David Hathaway

'For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.' Paul is saying, we have to keep ourselves blameless and harmless in the midst of the perversity and sin of the world. “Shine as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life, so that I may rejoice in the Day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, nor laboured in vain – though I be offered on the sacrifice of service for your faith.” Paul gave his life to preach the Gospel. Come on! The message we preach is the Word of Life! Life in Christ!

In our praying to God the Father, we pray through Jesus – He is the Intercessor. He lives to make intercession for us. None of us is perfect. I’m not perfect. We all fail. It’s because of our imperfection that Jesus is the Intercessor – He paid the price for our sin! He bought our forgiveness. Therefore our Salvation is through Jesus. God the Father forgives us, helps us and blesses us – through His Son Jesus! Jesus is pleading, “I died for these people. I love these people. I lived with them. Forgive them and give them Eternal Life!” He is our Mediator. If we want access to God, we come through the Mediator, Jesus. So often, if you need to approach people – and I have to approach government and heads of denominations – you usually first come through another person who acts as an intermediary, a mediator who makes it possible. Our access to God is ONLY through Christ, there is no other way. You can’t go through ‘saints’, you can’t go through Mary – read the Scripture, it’s absolutely clear – our approach can

The whole world is in crisis. Only prayer-based evangelism can save Britain and the world. Time is short – we need real urgent prayer. As I prepare this newsletter, I’m about to leave for ministry in Georgia where I will be from November 14th to 21st for three days’ evangelism in the National Indoor Basketball Stadium, TV interviews and ministry in a supporting church.

God has given Jesus a Name above every other name, so high, that at the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, yes, in hell. The Name of Jesus is so central to our faith, to our ministry. ALL Power and Authority is in His Name. We don’t pray to saints, they’re asleep in Christ, awaiting the bodily resurrection. We don’t pray to Mary, she’s also waiting for the resurrection like the rest of us, including my parents and my wife – all are still waiting for the resurrection!

The Name of Jesus is higher, greater, than any person. He has all power, all authority. People can choose now to commit their lives to Jesus as Lord or be forced to acknowledge Him at the judgment seat of Christ. The power we as believers have in the Gospel, is the power in the Name of Jesus.  When we pray for the sick and they are healed, it is because of the power and authority in the Name of Jesus. No ritual, no religious ceremony, can equal the authority of Jesus Name. We all need to be reminded of the power and authority in the Name of Jesus. 

There is no life without hardship, pain, and conflict. But we do not need to be frightened or terrified. One person with God is always in a majority. Our lives are in God’s Hands. We’re not weak, we’re not defeated. If God is with us, we are always on the victory side. Paul commands in Philippians 1:28, “In nothing be terrified by your adversaries!” I have had to learn this over the years. However extreme the circumstances, I have such a sense of comfort, consolation, joy and peace in Christ. My confidence, my trust is in Him. I believe every hardship was allowed in order to fulfil a greater purpose. 

Christ should be magnified in our lives; He must be glorified in our speech, and also, in the very circumstances in which we find ourselves. When you are in hardship, sickness and distress, our prayer should be that Christ be magnified. I echo that very strongly. When I was in prison in 1972-3, I was praying, seeking that God would work a miracle through my release so great, He would be glorified by the very evidence. Prime Minister Harold Wilson came to rescue me; it was headline news and brought tremendous Glory to God because it opened doors to the Gospel all over the world – people wanting to know my phenomenal testimony. 'For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain' (Philippians 1:19-21). 

All things work together for our good. I want to pick up on Philippians 1:12, because here Paul says, “I want you to understand that the things which have happened to me – Paul is in prison – have happened in order to further the Gospel of Christ, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in the palace and in all other places.” What a statement! Paul is declaring here that all the things that have happened in his life – even the bad – have happened in order to demonstrate and further the Gospel. I haven’t had an easy life. I haven’t suffered unto death, but I’ve had cancer twice. Putting God’s Word to the test on both occasions, I was determined to prove the Authority and Power of His Word. I stood firm by faith and refused any medication. And God totally healed me. The fact that I am still full of life and energy is the evidence!

The Holy Spirit lives in us enabling us to be more like Christ. In Philippians 1:6, the Apostle Paul writes, 'And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.' God's work for us began when Christ died on the cross. His work within us began when we first believed in Him. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ. In Philippians 2:13, Paul says, 'For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.' 

If you want power with God, it begins with your faith, your confidence, your trust, in God's ability to do what He says. Hebrews 11 describes the phenomenal power of faith which made these people in the Old Testament so strong, that they were able to overcome EVERYTHING! They saw something more than this life. Like Moses, who chose to suffer for God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin.  They could do this because their faith, was a faith in the impossible. And because it was faith in a future Kingdom. With Abraham, it was the promise that he would be the father of a great nation, and out of Abraham, would come the whole Hebrew nation. But he himself, never saw the fulfilment of the vision. But he lived, and died, in faith, believing that God would fulfil His Promise. I am already living in the anticipation of what is to come, of what will come IN THE KINGDOM. No sacrifice is too great. If we just enjoyed the pleasures of this world, that’s nothing compared to what God will give us in the future.

‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’. Faith is confidence and trust. It is the assurance that what we believe will actually happen. One Bible translation states, 'Faith comprehends as fact, what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.' In Hebrews 11:3 we read, ‘Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things that are seen were not made of things which do appear.’ We believe in the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth. Throughout Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, He is always known as the Creator. Many scientists try to justify evolution by seeking to find that ‘something’, which sparked life. They ‘believe’ that if they can find oxygen, or water, on distant planets, they will find the origin of life. But the Bible is clear, the origin of life starts with the Word of God. God created, by speaking life into existence. 

I truly believe God’s timing is perfect. For some years I have been saying that the next mission field is Central Asia – now God is confirming it. Our work in Ukraine continues despite – and because of – the war.

Faith is confidence, and confidence is trust. The Apostle Paul taught in Hebrews 10 v35, 'Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.' You have faith in someone, when you have confidence in them. You trust a person, because you have faith in them. The challenge to all of us is, don't throw away your confidence. Or to put it another way, do not throw away your faith. Faith is a gift. It comes from God. Because our faith is in Him. But our responsibility is to not loose that faith, that confidence. Faith brings a reward. By verse 28, of chapter 10, the Apostle Paul concludes, 'the Just shall live by faith'.

‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.’ (James 5:16.) Powerful prayer works! The original Greek of the Bible often uses a special word for power: dunamis – it signifies miraculous, wonder-working power. From it we get the words dynamo (which generates power), and dynamite (the explosive). If you want prayer to work, to change your circumstances, then it must generate power. And it has to be like dynamite. If you put an ordinary explosive against a wall, its energy disperses into space. But dynamite does not dissipate its energy – it pushes the wall down! That’s what our prayer must be like. It’s got to move mountains! We must learn how to talk to God, until our praying will move every mountain, every obstruction, everything that stands between us and the fulfilment of God’s promises. 

Mark 11 is so revolutionary, so powerful, it changed my understanding of prayer. Jesus saw a fig tree full of leaves and He came hoping to find some figs, but he found none. So what did Jesus do? Jesus said, “Let no man ever eat fruit from you again!” And the disciples heard what He said. Next morning, this is verse 20, as they came from Bethany to the Mount of Olives, they saw the fig tree was dead. Peter commented, “Jesus, the tree is dead already!” And Jesus looked straight at Peter, and at every one of us, and this is what He said in verse 22, “Have faith in God!” Prayer has to be something which comes out of your heart in faith.   

Prayer is essential for every believer. It is how we build our relationship with the Lord. In Luke 11, when Jesus had finished praying, one of His disciples came to Him saying, "Lord, teach us how to pray!" All my life I have been seeking to understand the power of prayer, and especially, prayer that gets an answer. When I was in prison for Bible smuggling in 1972, I reached a point of such desperation that I cried out, "Lord, teach me how to pray my way out of prison!"

God has laid down a pattern for your life! In 1 Chronicles 28, it was in David’s heart to build the Temple, but God said it was for his son Solomon to build. I am intrigued by verse 19 where David says, ‘“All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.” For me, as I look back over 70 years of ministry, I can see God’s plan. Everything was interconnected; there was meaning and purpose in all that God ordained. Whatever the circumstance, whatever you are facing, God will not fail you! Be strong and courageous and do the work of the Lord. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the Lord is finished.

God has chosen you to be His child. He has become your Father. This is the relationship God ordained for Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28. In verse 9, King David admonishes: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” Our work is to preach the Gospel. I live to see the Glory of God. But we have got to trust Him. God is not going to let you grow weary, faint or die, until you have completed every task, He has called you to do. 

What is in your heart? Are you longing to see the Glory of God? Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. In 1 & 2 Chronicles the original desire to build the House of God was in the heart of King David. He had a passion and a desire. The Israelites had travelled with the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness. As the Ark moved so they moved. The Ark went before them into battle. As the Ark went into the river Jordan the waters opened. The Ark was the Covenant that God was with His people. When Israel began to build their cities, King David said the Ark of the Covenant of God must not remain in a tent form. They must build a permanent place where God could dwell with his people.   God said he could not build the temple because of two things: One, King David had actually sinned against God, and secondly, he was a man of war. The task was given to his son Solomon. During the temple dedication Solomon says,  “Now it was in the heart of David,  my father, to build a house for the Na

When we are seeking and following God, the source of our supply will never dry up. What I need, what I lack, will not stop the supply of the Anointing Oil of the Holy Spirit and the Bread of the Word of God in my life. The Word of God and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit will never fail me, even in a time of drought. There is never a time when God cannot speak to us, or use us, or work miracles through us. I will show you why. When Elijah prayed, “Let this boy’s soul come into him again” – the Lord heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the boy came into him again - and he REVIVED! The use here of the word REVIVED (which is connected to our English word ‘revival’) is very explicit in what it means. The child was DEAD. For him to be revived, he had to come back from DEATH to LIFE. When the church has turned away from God and is dead – (much of the church today accepts and tolerates sin) – REVIVAL brings NEW LIFE into what is dead!