Church in the Mind of God - An Authoritative People

Why do some prayers shift atmospheres while others barely seem to move a pebble? Rev. Dominic De Souza’s message, Church in the Mind of God – An Authoritative People, offers a clear and sobering answer: spiritual authority.

Spiritual authority, he explains, is the permission God gives His people to represent Him—to speak and act in His name, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yet many believers live with what he calls a power deficit. They have the Spirit within them but aren’t walking in His overflow.

Acts 19 paints this in sharp contrast. Paul was so saturated in God’s presence that even his sweat cloths carried healing power. In the same city, the sons of Sceva tried to mimic his words, invoking “the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Lacking intimacy and submission, they were humiliated by the very demons they attempted to cast out.

The lesson? Public impact begins with private intimacy. Paul was known in heaven and feared in hell because of his relationship with Christ. The sons of Sceva knew the formula but not the Person.

True authority comes from intimacy with Jesus and submission to His Lordship. When we walk in purity and surrender, heaven backs us—and hell flees.

Imagine if our homes, workplaces, and communities were filled with believers who live this way: atmosphere setters, carriers of peace, voices of truth. That’s the church in the mind of God—an authoritative people who bring heaven to earth.


Church in the Mind of God – An Authoritative People (Devotional) 

In Acts 19, Paul’s ministry was marked by extraordinary miracles. Even his work rags carried healing because he lived in the overflow of God’s presence. By contrast, the sons of Sceva tried to cast out demons using the “Jesus whom Paul preaches.” They had no intimacy with Christ, and the result was devastating—they fled wounded and exposed.

This story highlights a vital truth: authority flows from relationship and submission, not formulas. Spiritual power isn’t inherited, mimicked, or borrowed; it’s cultivated through daily intimacy with Jesus and wholehearted surrender.

Reverend De Souza reminds us: public impact starts with private intimacy. If our prayers feel powerless, perhaps God is inviting us deeper—not into louder words, but into a surrendered heart.

When we are known in heaven, we become feared in hell. That’s the kind of believer God is calling us to be—authentic, submitted, atmosphere-shifting agents of His kingdom.


Prayer:
Lord Jesus, draw me into deeper intimacy with You. Expose every compromise and help me walk in full submission to Your will. May my life carry Your presence into every space I enter. Let me be known in heaven and feared in hell. Amen.