Acts 3:2 – 5
What can we learn from the people in the Bible about how to draw on the anointing?
The first thing we can see is that we draw by faith. That’s what the woman with the issue of blood did. She let her faith ascend up to God when she made contact with Jesus and she drew that healing out of Him.
Another thing we see about this woman is that she wasn’t casual. She had great expectation and she was very intense because she could not be stopped. She pushed through the crowd and kept saying over and over to herself, “I’m getting my healing from Him. I will not be denied. I am getting it from Him!”
I’m telling you, we can learn something from that. We could go so much deeper and higher in God during our church services (or our personal prayer times and prayer meetings) if we wouldn’t approach them so casually. Sometimes we come to church like we’d go to a concert. We act as if we’re there to be entertained.
At times, people even come forward to have hands laid on them with that attitude. I can tell you from experience that when you lay hands on such a person, it’s like laying empty hands on empty heads. Nothing goes forth. The anointing doesn’t flow to them. But when people come in faith expecting the power of God to flow through you to them, it’s a whole different experience.
I remember a time during one of our church services, for example, when I was laying hands on people praying for them to receive the fire of God. Everything was going along fine until I got to this one group of girls. I love these particular girls because they are always hungry for God. They are always drawing on the Spirit. So I told them to join hands with one another and I was just going to lay hands on the girl on the end of the row.
Do you know what happened? When I laid hands on the girl on the end, I felt like I’d grabbed hold of a jet engine. The spiritual draw from these girls was so great that it literally pulled me on top of them.
Now that’s what God is looking for us to do. He wants us to come with intensity in our hearts. He wants us to come in faith expecting to receive something from Him.
Scripture Reading: Acts 3:1 – 8
Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”