And I prayed for an impartation of God in their lives.  I prayed that when they stood to preach in their church, they would be like men and women on fire for God.  Thank God for the church.  Tonight I want to speak to you on the subject, “I’m Glad I Went to Church.”

The Bible says, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”  What is the church?  The church is the body of Christ.  The church is not bricks and stone.  The church is people, born-again, blood-washed believers.

The church is not a building that you go into.  You who love Jesus, you who have committed your life to Him, you are the church.  I am the church.  All of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ are the church.  The church is not built with hands.  The church is built with lives.

One day Jesus and His disciples were walking along together.  And Jesus asked a question, “Who do men say that I am?”

One disciple said, “They’re calling you John the Baptist, another says you’re Elijah, while others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

And Jesus listened to them describe what the people in the streets were saying.  Then He asked them another question, “Who do you say that I am?”

And Peter, who was full of holy boldness, stood before his eleven other co-disciples, and he said, “You are the Christ, you are the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus said to Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.  And upon this rock of revelation, I will build my church, upon the knowledge of who I am.”

I want to announce to you tonight that I am serving the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am not ashamed of it.  The Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God.  And He laid down His life that you and I might have life.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The Bible says that Jesus was born of a virgin and that He grew up to be a man.  And as He approached the age of 30, He entered His public ministry.  He preached and He taught and He healed.

RR: And the tumor is gone?

LADY: Yes, it’s gone.

RR: Hallelujah!  Every head bowed.  What?  Wait, wait, wait.  She’s out of her wheelchair?  She’s out of her wheelchair.  She’s walked all the way from the back.

Every head bowed, every eye closed.  If you’re walking, stop, and give reverence to the Word of God.  Jesus said, “You must be born again.”  But Nicodemus did not understand what He meant.

“How can a man enter into his mother’s body a second time?” he asked.

But Jesus said, “You’re talking about flesh, and I’m talking about spirit.  You were born of your mother, but I’m talking about a new birth, the new birth of the Spirit.”

The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Sure, we make mistakes.  Sometimes we even commit sin.  But a sinner is a person who’s made sin a way of life.  And unless you repent, you’ll lose your soul.

The Bible says, “If you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”

Tonight is the night to give your heart to God.  Before we pray for Nigeria, I am beginning with you because you are Nigerian.  The miracle starts with you.  You don’t change a country; you get people changed, and people change countries.

So I want to pray for you tonight.  I’m asking every man and woman, you’ve heard me preach tonight, you’ve seen these miracles, and there’s still many others, and you want to give your heart to God and you want me to pray a sinner’s prayer with you tonight, if you’re sincere and if you want me to pray that prayer for you to give your heart to the Lord Jesus, if you do, then lift your hand unto Him now.

And there are hands going up everywhere.  If you want this prayer, lift your hand.  Now pray this out loud with me:  O God, be merciful to me a sinner.  Come into my heart and save me from sin.  Heal me, deliver me, and set me free.

I renounce the devil and all of his works.  And by my faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior, as my Lord.  I reject satan, and I receive Jesus.  Forgive me, cleanse me, and make me new.  From this moment I will serve God with all my heart, all my mind, and all my strength.  I am born again, and I shall never be the same again.  I’ll be a witness of the Lord Jesus.

Now everyone standing, everyone standing, everyone stand up.  Lift your hands unto the Lord.  Heavenly Father, baptize them in the Holy Spirit, a mass baptism tonight.  Baptize every one of them in the Holy Spirit.  Pour out Your Spirit upon everyone tonight.

Lift your hands, and begin to pray unto the Lord right now.  (Tongues)  Lift your voice unto the Lord.  (Tongues)  Let this stadium fill with prayer and praise tonight.  (Tongues)  Lift your voice unto the Lord in prayer.  (Tongues)  Come on, lift your voice in prayer.  (Tongues)

Wave unto the Lord as you praise Him tonight.  Lift your voice.  Lift your voice.  Lift your voice in praise.  He lives.  He inhabits the praises of His people.  And, Father, we lift up Your name, for You’ve given us the name of Jesus.  And at that name, there are miracles.  There are healings.  There are deliverances in people’s lives.

And we thank You now, Lord, we thank You for this country, for the precious Nigerian people.  And we give You honor and glory as we prepare now to pray for the nation, in Jesus’ name.

MAN: Somebody shout hallelujah!  (Repeats)

This country was founded upon the principles of this Book. This country was formed by men who sought a more perfect union and getting in harmony with the things of God. Now most of these men would probably not have been charismatic in the way that we think today, although some of them were, history will teach. The secular media will not bring that out.

But they had a hunger for the things of God. They had lived under tyranny and unfair taxation and all types of things in other countries, and so they sought to come to a place to build a more perfect union. And they established the country on the things of God. And the church was active in every part of it.

And if you study history and you follow the ministry of a young man who graduated from ORU by the name of David Barton—and many of you will know that name—you’ll find that in those early days, virtually every pastor in America every so often preached an election sermon. And he held each candidate up in the light of the Ten Commandments. America, what are you doing here?

You know, several years ago we elected a President, or I should say we reelected a President. And it looked like that President was going to be defeated. Every poll showed it. The news media gleefully reported it.

But God turned something around that satan had intended for harm. And it was very simple. More than a dozen states had a referendum on their ballot of same sex marriage. It seemed like it would pass in every state, until the hair began to rise on the back of the necks of Christians across this land. And they got upset. (Applause)

And they decided, “We’re not going to live in apathy anymore. We’re going to get up and discharge our Christian and American right and privilege and honor. And we’re going to the voting place, because the scripture speaks of male and female. And we’re going to honor the Word of God.”

How many times have you faced a situation where you met someone and suddenly you knew there was something wrong? You think back. You shook hands with someone and suddenly you withdrew your hand and said, “WOW, what was that? Oh, that’s unusual, that’s strange. That’s weird. What did I feel?” Or someone walks into the room and you say, “WOW, did it just get cold in here?” And we say, “That’s strange, did someone turn down the temperature?” No. No one turned down the temperature, that’s an operation of the gift of discerning of spirits.

That’s when you need to say, “God, what are You trying to say to me? And what do You want me to do about it?” That will flow through us if we will open ourselves up. And the more we open ourselves up, the more it will flow. And I promise you, it will flow when you don’t want it to flow.

You say, “Well, I’ll just tell God.” Yes! You just try to tell God. I’ve told Him how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, who to do it to–He’s never done it my way once. I’ll ask Him to manifest the word of knowledge at the beginning of the service; He’ll do it at the end. I’ll as Him to do it at the end; He’ll do it at the beginning.

I’ll say, “God, don’t manifest it now.” That’s when He’ll manifest it. Try not to tell God what to do. Just try not to do that, because as a general rule that doesn’t work. It’s on His schedule, it’s on His timing.
I’ve told Him not to manifest the gifts of the spirit when I’m in Wal-Mart. (LAUGHTER) You know He doesn’t pay any attention to me. That’s why Lindsay gets a basket and goes one way and gets me another basket and sends me the other way, because she knows I’m going to have a healing line in the vegetables. (LAUGHTER)

Now the power gift–say that out loud–the power gifts. (RESPONSE) Isn’t that a great name? The power gifts.

The first one is the gifts of healing. Notice that it’s plural. Everybody say plural. The gifts of healing, supernatural healings are especially present in evangelistic services, in church services, in worship services. It’s the Holy Spirit tenderizer so people can hear the Word of God.

Now make no mistake, there’s no substitute for the preaching of the Word, because that’s how faith comes. You can’t just say, “Well, we’re going to have a miracle service” and leave out the Word of God–that won’t work. Everything that you do has to be based upon the Word of God.

One night the Lord said, “Put your hands up like this on television. Tell people to lay their hands against your hands.” I said, “Where is that in the Bible?” God said, “In Acts. It says, I worked through the hands of the disciples.” Make sure what you’re doing is backed-up by the Word of God.

And one night Lindsay and I were on television. And I said, “There’s a woman watching, you’ve got an inoperable brain tumor. Put your hands against mine. You’ve been told by the doctors there’s nothing they can do. You’ve been given six months to live.” And I said, “I’m going to pray the prayer of faith.”

RR: Does anybody know what tonight is? (audience response) It’s ORU night. Does anybody know what ORU means? It’s named after that speaker you heard from this morning. Who gave a prophetic utterance on time limits. I heard him preaching it on the 5 o’clock news. Yes, the media was here this morning. They follow him wherever he goes. I heard him preaching it on the 5 o’clock news, giving glory to Jesus. I saw you.

You were on the 5 o’clock news. And the 6. And I understand they’re writing about it – they’re going to put a picture of it in the paper in the morning. Giving glory to God.

You know, the original Board at ORU placed a demand upon my father, when ORU was conceived, that it bear his name. He did not want it to bear his name; he wanted it to bear another name. But the Board said, “Oral, if you don’t put your name on it, no one will know what it stands for.” And he reluctantly agreed, and I think it’s fair to say that people know what Oral Roberts University stands for. This university was forged in the fires of healing evangelism. And I was in those tent crusades as I grew up, and I walked those prayer lines. I remember one day in Trenton, New Jersey, when I walked the prayer line with my father, when he laid hands on 9,000 in one afternoon. I saw it.

I’ve seen blind eyes open and deaf ears open and cripples walk and miracles, so many I couldn’t begin to describe. You’ve come too late to tell me that God stopped healing when the apostles died. He’s a healing Jesus. Can you say that? He’s a healing Jesus.

Now it’s under, it’s out of that ministry that ORU grew. It was birthed out of that. When Billy Graham dedicated ORU in 1967, right out here on these grounds there were some 20,000 people. And in his message, Billy Graham, whom I’ve known all my life, spoke prophetically, and he said these words: “If ORU ever departs from its founding purpose of faith in God and faith in the Bible, then may God pronounce a curse on it.” Those are serious words. I was a student at another university, in another state. My parents prevailed upon me to come home for that special dedication service. But those words were branded into my mind and into my heart. I had no idea that only months later the Holy Spirit would speak to me in my dormitory room at a state university outside of Oklahoma, and say, “Your destiny is not in this university.

Your destiny is in Oral Roberts University.” I said, “Now, Lord, if I did that, I couldn’t be a nightclub singer. I couldn’t be a professional athlete. I’d have to become one of those miserable Christians.” You know the type I mean? Do you have any of them in your church? Excuse me, I repent.

I will take what I’ve received during this conference. I will be an eagle for God. I’ll do what You say do. I’ll go where You say go. It makes no difference whether I have the finances or not, in my obedience and in my seed sowing, You will provide the funds because You’re God. I put You to the test. I’m not taking no for an answer, and I’m not taking any prisoners because I’m an eagle for God. And I declare by my faith I will never be the same again, in Jesus” name. Now give praise unto the Lord this morning. (Response)

Now I want you to turn and form groups of two or three right where you are. Turn toward one another. Lay your hands on them and begin to pray. The Bible says, “Pray ye one for another that ye may be healed.” Begin this healing prayer. Pray for them spiritually. Pray for them physically. Pray for them in their minds, in their emotions. Break off deadly negative emotions.

Break off the spirit of fear, timidity. Break off disillusionment and discouragement. Break off that unusual shyness. Break it off in the name of Jesus. Command it to go, and it will go.

Speak to every sickness and disease. Command it to go in the name of Jesus. Don’t take no for an answer. Command the devil to take his hands off God’s property. You’re doing God’s business this morning. (Tongues)

Other healings are happening. Backs are getting healed right now. Legs are being healed. Arteries are being healed right now in the name of Jesus. Legs are being healed now. Sinuses are draining now.

Migraine headaches are leaving now in the name of Jesus. The band around your chest is being relieved now. Arterial sclerosis is leaving someone now. Diabetes is going now. It’s leaving someone right now. Blood sugar level, be normal. Low blood sugar, come up. High blood sugar, come down. Low blood pressure, come up. High blood pressure, come down.

I remember how on a Sunday afternoon I put my head in my mother’s lap and prayed the sinner’s prayer. I remember how later that evening I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, living in the dormitory. I remember how my whole life changed. I remember how I’d run from God, and suddenly I was running toward Him. I didn’t get to be the professional athlete or the professional nightclub singer in Las Vegas that I had dreamed of all my life. I got to be a Christian.

…APPLAUSE… A born-again believer who is not ashamed that he speaks in tongues every day. And it doesn’t matter to me who hears it. I’m not ashamed of the Gospel, for it’s the power of God unto salvation.

And, friend, if you lose that, you’ve lost it all. Go back and remember your spiritual moorings. Go back and remember where you came from, “cause you’ll never know where you’re going until you look back and see where you’ve come from. I know where I came from, and I know where I’m going.

Some things have been happening in my life. This past spring the city of Tulsa elected a new mayor, and for the first time in ten years something has begun to happen in the Spirit in this city. Our mayor is born again and baptized in the Holy Ghost. …APPLAUSE… It’s a microcosm of what can happen in the United States.

And this mayor, as he was running during the primaries and then during the general election, called me one day. Now I had known him, I had known his family. His father and my father had been great friends for nearly 40 years. He’s a little younger than I am. He’s in his 40s.

And he called me, and he came out to see me here in Mabee Center one night after Lindsay and I had finished The Hour of Healing. He looked me right in the eye and said, “I’m going to be the next mayor.” And he meant it. I could tell he meant it.

He said, “I believe I have a calling to be the mayor.” Well, I got very, very quiet to hear what he had to say. He said, “When I’m elected,? and he said that like he meant it, “When I’m elected, on my inauguration day, I want you to lay hands on me, anoint me by the Holy Spirit, and set me in theoffice of mayor in this city.” …APPLAUSE…

I said, “Are you sure you want me to do that?”

He said, “Yes, I’m sure. I want you to do exactly that.”

He said, “I want everybody to see… I want them to see you lay hands on me.”

Did you know that the eagle is the only bird that God compares himself to. An eagle is a majestic bird, the king of all birds. It is said that eagles make their nests high in the rocky ledges of the mountains or in the tallest trees possible.

And the mother eagle will prepare her nest. She’ll take sharp briars and thorns and sticks, and she’ll form the nest. And once she’s formed it, she’ll begin to pluck some of her soft downy feathers and she’ll lay them and make a bed. And not long she’ll lay her eggs. And as the days pass, those little eaglets hatch.

And it’s a brand-new world for those little eaglets, never having been in the world before. It’s a wonderful world. It’s a comfortable world because mama does everything. Mama brings the food. Mama brings the water, and mama provides the covering by night. It’s a wonderful world, a wonderful study of eagles.

But the day comes as the little eaglets grow, the mother knows it’s time to produce young eagles. It’s time for the eaglets to become eagles. And the Bible makes it clear that she does a number of things. And in those things that she does, we can see the nation of Israel in the Bible. And in those things we can see ourselves and where we are today.

I want you to look back at that Scripture in Deuteronomy 32. There’s several things that the mother eagle does. It’s appropriate for us to understand those things because God just may be doing those things in your life today.

The first thing that she does, the Bible says, “She stirs her nest.” Everybody say, “She stirs her nest.” (Response)What does she do? She begins to pluck those soft downy feathers out of the nest, and those little eaglets drop down on those sharp bristly briars, and they begin to get very uncomfortable, as they’re stuck and pricked at every turn.

Maybe that’s describing you today. Maybe you’re being stuck and pricked by the messages that you’re hearing during this conference. Maybe you’ve come here, you don’t exactly know what’s coming, and maybe you feel like those soft downy feathers have been pulled out from under you, like the rug has been pulled out from under you. Well, just stay tuned right where you are.

RR: Well, what happened when you came down here?

MARY ANN: It still pains.

CARLTON: We’ve got a healing here. Come on. Get your healing.

RR: She’s getting one. She just doesn’t know it yet.

CARLTON: Get it, get it.

RR: I know. (Response) You’re worth waiting on.

CARLTON: Come on, keep believing.

RR: I know, I know, I know, I know.

MARY ANN: I used to run three miles every day.

RR: Well, you can start running three miles again then. What happened, Carlton?

CARLTON: This lady had the same pain in both her knees. She has no pain at all now she says, been there for three years. She doesn’t know what caused it.

RR: What did you just feel?

LADY: Praise the Lord. I just took a step by faith, believing God for my healing.

RR: What happened to your knees tonight?

LADY: I know the Lord healed it because I believe Him.

RR: How do you know?

LADY: By faith I accept it, because Jesus is a healer. Praise God.

RR: Can you tell a difference?

LADY: Amen. There’s no pain in my legs right now. My knees …

RR: No pain?

LADY: No, I’m bending it, praise the Lord.

RR: Hallelujah!

LADY: Hallelujah!

RR: There’s sixteen of you getting healed in your stomachs. Where are those sixteen people? Come down here. You felt the fire of God come into your stomach just now, sixteen people. Where are you?

CARLTON: Another knee was healed.

RR: Begin to come down here.

CARLTON: Here’s a three years, Richard, right here.

RR: What was wrong with your knees?

MAN: For about three years, my right knee was bad and my whole leg would be in pain. And my left one also, and it was so I could have a hard time even like standing in the services. And about six months ago in a Benny Hinn crusade, I felt the healing power of God in my legs, but it was little by little.

RR: What did you feel tonight.

MAN: And we’re from Waco, Texas, and we believe the Lord that if I came here to this conference that I’d receive my total healing. When you called that out …

RR: What did you feel just now?

MAN: … the pain left my legs.

RR: It’s gone?

MAN: Gone, yeah.

RR: You’re sure it’s gone.

MAN: It’s gone, Richard.

RR: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Where are those getting healed in your stomach? There’s sixteen of you, sixteen of you. What happened here, Billy Joe?

BJD: Just the way you described on the ankle, she fell on it, pain, problems, and now the problem is all gone.

RR: It’s gone?

LADY: It’s gone! All the pain is gone.

RR: You sure?

LADY: I’m sure.

RR: God bless you. You can be seated. (Singing “Oh, How I Love Him”) Well, give Him praise. (Applause)

Hallelujah! I sang that because I have never witnessed anything like this before in my life. I have never seen anyone do for Oral Roberts University what you’ve done tonight. And from the bottom of my heart, I want to say two words that a lot of people don’t know how to say. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)

God said to my father, who founded this university, “Build Me a university. Build it on My authority. Build it on the Holy Spirit. Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is seen dim, My voice is heard small, My power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in that I am well pleased.”

As Dr. Myles Munroe knows, that’s branded into us who’ve gone through this place. We cannot get away from it. It’s being done. It’s being built. It’s continuing to be built. And I pledge to you that under my leadership, it shall not go away from its founding purpose. We shall not be cursed. We shall not become another Harvard. We shall not become another Emory, who opened an office for gay and lesbian affairs on their campus. We won’t become another Princeton or Yale where they deny the power of God. Wonderful academic institutions. I thank God for them. We won’t do that.

When Billy Graham dedicated this campus in 1967, he said, “If ORU ever goes away from her founding purpose, may God pronounce a curse on her.” And we’re not cursed. I was there that day. I was a freshman at the University of Kansas, but I came home at my parents’ request. And those words got in my spirit, and the following year I gave my life to Jesus. Hallelujah! I pledge to you, ORU under my leadership shall not go away from its founding purpose. (Applause)

You sail in or you fly in to New York City, you see that magnificent Statue of Liberty. You read those words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuge of your teeming shore.” You know those words? Well, I have another word for you. Send me your students. I’ll send them back to you better than you sent them to me. (Applause)