The Anointing Of The Holy Spirit
THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - PART 1
Revivalist Todd Bentley
The Anointing Brings Supernatural Ability
Jesus told his disciples “…apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5) Likewise, we must have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives or we can't accomplish anything with eternal value (1 Cor. 3:13 ). Walking in the anointing means that God's supernatural power is on our lives enabling us to do what we cannot do in and of ourselves. Listen! It's good that we can't do the work of the ministry in our own strength; if we could, then we wouldn't need the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit and I believe that the Holy Spirit is going to empower us today with supernatural ability by bringing a fresh anointing on our lives and our ministries. The intensity of this outpouring will be so great that burdens and heavy yokes won't just break off, they will be completely destroyed and removed. Now that's supernatural ability! The prophet Isaiah said that the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil, or the anointing.
“It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isaiah 10: 27).
Mountains of hindrance, obstacles and impossibilities in our lives will be moved and removed, sickness and disease will be healed, because the anointing is going to make us breakthrough and break out on every side. When we need God to empower us to run through a troop or leap over a wall He's going to help us (Ps. 18:29 ). In situations where we need to press forward with the anointing called “multiplication,” God is going to strengthen us to push in for the breakthrough. [Multiplication means that in the areas where we need an increase so that God's kingdom can advance, He will multiply what we are (already) faithful with, what we have in our hand, and He will bring the increase. The areas that need increase may relate to our health, finances, business, sphere of influence, etc.]
Anointed with Fresh Oil
Let's get hungry for the anointing! I want us to look at this scripture: “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil” (Psalm 92:10). The word “horn” means strength. Here the strength of God is released like a wild ox! What I understand about fresh oil is that when we're anointed with fresh oil our strength gets exalted. Our ‘horn' gets exalted like a wild ox. In my life, I've experienced God's Spirit coming upon me almost like it came upon Samson of old when he was so strong that he slew one thousand with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:16). Supernatural ability has come upon me in such a strong way that it was like I could take on every demon in hell and cast them out with a word! And there are moments when such a huge amount of God's Spirit gets on me in a crusade service that I've felt at times like a giant in the spirit with so much power and authority on me that if I just pointed my finger at someone, they would be healed.
I've had so many opportunities to preach the gospel and heal the sick while the fresh oil is flowing. Often I feel like one of the righteous ones who's flourishing like a palm tree: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. They shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon ” (v. 12). One of the most majestic trees in the Middle East is the cedar of Lebanon. I know how big cedars can get here in British Columbia , Canada . We have cedars here that we can drive a small car through. This Psalm is describing the righteous flourishing like a palm tree and growing like a cedar in Lebanon, which means the righteous are full of strength. The righteous who are “ planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bare fruit in old age. They shall be fresh or they shall be fat and flourishing” (Ps. 92:13-14). They are the ones who are fat and green and who will “ declare that the Lord is upright.” The righteous will preach the gospel!
When we declare that the Lord is upright, we are essentially declaring that He is just and merciful. And then He comes with a demonstration of his power. In one of our meetings when a man came up to the stage I felt such an anointing of the power of God and His compassion for this man that I just knew anything we said or did would release God's power in his life. He told us that the upper right side of his lung was removed in 1968; he had to take several different medications for over 30 years. Even the left side of his lung had scars on it. Well, as he stood there speaking, a boldness came upon me to declare, “And God will give you new lungs!” Then I pointed at his chest and the power of God picked him up ten feet and threw him back. He landed on the cement floor without a catcher and got up healed, with a brand new lung! He went to the Dr. and got an x-ray and the part of the lung that was surgically removed had grown back into place. He's off all the medication and his breathing is completely normal. (I have the documentation on file to show anyone.)
Another time I was in a crusade in Tanzania , Africa when I felt the mighty strength of God come on me. It was like I was anointed with fresh oil. The night before at the crusade there were some good miracles and God moved, but I felt some resistance. So as I prepared my heart for the second night, I asked the Holy Spirit why the resistance happened. He answered by saying, “I have anointed you with fresh oil. I'm going to put a brand new anointing on you for tonight's service. I'm going to give you the spirit and power of Elijah (Lk. 1:17 ). After those words I felt the Lord anoint my horn and literally exalt my strength. Supernatural power and authority came on me to the point that the Lord told me, “When you go to the crusade tonight, I want you to open the crusade by telling every witch doctor, every witch and every voodoo doctor to run to the altar and give his life to Jesus immediately. No sermon, nothing else!” (Every day at the crusade there were body parts, animal parts, blood and sacrifices on the grounds.)
Just like the first night, the witches, witch doctors, sorcerers and the voodoo doctors were all there. My strength was exalted and I felt like I could literally take one hand and squish every person that attended the crusade service! I felt like a giant in the spirit realm ready to take on the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel ! It was a supernatural anointing. So I released this challenge: “If you're a witch doctor, if you've been cursed by a witch doctor, or if you practice witchcraft, voodoo or sorcery, the Lord told me that right now there is an anointing upon me tonight to tell you to give your life to Jesus Christ. I'm going to break the power of witchcraft and you're going to come to the altar and get saved right now!” And 500 witches, witchdoctors and sorcerers came down to the altar and we counted 497 who got saved on the spot!
Let me tell you, when the anointing comes upon our lives and we can declare “I've been anointed with fresh oil,” the first thing that will happen is our strength will be exalted. It will be like when God came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and he outran the chariots of Ahab in the natural to the next city (1 Kings 18:46 ). It would be great if God's anointing came upon us with fresh oil to the degree that we were able to go in the strength of the anointing for 40 days, like Elijah did after he ate some bread and drank some water that an angel brought him (1 Kings 19:8)! Listen! We could go in the strength of the anointing that comes fresh upon our lives and ministries so that in the next six months we run farther than we would have run in the next 6 years. And we could run faster in the next six days than we ran in the last six months. You see, that's the anointing of acceleration.
I believe that the might and strength of God will come upon us at specific God-ordained times so that the anointing of boldness and the fire of God will cause us to feel like giants in the Spirit. God will give us supernatural strength as we gird up our loins, so that we can take on new levels, take ground in the spirit and outrun the chariot! It will happen because we will declare like the psalmist, “I have been anointed with fresh oil. My horn and my strength is exalted.” God wants to anoint us like this today!
Also, there is an anointing of fresh oil found in the presence of the Lord where we aren't only anointed, we're actually like the olive tree that brings forth the fresh oil. King David said that he was like a green olive tree in the house of God (Ps. 52:8). Listen to what David was saying about himself: “ I want to describe what the anointing of God is like on my life. The only way I can describe it is to say that I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God. I'm not only anointed with fresh oil, but I'm like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord that produces the oil. I'm in a place in the spirit where I'm in the ever-flowing, ever-increasing anointing. Listen! You've got the anointing, but I'm like the one who produces it.”
When we're planted in the house of God in His presence, then the anointing that David had will happen. It's always about being in the presence of the Lord and then just like David, we know we're like a green olive tree; fresh; fat; flourishing, and fruitful. See, that's what the anointing will do. Even in our old age we will bear fruit (Ps. 92:14). “By this is your Father glorified that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples (Jn. 15:8).” That fat, green, flourishing happens when we declare, “I've been anointed with fresh oil.” And when we've been anointed with fresh oil, our horn and strength is exalted like the wild ox. It's the ever-flowing, ever-increasing anointing. That's what David said and that's what we want. We're even like the dripping tree described in Zechariah 4 where the oil is dripping off the branches into the golden reciprocals (v. 12).
Anointed with New Oil
Today we're going to receive even more than fresh oil; we're going to have new oil, too! So I don't want to limit us by only saying that we've been anointed with fresh oil because we need new oil, too. Do you know the difference between fresh oil and new oil? Fresh oil is when God anoints what we already have and it becomes fresh again; we already have that gift. But new oil is when we start operating in an area/gift that we've never operated in before. Here's an example. I already have the gift of healing and when I get fresh oil, more healings happen in my ministry. But when I get new oil, I receive a gift from the Holy Spirit that I never had before. Many believers want anointing and power to come upon their lives in areas where they never had power before; new areas.
We must have the Anointing!
But the first thing that must happen before we can receive fresh oil or new oil is that we must be consecrated to the Lord—set apart to live for Him in a lifestyle of holiness. Then we are ready for the anointing to come upon our lives. And when we get close to God, seeking Him with all our heart, then it's like His character rubs off on us by association. Now the word “anoint” means: to rub and smear. So let's get a picture of this. God wants to pour a bucket of golden oil on us and He wants to rub, smear and work the oil into our flesh like a massage. God will anoint, rub and smear on us not only His power, but He'll rub and smear His presence on us too.
So here is how the anointing works. If we can “do it” then the anointing doesn't need to be there. There are a lot of people in the kingdom of God who can do things well without the anointing because they're so gifted in the natural. Often in our ministries and churches we can have a good service without the anointing because we have such good programs, everything in place, good worship and the best preachers. No one would even know that the anointing wasn't there. We've studied the Bible and how to have church services, and that's good. I believe in being the good “Bereans” who had understanding, wisdom and revelation. But there are times when we're too focused on what everything looks like in the natural and how we have it all together in the natural. Hey! I love the spirit of excellence, believe me. If you've been around my ministry for any length of time you'll know I like the spirit of excellence.
I believe that God wants an excellent spirit like Daniel possessed. I believe in success, prosperity and in the abundant life. But I believe that sometimes we leave the place of the anointing of God's Spirit that enables us to do what we can't do, and we go to the place where we trust more in our own gifts and talents, in the church program or the 30 minute worship service. Some of us have been in different meetings and we know what's going to take place before it happens because there is a familiar routine and we get comfortable trusting in that.
I've been in meetings where one person can sing a song and it's great and everyone is excited and up on their feet saying, “What a great performance!” But another person will sing the same song and everyone is down on their face saying, “What must I do to be saved?” What happened? The anointing made the difference. Also I've been in meetings where I've prayed for the sick and they were healed in their seats and then later I heard about someone who at the meeting, got inspired and then went out and tried to do the same thing. But not one single person was healed. He duplicated the model and method and tried to do what I did by just stepping out. That's good, but it didn't work. Why? There was no anointing. The breath of heaven wasn't on the ministry. Remember, the anointing is God's supernatural power on your flesh to enable you to do what you can not do.
The anointing makes all the difference. The anointing is in the house of the Lord and in the presence of the Lord. The anointing is something that you have to seek the face of God for. You can't just “get” it. Remember the man who tried to buy the anointing–Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18 ). We can't buy it. We have to pay the price ourselves. The Lord told me once, “Todd I can give you any anointing that I've ever given to anyone else.” I thought, “Wow! Give it to me God!” And He said, “But only if you can do what they did to get what they got. If you can pay the price the same way.” The anointing will cost us everything. Moving in the anointing always involves the unknown. We have to be willing to step out in faith and exercise the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us.
In the conferences and meetings when I'm ministering it's somewhat easier for me now to step out in faith and speak a word of knowledge. But I can remember a few years ago when it was a lot harder for me. One time I was at a conference in Kansas City with 4000 people in attendance; it was the first time that I had ministered in a conference like that in Kansas City . All the well known prophets and guys were there on the podium. ( I was asked to be a part of the conference because they were hearing about all the miracles taking place in our conferences and crusades.) The last night of the conference was approaching and there hadn't been any manifestations of healing yet. During the day in my hotel room, as I prepared my heart for the evening meeting I began to wonder what was going to happen. It was then that I felt the Holy Spirit impress my heart to move in the word of knowledge that evening. I felt some fear because I was the “new kid,” but I had to get out of the boat. I felt the Holy Spirit encouraging me and he said, “You are going to do this!”
The next thing that happened was the Holy Spirit took me into several different visions and showed me what was going to happen in the meeting even before I got there. In one technicolor vision I saw a married couple walk up to the usher and I heard them say, “We're pastors and we want to stand in the gap and have Todd pray for us. We want to take the anointing back to our church because there is a 12 year old boy at our church who was hit by a car. He came out of a coma, but the coma is still affecting him. Can you get Todd and ask Him to pray for us?”
So that night as I stepped out on the platform I asked, “Where is the pastor and his wife that have a 12 year old boy in your church who was hit by a car. He was in and out of a coma, but he's still affected by the coma. Can you come down to the front please?” So they came down to the front. But what the Lord didn't show me was just how badly the boy was injured. If I had known that he was a quadriplegic as a result of the accident, I would have hesitated to say that he was going to be healed . ( And because of the controversy that goes on with the prophetic I was thinking there might be people at the conference documenting what was going on.) Well, the word that he was going to be healed was already out of my mouth when I learned the boy's condition, and so I thought: something better happen! So we prayed for him and they went back to their church and we learned that three days later the boy was healed!
As it turned out, at this conference, God opened the heavens and gave us favor. There were incredible miracles concerning the deaf, the blind and those who were crippled! Listen! The anointing always involves stepping into the unknown and into uncharted waters that we're not familiar with if we are going to see God open the heavens. We have to be risk takers to move in the anointing! Bold faith is possible when we take our focus off circumstances and instead look to the Lord who gives us the courage to “walk on the water.” The Lord has destined us to do exploits in His name (Jn. 14:12 -15). And next week in Part 2, we will learn about some of the areas/functions where we need the anointing of fresh oil and new oil in order to accomplish mighty deeds in Jesus name.
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Revivalist Todd Bentley
The Anointing Brings Supernatural Ability
Jesus told his disciples “…apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5) Likewise, we must have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives or we can't accomplish anything with eternal value (1 Cor. 3:13 ). Walking in the anointing means that God's supernatural power is on our lives enabling us to do what we cannot do in and of ourselves. Listen! It's good that we can't do the work of the ministry in our own strength; if we could, then we wouldn't need the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit and I believe that the Holy Spirit is going to empower us today with supernatural ability by bringing a fresh anointing on our lives and our ministries. The intensity of this outpouring will be so great that burdens and heavy yokes won't just break off, they will be completely destroyed and removed. Now that's supernatural ability! The prophet Isaiah said that the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil, or the anointing.
“It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isaiah 10: 27).
Mountains of hindrance, obstacles and impossibilities in our lives will be moved and removed, sickness and disease will be healed, because the anointing is going to make us breakthrough and break out on every side. When we need God to empower us to run through a troop or leap over a wall He's going to help us (Ps. 18:29 ). In situations where we need to press forward with the anointing called “multiplication,” God is going to strengthen us to push in for the breakthrough. [Multiplication means that in the areas where we need an increase so that God's kingdom can advance, He will multiply what we are (already) faithful with, what we have in our hand, and He will bring the increase. The areas that need increase may relate to our health, finances, business, sphere of influence, etc.]
Anointed with Fresh Oil
Let's get hungry for the anointing! I want us to look at this scripture: “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil” (Psalm 92:10). The word “horn” means strength. Here the strength of God is released like a wild ox! What I understand about fresh oil is that when we're anointed with fresh oil our strength gets exalted. Our ‘horn' gets exalted like a wild ox. In my life, I've experienced God's Spirit coming upon me almost like it came upon Samson of old when he was so strong that he slew one thousand with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:16). Supernatural ability has come upon me in such a strong way that it was like I could take on every demon in hell and cast them out with a word! And there are moments when such a huge amount of God's Spirit gets on me in a crusade service that I've felt at times like a giant in the spirit with so much power and authority on me that if I just pointed my finger at someone, they would be healed.
I've had so many opportunities to preach the gospel and heal the sick while the fresh oil is flowing. Often I feel like one of the righteous ones who's flourishing like a palm tree: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. They shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon ” (v. 12). One of the most majestic trees in the Middle East is the cedar of Lebanon. I know how big cedars can get here in British Columbia , Canada . We have cedars here that we can drive a small car through. This Psalm is describing the righteous flourishing like a palm tree and growing like a cedar in Lebanon, which means the righteous are full of strength. The righteous who are “ planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bare fruit in old age. They shall be fresh or they shall be fat and flourishing” (Ps. 92:13-14). They are the ones who are fat and green and who will “ declare that the Lord is upright.” The righteous will preach the gospel!
When we declare that the Lord is upright, we are essentially declaring that He is just and merciful. And then He comes with a demonstration of his power. In one of our meetings when a man came up to the stage I felt such an anointing of the power of God and His compassion for this man that I just knew anything we said or did would release God's power in his life. He told us that the upper right side of his lung was removed in 1968; he had to take several different medications for over 30 years. Even the left side of his lung had scars on it. Well, as he stood there speaking, a boldness came upon me to declare, “And God will give you new lungs!” Then I pointed at his chest and the power of God picked him up ten feet and threw him back. He landed on the cement floor without a catcher and got up healed, with a brand new lung! He went to the Dr. and got an x-ray and the part of the lung that was surgically removed had grown back into place. He's off all the medication and his breathing is completely normal. (I have the documentation on file to show anyone.)
Another time I was in a crusade in Tanzania , Africa when I felt the mighty strength of God come on me. It was like I was anointed with fresh oil. The night before at the crusade there were some good miracles and God moved, but I felt some resistance. So as I prepared my heart for the second night, I asked the Holy Spirit why the resistance happened. He answered by saying, “I have anointed you with fresh oil. I'm going to put a brand new anointing on you for tonight's service. I'm going to give you the spirit and power of Elijah (Lk. 1:17 ). After those words I felt the Lord anoint my horn and literally exalt my strength. Supernatural power and authority came on me to the point that the Lord told me, “When you go to the crusade tonight, I want you to open the crusade by telling every witch doctor, every witch and every voodoo doctor to run to the altar and give his life to Jesus immediately. No sermon, nothing else!” (Every day at the crusade there were body parts, animal parts, blood and sacrifices on the grounds.)
Just like the first night, the witches, witch doctors, sorcerers and the voodoo doctors were all there. My strength was exalted and I felt like I could literally take one hand and squish every person that attended the crusade service! I felt like a giant in the spirit realm ready to take on the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel ! It was a supernatural anointing. So I released this challenge: “If you're a witch doctor, if you've been cursed by a witch doctor, or if you practice witchcraft, voodoo or sorcery, the Lord told me that right now there is an anointing upon me tonight to tell you to give your life to Jesus Christ. I'm going to break the power of witchcraft and you're going to come to the altar and get saved right now!” And 500 witches, witchdoctors and sorcerers came down to the altar and we counted 497 who got saved on the spot!
Let me tell you, when the anointing comes upon our lives and we can declare “I've been anointed with fresh oil,” the first thing that will happen is our strength will be exalted. It will be like when God came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and he outran the chariots of Ahab in the natural to the next city (1 Kings 18:46 ). It would be great if God's anointing came upon us with fresh oil to the degree that we were able to go in the strength of the anointing for 40 days, like Elijah did after he ate some bread and drank some water that an angel brought him (1 Kings 19:8)! Listen! We could go in the strength of the anointing that comes fresh upon our lives and ministries so that in the next six months we run farther than we would have run in the next 6 years. And we could run faster in the next six days than we ran in the last six months. You see, that's the anointing of acceleration.
I believe that the might and strength of God will come upon us at specific God-ordained times so that the anointing of boldness and the fire of God will cause us to feel like giants in the Spirit. God will give us supernatural strength as we gird up our loins, so that we can take on new levels, take ground in the spirit and outrun the chariot! It will happen because we will declare like the psalmist, “I have been anointed with fresh oil. My horn and my strength is exalted.” God wants to anoint us like this today!
Also, there is an anointing of fresh oil found in the presence of the Lord where we aren't only anointed, we're actually like the olive tree that brings forth the fresh oil. King David said that he was like a green olive tree in the house of God (Ps. 52:8). Listen to what David was saying about himself: “ I want to describe what the anointing of God is like on my life. The only way I can describe it is to say that I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God. I'm not only anointed with fresh oil, but I'm like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord that produces the oil. I'm in a place in the spirit where I'm in the ever-flowing, ever-increasing anointing. Listen! You've got the anointing, but I'm like the one who produces it.”
When we're planted in the house of God in His presence, then the anointing that David had will happen. It's always about being in the presence of the Lord and then just like David, we know we're like a green olive tree; fresh; fat; flourishing, and fruitful. See, that's what the anointing will do. Even in our old age we will bear fruit (Ps. 92:14). “By this is your Father glorified that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples (Jn. 15:8).” That fat, green, flourishing happens when we declare, “I've been anointed with fresh oil.” And when we've been anointed with fresh oil, our horn and strength is exalted like the wild ox. It's the ever-flowing, ever-increasing anointing. That's what David said and that's what we want. We're even like the dripping tree described in Zechariah 4 where the oil is dripping off the branches into the golden reciprocals (v. 12).
Anointed with New Oil
Today we're going to receive even more than fresh oil; we're going to have new oil, too! So I don't want to limit us by only saying that we've been anointed with fresh oil because we need new oil, too. Do you know the difference between fresh oil and new oil? Fresh oil is when God anoints what we already have and it becomes fresh again; we already have that gift. But new oil is when we start operating in an area/gift that we've never operated in before. Here's an example. I already have the gift of healing and when I get fresh oil, more healings happen in my ministry. But when I get new oil, I receive a gift from the Holy Spirit that I never had before. Many believers want anointing and power to come upon their lives in areas where they never had power before; new areas.
We must have the Anointing!
But the first thing that must happen before we can receive fresh oil or new oil is that we must be consecrated to the Lord—set apart to live for Him in a lifestyle of holiness. Then we are ready for the anointing to come upon our lives. And when we get close to God, seeking Him with all our heart, then it's like His character rubs off on us by association. Now the word “anoint” means: to rub and smear. So let's get a picture of this. God wants to pour a bucket of golden oil on us and He wants to rub, smear and work the oil into our flesh like a massage. God will anoint, rub and smear on us not only His power, but He'll rub and smear His presence on us too.
So here is how the anointing works. If we can “do it” then the anointing doesn't need to be there. There are a lot of people in the kingdom of God who can do things well without the anointing because they're so gifted in the natural. Often in our ministries and churches we can have a good service without the anointing because we have such good programs, everything in place, good worship and the best preachers. No one would even know that the anointing wasn't there. We've studied the Bible and how to have church services, and that's good. I believe in being the good “Bereans” who had understanding, wisdom and revelation. But there are times when we're too focused on what everything looks like in the natural and how we have it all together in the natural. Hey! I love the spirit of excellence, believe me. If you've been around my ministry for any length of time you'll know I like the spirit of excellence.
I believe that God wants an excellent spirit like Daniel possessed. I believe in success, prosperity and in the abundant life. But I believe that sometimes we leave the place of the anointing of God's Spirit that enables us to do what we can't do, and we go to the place where we trust more in our own gifts and talents, in the church program or the 30 minute worship service. Some of us have been in different meetings and we know what's going to take place before it happens because there is a familiar routine and we get comfortable trusting in that.
I've been in meetings where one person can sing a song and it's great and everyone is excited and up on their feet saying, “What a great performance!” But another person will sing the same song and everyone is down on their face saying, “What must I do to be saved?” What happened? The anointing made the difference. Also I've been in meetings where I've prayed for the sick and they were healed in their seats and then later I heard about someone who at the meeting, got inspired and then went out and tried to do the same thing. But not one single person was healed. He duplicated the model and method and tried to do what I did by just stepping out. That's good, but it didn't work. Why? There was no anointing. The breath of heaven wasn't on the ministry. Remember, the anointing is God's supernatural power on your flesh to enable you to do what you can not do.
The anointing makes all the difference. The anointing is in the house of the Lord and in the presence of the Lord. The anointing is something that you have to seek the face of God for. You can't just “get” it. Remember the man who tried to buy the anointing–Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18 ). We can't buy it. We have to pay the price ourselves. The Lord told me once, “Todd I can give you any anointing that I've ever given to anyone else.” I thought, “Wow! Give it to me God!” And He said, “But only if you can do what they did to get what they got. If you can pay the price the same way.” The anointing will cost us everything. Moving in the anointing always involves the unknown. We have to be willing to step out in faith and exercise the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us.
In the conferences and meetings when I'm ministering it's somewhat easier for me now to step out in faith and speak a word of knowledge. But I can remember a few years ago when it was a lot harder for me. One time I was at a conference in Kansas City with 4000 people in attendance; it was the first time that I had ministered in a conference like that in Kansas City . All the well known prophets and guys were there on the podium. ( I was asked to be a part of the conference because they were hearing about all the miracles taking place in our conferences and crusades.) The last night of the conference was approaching and there hadn't been any manifestations of healing yet. During the day in my hotel room, as I prepared my heart for the evening meeting I began to wonder what was going to happen. It was then that I felt the Holy Spirit impress my heart to move in the word of knowledge that evening. I felt some fear because I was the “new kid,” but I had to get out of the boat. I felt the Holy Spirit encouraging me and he said, “You are going to do this!”
The next thing that happened was the Holy Spirit took me into several different visions and showed me what was going to happen in the meeting even before I got there. In one technicolor vision I saw a married couple walk up to the usher and I heard them say, “We're pastors and we want to stand in the gap and have Todd pray for us. We want to take the anointing back to our church because there is a 12 year old boy at our church who was hit by a car. He came out of a coma, but the coma is still affecting him. Can you get Todd and ask Him to pray for us?”
So that night as I stepped out on the platform I asked, “Where is the pastor and his wife that have a 12 year old boy in your church who was hit by a car. He was in and out of a coma, but he's still affected by the coma. Can you come down to the front please?” So they came down to the front. But what the Lord didn't show me was just how badly the boy was injured. If I had known that he was a quadriplegic as a result of the accident, I would have hesitated to say that he was going to be healed . ( And because of the controversy that goes on with the prophetic I was thinking there might be people at the conference documenting what was going on.) Well, the word that he was going to be healed was already out of my mouth when I learned the boy's condition, and so I thought: something better happen! So we prayed for him and they went back to their church and we learned that three days later the boy was healed!
As it turned out, at this conference, God opened the heavens and gave us favor. There were incredible miracles concerning the deaf, the blind and those who were crippled! Listen! The anointing always involves stepping into the unknown and into uncharted waters that we're not familiar with if we are going to see God open the heavens. We have to be risk takers to move in the anointing! Bold faith is possible when we take our focus off circumstances and instead look to the Lord who gives us the courage to “walk on the water.” The Lord has destined us to do exploits in His name (Jn. 14:12 -15). And next week in Part 2, we will learn about some of the areas/functions where we need the anointing of fresh oil and new oil in order to accomplish mighty deeds in Jesus name.
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posted by KFF at 1:43 AM
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