[CHAPTER 21] BELIEVERS AUTHORITY BY ANDREW WOMMACK – AS YOU THINK

Chapter 21
As You Think
You need to learn what God’s laws are and then cooperate with them. You
can’t watch television programs that minister depression and then operate in joy.
You can’t take in all of the (bad) news without strengthening unbelief. If you
want a pure heart, you can’t watch movies that are full of adultery and
fornication. You’re going to have to think on things that are true, honest, just,
pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report. (Phil. 4:8.) Yet people
misunderstand these laws.
Your life moves in the direction of your dominant thoughts.
As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
PROVERBS 23:7
You will reap emotions based on those things on which you focus your
attention.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace.
ROMANS 8:6
That’s a law of God. The fact is you can’t experience God’s peace if you’re
constantly meditating on things that are contrary to peace—hatred, strife, and
ungodliness. You can’t just pray and ask for peace. You must learn to keep your
thoughts centered on God and His Word.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
ISAIAH 26:3
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Your emotions will follow what you think. That’s a law of God. So if you’re
praying for peace but aren’t focused on God, you’re just spitting in the wind. It’s
not going to work. Desiring the things of God is part of the process, but it’s not
all there is to it.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God,
and of Jesus our Lord.
2 PETER 1:2
Grace and peace are multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of
Jesus Christ our Lord—not through prayer. It isn’t a matter of you just pleading
with God. The laws of God say that you must think on the right things to receive
the right results.

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful [full of
care] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7
As you keep your mind stayed upon the Lord, the peace of God will keep
your heart and mind. The next verse continues about our thoughts, saying:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any
virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
PHILIPPIANS 4:8
In other words, this is a command to keep your mind stayed on the Lord and
His Word. (Isa. 26:3.)
These are laws of God. This is how His kingdom works.
THE GOS-PILL
God made you so that your physical and emotional health follows the way
you think. If you’re thinking on depressing things, you’ll be depressed. If you’re
thinking on the Lord and His Word, you’ll be lull of life, joy, and peace.
God’s Word is…
Life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
PROVERBS 4:22
The Word of God brings health.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions.
PSALM 107:20
God’s prescription for health is His Word. Take it in daily doses, just like
medicine. Many people are praying for health, but they’re violating the Great
Physician’s instructions. They aren’t taking their medicine.
What if the medical doctor you saw about your condition prescribed to you a
method of treatment—taking a certain pill each day—yet you didn’t take them.
Then, you get upset at the doctor about your treatment, saying, “It’s no good. It
didn’t work.” Actually, since you didn’t take the pills, you have no right to
criticize the doctor. You didn’t cooperate with the prescribed treatment. The
medical doctor gave you a treatment, but you didn’t follow it.
God has given us a treatment. He’s prescribed to us the Gos-pill (Gospel). He
sent His Word to heal us and deliver us from all our destructions. (Ps. 107:20.)

God’s Word is health to all our flesh and life to those who find it. (Prov. 4:22.)
This is the Great Physician’s prescription.
EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE
In the kingdom of God, there are laws governing faith and healing. Yet, we
continue to violate these laws. Then we pray for healing and wonder why we
aren’t receiving. That’s ignorance gone to seed!
Please don’t take this as condemnation. I’m not trying to condemn anyone. I
just want to stop people from condemning God. They say, “It’s God’s will that so
and so died, this business didn’t work, that marriage broke up, my children are
rebellious,” and on and on they go. Why do they put the blame on God? Many
have the mindset, “Because I prayed and asked for something and it didn’t come
to pass.” They just totally ignore the fact that God can’t do everything He wants
to do. There are laws that govern how His kingdom operates. If we violate those
laws, we’re actually empowering the devil to come in and steal, kill, and destroy.
We need to cooperate with God’s laws to receive His abundant life.
Most people think that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that
we ask or think, but that’s not true. You must read the entire verse to get the true
meaning.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
EPHESIANS 3:20
That last phrase puts a limitation on the first one. God isn’t free to move in
your life independent of you. He has set it up to where He has to flow through
people. He doesn’t control your life without your consent or agreement. There
has to be power working on the inside of you—specifically the power of faith.
You have to stir yourself up and make that faith come alive.
Many people just plop themselves down in front of the television. They
become discouraged and depressed listening to all of the bad news. They spend
virtually no time with God and no time in His Word. Then they just throw a
prayer out, and if it doesn’t come to pass, “Well then, God failed.”
It is absolutely wrong for us to condemn God. It isn’t God who is failing to
be good, or failing to answer people’s prayers. It’s us who fail to understand how
to receive. We don’t realize that there are laws that govern even God’s operation.
He’s not going to resist the devil for you. God isn’t going to do what He told you
to do. (James 4:7.) He commanded you to go heal the sick. (Matt. 10:8.) He
generated the power and placed it on the inside of you—the very same power
that raised Christ from the dead. (Eph. 1:18-20.) He equipped you, but then He
told you to go lay hands on the sick, and they would recover. (Mark 16:18.)
Many of us are violating every instruction and admonition in the Word of

God and then throwing a prayer out. If it doesn’t work, then God failed. That’s
not true. God is faithful, faithful, faithful!
I’M THE PROBLEM—NOT GOD
I’ve had bad things happen in my life. People who were close to me died—
even after I prayed for their healing. However, in most of these cases, I can see
that I am the one who missed it. In some situations, I still don’t understand
exactly why things worked out the way that they have, but I’ve come to this firm
conviction that God is always faithful. He never fails. If bad things happen
somehow, I failed to understand and cooperate with the laws of God.
I find comfort in knowing that I’m the problem—not God. This is one of the
great benefits in understanding the authority of the believer. Yet most people are
just the opposite. They can’t handle taking responsibility for failure in their lives.
Yes, this understanding puts responsibility on us, but it also explains why we
don’t always see things work. God doesn’t always have people who will
cooperate with His laws.
The release of God’s power in your life is directly proportional to how you
believe. It’s not proportional to your holiness. All of us fail and come short in
different ways. The issue is faith. You get what you believe. If you believe that
God has already healed you and you begin to exercise your authority, you’ll see
that healing manifest. But if you believe God can heal but He hasn’t done it yet,
then that healing won’t come to pass. Just because you don’t like how the
kingdom works, doesn’t mean that it changes the laws. This is just how God is.