In our previous installment we covered the first four keys to engaging the supernatural.  We continue this week with the last four.

5. Atmospheres

Another powerful key to immersing oneself in the supernatural deals with engaging atmospheres.  An atmosphere in this context is a spiritual pressure or substance in the environment that influences reality, and it has a significant impact on prayer.  Jesus encountered an oppressive atmosphere when He went to minister in Nazareth.  Matthew 13:58 says, “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”  This verse shows us that the lack of faith of those present created a negative atmosphere that placed itself in opposition to the power of God and made it difficult for Jesus to work miracles.

On the other hand, Jesus also encountered times when there was an atmosphere of power present at His disposal.  Luke 5:17 says, “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.”  It says that power was present to heal the sick, which in this case denotes an atmosphere of power that was present which Jesus made use of to work miracles.

6.  Momentum

Along with the function of atmospheres comes the power of momentum.  Momentum deals with velocity—where an object increases in speed as it keeps moving.  An easy example of this is riding a bike down a hill.  Assuming the rider remains upright and hits no obstacles, the bike will continue to gain speed the longer it heads down the decline.  When we build spiritual momentum we take our pre-existing forward motion and use it to thrust us even further forward into the supernatural.

I love attending Christian conferences with a focus on the supernatural because I enjoy the momentum it allows me to build.  By focusing on Kingdom realities over the course of a few days, with a lot of time spent in worship, hearing godly teaching, and engaging the Kingdom with other believers, free of other life distractions, my spirit is encouraged.  As I pursue God in this particular area over a few days, it is like I have already begun riding that bike downhill.  Once the conference ends, all I have to do is continue to pursue in my daily life, and even if my focus is divided by other life events, as I daily engage the supernatural with momentum already behind me, I am able to see greater results.

This can be done with any subject, and I have done this with conferences and events revolving around healing, the prophetic, and more.  Conferences are not the only way to accomplish this.  Any time I sense the Lord doing a certain thing in my life, I usually will find teachings I can listen to on that subject and I engage that thing as much as I can while the Lord is actively moving on it.  This is where I join with the work God is already doing and it builds momentum as well.

7.  Prayer

Prayer is an important key to engaging the supernatural.  Prayer at its most broad definition could possibly be “communing with the divine”.  There are many different prayer methods, and each have their weak and strong points, but prayer disciplines as a whole train our senses to engage the spiritual realms.  This includes encountering angels and demons, having visions and dreams, supernatural visits to heaven, and much more.  In fact, the saints of old were known for having what they termed “periods of ecstasy” when they would spend time in prayer with the Lord.  God would, at times, visit them with His spirit during their time seeking Him, and it was from the prayer closet where they were empowered to work the many miracles recorded in church history.  The same is true today—many of the ministries and people today flowing in the supernatural power of God began in their own private prayer closet.  God is always active and at work, and as we engage Him in prayer, we are gradually transformed by His power and grace, and it is this shift that occurs within us that allows us to touch the heavens, and for the heavens to touch the earth.

8. “Active faith”

Active faith is a little different than what I refer to as passive faith.  Passive faith is where we have a general belief about something, but there is no action associated with it.  Active faith is the opposite—where the belief spurs us into action.  The Bible is full of verses that speak about faith, and some of them speak directly to the issue of how active our faith is.

Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  It is not enough, therefore, to simply pray and hope it happens, or to generally expect that something might happen someday.  Active faith acknowledges that if I ask God for something, I am to expect it, and to keep active expectation for that answer to appear, knowing that if I have asked, God has already *sent* the answer and I am simply waiting for it to arrive because if I have asked, it *will* come.

Active faith purposes toward belief and expectation as opposed to simply praying and not thinking about it again.  Faith is a force, and we can purposefully extend that force in prayer.  James 1:6 describes this process somewhat in saying, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”  Doubt can be just as active as faith, so we have to choose on an ongoing basis how and what forces we will engage—whether doubt or faith.  As we purpose to transform our minds to believe what God says and as we focus on receiving what we have asked, we are engaging active faith.

Whether accessed via the traditional spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 or through another discipline or ability, we all have been given the ability to engage the supernatural.  In fact, what we consider “supernatural” is meant to be a normal part of our daily life experience.  We are all spirit beings, and all matter is created from the substance of spirit, including our bodies.  Thus, we are simultaneously matter and spirit.  As we learn to engage the supernatural realms, we will discover that our true birthright is to walk in both the natural and spiritual realms at the same time, acting as connectors between earth’s problems and heaven’s solutions.