Bible Study with David Hathaway - (David Hathaway’s weekly TV programmes)

I know Jesus is alive – I talked to Him this morning! The reality of our relationship with Christ is not in repeating prayers and phrases, it’s in knowing Him. I talk to Him, He talks to me!
I expect miracles to happen, it is normal in a true Christian life! I believe they will happen, and they do, as simple as that. I don’t just believe, I know that when I pray for the sick, people will be healed. I just talk to God – miracles and God go together! Simple! – Nothing complicated. – Nothing difficult. If you want a miracle – ask God, He’ll do it, if you believe that He will!

I have always believed the prophecies in the Bible, Joel 2, God’s Promise of the former and latter rain. I believed that the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit was on that first Pentecost, but that we can and should experience the second Pentecost now. Although I had received my personal Baptism by the Holy Spirit aged 14, I wanted something greater, the promise of Joel 2. 
Our God is about to do great things! His power is on the increase. Biblically God’s power cannot become smaller! At a time of national calamity, Joel 2:21&23 says, ‘Rejoice and be glad, for the Lord is about to do great things – in YOUR nation! ... Be glad, rejoice in your God, because He gave you the former rain moderately, and He will give you the latter rain!’ I know Israel well: the former (first) rain is when they plant the seed, the last rain is just before the harvest and it is greater than the first – that’s why I believe we are living in a new Day of Pentecost (harvest) now! When the church was born on the Day of Pentecost, it was born in fire! And before Jesus comes back, we’re going to have another greater baptism in fire! 

'Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,' (James 5.13-16, NIVUK).

I’m seeing the Bible quite differently these days – it’s coming into a new perspective and I’m seeing things even at my age that I’ve never seen before. I’m seeing something in Matthew, that is so significant for the Church today. It’s challenging me, and I hope it challenges you, to examine exactly what we actually believe – and do!
In Matt 3.11 we find John the Baptist preaching repentance in the wilderness. It’s the beginning of his ministry. He says to the crowds, 3.11, “I baptise you with water for repentance, but He that is coming after me is more powerful than I… He will baptise you with the Holy Ghost and Fire!”
Then in Matt 3.13ff, Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptised in the Jordan by John. As He comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit comes down on Him and a Voice from Heaven announces, “This is My Beloved Son.” 
But Jesus does not commence His ministry straightaway; it struck me that, at this point, John is still the minister, the evangelist, not Jesus, and Jesus is led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matt 4.1. 
But then, by 4.12, Jesus hears that John has been put in prison, his ministry is ended, his work done. Jesus recognises this, leaves Nazareth where He grew up and moves to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, so that prophecy would be fulfilled that ‘the people by the sea that were in darkness have seen a great light’. And immediately, 4.17, Jesus starts His ministry and begins to preach – in POWER. I’m intrigued by this by this whole sequence from John to Jesus!

We have a simple Gospel – don’t complicate it. Jesus called 12 disciples and gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, saying, “Go, tell them, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’.” Matt 10.1,7. He said this in difficult times, in a troubled society, where the Jews were divided amongst themselves, and Rome controlled the whole of Israel. His fame spread fast across the land, Matt 9.26, because people were looking for a leader, a Messiah, to save them – and because He healed them.
People will follow a leader. Today there’s an emptiness, the youth are searching. And Jesus is the one! The only one! In Matthew 9.27, two blind men heard of all the miracles Jesus had done and they followed Him into the house where He was, crying out, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Though blind, they recognised the prophetic significance of who Jesus is. Jesus saw their faith, touched their eyes and their eyes where opened.

(Recorded in Slov'yansk, Ukraine, December 2025.) God reveals Himself to us strongest in our darkest times. I want to encourage you, whatever the crisis in your life – in the darkest moment in your life, in the moment of your greatest tragedy, in the moment of your greatest suffering, when you’re hurting more than you’ve ever hurt before, Jesus is there. He’s not forgotten you, He’s walking nearer to you. Jesus said, ‘I will be with you always.’ Every day, every hour, in the middle of every storm. Whatever the crisis, there’s never a moment when He’s not there.

In Numbers 23.19-20, Balaam was paid by Balak to curse the people of God. But this is what Balaam said, “God is not a man that He should lie, neither a son of man that He should repent (change His mind) – what He said, shall He not do it, and what He has spoken will He not make it happen?!” God cannot lie, He cannot change what He has said. And in the next verse Balaam says, God has blessed, no one can change it! When you have learnt power with God, God will begin to bless your life, your home, your family, your finance, your job – everything about your life! God will bless you. No one can change it, no one can reverse it – your life is under the power and blessing of God! I am living under the power and the blessing of God, I have a covenant relationship with God, God will never change that covenant! What a relationship! It does not depend on your ‘holiness’ – look at David, look at Israel – they went away from God, they sinned against God – but God cannot break His covenant! You have to come to a place in your life when God enters into that covenant with you and says, “I will bless you!” – When you receive that from God, for the rest of your life it will never change – it’s as certain as that! I challenge you to get to a spiritual place with God where the power of God is on your life. You can have that relationship with God, but first you have to have a personal experience with Him! Don’t depend on me – I challenge you – get on your knees, cry out to God, “Oh God I must have Your blessing in my life, I want power with You and a covenant that cannot be broken, so that You will bless my life, my ministry, my family!” You will see miracles in every area. Every time I preach the Gospel I dare to say from the platform, “God will work miracles.” I know. How? I have a covenant relationship with God. If I preach the true Gospel, if I declare the glory of God, God will honour it and work miracles.

(Recorded in Germany) In 1972, when I was in prison for Bible smuggling, my heart was full of desperation and pain. One day, as I was praying, a miracle happened: it was as if Heaven had opened, the cell was filled with a brilliant light, all the angels of Heaven seemed to crowd into that cell, and I began to praise and worship the Lord. I got to my feet and began to run around that cell singing, “Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, how great Thou art!” The glory of God filled my heart, changing me, the sadness and the pain were gone! I was locked in a prison cell, yet I was in the presence of God, experiencing the glory of God, something greater than I had ever known in a church – it was as if I was transported into Heaven!

Filmed in Germany: I’m so thankful to God for allowing me to serve Him for 75 years. God has been so faithful to me. From childhood, I wanted every day and every part of my life to be under the direction and control of the Holy Spirit. Now when I look back over 75 years of ministry I know with absolute certainty that there has been both purpose and direction in my life. God has been in control of all my days and all my experiences. Everything that has happened in my life was foreknown in His plan.

Recorded in Germany: From my youth, I have had a vision burning in my soul – a vision of Europe won for Christ: ‘Eurovision’. This vision is God’s vision, God’s desire – my vision – to see His Power, His Glory in Europe. I cannot rest until God fulfils this vision that He has put within my heart.