In the original Greek Scriptures which speak about authority, we find the Greek word exousia. It is often translated in the King James Version as “power.” The American Standard Version translates it “authority.” Actually, it means both power and authority, but it also means privilege. There is no one word in English that gives the full meaning of the word exousia.
One example will help describe what this word means. A man who has the right badge or the right identification can walk past armed guards into a high security area. That is his privilege. His badge gives him a kind of authority and power. It allows him to enter into an area that he would not be able to penetrate otherwise. A badge can represent all of that. Very few people will stop a man who is wearing the right badge because they know that he has authority, he has privilege, and he has power.
How does this relate to what the Lord teaches us about humbling ourselves before Him? Matthew 8 and Luke 7 record the story of the centurion, whose faith, Jesus said, was greater than any He had found in all of Israel. In these two passages we see that this word exousia is related to faith, to submission, to authority, and to humility. We find that authority is related to humility: as we humble ourselves and submit ourselves to the authority of the Lord, we also come into authority.
In Matthew 8:5–13 we read: And when He had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, entreating Him, and saying, “Sir, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering great pain.” The Greek word pais is translated here as “servant.” It also means “child” and sometimes it is translated “son.” It refers to someone who is very dear, but not necessarily a flesh-and-blood relative. In this case the boy was probably a servant, but he was so dear to the centurion that he had long ceased to be in the category of a slave. He had become something more.
And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not qualified for You to come under my roof” (the King James Version reads, “I am not worthy”), “but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Notice the love and the faith that the centurion had for this boy. He said, “I say to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” The one in authority always cares for the submissive. Christ will always care for the bond servant. A bond servant will never be a loser. God never fails to exercise great care for one who is submissive to authority.
The centurion was exercising great faith when he said, “Just speak the word.” Authority recognizes that it is not the power or the demonstration of force that counts in the speaking of a word; what really counts is a deep authority. There is true authority in the living Word of God.
Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And I say to you, that many shall come from east and west, and recline at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; let it be done to you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very hour. How instant was the healing! How quick was the deliverance! We must get away from the idea that faith means, “I believe that if I beg I will get it.” We must realize that it is a matter of authority—it is a matter of a Word being spoken.
As we read the same story in Luke 7:1–10, remember the phrase, “I am not worthy.” When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. And a certain centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they had come to Jesus, they earnestly entreated Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” They said he was worthy. Those who are religious will look for an evidence of worthiness; but true authority and true submission never boast of worthiness. Where there is submission, there is humility; and there authority will be manifested.
Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not fit for You to come under my roof” (the elders had said, “He is worthy,” but his own opinion was, “I am not worthy”); “for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (again, “just say the word”). “For indeed, I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” And when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
This beautiful story teaches us a simple truth that will help us take a new step into the fulfillment of God’s Word. We do not have to see our problems solved; we simply take dominion over them. We do not have to reason demonic spirits away; we exercise authority over them. Sicknesses do not need to be completely understood; they just need to be healed by authority.
How can we understand the prevailing faith illustrated in this story? What is prevailing faith? How do we get into it? Many factors are involved. The centurion had a great deal of love for his servant—the kind of love that motivated him to do something about the situation. Love motivates action; it motivates an explosion of feeling. This kind of love involves faith. We are told in the New Testament that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith which works by love (Galatians 5:6). Faith which works by love gets the job done. When a person loves someone very much, that love triggers off faith for him.
The faith in this story was the greatest kind of faith. Besides love, the centurion’s faith also involved humility and a submissive recognition of authority. All of these ingredients were combined. There was no arrogance when the centurion declared, “I have faith and I love this boy; therefore, I will get him healed.” It was with humility that he said to Jesus, “I am not even fit for You to come under my roof; but I know if You just say the word, my servant will be healed.”
Faith is not arrogant; yet faith is aggressive. At the same time, faith is very humble in the way it approaches God. Remember this, because these are guidelines for your intercession. Satan will take advantage of you on any of these points if you are weak in them. If you become too arrogant in your intercession, you will be overwhelmed by your own unworthiness and you will back off. If you intercede without submission, you will be assaulted in such a way that you will become rebellious instead of becoming successful. You must follow all of these guidelines in order to learn how to obtain an answer from God. You must combine them all. Not only will you be a believer, but you will also be submissive, you will also move in authority, and you will also walk with great humility.
You must grasp this picture in your mind. It is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together because faith is not as simple a matter as you might think. It is true that faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1), but the very process of hope goes through many dealings. If you have hope, that hope has to be refined. If you want to live with the kind of faith that is the substance of the thing hoped for, you must be less concerned about the substance than you are about the quality of the hope. Your hope cannot be mere wishful thinking. The hope that Hebrews 11 refers to is a hope that believes and sets its goal on what God wants. It submits to the will of God and hopes for what God wants to bring forth. There is humility in a person with this kind of hope because he knows that in himself he cannot produce the will of God—God will produce it. According to the definition of Hebrews 11, faith must have this ingredient of humility.
As God deals with you to bring you forth in His will, there must be a continual, deep repentance in your heart. It is not simply a matter of repenting of some terrible sin; you must repent of failing to possess the promises of God. Repent of not appropriating completely what He has provided for you. Repent of everything that is short of the will of God. This is where you have to start.
If you only look at how far you have progressed in your walk with God, you are looking at the wrong side. You must be aware of how far you have not come and constantly repent of the distance that you have not gone. Thanking God that you have come this far is a form of pride. In such an attitude there is an arrogance which God cannot bless. Of course, you should be glad in your heart that you have come as far as you have, but the main issue is that you repent for not having made it completely. Repent that there has been even a split second in which you failed to possess what God set before you that you know you should have. Repent of the slowness of your growth and maturity. Let this be the attitude of your spirit as you reach in. With that kind of humility, the gap will close rapidly.
When the centurion said, “I am not worthy,” Jesus declared that He had not seen faith like that in all of Israel. In that very hour there was no delay. If we do not want delay in the answers to our prayers, the key is to come before the Lord with a sense of being unworthy, but at the same time with an aggressive faith that determines to have the answers anyway. Like the centurion we declare to the Lord, “Just say the word! Just say the word!” Can we combine all of these ingredients and not weigh one against the other? Can we actually have the kind of ambivalence that the Lord requires? Can we be aggressive, yet humble? Can we take the authority that the Lord has given us, and at the same time be totally submissive?
The centurion reached in with such great faith that it resulted in one of the miracles recorded in the New Testament. Such faith did not even exist in the days when Christ walked the earth. He said that He had never found that kind of faith. Picture the centurion in your mind. He must have been a puzzle to everyone who was there. The Jewish elders all thought he was worthy, but he felt that he was not fit for Jesus even to come under his roof. It might have seemed that he was really beaten down, but he still wanted his servant healed. He was aggressive, yet humble. He was submissive to the Lord, yet aggressive at the same time.
You must lay hold of this truth in your heart. Do you sometimes feel beaten down and so self-conscious and unworthy that you feel you do not deserve anything? You may be unworthy, but you can take that attitude too far. You can take it to the point that it becomes a sin. You can dwell on your unworthiness too much. If you believe that because you are not worthy God cannot do something for you, then you are completely off the path. You cannot say, “I am unworthy; therefore, it just cannot be done. God cannot do it for me because I am unworthy.” That kind of humility is not an ingredient of faith.
The person with true humility and faith declares, “I am unworthy, but God will do it for me. I believe God will do it for me just by speaking a Word. I am unworthy of any special attention, but I am going to petition Him to speak one word that will change the situation. What I ask will happen within the very hour that I petition it.” That is the kind of faith God is looking for. That is the faith the little people have—the little flock to whom the Father will give the Kingdom. The Kingdom does not come to people who feel they are worthy of it. The Kingdom comes to the little flock who endure such great assault that God has to say, “Fear not. It is My good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
The little flock will not be put down; they are going to possess the promises. They are aggressive little lambs who turn out to be lions in disguise. Are they arrogant? No, they are the most humble creatures the world has ever seen, but their humility contains a persistence and a determination that will not be denied because they know that it only takes one word.
Humble yourself before the Lord. When you do not claim any worthiness in yourself, you can claim all the answers in the name of the Lord. John 1:12–13 tells us, But as many as received him, to them gave he power (authority, right, privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Greek word exousia is used in this Scripture also. God is saying to you, “You can be My son. You are wearing My badge. You have the power, the privilege, the authority.”
In Revelation 3:8 is the promise, “Behold, I have set before you an open door which no man can shut; for you have a little strength, and you have kept My Word, and have not denied My name.” A little strength is all it takes—just a humble little flock who lay hold of the Word and hang on.
No matter what criticism comes against you, do not defend yourself. Simply humble yourself before the Lord. When you are under fiery trials, your best action is to dig a foxhole of humility and crawl into it. If you humble yourself before the Lord, the bullets will whiz overhead; but if you rear up arrogantly and say that you do not deserve this, you can be shot down. Walk humbly before God. He will bless you in the foxhole of humility.
Over and over again, you will find that the way to be preserved, as well as the way to prevail in any situation, is to humble yourself. It does not matter who is right and who is wrong. It is not even reasonable to try to referee any situation. The enemy constantly brings distortion in his effort to cause you to reason things out or to rely upon a human type of judgment. You cannot do that. You cannot allow yourself to be overwhelmed or tricked by the enemy. You must simply submit to God, humble yourself before Him, and hold on to the Word. When you do that, the necessary faith comes into the situation, like a piece that fits into the puzzle and brings the answer. This is the great faith that God honors.
To receive an answer, you do not have to reach up to the Lord as much as you have to bow at His feet—every good thing is at His feet. Let your faith be the kind that declares, “I grovel before the Lord and I grab His fulness. I bow myself before the Lord and I grab His goodness. I am not worthy, but I take it this hour.”