Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

religious form or ritual, as without a pure faith it becomes a mere routine. I am reminded of a group of Jewish men who saw Paul casting out evil spirits and decided to imitate the man of God. They found a deranged man and spoke to the devil in him, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (Acts 19:13). The evil spirit rose up in the man, saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” (v. 15), and tore the clothes off these seven men, who ran streaking out of the house (vv. 16). The seven men were the sons of one of the leading chief priests (v. 14), yet they failed to expel the demon. It is clear that these seven sons of Sceva had religious knowledge but no relationship with Christ! There is only one type of prayer God will answer when a person is not in any type of relationship with Him, and that is the prayer for forgiveness of sins (Matt. 9:2–7; Luke 7:44–48). It requires faith to believe that God can forgive sins, and when a sinner asks for forgiveness, it initiates a believing process that leads to salvation and justification by faith (Rom. 5:1). Christ always addressed the sin issue first and the healing issue second (Matt. 9:2). When Christ healed one man, He told him to go and “sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). Forgiveness can help bring healing to a person’s spirit, emotions, and even to the body (James 5:16). My father had a great anointing and strong compassion to minister to the sick and anyone who was hurting physically. He loved praying for people, and at times he