John G. Lake
John Graham Lake (1870–1935) was an American-Canadian healing evangelist and missionary whose 42-year ministry stands as one of the most documented demonstrations of the Way of Fire in modern history. With over 250,000 confirmed healings across his ministry and 100,000+ healings documented in just five years in Spokane, Washington, Lake provides measurable, reproducible evidence that apostolic authority did not end with the Book of Acts.12
The Foundation: Complete Obedience
The Way of Fire begins with radical surrender. Lake understood this viscerally. His foundational covenant prayer revealed his understanding:
"God, if you will baptize me in the Holy Spirit and give me the power of God, nothing shall be permitted to stand between me and one hundredfold obedience."3
This wasn't casual religious language. He prayed this prayer for nine consecutive months, not as an intellectual exercise but as a desperate plea for empowerment through complete surrender.
Lake then lived what he prayed. He spent seasons in extended fasting specifically to gain particular spiritual authority. During one six-day fast, while washing his hands, the Holy Spirit spoke to him about his authority over demons. His daily practice involved detaching himself from worldly concerns so completely that while his hands and mind engaged in common affairs, his spirit maintained constant communion with God.3
The Five Principles of Consecration
Lake published "My Consecration as a Christian," which outlined five detailed principles of radical commitment:4
- Complete glorification of God — He would consecrate his entire life to glorify God through obedience
- Unceasing intercession — He would never cease crying to God for mankind's deliverance through seasons of prayer and fasting
- Meekness without self-defense — He would live in meekness without defending personal rights
- Righteousness over comfort — He would value righteous acts above food or comfort
- Mercy and forgiveness — He would always remain merciful and forgiving
These weren't aspirational statements—they were lived commitments.
Supernatural Authority Over Darkness
One of the most striking principles of the Way of Fire is that believers exercise dominion over demonic powers just as Jesus promised. Lake took this literally. He spent an intentional season of prayer and fasting specifically requesting an anointing for casting out demons. The Lord answered. People traveled worldwide to his meetings specifically to be delivered and set free from demonic oppression—and the testimonies are extensively documented.5
Lake taught that this authority flows from the believer becoming:
"A Christ-man having all the potentials through the Holy Spirit that resided in Christ Himself."6
This wasn't mysticism; it was operational theology. His understanding was that the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence made the believer a master over every power of darkness in the world. He dealt with Legion-level demonic activity—the kind that possessed thousands in Scripture. The security of this authority came not from human merit but from the Lord's dominion and victory.56
Healing as Supernatural Normal
The Way of Fire rejects the modern assumption that miraculous healing is exceptional or rare. Lake demonstrated that it becomes the norm when faith meets obedience.
Documented Results
His documented track record is extraordinary:12
- Over 250,000 confirmed healings across his ministry
- 100,000+ healings documented in just five years (1915-1920) in Spokane, Washington
- Spokane declared the healthiest city in the United States in 1918
Systematic Approach to Healing
Lake's approach to healing reveals deeper principles. He didn't operate as a lone healer with special gifting reserved for a few. Instead, he:
- Trained 16 Divine Healing Technicians
- Established the Divine Healing Institute to systematize the healing ministry
- Taught that healing is not a privilege but a right of believers
Whether through laying on of hands, speaking with authority, or commanding diseases to leave, healing became an expectation, not an exception.1
Saturating Your Being with God
Lake understood the power of declarations. He would stand in front of a mirror and declare:
"God is in me. God's life is my life. God's health is my health."
He called this "saturating your being with the reality of God"—not asking God to do something, but acknowledging what was already true because the Holy Spirit lived inside him.
The Bubonic Plague Testimony
When bubonic plague struck South Africa, Lake put plague germs on his hand under a microscope. The germs died instantly upon contact with his body. He said the life of God in him destroyed the germs—a vivid demonstration of truth vs facts theology.7
Holy Spirit Baptism with Fire
Lake grounded his entire ministry in what he called the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with fire—a second work of grace beyond conversion. Drawing on John the Baptist's words, Lake taught that this baptism represented God Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit coming to indwell the believer with transformative power.89
The fire imagery matters: it purifies, it empowers, it consumes all else.
Lake's own experience of this baptism was dramatic:
"The glory of this experience remained permanently in my soul, transforming my nature so completely that I could lay hands on any person and discern what organ was diseased and to what extent."6
This wasn't one moment of power—it was the beginning of a transformed existence where the Holy Spirit didn't just visit but permanently indwelt and controlled him.
Rejecting Lukewarm Religion
A critical principle of the Way of Fire is rejecting what Lake called "lukewarm religion." His teaching on this was uncompromising:
"Approximately 90 percent of so-called Christianity is spelled out in four letters: 'DON'T'—external restraint and law-keeping. True Christianity is spelled in two letters: 'BE'—the Holy Spirit transforming your inner nature so you naturally manifest Christ's character."10
Daily Surrender
This required daily commitment. Lake taught that hundred-fold consecration to God takes an individual forever out of the hands of all but God. It demands a free-will decision made every single day:
"Present yourself to the Lord and say, 'Here I give myself completely. I lay aside my doing, my trying, and I surrender all on this altar.' Not once, but daily."10
Authority Through Deep Scripture Knowledge
The Way of Fire is not anti-intellectual; it's supra-rational. Lake spent seasons in fasting and prayer, searching Christian literature, studying theological libraries, and meditating on Scripture to unlock its deepest mysteries. His sermons were described as powerful and revelatory, emerging from a Spirit-guided understanding of biblical truth.511
His approach was that the Word of God must become absolute authority—not subject to opinion, not filtered through tradition, but standing as final truth over one's life. As he meditated on Scripture, the Holy Spirit would unfold the mysteries of the Kingdom.
Community Transformation and Rooted Ministry
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Lake's Way of Fire is that it wasn't a traveling phenomenon—it was rooted, institutional, and reproducible. He didn't conduct a revival and leave town.
South Africa (1908-1912)
After five years in South Africa:12
- 100,000 people saved
- 600 churches established
Healing Rooms Ministry
He established Healing Rooms in multiple cities:2
- Spokane, Washington
- Portland, Oregon
- Sacramento, California
- San Diego, California
- Houston, Texas
He trained teams. He planted churches. He built systems designed to outlast his personal ministry.
Reproducible Results
When he felt called to move from Spokane to Portland, he replicated the model with the same results—over 100,000 healings in five years.12
This reveals a critical insight: the Way of Fire is not a lone wolf phenomenon. It's about training others, building institutions, and creating systems where supernatural power becomes embedded in community structures.
Lasting Legacy
Lake's apprentices continued his work long after him. Cal Pierce took up the torch in 1999, continuing the healing rooms ministry that operates today in cities around the world.2
Why Lake Matters Today
John G. Lake's documented life provides exactly what skeptics need: not anecdotal claims but historical documentation of sustained, measurable, reproducible supernatural authority operating through ordinary believers who chose complete obedience.
Lake walked in the same authority the Book of Acts describes:
- He exercised dominion over sickness and demons
- He trained others to do the same
- He built lasting institutions around the power of God
- He refused lukewarm religion and demanded that faith become a total lifestyle commitment
And he did this for 42 years with thousands of documented healings, not in a theologically sophisticated culture but in early 20th-century industrial cities where skepticism was the default.
The Way of Fire, as Lake exemplified it, is not mystical fantasy. It's the practical outworking of complete obedience, radical surrender, and dependence on the Holy Spirit operating through believers who refuse to settle for powerless religion.
"The age of miracles has not passed. When believers walk in the Way of Fire as Lake did—with hundred-fold obedience, supernatural authority, and unwavering faith—the Book of Acts continues."
Related
- Smith Wigglesworth
- Kathryn Kuhlman
- William Seymour
- Lester Sumrall
- The Way of Fire
- The Fire
- Healing
- Deliverance
- Obedience