It is so important to have an understanding of the anointing in the day and time that we are living. Many today do not recognize the power of God. They wouldn't recognize the anointing if it slapped them in the head. People often say, "Oh, the anointing is here," but when you ask them how they know, they reply, "Well, it's just here." They don't know any more than that.

Many do not recognize the anointing. This is evident to me especially when I begin to pray for people in the meetings. I call all those who sense His presence on them to come forward. Some come to the front and they have no anointing of God on them. Others sit in their seats shaking all over, wondering what is going on. When I finally call them forward and tell them the power of God is all over them, they say, "Oh, is that what it is?"

What Is the Anointing?
The anointing is not some mystical something out there. The anointing is the presence and power of God manifested. We could say that the anointing is the manifest presence of God.

There is a vast difference between the omnipresence of God and the manifest presence of God. The Lord is omnipresent but He is not manifesting or displaying His power everywhere. When God's power does manifest, something is going to happen. We read in Luke 5:17 that the power of the Lord was present to heal. When God walks in something happens, something takes place. The anointing is tangible. It can be felt. Just as electricity is tangible, so the anointing is tangible.

God's Electricity
We know that electricity has been in existence since the beginning of time, yet it wasn't until Benjamin Franklin and other scientists in experiments discovered certain principles about it that mankind learned to harness it and came to reap the benefits of electricity. The Church has been ignorant of the anointing and how it operates, but it still exists. We can, by the Spirit of God, understand the operation of the anointing and cooperate and flow with the Spirit of God.

Don't Try to Explain Away the Supernatural
I was reading a Bible commentary of a world-renowned theologian who had taken into his mind to explain away every passage of scripture that contained any reference to the anointing or the supernatural power of God. He said that it was asinine to think that in this day and age the anointing can actually be transferred by the laying on of hands. He had chosen to overlook the supernatural aspect of God's Word.

This is true in many church circles. They deny the power of God from its rightful place and so the youngsters are turning to rock music, drugs, alcohol, and free sex, and the yuppie generation is turning to the New Age movement. There are two reasons for this. One, they have a hunger in their hearts for something that is real. Two, the Church is not meeting or fulfilling their need and instead has become a referral system. Alcoholics and drug addicts are sent to rehabilitation places instead of being set free by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Don't tell me that the anointing of the Lord was in a meeting and nothing happened. You might have a big church, thousands of people, a beautiful robed choir, beautiful chandeliers, clarinet solos, celebrity speakers, and a large television ministry, but without the anointing—the touch of God—you have nothing at all.

Hollywood Hype and a World Wresting Federation Spirit in the Church
In some meetings being held nowadays, the anointing is as scarce as hen's teeth, as one preacher said. You need a magnifying glass to find it. The anointing is not hype.

In some circles there's a lot of Hollywood. There's a lot of hype. At some meetings, you would think any moment that they would bring on the wrestlers and have a tag team match in the church. They have fleshly preaching, praying, singing, and dancing—a lot of hoopla—but no results.

Go With the Flow
When the presence of God comes into a building, it always comes for a purpose. His presence comes to minister to people to set them free. When His power begins to manifest, those who are ministering need to be sensitive to the flow of the Holy Ghost. If the preacher pushes fight on with his own purpose, his own plan, to follow his own agenda for the meeting, then many times the Holy Spirit is grieved and His hands are tied and nothing will happen.

I know many times when I get into the meetings, the Lord will prompt me to go in a different direction than I had planned. When I obey Him and do what He wants done, then lives are touched. Under the anointing, God can do more in two minutes than we can do in months. Oh, that we would wake up and begin to realize what is available to the church! Ministry should not be an occupation or a job, but a new covenant preacher ministering in the power of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

Revival Ministries InternationalAll rights reserved. Used by permission.