Bill Johnson was interviewed backstage after teaching and leading others in healing prayer at the Hillsong Conference 2019. In this behind-the-scenes interviews, hosts Niyah Rahmaan, Tom Yanco and Mel Wade ask Johnson about his approach to praying for healing and miracles.
Johnson says every believer has the power to perform miracles if they are operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.
“The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Resurrection,” Johnson says. “And the Holy Spirit took up residence in every believer and He wants to flow through to demonstrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Every miracle demonstrates and reaffirms that Jesus is alive. So we owe the world an encounter with God. We owe them the opportunity to taste, experience and see—change their perception. What you taste will change what you see, and that’s our obligation to people right there. We owe that to people: an encounter with the Almighty God. We don’t just owe them words. We owe them words that are soaked with presence that will bring them into an encounter with God.”
Johnson says if a miracle does not happen, it’s important to set aside time to talk to God to find out why it did not happen. He says miracles should always happen, because the Bible never depicts Jesus failing to perform miracles.
“You pursue a miracle,” Johnson says. “Let’s say we’re praying for somebody. If they get a breakthrough, Jesus gets all the credit. We make sure that we don’t put the attention on the gift, on the prayer of faith. I’m thrilled we get to be involved, but the miracle is Jesus entirely. If it doesn’t happen, we get alone with God to find out why, because Jesus never had that experience. He never had that experience. And He set it up to where we’re not supposed to either. So it’s not a moment for guilt and shame. It’s not a moment for introspection. It’s a moment to draw near.
“See, Jesus only said what He heard His Father say. He did what He saw His Father do. So that means when you put mud in the eye, that’s what He saw the Father doing. So that was the process the Father chose to release the miracle. And if we aren’t paying attention through the Holy Spirit to what the Father is doing, we will simply do routine prayers instead of Holy Spirit anointed prayers. We want to pick up what He’s doing so that we can release the kingdom [and] release the breakthrough that that person has asked for.”
Watch the full interview embedded here.
