And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ² And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. Luke 9:1-2 (NASB 1995)

Are we in the Body of Christ all talk and no action? Do we ignore the power of God? Do we even know that is available? Surely these verses, at the least, should provoke us to sincerely examine our ministries. As Jesus is sending the 12 disciples, he anointed them to do four fundamental actions in ministry.

1. He gave them power and authority over demons:  The word power is the Greek word dúnamis; meaning “To be able; to be capable.”^[1] The word authority is the Greek word exousía; meaning that “…it is permissible, it is allowed. It is our right; we have the liberty to.”^[2] If we put these definitions together, we can conclude that we are capable and have authority to cast out demons. 
2. He also gave us power and authority to heal diseases: The word heal is the Greek word, “therapeúō; to render voluntary service, but primarily signifies to serve as therápōn. Deriv. therapeía(2322), service.^[3] The word diseases is the Greek word, nósos meaning “…pain and sorrow.^[4] What we are dealing with here is emotional healing through therapy. Folks suffer from all kinds of mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and many others. Anointed therapy is available through Jesus Christ. 
3. He sent them out with a message and that is the message of the Kingdom: This is all Kingdom-related with the gospel at the center. 
4. He sent them out to perform healing: The words Perform, and Healing here are the same; this is the Greek word, iáomai; meaning “To heal, to cure, to restore to bodily health.”^[5] Noticed the difference between the power and authority to heal diseases and performing healing. One is emotional and the other is physical. We need deliverance from both.

It is obvious to me that in America we placed a great deal of emphasis on…Wait for it, wait for it… NONE of these fundamental actions of ministry. We are too cool and too dignify to deal with demons. We have Christians who act like emotional baskets but prefer meds over deliverance. We are preaching about all kinds of things while about ignoring the gospel and, physical healing is nonexistence.  We should be praying for our brothers and sister in these areas every time we come together. 

These fundamentals of ministry are there, they are biblical and available for us. However, we seem to be busy with networking; we are too busy getting our degrees, the building fund, the fancy lights, etc. with absolutely no evidence of the power of God. We surely have a form of godliness, but… where is the power? Beloved, this is the power within that we are not using.

^[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[2] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[3] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[4] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[5] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).