There is an element to drawing on the anointing that is vitally important. It is esteem. We must esteem the ministry gifts God has placed within men and women before we can properly draw on them.
According to Webster’s dictionary, to esteem means “to have great regard for; value highly; respect.” That is the kind of attitude we must have toward the ministry gifts—the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, and teacher—if we are to receive from them all that God wants us to receive.
We need to realize that we cannot reach our spiritual destination without the full manifestation of these gifts. God has given them to us “for the perfecting of the saints.” That means if we are to be fully conformed to the image of Jesus, we need the power of God that comes to us through these gifts.
A friend of mine was telling me recently about a dear, saintly woman of God who knew a great deal about this. She so esteemed and drew on the ministry gifts that when the pastor would begin to preach, she would sit up on the edge of her seat and preach with him. She wouldn’t say anything out loud but her lips would move.
She’d enter right into that sermon with him and help draw it out of him. She wasn’t really pulling on the minister himself or on his personality; she was drawing by faith on the anointing of God in him. And she was pulling for that message from God.
I talked to one minister who has been around for many years now about that kind of drawing and he said, “Oh, yes! There was one church in particular that I used to preach in where the people were well schooled in that.” He said they’d enter into the anointing with him as he preached the sermon and draw things out of him he didn’t even realize he knew. He said he loved to preach there.
There’s much more to preaching the deep things of God than just getting up and reciting spiritual information that’s been learned. God has to give the utterance. That’s why the apostle Paul asked the Ephesian church to pray “that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel … that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19 –20).
Notice in that verse, Paul uses the word boldly two times. The first boldly refers to being courageous and not shrinking back. But the second word translated boldly is actually the Greek word for a reservoir. In other words, Paul is saying, “I have a reservoir of the mysteries of God locked up inside me. Unless you pray for me and start calling on God for them, I won’t be able to get those mysteries out.”
Let’s pray for our ministers and draw on the divine reservoir within them. Let’s help them do what God has called them to do!
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:1 – 16
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!”