Frank Viola - 48 Laws of Spiritual Power: Uncommon Wisdom for Greater Ministry Impact

Visit Tyndale online at tyndale.com.

Visit Tyndale Momentum online at tyndalemomentum.com.

Tyndale, Tyndales quill logo, Tyndale Momentum, and the Tyndale Momentum logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Ministries. Tyndale Momentum is a nonfiction imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois.

48 Laws of Spiritual Power: Uncommon Wisdom for Greater Ministry Impact

Copyright 2022 by Frank Viola. All rights reserved.

Cover photograph of gold texture copyright Katsumi Murouchi/Getty. All rights reserved.

Designed by Faceout Studio, Spencer Fuller

Published in association with the literary agency of Daniel Literary Group, Brentwood, TN.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified Bible (AMP), copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org. Scripture quotations marked BLB are taken from The Holy Bible, Berean Literal Bible, BLB. Copyright 2016, 2020 by Bible Hub. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked GW are taken from GODS WORD, copyright 1995 by Gods Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Gods Word Mission Society. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version. Scripture quotations marked LSV are taken from the Literal Standard Version of the Holy Bible. Copyright 2020 by Covenant Press of the Covenant Christian Coalition, www.ccc.one. Scripture quotations marked MOF are taken from James Moffatt, A New Translation of the Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments. New York: Doran, 1926. Revised edition, New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1935. Reprinted, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1995. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the (NASB) New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org. Scripture quotations marked NASB (1995) are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at , or call 1-855-277-9400.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4964-5226-9

Build: 2022-11-09 13:17:49 EPUB 3.0

To every person who dared to put their hand to

the plow of Gods workincluding those yet to be born.

I wrote this book for two groups of people:

1) Those who regularly preach or teach Gods Word. This includes pastors, teachers, missionaries, and church planters, both inside and outside the institutional church.

2) All of Gods people. Why? Because every true disciple of Jesus is called to be a servanta ministerin some capacity. Paul reminded the new converts in Thessalonica that they had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9, NKJV , emphasis mine).

Every one of us who knows the Lord can have the glorious privilege of saying of Christ, He is the One whose I am, and whom I serve (Acts 27:23, KJV ).

If you are in Christ, your entire life is a mission trip.

The word minister in the New Testament simply means servant.

Paul of Tarsus took the concept a step further when he described his service to God using the term bondservant (Romans 1:1, NKJV ).

Paul saw himself as a bondslave of Jesus Christ. His greatest boast was that he belonged to Christ and had the high honor of serving Him.

Unfortunately, many Christians today equate serving the Lord with church activities. But true service, according to the New Testament, is about advancing Gods kingdom and destroying the works of the devil.

And these tasks require spiritual power.

I designed this book to set forth 48 laws of obtaining spiritual power for effective ministry.

As Paul put it in his most sublime letter,

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of Gods power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at Gods right hand in the heavenly realms.

EPHESIANS 1:19-20, NLT

Spiritual power is another way of describing the dynamic energy of God. We could also call it Gods anointing.

Consider what happened when Samuel anointed David:

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the L ORD came powerfully upon David.

1 SAMUEL 16:13

Consider also this passage from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Sovereign L ORD is on me,

because the L ORD has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners.

ISAIAH 61:1

Jesus initially fulfilled this text when John baptized Him in the Jordan River and the Spirit of God came upon Him to launch His incredible ministry.

The word anointing, therefore, isnt relegated to the Pentecostals or the charismatics. Its a term used throughout the Bible (Exodus 40:15; Leviticus 8:12; 1 John 2:27; Acts 10:38, etc.).

One of the most amazing truths in the universe is that God entrusts fallen human beings with His power. T. Austin-Sparks, a former pastor and one of the most Christ-centered and spiritually insightful men who ever lived, put it best when he wrote,

God puts Himself into the hands of men. God is not going to move unless there are those who prevail with Him.