John G. Lake
John Graham Lake was born on 18 March 1870, in Ontario,
Canada. And in 1886 moved with his family to Michigan. He
was one of 16 children. Along with many of his brothers and
sisters, he developed a strange digestive disease. This
disease killed eight of them, but he managed to survive.
This overexposure to sickness and sorrow sparked in him a
rare and intense desire for the power of God. One day while
a young man, he wrote, "God made me aware of my true need
when I needed healing from heaven." As a member of the
Methodist church, he had only witnessed one healing.
Lake studied for the ministry in the Methodist church and in
October 1891, he was appointed pastor of the church in
Peshtigo, Wisconsin. But rater than be a pastor here, he
chose to go into business and founded a newspaper The Harvey
Citizen.
He met and married Jennie Stevens in 1893 at Michigan. This
was followed by setting up a real estate business, Michigan.
On his first day, he made $2500 and at the end of a year and
nine months, he had $100,000 in the bank, $90,000 worth of
real estate and a $30,00 paid-up life insurance policy. He
also helped start The Soo Times paper, and he also bought a
seat on the Chicago Board of Trade.
He was later hired to manage one of the country's largest
insurance companies. Part of his job was to manage the
company' agents. He found that in his work he preferred to
talk about salvation rather than business. He told his
partners that he needed a holiday. He had a wage of $50,000
a year to come back to, but chose to leave shortly after,
never to return to the business. He was now in full time
ministry. It was at this time he also decided to dispose of
all his possessions and use the money to meet the needs of
others. Later his wife also became sick with a heart disease
and tuberculosis. And at this time he still had two members
of the family critically ill, (cancer and issue of blood)
and one an invalid for twenty-two years.
John Alexander Dowie became a door of hope for Lake. As he
began to take his family one by one, he saw them get
miraculously healed. It was in this time of stress that he
received a revelation of the scripture in Acts 10:38. As he
read how God had anointed Jesus to heal all that were
oppressed by the devil - it suddenly came alive to him.
Spiritual Awakening Lake later learned a great lesson from
John Alexander Dowie when he criticized some of Dowie'
methods. Dowie soon told him that when he had had the vision
that he has had, shed the tears he has, suffered what he had
suffered and in God created a city of ten thousand
Christians, then he would be competent enough to criticize.
Lake took to heart what he had heard and began to establish
a work in South Africa, which lasted for decades and grew to
seven hundred thousand in number in a nation of fifteen
million.
His hunger for God continued to grow. After nine months of
prayer, fasting and many shed tears, he was finally baptized
in the Holy Ghost, whilst in someone else' house where he
had gone to pray for a sick lady. His life became more
powerful after this; God flowed through him with a new
force. And healings were of a more powerful order. To Lake,
the baptism of the Holy Ghost was to give the Spirit of God
such absolute control of the person that the Spirit will be
able to speak through them in unknown tongues. Anything less
he classified as being "covered" with deep anointing yet not
sufficient to be called a proper baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Lake had a revelation of the purpose that God had in mind
for the human race.
To lift people in life and consciousness to the same
level that Jesus himself enjoyed. This is the same vision
that stirs our hearts today. A vision of the divine reality
of the salvation of Jesus Christ. The knowledge of the
relationship between your soul and of the soul Christ. His
Ministry John Lake was a strong, rugged character with a
loving and winning personality. He was about six feet to six
feet two inches tall, and weighed about two hundred pounds.
He had clear gray eyes and a hearty laugh. In 1901, Lake and
his family moved to Zion City, but three years later left
again. On 19 April 1908, he and his family left Indianapolis
for a five-year missionary stay in South Africa. Here he
founded the apostolic Church and was elected president, with
one 125 white and 500 native congregations eventually
organized. He returned to the United States in 1912, after
his wife died unexpectedly of a stroke.
He never returned to Africa after this. John G. Lake had a
deep love for his family. One of the greatest blows to him
was the loss of his wife while he was on the mission field.
In 1913, he married Florence Switzer of Milwaukee and
fathered another five children - giving him twelve children.
Then in 1914 he took his family and moved to Spokane,
Washington. Here he purchased some rooms in an old office
building. Lake transformed these offices into the Divine
Healing Institute. This was a place for healing and a place
where you could learn how to apply God' healing power to
your everyday life. A place where miracles happened.
He saw many miracles in these rooms. One in particular was
that of Mrs. Teske, who at thirty-five years of age had
developed a fibroid tumor: "A twisted mass of muscle and
sinew, arteries and veins, teeth and hair. The most
disorganized twisted and jumbled mass that is possible."
This tumor was thirty pounds in weight that would equal the
size of four seven and a half pound babies. One day she
could no longer stand, nor sit, and out of her agony, she
cried out to Jesus for healing. The power of God came on her
and she began to twist and crunch, and within three minutes
she was totally healed. The tumor had utterly vanished.
Lake had a right concept of God as a loving Father. He also
had compassion, holiness, boldness, vision, humility, faith
and prayer. All of these points play a part and they are all
needed.
John G. Lake died in 1935, he was sixty-five years old.
His Nature and Lifestyle He never refused to answer the call
of one who was sick, nor did he turn them away. Even to the
point that he went to a strange city in Africa planning to
get some rest. Once they knew he was there, they brought the
sick, the blind, and the crippled. His compassion went out
to them and God strengthened him in his time of need.
Mrs. Lake was also a versatile woman. She never knew when he
would bring someone home or give away their groceries. This
did not bother Mrs. Lake; she also had a love for His
people.
He was very bold when he talked on the things of God. In a
conference in Africa they were discussing the tremendous
influence of the native medicine men Ôwitch doctors". Lake
said to them, "Why don’t you cast the devil out of them and
get people delivered from their power." Lake reminded them
of the scripture "greater is he that is in you than he that
is in the world".
He was also called to pray for a man in Johannesburg, South
Africa. They had locked him away as he was in delirium
tremens (disorder due to heavy drinking) as he had already
tried to over power four young men, almost killing them. But
again, Lake stood on the promise, greater is he that is in
you, and soon this man was delivered and on his knees
weeping and praying, he had become human again.
He was a faith man, like all the other men of God. And God
supplied his every need. One day he came home and his son
told him they had no food, that they had just given the last
of it to the younger children. His response, "Ô let us pray"
and before breakfast, the next day a vehicle came with food
for them.
He was a man who refused to compromise. Nothing would sway
him from the word of God.
Lake was a very humble man, he always gave God the glory,
and it was His power in him that did the things he did. He
said, "his soul was not big enough to carry the wonder of
God, nor his heart subdued enough. It was an anointing of
power".
Lake was also a man of prayer. He spent time on his knees
praying but also like to walk and pray. This was his
favorite way of communing with God.
The anointing is given for service, go out and use it; let
it use you to destroy the works of the devil. Then you can
run and pray, and pray as you run.
Lake had an all round message and understanding of the word.
He not only taught on healing, but also on every subject
needed to build a good, balanced Christian life. His sermons
were twenty to thirty minutes long and he would take a point
and develop it with living and real illustrations. They were
driving, fearless messages. Yet, in ministering to the sick,
he had a marvelous compassion and tenderness.
In finishing, I just want to share a vision given to John G.
Lake while pasturing in Portland, Oregon.
"In answer to a cry from Lake' heart, the angel took the
Bible and opened to the book of Acts. He called attention to
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
and then proceeded thorough the book pointing out the great,
outstanding revelations and phenomena in it. Then the angel
spoke these words:
"This is Pentecost as God gave it through the heart of
Jesus. STRIVE FOR THIS. CONTEND FOR THIS. TEACH THE PEOPLE
TO PRAY FOR THIS. For this, and this alone, will meet the
necessity of the human heart, and this alone will have the
power to overcome the forces of darkness."
As the angel was departing, he said: PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Teach
the people to pray. Prayer and prayer alone, much prayer,
persistent prayer, is the door of entrance into the heart of
God.
By Liz Godschalk (c) Anointed for Revival, 1995, Brisbane,
Australia. Internet:
http://www.pastornet.net.au/renewal/ Reproduction
is allowed as long as the copyright remains intact with the
text.
With permission from Job Anbalagan gloryofhiscross@yahoo.co.in