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Communion
Question:
I viewed your ministry on tv on communion, and I would like to begin taking communion everyday. What confession can I use when taking it?
Answered on 09/13/06:This is one of the ways Pastor prays with the church when he is administering communion during service.
PASTOR DICKOW’S COMMUNION PRAYER
In the name of Jesus, I believe the body of Jesus Christ is anointed and every burden will be removed and every yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing. As I eat this bread, I am eating the anointing and I’m becoming one with the anointing when I eat this bread in Jesus' name, amen. Now let's eat the bread.
Praise the Lord. Father, thank you for your anointing being released in every person's life to remove every burden and to destroy every yoke in the name of Jesus.
Now let's drink the cup. Heavenly father, I believe your blood is blessed. I believe your blood is healthy. I believe your blood cleanses me. As I drink your blood, as I drink this cup, I am receiving your blessing. I am receiving your cleansing. I am receiving your healing in Jesus' name, amen. Now drink that cup.
Thank you, Lord. Praise you, Jesus. Father, bless me and release healing power and the anointing that removes every burden and destroys every yoke today in Jesus' name, amen.
Question:
I would like information on communion. Is there more to it than breaking bread and drinking the wine?
Answered on 03/20/06:Well, sure, there’s more to it. It’s what it means and what it represents. All of that can be found on our tape series on the Cup of Blessing, which I encourage you to get. The bread represents the body of Jesus, and the body is anointed according to Mark 14. So the body represents the anointing. The blood represents forgiveness and it represents our blessing or our inheritance according to 1 Corinthians 10.
By putting our faith in the blood of Jesus, we’re receiving forgiveness and we’re receiving our inheritance. The body represents the anointing. The blood represents the blessing and forgiveness. I would also say get our teaching on that because it will really revolutionize your whole life and your whole outlook on communion. Taking communion is a lifestyle that we should have.
Question:
I wanted to ask you a question about taking Communion in the privacy of your own home. I have a lot of health issues and I’m facing three different surgeries. Can you tell me what would be the proper way to take Communion in my home? I don’t want to do the wrong thing.
Answered on 03/16/06:Absolutely, I’d be happy to tell you how to do that. First of all, the Bible says, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, do this in remembrance of me.” If you’re doing it to proclaim the power of Jesus Christ, to put your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, you can do it at home, you can do it at church you can do it in your car. I’ve taken Communion in my car. I’ve taken Communion in my home. I’ve taken Communion at church. I’ve taken Communion in my office. It’s a gift from God that God has blessed us with. So first of all, you've got to do it by faith. You've got to know and believe that the power of God will flow through that bread and through that cup.
Secondly, you have to understand what it is you’re believing for. You have to lock in on something that you’re believing for, and then apply your faith to and apply the Body and the Blood to that thing that you’re believing for. In your case, for healing.
And I would encourage you to get our teaching on the subject of Communion. We have a whole series on the Communion Life collection, and I encourage you to get that. Call our toll-free Product line number at 1-888-438-5433 for that product. We’ll ship it out to you. It has a CD, it has a tape series, it has a 30-day devotional all about Communion, and you can take Communion every day. I encourage you to take Communion every day, along with one of those promises on the Blood of Jesus in our 30-day devotional booklet that will really help you.
But by all means, you can go right to it. You can get the bread, get the cup, eat it in Jesus’ name; drink it in Jesus’ name. Put your faith in His sacrifice and realize that His blood can cleanse you from any sin, and heal you from any sickness.
Question:
Do you have to confess all your sins before you take communion?
Answered on 03/16/06:Well, it would be impossible. You should be cognizant of the thing that you’re putting your faith in. When you’re taking communion, you’re saying, "Lord I believe in your blood and I believe your blood cleanses me from all sins, and here are some of the sins that I know of that I believe your blood cleanses me from..."
But no, to think you can only take communion if you’ve confessed all of your sins is very difficult because you’ll miss one or two perhaps. So what you’re knowledgeable about, you should bring before the Lord, but you don’t have to wait for communion before you bring that before the Lord. Confess your sin before the Lord anytime you’ve sinned. Don’t build up a big record of sin and then lay it all out before God. You can be confessing sin when it happens, and then put your faith in God to give you the strength to stop doing it.
Question:
If you are fasting, should you take the Lord's supper?
Answered on 03/16/06:I certainly endorse that when you’re fasting, as the Lord leads you, and as you decide what kind of fast you're doing. If you want to have an absolute fast without any food, then no, you shouldn’t take the Lord’s supper. But one of the ways to break your fast I always encourage, is by taking communion, taking the bread, taking the cup, celebrating the Lord’s body and His blood. That’s a great way to break the fast. And it’s okay to do it in between a fast also. Be careful how much bread you eat if you’re going to do it in between. If it’s done just as an honor to the Lord, it’s great. But if it’s done because you’re hungry, then you’re really not fasting anymore. But it’s ok to break the fast on communion.
Question:
Why don't you recommend that people drink real wine instead of grape juice for communion?
Answered on 03/16/06:Well, the number one reason is the Bible says, “Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit." The second reason is Jesus said, “This is the last time I’m going to drink wine with you until I come into my kingdom, until I drink it with you in my kingdom.” And so, I want to wait to have wine until that day. For you, it might be okay. The Catholic church uses real wine. I don’t think they use grape juice. Other churches use real wine. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that.
For me, if I started sipping, I’d start dipping. I’d be struggling. Because for me it would open up a realm of life that I knew in my past and it may cause me to stumble. I might just be drinking it and drinking it and drinking it. I might be like those altar boys that go down and grab that wine and get drunk. Not that I’m saying that I would. I’m sort of half-jesting. But for some people, they’re alcoholics or they’ve been alcoholics or they’ve been off of alcohol for a long time and to go back to it may become an excuse for them to go back to it by taking communion with it.
So that’s why we offer grape juice. Then everybody can take it, kids and adults and nobody has a problem with it. So that’s the reason why we do it that way. Not to pass judgment on you if in your home, you and your husband eat the bread and drink wine. I would just keep it limited to just a sip or two.
Question:
I’m calling in regards to my mom’s health, and I’d like to ask about the blood of Jesus and also the oil, and the bread and the blood. How can we do that for my mom, who is very ill? And I would like you to pray for my whole family for deliverance and healing and also for salvation.
Answered on 03/16/06:Well, absolutely. No question about it, that with the anointing of oil, that’s clearly something in the Bible that says we should anoint the sick with oil. It says to call for the elders of the church and anoint the sick with oil, in James 5. So we stand with you on that, we just extend our faith to your faith and add our faith to yours.
But also we encourage you to take communion. The healing power of God flows through the blood of Jesus, and when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are affirming our faith and we are releasing our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. So we just stand with you. And I encourage you to absolutely take communion on behalf of your mother and serve communion to your mother. Serve communion to a sick loved one that you have. That’s a beautiful sacrament, I would call it. You know in the Catholic church it’s called a sacrament. The Bible calls it the communion of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s such a beautiful, beautiful force and beautiful gift that God’s given us. Take communion, and, really to sort of give some substance to our faith, t give substance to what we’re believing. The bread and the body is the substance and it’s our faith that’s released through that substance. Okay?
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and so the body and the bread act as a substance, or act as a point of contact. Just like Paul would lay handkerchiefs on sick people in Acts 19, and the sick would be healed when he laid those cloths, those handkerchiefs on them, and that was a point of contact. And so prayer is also a point of contact, so pray for her.
Question:
My question is whether or not you have to be baptized in order to take communion. Can you take communion if you’re not baptized?
Answered on 03/16/06:Do you have to be baptized in order to take communion? Absolutely not. You do not have to be baptized in order to take communion. The fact is that the disciples in the book of Matthew chapter 26, when Jesus had communion with his disciples, they had not been baptized in water, at least to our knowledge; we don’t see them having been baptized at that time and they took communion. So, no, communion is partaking of the body and the blood of Jesus. Believing in His blood, believing in His body, that His body carries an anointing that removes burdens and destroys yokes, His blood carries forgiveness and blessing and the power of God and the life of God. That’s available to anybody who believes, anybody who believes in that blood, anybody who believes in His body has the freedom and the right to take communion.
Question:
I wanted to know, what is the correct way to take communion at home? I brought it to my neighbor and she said that it had to be blessed by a pastor. Am I supposed to bring my grape juice and matzo crackers to the church to be blessed first? She’s Catholic and I said that it says in the Bible, as far as I know, that you can take communion as often as you want. And I’ve been taking this every day now and I love it and I feel better and I’m happy. And I just want to know what things I’m supposed to say in witnessing to somebody.
Answered on 03/16/06:Here’s what you would say to somebody: “What’s blessed is Jesus Christ. The blessing is in Him. He carries all of the blessing. Jesus himself carries the blessing. And the bread and the cup represent the body and the blood of Jesus. Therefore, the blessing is already in the bread and the cup. The blessing is already in the presence of Jesus Christ. That’s where the blessing is. It’s in Christ Jesus.”
Remember, the bread and the cup represent the body and the blood of Jesus, therefore the bread and the cup carry the blessing with it. So, when your friend says, “that needs to be blessed.” You need to say, “No, it needs to be eaten. Because when it’s eaten, that’s when it’s blessed. That’s when the blessing is released.” The matzo crackers in the store aren’t blessed, the grape juice isn’t blessed in the store. But what blessed it is when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you believe that that bread represents His body and that that cup represents His blood, that’s when the blessing flows.
That’s as simple as I would try to say it. When you have communion at home, say something like, “Thank you, Lord, that this is your body and that this is your blood shed for me. I am covered by the blood of Jesus and I eat this and I receive all that it represents. I receive the forgiveness that it represents, the healing that it represents, all the promises of God. I receive it by faith. And it is blessed because it represents the body and blood of Jesus.
There is a Catholic Bible, but it’s not much different from the Bible that you and I read. They have added a couple of different books that the King James doesn’t have in it, but, to my knowledge, it doesn’t say that the bread has to be blessed by the priest. It’s blessed by Jesus and it represents Jesus. So, it doesn’t matter what denomination somebody is a part of, they can take communion as long as they believe in Jesus Christ.
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