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What is “the anointing”?

Uncomfortable favor. That’s what she (Renee Evans, who with her husband, Joaquin, are our senior leaders at Bethel Austin) prayed over me the other day after telling her about my startup business. “Uncomfortable favor”. And I readily received the grace that was heavily imbuing that prayer – to attract the anointing!

I’m looking for that kind of surprising, awe-inspiring, hope-strengthening, chicken skin-producing, courage-enabling favor of God. I need His anointing to do those things He has put into my heart through encounters, dreams, whispers, lightning flashes from Bible, preaching and teaching and worship and prophetic moments at my church and elsewhere. The rhema word of God to my heart. Don’t we all?

So how do we attract this favor, this anointing, this gift of power and grace? Can we do anything that causes the heavy hand of our God to rest on us more and more, day by dayI want more of Him, and I know you do, too!

Here are 5 things we can do to see Him move more freely in us, through us, and around us, things which attract the anointing of God.

1.Give thanks for what He’s done and what He’s doing

Nothing welcomes Heaven to manifest like praise and thanksgiving. And it’s not hard to imagine why this is. Would you want to hang out with someone who was always griping at you about what you are doing, how it’s not enough, how you could do more, how unhappy they are with life, etc.? No, of course not, that’s no fun at all! It’s really hard to help people like this. It’s difficult to collaborate with them, since their attitude is only on themselves, and not on the possibilities of the moment.

This does not mean our grumpiness (if we are being grumpy;c’mon, let’s be real!) keeps Papa at bay, and distances Him from us. Far from it! Because He is always near us, always close, always ready to help, to encourage, to strengthen and empower us – if indeed our hearts are inclined towards Him.

Thanksgiving is the very house of God:

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.(Psalm 22:3 KJV)

A habit of non-stop praise and thanksgiving is the door to uninterrupted enjoyment of His presence and power will attract the anointing.

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV)

2. Order our conduct in a new way

When we begin detecting and discerning what God is doing around us, when He see what He is up to, and join with Him in doing that, Heaven comes. His power is released. This is how we chart our path through life.

Jesus told us how to do this:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19 NKJV)

But how do we do this, how do we know what the Father is doing, how can we see Him so that we can imitate Him? This is not difficult; Papa does not make it difficult! He puts it well within our reach, if we’re willing to look! So here’s how: in addition to living a life of worship and praise we put on the lens of sacrificial love and service. This is how we start discerning His works. He (the Father!) is reveling in the Presence of Jesus, in the environment of the Spirit, in the joy of Kingdom – are we? And He is loving on and serving those close to us 24/7 – are we? Let’s take a look around us, and focus on the people Papa has arranged to be near us. How are we doing in our love and service to them?

Now we can start ordering our conduct in a new way, following Papa’s express desire:

“Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalms 50:23 NASB)

Our key relationships become hugely important as we develop our time management practices and our core values. What are your key relationships, and what is Papa whispering in your ear about your role of love and service in each them? (Hint: it will look a lot like Jesus’ ministry to others.) Focusing on these relationships will brings Heaven’s life-giving anointing to bear on your love-efforts.

3.“Cross over the chicken line”

I am quoting my dear friend Jim Evans, who is one of the pastors at my church ((Bethel Austin, https://www.bethelchurchaustin.com/). He leads a super cool ministry there called Activate (4pm on Saturdays), in addition to heading up the development of our Transformation Center. He uses this term frequently when challenging us to be brave in reaching out to people, to hear from God on their behalf and prophesy to them, to pray for their healing, etc. The idea is that we need to move outside of our comfort zones and get into the Holy Spirit “demonstration of power” zone. Jesus does not command the world to come to us for ministry, He commands us to go to the world with His ministry:

“But go…and as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:6-8 NKJV, emphasis mine)

Trust me when I tell you that this takes deliberate, thoughtful, premeditated action. You have to be looking for the opportunity to bring Jesus to a complete stranger. You have to make a commitment to Papa, saying, “Here I am Lord, send me. Use me. Make me aware of my opportunities.” Check it out! Do this, and the Breath of God will breathe mightily on you – and you’ll be attracting the anointing of the Father!

TO BE CONTINUED…

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