David Hathaway

Jesus said that the same works He did, we should do and greater! For those who don’t believe this applies to us today, let me challenge you: at least do what Jesus did! But I am believing for the greater works! In Acts 3, Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate of the Temple. What I want you to understand is, previously Jesus worked the miracles, but now it was the disciples working miracles in and through the Name of Jesus. Miracles happen by the Power of God working through us.

There is great Power in Prayer, but we must ask in faith, without wavering. Scripture teaches, “If any lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally – without criticising! But ask in faith, without wavering – because he who wavers is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed with the wind.” Faith has to come with some element of stability, just as God is stable, and we’re asking, we’re trusting, we’re acting on that faith. James says, the man who wavers, let him not think he’ll receive anything! Faith has to be consistent, you have to hold on to that faith. Or you won’t get anything. Most of you know my testimony, the two times I had cancer – 1964 when it was throat cancer, and 2002/3 when it was lung cancer – on both occasions when I was asking the Lord for a miracle, I also asked Him to give me an answer. How did I get an answer? As I so often do, I said, “Lord I want to see it in writing!” And I get the answer in the pages of my Bible – it is God’s Word to us! So often that’s how God answe

The Holy Spirit is Powerful within you. Through Him, you can work miracles! But we must be like the early Church and have a Pentecost experience. We must have a Baptism of Fire. Be bold in your faith; believe for the impossible; put your trust in the Name of Jesus. In Acts 2, the disciples were filled with the Spirit. In chapter 3, we read that faith in the Name of Jesus healed the lame man. And in chapter 4, Peter and John prayed, 'Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the Name of Your holy servant Jesus.'

The Name of Jesus is so Powerful – His NAME conveys all the majesty and glory of God! Today, if you talk about someone remarkable – an actor, a scientist, a politician, a leader – they have a NAME – and they are known, by name, for what they do. That person has a name as an explorer, as an athlete… You can name tennis players, swimmers, rugby players – you know the specific thing they do by their name. But Jesus has a NAME! He has a NAME for what He stood for. It is a specific NAME and it conveys the specific Authority and Power God has – to us! 

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the evidence will be God working through you! The Apostle Peter says in Acts 2, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, was a man approved by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders, which God did among you through Him.’ God will work signs and wonders through you. It won't be you working the miracles. It is God through you!

God wants you to be filled with the fire and the Power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Acts 1:5, "For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ And then in verse 8, He said, "You will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth." Too many people read the Bible, say they believe it, but then they will dispute that what they read can happen today. I live my life to prove that what Jesus said, can, and will happen in our lives today! I believe in the miracles of the Bible. I believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit. I believe when we receive this Power, we will do the greater works Jesus spoke about. To me, it is so important that we read what Jesus said to the His disciples in Acts 1, and then we should do what the early Church did. 

I know that many of you are experiencing difficulties, firstly Covid and delays receiving medical care, now the cost of living, and the disruption to transport – so many things. We, like you, are compelled to depend on Scripture for help in time of trouble. As fulfilment of God’s strategic plan in the vision which He gave me for Europe many years ago, the main mission is ahead of me – the best is yet to come! This year I will be back in Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Poland, and organising our national ‘Days of Prayer’ for Ukraine – and evangelising!

I am fascinated by the Roman centurion who came to Jesus saying, "My servant is sick." The immediate response of Jesus was, "I will come to your house." But the centurion says, "No, You don't need to come to my house. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." Jesus, You're exactly the same. All You have to do is speak – and my servant will be healed." Jesus did just that, and the servant was indeed healed at that very moment! Jesus is showing us the authority we have in Him: "Whatsoever you ask IN MY NAME, I will do."

When I pray, whatever I'm praying about – whether I’m praying for health, whether I’m praying over problems, anything – I always pray in the Name of Jesus. Just as Jesus said in John 14:13, “Whatsoever you ask the Father in My Name, that will I do!” My prayer and my requests are in the Name of Jesus! I bring every request in the Name of Jesus: “Father, I’m asking You in Jesus’ Name…”

'Whatsoever you ask in Jesus Name, that He will do, so that the Father might be glorified in the Son.' That’s powerful! In Philippians Paul is saying, God has given Jesus a NAME ABOVE ALL OTHER NAMES – because of His obedience to His Father, because He came and humbled Himself, and was obedient even unto death – in order to fulfil God’s purpose. And, because Jesus was sent to fulfil the purpose of God, because He was obedient, He was able to say, "Whatsoever you ask the Father in My Name, I will do it."

Faith in the Name of Jesus will heal every sickness. Peter says in Acts 3, after the lame man was healed at the Temple, "By faith in the Name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ Name and the faith that comes through Him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. It’s absolutely clear – the healing came IN THE NAME OF JESUS and THROUGH FAITH IN THAT NAME. 

I want to show you the Authority and the Power that is in the Name of Jesus! People ask me how is it that I see so many miracles, so many healings? My life has been truly remarkable, partly because of the length of time that I have been in ministry, and the intensity. Very few people have seen the miracles that I have seen and experienced, and I believe there is a strong Scriptural reason for this. It was only recently in prayer that I felt the Lord pressing on me that the authority that I have and the miracles I see, come IN AND THROUGH THE NAME OF JESUS. This is so important, because the Bible says here in Philippians 2:9, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a Name which is above every name – that in the Name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in Heaven, things in the earth and under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father!

God wants YOU to be so full of Faith and Power that you can do great wonders and signs wherever you live and work. The Bible says that Stephen, who was appointed by the Apostles to administration, not ministry, was so powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith, that he did great wonders and miracles among the people!   What an example! This is a tremendous challenge! Too many people look at the miracles in the Bible and say, “Oh, that only happened in the Bible, with the Apostles. But no! Even Stephen, who had been set apart and anointed for a ‘secular’ ministry, is so full of faith and the Power of the Holy Spirit that he did great wonders and miracles!

I believe in these last days that the revival we will see will be among the poor, the deprived, the persecuted – and the Kingdom of God will be filled with these people. I’m working in the former communist territories among people who were persecuted and oppressed; I work among the persecuted Jews, the Holocaust survivors. I lived through those days of suffering and persecution under communism, and in 1972, I was put in prison for it. Such are the people for whom Christ died. If we are not careful, revival will not come into the Church, but among the unchurched, the poor. The Gospel must be preached to the whole world before Christ comes back!

I LIVE in revival! It’s burning within me with a passion, an intensity. I live in revival. But here, in Acts 7, we see persecution. I believe we are going to see in certain areas a massive revival, but at the same time we cannot deny the fact that there will also be massive persecution. And the nearer we get to the coming of the Lord, I believe we have to strengthen ourselves – like Stephen did, fill of faith and the Holy Spirit! So that when that persecution comes, we will stand strong in the face of it, even if it means death and martyrdom. Yes.

You are never alone! Jesus teaches in John 16, ‘You have sorrow now, but I will see you again. Then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. The time is coming, indeed it is here now, when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. Here on earth, you will have many trials, and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.’

Jesus says, ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE! He says very clearly in Mark 11:23-24, you WILL HAVE what YOU SAY! We have to make that confession of faith! In my life, if I don’t ask, if I don’t make that confession of faith, I don’t get what I want, if I don’t in faith confess it!!! And if I confess it, I get it! I’m trying to encourage you simply to THINK DIFFERENTLY! But don’t just think differently, SPEAK differently, ACT differently. Get your Bible out and read Ephesians 3:20. And then sit down and begin to pray, because He is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ask or think - according to the Power that works WITHIN US.

God wants YOU to be full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost so that you can work great miracles! In Acts 6, Stephen, who was appointed as an administrator not as an apostle, was so full of faith that many people were healed by him. What an example! This is a tremendous challenge! Too many people think that the 'anointing' only rests on Pastors, Prophets and Evangelists, but no! The example of Stephen, who was appointed for ‘secular’ work, yet he was so full of faith and the Power of the Holy Spirit, that he did great wonders and miracles! That should be the example for all believers: you may be a teacher, nurse or retired, but you should be full of faith and the Holy Spirit, working great miracles. 

I want to encourage you to THINK differently! But don’t just think differently, SPEAK differently, ACT differently. Get your Bible out and read Ephesians 3:20. And then sit down and begin to pray, because He is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL that we ask or think - according to the Power that works WITHIN US.

We are called to a lifetime of service to God. There is no retirement, only to be re-fired by the Holy Spirit! I recently celebrated 72 years of full-time ministry, following the moment when I experienced God’s call on my life 3 years earlier in 1947, aged 15, when I surrendered everything to Jesus on the seafront at Brighton. Like the Queen, my call is not something to retire from, but a lifetime of service to God, which can only end in the final call to ‘higher service’. The Apostle Paul urged us in Romans 12.1, 'to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship.'