke us to pursue this for everyone. We pray right now, restore what’s missing; restore what’s broken. We declare in Jesus' name, trauma, your influence ends tonight.
Now just go ahead and begin to pray. Find out how to pray and then serve them well. Thank you, Lord Jesus! Restore all— not someday, but today. We release right now the power of God and the word of the Lord over these infirmities. We declare, «This ends tonight! This ends now in Jesus' name.» Trauma, we cancel your assignment. Break your power by the authority of the name Jesus. Loose the people now in the name of the Lord—just lift that steel band off their heads. We declare that ends tonight in Jesus' name.
God, we call for a creative miracle; we confess that you make all things new. You’re the God who makes all things new—all things new! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord.
Okay, go ahead and end the prayer, but stay with the person. Now, this is an interesting one to test, but you do need to test it. Sometimes people know within an hour or two; sometimes it’s in moments. As I’ve stated already tonight, one particular case was three days later, but they were completely whole.
I want to ask the question: how many of you, when they rebuked trauma, and they took that steel band off—which is a prophetic picture—actually felt something shift for you? Put your hand apart because I want to see. There are always people who feel that take place.
Beautiful! We thank you for that, Lord. Now I want you to turn and pray over them one more time—just take a couple of minutes to pray and declare wholeness. The mind of Christ, sound mind is the inheritance of every believer. Power, love, and a sound mind we declare over the children represented in this room by parents and grandparents who are suffering with dyslexia.
We just say, «Lord, even now, rewire the brain so things work correctly; things are seen correctly, all for the glory of God, all for the glory of God.» Thank you, Lord.
Beautiful. You did wonderfully. Now stay with the person. Always try to help them. We never want someone to feel pressured to pretend anything; what God is doing is way too special for that. Instead, I want you to help them discover what God has done.
If there was a learning disorder, or visibility was different—letters backward or whatever, math or maps—grab a Bible, do something to examine yourself right now. If it was sudden movements, be careful, but see if that dizziness, if that equilibrium issue is still there.
Everyone do something to see what the Lord has done, and as soon as you find that Jesus healed you tonight—at least 80 percent better because things are progressive—if that’s you, I want you to wave both hands over your head like this, and we want to celebrate what the Lord is doing.
Wave your hands right back over here. We have one; we’ve got one right down here—there’s another! Wave your hands over your head like this. As soon as you testify, right down here’s another. There’s another right here! Yes! We give you thanks, Lord; there’s another back over here.
That’s beautiful! Beautiful! Alright, give them a hug or do something nice and be seated. Okay, you did good. I love it; I love it.
Okay, if you could just find your places here quickly. I’m curious—those with any kind of reading difficulty, dyslexia, and that sort of thing—have you been able to examine and are able to put a hand up to say, «Jesus has healed me, and everything is working fine; whatever disorder there was is gone»? Put a hand up if that’s you; I want to see.
Right over here—there’s one! Here’s another one—beautiful! Right over there, there’s another one! Thank you, Lord—beautiful! Thank you, Lord!
I tell you, one Sunday morning, we had to—later he became a pastor friend—but he was visiting us from another state, and he had extreme dyslexia; he could not read. He was a pastor and couldn’t read his Bible. He had to study off of CDs that read the Bible aloud, and that was his way of learning.
He was encouraged to come to Bethel sometime, and as he explained it to me, he came just to kind of check it off the list because people were pressuring him. So he thought, «Been there, done that,» which I don’t fault anyone for feeling that way; I’ve done that myself, so I have mercy on anyone who feels pressured to come here.
Anyway, he was in that condition, and during the Sunday morning service, I had this word of knowledge about the Lord healing dyslexia and learning disorders. The Lord really highlighted it as He did tonight, and he was sitting over here somewhere.
As I was speaking, the spirit of God came upon him; he physically felt God touch his brain and his body. He began repenting so fast because he had a bad attitude the entire service. He checked it off the list—didn’t want to be there.
He met face to face with the fact that he wasn’t open, and yet God was touching him anyway. He was desperate, saying, «Oh God, forgive me! Please don’t let my bad attitude keep this miracle from me!» The Lord just kept pouring it on.
You don’t have to qualify for Jesus; He just is so good. The Lord poured it on and poured it on, and he was dramatically healed. He went from someone who could not read to someone who read six to eight hours a day within about a week. He was absolutely transformed.
So, I feel there’s just weighty momentum on this. If you deal with this in your home—your child or grandchild—just be confident in the Lord. This is the heart of God for them to be well.
Alright, we have some scripture we’re going to read and study tonight, so open your Bibles to Acts chapter 23 and then also to 1 Samuel 24. We’re going to do Acts first, and for Samuel, if you would open it so we can get there quickly, put a piece of paper or your finger in it.
Acts chapter 23, verse 1: «Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, 'Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.'»
«And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Paul said to him, 'God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law? '»
«And those who stood by him said, 'Do you revile God’s high priest? ' Paul said, 'I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest, for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'»
Wow! Notice he did not say, «Oh, but that’s under the law.» He actually quotes a passage out of Exodus 23 where it says, «Do not revile God nor speak evil of a ruler of your people.»
It’s a fascinating time to be alive because people are crucified through conversation day after day. It’s hard to be in any kind of position of influence or responsibility and not be crucified in media or social media, in so many ways. The careless opinions of people are taking this gospel and spreading it to cause pain, affliction, and to destroy the reputations of people.
Paul talked in Romans 13 about our responsibility in responding to governing leaders. In this particular passage, he says if you do right, they will praise you; if you don’t, they will punish you. The context talks about the necessity for civil rulers to rule with a rod of iron—to be swift in bringing Justice.
I don’t want to fall into this hole tonight; I can feel gravity pulling me. Chapter 12 gives us the pastoral response to people in crisis—very caring, very loving. People who don’t deserve it get treated fairly, mercifully.
Chapter 13 introduces the need for government to enforce Justice, and those two things are not at odds with each other, although sometimes it appears they are. The church is to be the group that extends mercy, forgiveness, and kindness, but we’re to realize that God raised government up to bring severity to those who break the law.
Oftentimes, we want Christian leaders to be like us in the church rather than like God assigned them to be. It’s not a conflict to have leaders who insist on Justice while the church pleads for mercy. It’s the marriage of the two.
In this passage, Paul strikes out against the high priest not knowing who he was. As soon as he does, they correct him because of his language toward the high priest. It’s interesting; if he wouldn’t have been the high priest, Paul would have felt fine with what he said: «You whitewashed wall, God’s going to strike you.»
That fascinates me! I’ve had a few whitewashed walls cut me off in traffic, and I, of course, blessed them; my horn said, «Bless you, bless you, bless you!»
I want you to look at the story I wanted to examine tonight in 1 Samuel 24. When Saul returned from following the Philistines, it was told him, saying, «Look, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.»
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. He came to the sheepfolds by the road where there was a cave. Saul went in to attend to his needs. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.
Then the men of David said to him, «This is the day which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand that you may do to him as it seems good to you.'» David arose and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe, and he said to his men, «The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.»
So David restrained his servants with these words and did not allow them to raise their hand against Saul. Saul got up from the cave and went on his way. David rose afterward and went out of the cave and called out to Saul, «My Lord, the king!»
When Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth and bowed down. David said to Saul, «Why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'Indeed, David seeks your harm? '
Look! This day, your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Someone urged me to kill you, but my eye spared you, and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.'»
Verse 12: «The Lord judge between you and me; let the Lord avenge me on you, but my hand shall not be against you.» The last phrase of verse 13: «My hand shall not be against you.»
This story goes on—it’s one of those bizarre stories. To give you a little context, Saul, of course, is King, and there have been prophetic words that God has shifted his attention from Saul to David. He’s actually been anointed king; he’s proven himself in battle—he killed the lion, he killed the bear when no one was watching, which qualified him to kill Goliath when two nations were watching.
The women of the city, inspired by David’s conquests, wrote songs singing, «Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his ten thousands.» Saul, as a father, would have delighted in his son’s excellence, but because he had the mindset of an elder brother, driven by insecurity and competition, the success of another is threatening.
When the success of another is threatening, jealousy is always within reach. It’s possible to lean into jealousy and act out of it. Saul was very jealous of David; he had the favor of the people, the favor of God. He watched how God was with him, observed how David would play the harp to drive away the evil spirit tormenting him, and it provoked him to anger.
If you remember, Samuel made a statement to Saul when he disobeyed God. The Lord told him to give everything obtained in a particular conquest to sacrifice to Him, and Saul kept the best, using it as a special sacrifice. He disobeyed the Lord and turned it into a religious excuse.
The Lord spoke through Samuel, saying, «Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.» It’s interesting: disobeying God and turning it into rebellion creates a breeding ground for witchcraft. Here’s Saul’s heart—he’s been in rebellion and disobeyed God. He consulted with a psychic; he just went off the deep end.
If ever there was someone disqualified from being King of Israel, it was Saul. David has been prophesied over that God is going to turn him over to him, but he refuses self-promotion. Self-promotion causes many ministries and individuals to never reach their potential because they rely on it, thinking they might save more souls or accomplish more by achieving recognition.
Insecure, we feed off the applause of people, and when the applause goes to someone else, it provokes ugly things within us. David, before he was a king, displayed how a godly king should think.
He’s hiding in the back of a cave with his men, and he hears that Saul is coming with an army to kill him. Saul had already made several attempts on his life, throwing his spear and other insane actions against him. God protected David every time.
Now David’s hiding in the cave, and Saul goes in to rest without knowing anyone’s there. His men say, «This is the word of the Lord! God will turn your enemies over to you!» David had enough fear of God not to fall into self-promotion; he would rather live under the oppression of an inferior king than take over God’s promise out of timing.
It’s a stunning moment in history and David’s life. He had two opportunities to take down Saul, yet he refused. Another time he took Saul’s spear and water, went across a ravine, and yelled out, «Your guards should be killed for not guarding you! Look, you were in my hands, and I didn’t take your life.»
Then David prayed this: «I pray that God will show mercy on me as I have shown mercy on you.» What if David set the stage for how he would be treated his entire reign simply because he refused to take control out of order?
Premature babies always need extra care. When we move into self-promotion, we end up birthing things at five or six months requiring constant care. Sometimes our anxiousness reveals our insecurity; our identity gets wrapped up in breakthrough or miracles, wrapped in crowds or size.
We know this concept well enough to sing about it, but the problem arises when someone else gets promoted instead of us. The need to have the last word or the best story makes it clear when we seek recognition wrapped up in performance.
When realistic, we acknowledge it’s not self-abuse; we deal with it. I often say, «This ugly thing surfaced again today, and I acknowledge it. I feel insecure and competitive; I don’t want this to offend others or you either.» So God, I confess it as sin and ask you to change my heart right now.
David’s heart bothered him when he cut that robe. The king’s royal garments represent the best that a nation can produce. They exemplify the splendor and majesty of a king. David cut off part of this splendor, tarnishing the image of a very ungodly king. His heart convicted him; he recognized the blemish he caused.
What if we valued God’s ordained authority in our lives? We happen to be alive during a time when it’s common to hear the worst about our leaders online or in media, people slamming our President, senators, Congress members—horrible things are said. What hurts is that I see modern-day Davids joining in and slamming these leaders, not knowing that we’re instructed not to speak evil of a ruler of our people.
When Paul declared, «God strike you, you whitewashed wall,» he didn’t distinguish it was Old Testament; it’s still God’s heart today. I think the way we approach people in authority, regardless of agreement or disagreement, matters.
If God can find people representing Him well under opposition and support, especially how we treat those in authority, I believe David’s tender heart towards Saul is something that delighted the Lord. He made a choice: «I’d rather live with a clear conscience under an inferior leader than carry a guilty conscience by assuming my rightful position.»
Now, I want to encourage those of you who received healing—we want to know; please email Bethel with your name and let us know what happened. We want to celebrate the miracles God has done around here.
Please put a hand on someone’s shoulder and take a moment to pray. Pray for the Lord to help us and to handle promotion, the moments when He brings things to the surface to see how well we respond. There’s never punishment; He simply exposes what we can handle.
Pray that God gives them the grace to rely on His identity alone and that they’d have more flowing in than what’s flowing out so there’s never burnout. Pray for them as if their lives depended on it. Just pray, «God, help!» Pray for great grace in Jesus' name.
Amen! My dad had this saying: «When you wash someone’s feet, you find out why they walk the way they do.» When you serve people, it can help you understand their decisions. I pray for that grace upon us as a church family as we represent the Lord well. In Jesus' name, amen!