God wants to interact with people—he wants to come in and make himself known and make his love known. Supernatural ministry is a powerful way to partner with God in that. But how can we step into this kind of ministry? One of our staff shares some pointers.
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We live in a very spiritual city, but there isn’t much that’s tangible about that spirituality. Ministering in the supernatural creates opportunities for a tangibletouch of God for people, where his love is shown in a concrete way in daily life. God wants to interact with people—he wants to come in and make himself known and make his love known. Supernatural ministry is a great way to differentiate God from the general spiritual atmosphere that’s in the city. We want to show people that real spirituality isn’t about some lofty, high idea, but about a real God who wants to have personal relationship with us, a God who wants to bring the Kingdom to earth and affect the here and now.
How can we start to operate in this kind of supernatural ministry and see God’s Kingdom made tangible for people? Here are some things I’ve learned.
1. Begin by listening
Moving out into this kind of supernatural ministry, whether I’m going to go out onto the street or be open to it in my daily life, one big thing is trusting that I’m hearing from God. If I’m going to ask God to give me a word for someone, or ask God what he wants to show a person, trusting that God will show up and actually do what he says he’s going to do is a big part of it.
Another big thing is to approach people in a very loving way—just to be curious. When you take an interest in someone’s life in a way that’s showing them love, it can be a transformative thing. It can be a way to open up a person to telling you about their life or becoming more accepting of what you’re going to bring to the conversation.
I’ve seen that if I go into an interaction with someone with the idea that I’m gonna come do this ministry for you, it can shut people off. Instead, if I’m just genuinely curious—“So, tell me about why you’re on crutches?” “Your arm’s in a sling; what’s that about?” or “You’re out here selling jewelry on the street; how did you get to this point?”—there’s openness. Taking an interest in their life shows that they’re not just a project. It shows that God is seeing them, through me.
2. Be willing to risk and show you care
In order to step into this kind of ministry, you’ve got to come to the point of trusting that you’re hearing from God and just go for it. You have to cross the line and be brave, and trust that God’s going to show up when you’re stepping out.
One of the things that helped me to do that was realizing there aren’t really any negative outcomes. If you’re showing someone love and saying, “Hey, can I pray for your leg? I think God wants to take away the pain,” it’s a win-win. Either God heals them and then they’ve had this touch from God, or they feel loved, cared for and seen, because someone wants to care for their physical need.
3. Give a follow-up invitation
One thing that we can be short-sighted in is if we just go out and pray or have words for people—interacting with someone in a spiritual way—but then don’t give them anything to step into next. If they have a touch from God on the street and then are left to go fend for themselves or try to figure out what that was all about, it’s doing them a bit of a disservice. Always have an idea of what’s next. What can you invite them into after that experience?
So let’s say I pray for someone and God touches them and moves in their life. They feel healing; they feel a touch from God. What’s the next invitation? Maybe it’s, “Let’s read the Bible together,” “Let me tell you about this Jesus who just came and touched you,” or “Would you like more healing in your life in other areas?” Give some kind of follow-up to the touch of God.
A Personal Example of Supernatural Ministry in Action
My wife and I were dropping my son off at his babysitter, and she had a brace on her wrist. We both felt God prompting us to pray for her wrist and pray for healing of the pain that was there. So I approached and asked her, “What happened to your wrist?” She told me the story, and then I led with, “I really think God’s highlighted this to us because he wants to heal you. He wants to touch you.” We got the chance to sit down with her, and my wife and I prayed for her. And she almost immediately started crying. She was feeling something in her hands—there was warmth, there was tingling, some kind of sensation. God took away her pain that day. And we know from checking back with her that the pain hasn’t come back. That led to being able to process what happened with her later, because she’d never had a touch like that from God—something so personal. It really opened her up to hearing more about Jesus and more about this God who came and interacted with her life in this super tangible way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Mullikin has been with CRM since 2011. He and his wife Anna recently moved to Redding, CA, where they plan to invest in the work of gospel movements and the training of more believers across North America.