Understanding Wigglesworth's Approach to Spiritual Power
Smith Wigglesworth was a British evangelist during the early 1900s who became known for extremely bold healings and a theology that centered on the idea that believers have access to divine power through faith. The phrase "manifesting the divine nature" comes from his teaching that Christians should not just believe in God abstractly but should actively display supernatural power in their daily lives. It is not about positive thinking or wishing for outcomes. It is about operating with the authority that Wigglesworth believed every believer inherits through the Holy Spirit. His core teaching was straightforward but not easy to practice. He said that the divine nature of God is available to every person who trusts Him completely, and that this nature should be visibly demonstrated through healing, provision, and spiritual authority over demonic forces. He frequently quoted 2 Peter 1:4 about partaking in the divine nature, and he treated that verse as a practical mandate rather than a poetic idea. In his view, faith is not a feeling. It is an active force that produces results when exercised without hesitation. I remember sitting in a small church service where someone stood up and asked for prayer about a chronic health problem. The person leading prayer did not ask for details. He did not pray gently or ask God politely if it would be possible. He laid hands on the person and spoke directly, commanding the condition to leave. That is the Wigglesworth style. It sounds harsh if you are used to softer approaches. It worked repeatedly in his ministry. He healed blindness, set broken bones, and claimed to raise people from the dead, according to recorded accounts from his era.
The practical method behind this involves several components that beginners often mess up. First, you have to understand that Wigglesworth treated Scripture as an absolute document. He memorized large portions of the Bible and quoted it constantly in prayer. If you do not know your Bible, you cannot pray with the kind of authority he demonstrated. Second, he prayed with immediacy. He did not waste time asking God questions about what to do. He spoke commands into situations. Third, and this is the part most people miss, he operated without fear of man. He would walk into hospitals and start praying over patients while doctors watched. He did not seek permission. That comes from a deep conviction that God is more present than any obstacle. One specific edge case I ran into involved someone trying to apply this approach in a medical setting. They went to a hospital room and began commanding a disease to leave while family members were present. It went poorly. The patient was confused, the family was hostile, and nothing constructive happened. The workaround was simple but important. You pray privately first. You build trust with the person you are praying for. You explain what you are doing and why. Then you move into direct spiritual action. Wigglesworth himself was gentle with children and always sought consent before laying hands on vulnerable people. The boldness was directed at the sickness, not at the person. There is a common pitfall that deserves mentioning. Many people who read about Wigglesworth assume that manifesting divine nature means demanding miracles on command like you are ordering food. That is wrong. Wigglesworth spent hours in prayer and fasting. He was known to pray for several hours straight before major evangelistic campaigns. The "manifestation" part came after sustained communion with God, not as a replacement for it. If you skip the prayer life and jump straight to commanding outcomes, you will get frustrated and likely give up. The timeline matters more than most teachers admit.
Another nuance that is easy to overlook is how Wigglesworth handled failure or lack of visible results. He did not blame the person he prayed for. He did not say they lacked faith in a way that crushed people. Instead, he prayed longer. He kept going. He treated apparent silence from God as a call to deeper engagement rather than a signal to quit. That is a hard discipline to develop, but it is central to the approach. Most people today want quick visible proof. Wigglesworth's model assumes perseverance through unseen periods. If you want to study this further, the best source is his autobiography, Polarity and Power, edited by his wife Alice. There are also various recordings of his sermons available online from conservative Pentecostal archives. Be careful with compilation books that take quotes out of context. Wigglesworth was blunt and sometimes cryptic. Reading him in full sermons gives you the actual framework instead of isolated soundbites that can be misinterpreted as magical thinking. The downsides to this approach are real. It requires a level of spiritual maturity and biblical literacy that many people do not have. It can be misused by immature believers who start commanding things they have no right to claim. It can also create unrealistic expectations where people think faith guarantees immediate results in every situation. Wigglesworth himself experienced seasons of struggle and grief, including the death of his son. He did not escape hardship. The manifestation of divine nature in his life was not a protection from pain but a demonstration of power within pain.
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For someone wanting to start practicing this, the practical steps are simple but demanding. Memorize key Scripture passages about healing and authority. Spend dedicated time in prayer daily, even if it is only twenty minutes at first. Lay hands on sick people with confidence but always with respect for their situation. Keep a journal of what happens so you can track patterns and learn from both successes and apparent failures. Do not chase signs. Chase obedience to what you already know from Scripture.
