Student Study Guide
Chapter 3
The Greater Works
Section 1 — The Night in Chicago
Section One
In July 1996, Dr. Morris Cerullo called Steve early one morning and asked him to make sure his three grandchildren were baptized in the Holy Spirit before the week's conference ended. That morning, Steve prayed for all three, and all three were instantly filled, speaking in tongues.
That night, as guest speakers prayed spiritual warfare prayers over the stadium, Steve saw four massive demonic principalities positioned over the crowd: Rebellion, Seducing Spirits, Pornography and Drug Addiction, and a Religious Spirit. Preacher after preacher prayed, but none of them called out what Steve was seeing. Then Dr. Cerullo spotted him at the edge of the platform, pulled the microphone from another speaker's hand, put it in Steve's, and commanded one word: "Pray!" The moment Steve named the principalities, the atmosphere over the entire stadium broke open.
Think It Through
Steve says he was not generating something new when he prayed that night — he was "agreeing with a prayer that had already been deposited" by Dr. Cerullo's own time in prayer. What do you think that distinction means in practice?
Your Thoughts
Recall Check
Fill in these details from the story above, from memory.
Dr. Cerullo asked that his grandchildren be baptized in the Holy Spirit and praying in before the week was over.
The four principalities were Rebellion, Seducing Spirits, Pornography and Drug Addiction, and a Spirit.
Dr. Cerullo put the microphone in Steve's hand and commanded one word: "!"
Section 2 — The Most Staggering Promise Jesus Ever Made
Section Two
Remember From Section 1
Dr. Cerullo's lifelong prayer was, "Father, take the anointing that is upon my life and help me transfer it to ."
On the night before He died, Jesus told eleven frightened, grieving men that anyone who believes in Him would do the same works He did — and greater. Not the same. Greater: in scope, in redemptive reach, in the number of lives touched. And then He gave the mechanism: not a program or method, but a door. "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do."
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
— John 14:12–13
Later in this book you will learn that saying yes to God is only the beginning. There is a deeper step called alignment — genuinely wanting what God wants, not just obeying it. Keep that word "believes" in the back of your mind; it means more than you think.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
"...the works that I do he will do also; and works than these he will do."
"Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the may be glorified in the Son."
Reflection
"Greater works" is one of the most quoted and least experienced promises in the church today. Why do you think that gap exists?
Your Thoughts
Section 3 — He Who Believes
Section Three
Remember From Section 2
The channel through which the greater works are released always begins in .
Everything in Jesus' promise hinges on three words: "he who believes." In Greek, pisteuo is not a one-time mental agreement. It is the verb form of pistis — fidelity, loyalty, ongoing submission to authority. A Roman centurion demonstrated exactly what this looks like when he asked Jesus to heal his servant from a distance: "I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this one, Go, and he goes." Jesus marveled and said He had not found such great faith in all of Israel.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Pistis, the root of pisteuo, means — loyalty and submission to authority.
The centurion said, "I am a man under , having soldiers under me."
Jesus said, "I have not found such great , not even in Israel."
Contrast Table
| Mental Belief (Assent) | Pisteuo (Continual Submitted Loyalty) |
|---|---|
Reflection
The centurion never doubted Jesus' power — he recognized Jesus' submission to a higher authority. Where in your own life do you find it easier to believe God CAN do something than to actually live under His authority?
Your Thoughts
Section 4 — The Foundation Jesus Laid Before the Commission
Section Four
Remember From Section 3
The centurion said, "I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he ."
Jesus did not begin the Upper Room discourse with the greater-works promise. Eleven verses of deliberate, layered teaching came first. He told the grieving disciples He was going to prepare a place for them — not real estate, but a people in whom God would live. When Thomas asked how they could know the way, Jesus answered with an "I Am" statement, then revealed the secret behind every work He had ever done.
"The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works."
— John 14:10
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
"I am the way, the truth, and the ."
"The Father who in Me does the works."
Reflection
Jesus says even His own miracles were not performed through an independent exercise of His divine power, but through the Father's unbroken indwelling. What does that reveal about where YOUR power for the "greater works" is supposed to come from?
My Thoughts
Section 5 — What Alignment with Heaven Actually Means
Section Five
Remember From Section 4
The Father's house is not a location — it is a in whom God lives.
Most believers read Matthew 16:19 backward — as if binding and loosing means declaring something on earth and heaven ratifying it after the fact. The Greek verbs are perfect passive participles, and the AMPC recovers the true direction: whatever you bind on earth "must be what is already bound in heaven." The believer is not the author of the reality. The believer is the voice of it. The intercessor's first work is not declaration. It is listening.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Whatever you bind on earth must be what is already in heaven.
The intercessor's first work is not declaration. It is .
The intercessor is not generating the reality. They are it.
Reflection
If binding and loosing means discovering what heaven has already decided rather than deciding it yourself, how would that change the way you approach a prayer request today?
Your Thoughts
Section 6 — The Motive That Unlocks the Authority
Section Six
Remember From Section 5
Elijah did not author the rain on Mount Carmel — he was the of what heaven had already decided.
Jesus does not simply say He will do whatever we ask. He tells us why: "that the Father may be glorified in the Son." That phrase is not decorative — it is the motive that determines whether the full authority of heaven stands behind an intercession. Every answered prayer is evaluated by this standard, not by how impressive the ministry becomes.
"God is not building an army of spiritual celebrities. He is building an army of believers who have learned to disappear into the place of submission and come out carrying what they did not generate themselves."
Notice that the "greater works" flow only when someone has first discovered what the Father is doing. Later in this book you will meet a specific term for that kind of discovery — a rhema word, a word from God for a specific moment. Watch for it.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
"...that the Father may be in the Son."
God is building an army of believers who have learned to disappear into the place of .
One More Table
| What It Looks Like | What Is Actually True |
|---|---|
| Steve simply "prayed well" that night in Chicago | He agreed with an anointing Dr. Cerullo had already carried into that room through his own prior intercession |
| Where might God be inviting you to simply "agree" with what He has already deposited in someone else, rather than trying to originate something new? |
"You are in that army." Write a short, honest response to that statement as it applies to your life right now.
My Response
Personal Prayer Journal
Write a prayer asking God to show you where you have been trying to originate your own prayer requests instead of first listening for what He has already purposed.
Chapter 3 — Practice Test
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Part A: Multiple Choice (5 questions · 2 pts each)
1. What is the key difference between pisteuo (as used in John 14:12) and simple intellectual belief?
2. What did the Roman centurion understand that amazed Jesus?
3. According to the corrected translation of Matthew 16:19, what does binding and loosing actually mean?
4. In John 14:10, what does Jesus reveal about the source of His own words and works?
5. What is "the motive that unlocks the authority" behind John 14:13?
Part B: True or False (6 statements · 1 pt each)
1. Pisteuo in John 14:12 refers to a one-time mental agreement rather than ongoing submission.
2. The centurion recognized that Jesus' authority worked the same way his own military chain of command worked.
3. Correctly translated, Matthew 16:19 teaches that believers originate new realities that heaven then follows.
4. Jesus said the words He spoke were not His own, but the Father's, dwelling in Him.
5. The four principalities Steve saw over the stadium in Chicago included a Religious Spirit.
6. According to this chapter, the greater works exist mainly to build impressive ministries and platforms.
Part C: Fill in the Blank (5 items · 1 pt each)
1. "...the works that I do he will do also; and works than these he will do." (John 14:12)
2. "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13)
3. The Greek word pisteuo means ongoing and submission to authority.
4. "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who in Me does the works." (John 14:10)
5. The intercessor is not generating the reality. They are it.
Part D: Short Answer (completion credit)
1. Explain in your own words what the centurion understood about authority that amazed Jesus.
2. Why does the corrected translation of Matthew 16:19 ("must be what is already bound in heaven") change how we should approach binding and loosing in prayer?
3. What does it mean that "the Father who dwells in Me does the works," and how does that reshape what Jesus is offering us in "greater works"?
Part E — Before You Leave
One area where I have been trying to "originate" a prayer request rather than first listening for what heaven has already decided:
A situation where I have been asking God to bless MY plan rather than asking what He is already doing:
My commitment this week: