David says the key to seeing the fulfillment of every promise is found in Mark 11: "Have faith in God."

If I turn you to Mark chapter 11, it's very interesting. Jesus was hungry – it's verse 12 – and seeing a fig tree having leaves, He came thinking that He would find some fruit, and there's nothing, only leaves. And Jesus cursed the fig tree.

But if you then turn to verse 20, the following morning as they pass by, and they saw the fig tree was already dead, Peter said, "Lord, how come?" This is verse 21: "That fig tree which You cursed is already dead."

And Jesus didn't answer him specifically on that question. But what Jesus says in verse 22: "Have faith in God."

Jesus said, "You say this and shall not doubt in your heart, but shall believe that those things which you have said shall happen, shall have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them."

So Jesus is being very specific here: that you can see the most incredible miracles if you have the faith to see it.

There is a solution to every problem and crisis. In your struggle, in your battle for survival, reach out and touch Jesus. What mystery there is in touch. When a child is born, that first touch by the mother means so much. She has carried the child for 9 months yet has never touched him; in that first touch her hopes and dreams are realised. Do you realise how important physical contact is? The child falling over in the street cries out; there is only one comfort, when the mother comes, picks up her child and tenderly embraces him. Her gentle touch is an expression of a mother's love. It is the same with Jesus. His tender touch will wipe away your tears and heal your sick body. These two people in Mark 5 recognised that if they can just touch Jesus a miracle is about to happen.

'Angels beckon me to come a little closer. Then Lord You said to me, leave behind your problems. Fears and troubles, some untold, surrounded by Your love. My tears You'll wipe away. To lean upon Your promises, never turning from You away.' - (Lamb of God)

'Jesus Jesus Jesus', 'Dios es Amor', 'Lamb of God' used by kind permission of Vinesong.

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://eurovision.org.uk 

Over twenty years ago, David was diagnosed with lung cancer. God gave him a clear promise of both health and healing – a word confirmed in Jeremiah 33. As David explains, the key to seeing God’s promises fulfilled is found in Mark 11: “Have faith in God.”

I remember crying out in prayer, asking the Lord to heal me. In response, He gave me a very clear scripture promising not only healing, but sustained health.

Remarkably, God spoke that word to me before the miracle took place. That night, after praying and getting into bed – feeling as though I were at the very point of death – the cancerous growth came out of my mouth. That was over twenty years ago. God didn’t just heal me in that moment; He has preserved my health ever since. It was a wonderful double promise.

I want to encourage you today: God does not simply hear our requests; He makes the impossible happen when we believe. Consider Jesus’ words in Mark 11:22, where He gives us the foundational key: “Have faith in God.”

While imprisoned for smuggling Bibles in 1972, God promised David that he would be miraculously delivered—a promise confirmed through Psalm 68. Seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lives requires both steadfast faith and prayer.

Reflecting on Psalm 68:6, King David writes: “God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound with chains.”

I exclaimed, “Lord, that is the exact verse!”

To me, this meant God would perform two distinct miracles: first, that He would bring me home in time for my birthday; and second, that He would have me home for Easter to minister at the Easter convention.

God did, in fact, release me on my birthday. The British Prime Minister had personally flown out to secure my release, and I sat right beside him on the flight home. When we touched down at Heathrow Airport, the arrival was met with massive media coverage – reporters, press, and television cameras everywhere. He made quite an occasion of it.

Shortly after landing, I received a call from church leaders: “We have witnessed the miracle of your release. Would you have the strength to speak at the Royal Albert Hall this Monday?” Naturally, I answered yes.

Literally to the exact day, God fulfilled both of those promises.

In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah confronts the people: "How long will you falter between two opinions?"

The trouble with Israel was that their religion was not enough. Ultimately, Jesus had to come to deliver people from the deadness of mere religion. He condemned the scribes and the Pharisees, calling them "whitewashed sepulchres" who entered people's homes and robbed the poor. That was Jesus' description of the religious leaders of His day.

Consider Saul: he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, educated under Gamaliel, Jewish by heritage, and a Roman citizen by birth. Yet Saul was the one holding the coats of the men stoning Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Despite his religious credentials, Saul needed a divine encounter. He experienced a complete transformation, going on to become an evangelist whose impact exceeded even the original eleven disciples. He needed a true transformation to change his life.

Throughout history, as in the days of Elijah, God poses that same challenge to His people. That challenge stands before the church today, and it challenges me personally: You must make up your mind. Are you going to serve God or not?

If you are going to serve God, do it completely. Surrender your whole life to Christ. Spiritually, you cannot sit on the fence; you must choose one side or the other. Jesus made it clear: "You must be born again." That is what He told the rich ruler. You do not become a Christian simply because you attend church, because religion is spoken over you, because you pray daily, or because you read the Bible. You become a Christian because you are born again. That is the only entrance into the Kingdom of God.

When Elijah challenged the people, they could not answer a word. In verse 22, Elijah stated: "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are 450 men."

Then came the showdown on Mount Carmel. Elijah proposed: "Bring two bullocks. Let Baal's prophets take one, prepare it, lay it on the wood on their altar, and put no fire under it. I will do the same with the other bullock. Then call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers by fire – let Him be God!"

The prophets of Baal prayed all morning and afternoon. They leaped around the altar and cut themselves until blood gushed out. By midday, Elijah mocked them: "Cry louder! Perhaps he is a god; either he is meditating, or busy, or on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!" They cried louder, but there was no voice, no answer, and no one paying attention – because Baal is no living god.

When the time came for the evening sacrifice, Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord, arranged the wood and the sacrifice, and had water poured over it repeatedly until the trenches were full. Then he stepped forward and prayed: "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant... Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell! It consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried, "The Lord, He is God!"

We need a demonstration of the power of God today. If we are going to impact nations, change the world, and preach the gospel effectively, we cannot rely on empty words. In my ministry, God has continually confirmed the preaching of His Word with powerful miracles. I have lived by faith, by the power of God, and by the power of miracles.

Miracles provide unmistakable evidence. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was through miraculous signs that our ministry was able to reach roughly 80% of the population across Russia and the former Soviet states with the gospel.

God answers by fire. We must call upon Him to answer by fire again. The church today does not need more empty ritual; it needs the fire of God. We need more power, more miracles, and undeniable evidence of His presence.

"O God, in these last days, send Your fire into the church and into our hearts! Baptise us with the Holy Spirit, with power, and with fire. Answer our prayers in Jesus' name, and work miracles today. Amen."

Watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/pGU4qS-3VqY 

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk 

While imprisoned for smuggling Bibles, David received a divine promise of miraculous release – a word confirmed through Psalm 35. Yet, seeing that promise fulfilled required persistent faith and prayer.

In Psalm 35:18, King David writes: “I will give You thanks in the great congregation.”

That was where faith truly came alive for me. Standing in that prison cell, I leapt to my feet and declared, “Lord, that’s the answer!” David spoke of giving thanks in a great congregation, and while it demanded immense faith to believe that for my own life, I embraced it wholeheartedly.

A few days later, as I continued meditating on God's promise, I prayed boldly: “Lord, if You are going to perform such a great miracle, consider my birthday, which falls four days before Easter. Release me on my birthday. If You can perform one miracle, You can surely perform another. If this is Your will, confirm it through another psalm that specifically speaks of freeing those in chains.”

When I opened to Psalm 68:6, I read these words: “God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity [chains].”

I cried out, “Lord, that is the exact verse!”

We see God work two dramatic miracles through Elijah right at the start: first, Elijah shuts up the heavens so that it doesn't rain; second, he speaks God’s promise over the widow of Zarephath, and her jar of flour and cruse of oil never run dry.

Yet by verse 17, reality hits hard. Elijah is living in the widow’s home, and her son falls gravely ill. He stops breathing – he is completely dead.

In her grief, the widow lashes out: "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" (v. 18). It is so easy in our broken human nature to forget yesterday's provision the moment today's tragedy strikes. Without Elijah’s faith, both she and her son would have starved months earlier. Yet pain clouds her memory, and she assumes God has brought this prophet to expose her hidden past.

Elijah doesn't debate her. He simply says, "Give me your son." He carries the boy up to the upper room where he was staying, lays him on his bed, and cries out honestly: "O Lord my God, have You brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge?" Stretching himself over the child three times, he prays, "Let this child’s soul come into him again."

God hears Elijah. The boy breathes, his life returns, and Elijah carries him downstairs: "See, your son lives." Only then does the woman say, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."

Facing Ahab (1 Kings 18)

After more than three years of severe drought, God directs Elijah to step back into the fire: "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."

Even within a corrupt royal house, God has a faithful remnant. Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's palace, had risked his life to hide one hundred prophets of the Lord in caves, feeding them bread and water while Jezebel slaughtered the rest. When Elijah commands Obadiah to arrange an audience with Ahab, Obadiah obeys.

When Ahab meets Elijah, the king immediately shifts blame: "Are you the one who troubles Israel?" (v. 17).

Elijah doesn't flinch: "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals." Ahab was blind to the truth: the drought was not the prophet's malice; it was the direct consequence of the king's idolatry.

Mount Carmel: Refusing the Middle Ground

Elijah demands a showdown on Mount Carmel before all Israel, pitting the solitary prophet of God against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Standing before the nation, Elijah delivers a challenge that echoes directly into our modern world:

"How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." (v. 21)

The scripture records a chilling silence: "The people answered him not a word."

You cannot sit on a spiritual fence. Try sitting on a physical fence – eventually, you fall off one side or the other. True faith does not allow for neutral ground. Israel was immersed in religious ritual, yet devoid of genuine surrender to God. Religion alone does not save; only covenant obedience does.

The Speed of Human Forgetfulness

This spiritual fickleness runs straight through Israel's history. When God delivered them from Egypt with ten devastating plagues and parted the Red Sea before their eyes, how long did it take for their devotion to crumble?

Within just a few weeks of seeing the sea split in half, Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the Law, and the people below were already stripping off their Egyptian gold to fashion a molten calf. Later, after the spies scouted the Promised Land for 40 days, the nation melted in fear, rejected God’s promise, and turned a short journey into 40 years of wilderness wandering.

The pattern is stark: whether it is the widow in Zarephath, the crowd on Mount Carmel, or the camp at the foot of Sinai, human hearts turn remarkably fast from witnessing God's power to questioning His goodness. The call of Elijah remains urgent for us today: stop halting between two opinions, lay aside the compromise, and decide whom you will truly serve.

Watch the YouTube version: https://youtu.be/pdiwX1NzE-0 

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk 

The miraculous healing I experienced from throat cancer built a foundation of faith for an even greater trial years later. When I was sentenced to ten years in a foreign prison—five for smuggling Bibles and five for preaching the Gospel with the underground church – I turned to God, praying for deliverance.

Just three days after the trial, the Lord spoke to me through a vivid dream. He showed me that I would be released and standing in London’s largest auditorium, preaching to 10,000 people at an Easter convention. That dream provided two clear assurances: first, that I would definitely be set free; and second, it gave me an exact timeline – Easter.

I held onto that promise in prayer. Five months later, I managed to smuggle a Bible into my cell. Prompted by the Holy Spirit to look at the writings of King David, I opened to Psalm 35:18: "I will give You thanks in the great congregation."

Immediately, faith ignited in my spirit. I leapt to my feet inside that prison cell, knowing without a doubt that God’s word was sealed and my deliverance was on the way.

Answers to prayer are deeply intertwined with our faith. When Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration, He found nine of His disciples unable to cast out a demon. When they asked why they had failed, Jesus pointed directly to their lack of faith, explaining that such breakthroughs require prayer and fasting. To see real answers to our prayers, we must maintain a positive posture of faith in both what we speak and how we pray.

I experienced this firsthand when God healed my throat cancer. The very next day, the doctors were astonished to find the tumour completely gone – cut out not by human hands, but by the hand of God.

That miracle anchored my faith years later when I was sentenced to ten years in a foreign prison: five years for smuggling Bibles and five years for preaching the Gospel with the underground church. As I prayed for God to deliver me, He answered just three days after my trial. Through a dream, the Lord showed me that I would be set free and return to London to preach to 10,000 people at an Easter convention in the city’s largest auditorium. When we pray with unwavering faith, God makes the impossible possible.

We all experience difficult circumstances. But what creates and defines your character, and with it your whole Christian life, is your reaction, not just to what is said, but what happens to you! If you believe God, you believe His Word - it's the same thing! God and His Word are the same! The decisions I have taken in my life have been formed by the Word of God. If you believe God, nothing is impossible - I expect miracles - the Bible teaches you to expect a miracle. - What is your reaction to your crisis? Anybody can pray, but it takes a determined believer to get answers from God. And the answer, when it comes, does not come in the ordinary way - but by fire! We must live by prayer and the Word of God! What else do you have? The Bible says that man does not live by the ordinary things, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. I believe Him. Let your reaction be: never give up, translate your faith and prayer into action!!! He will not fail you. 

Often my reaction is somewhat extreme, because people are telling me that God is not big enough or powerful enough to do what we ask. All I know is that the Bible says God does the impossible things if we dare to ask Him - after all, there are many gods in the world - but the God I worship is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the only real evidence of who He is, is seen by His miraculous actions! We have a prayer answering God!

'On Christ the Solid Rock' & 'Let Your Living Water Flow' used by kind permission of Vinesong.

For more information on the Ministry of David Hathaway https://www.eurovision.org.uk