The
Pressing of Anointing
"But the anointing which ye have received
of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same
anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as
it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."I John 2:27
I heard it said recently, that, “the gifts and
callings of God are without repentance but that the anointing of God is
flexible.” I never want to be so full of iniquity in my own self that I cannot
recognize my lack of anointing just because God has gifted me in the Holy Ghost.
Lord that we never walk to our own understanding and to the beat of our own
drum. The Lord has been dealing with me on the price of anointing for over a month.
I think I want to understand fully why anointing oil
is so important and it has been something that has been on my heart the last
several weeks. What is it? How do I get it? And most importantly, how do I keep
it? I do not think there is any person that wants to pray for someone and not
see our prayers answered. But as an anointed vessel of God, we should always be
seeking to have understanding so that we do not become stagnant in our approach
to prayer.
I found this initial idea of anointing on google and
it does seem to sum it up well:
“The primary purpose of anointing with the holy anointing
oil was to sanctify, to set the anointed person or
object apart as qodesh, or "holy" (Exodus 30:29). Originally, the oil was
used exclusively for the priests and the Tabernacle articles, but its use was
later extended to include kings (I Samuel 10:1)”
What is the
Oil?
The oil is what we
transfer to another when we pray for them. The transliteration of anointing
comes from the word Chrisma which means a consecrated oil, and for us to
understand would mean a holy and separate oil. For we truly are the oil. The
oil that is poured out is the oil of the Holy Ghost, but we must be the ones
who allow it to be pure. Think of it as a strainer, straining out the
impurities and all the junk is removed and now you have pure oil. It is the
same oil before it was strained but without the straining (life of separation
and holiness) our oil becomes muddy. We as a conduit of the Holy Ghost if we
are allowing sin to be resident in our lives, we then block the flow of the
Holy Ghost being able to operate most effectively in our lives.
How is the
Oil Applied?
The Strong’s concordance
defines oil as, “anything that is smeared on, prepared by the Hebrews from oil
and aromatic herbs. Anointing was the inaugural ceremony for priests.” A
smearing is a special endowment of the Holy Ghost, anointing and unction. As we
might say, walking in the Holy Ghost. I love the definition that it is a
smearing because honestly that is what it feels like when you pray for someone.
It is like a part of you is rubbed off on the person you are praying for and
that is why we must be consecrated if we are praying for others. We apply it to
others when we step out in faith and lay hands on the sick, those who need a
deliverance, or those seeking the Holy Ghost. BUT we cannot walk in this
anointing without being fully committed and submitted to the man of God in our
lives. You may walk in the Holy Ghost somewhat without submission because those
gifts are without repentance but are you walking in true anointing without it?
I would say you cannot, and you must understand submission before you can truly
be an anointed vessel.
The Pressing
David was the anointed king,
but he understood his place and that he would not usurp his authority in his
life. David was pressed! With anointing comes a pressing, just as oil comes out
of olives in an olive press, so is the anointing of the Holy Ghost. The anointing
presses you and refines you, so that you can be smeared on someone who needs
the presence of God in their lives.
Smear = to overspread
with something unctuous, vicious, or adhesive. Which is to mean walking in the
unction of the Holy Ghost, and the violent take it by force.
So, the anointing oil
is then pressed from you, smeared, and then adhered to someone else! What an
awesome responsibility to those of us who are living with this knowledge. So,
do you think your oil is going to effective, if you are living in two worlds?
Or even if you are not “sinning” but are not praying, do you think your oil will
have much affect?
Too often we as
Apostolic Christians rely on the presence of God that we feel in our church
services. We sometimes allow ourselves to believe we are living how we should
because we feel God’s presence when we come to church. Here is the deal though,
someone paid the price for the presence you feel in their personal prayer room.
So, if the presence we feel is great, how much more would it be if we too sold
out to prayer?
It is going to be a lot.
It is going to cost you time. It is going to cost you often friends, family,
and entertainment. It is going to be rough. You will often feel alone. You will
maybe feel like giving up! You might feel defeated at times. Hell will definitely
come at you in your life. But as they say if nothing is coming against you then
you are not doing much in prayer. That is not to be critical or to discourage
you but just to let you know you are on the right track.
The pressing truly is a
life of intercessory prayer. The oil comes from the pressing in the spirit. It
is not something you can manufacture. You cannot imitate the anointing. It
cannot be bought. It cannot be reasoned out in your mind. For this pressing and
anointing comes from God. The more you seek Him, the more you will find Him.
My
Testimony
I have many things that
God has set me free from and where He has delivered me. This testimony is about
Him pressing me in prayer. I am just being honest when I say, many times in my
life I have dropped the ball in prayer. All the while in His beautiful way that
Jesus does, He kept calling me to more prayer. If I am completely honest, I
knew it, felt it, heard it, but shied away from it. Why? I know the price. And honestly
the life of intercessory prayer is a burden. I mean a literal burden, it
presses you, wakes you up in the night, disrupts your ideas on how life should
be, etc etc etc.
I made a lot of excuses
and had feared the price. But Jesus never gives up on us. He does not badger
us, but He leads us in love. He then shows us why we need to do what He is
asking.
I had a lot of things
going on in my life in February 2020 and God showed me that if I would not pray,
then who would? Was I willing to allow people to go to Hell because I would not
pray? God sent a minister to me and He spoke over my life about my anointing and
calling. I am not going to lie ya’ll it was a lot. It daunts me at times and I
sure do not feel worthy of the calling. Yet, we must get out of our own heads
and know, nope you cannot do it at all. It never will be you who does it and if
we are a willing, consecrated, sold out vessel, then yes God can use us.
He zapped me if you
will and I said "OK Lord, this time I sell out for real." I am not saying I was
not sold out; I am saying I had to sell out to the Lord’s timing. I had to sell
out to my thought processes and let Him have control. I could not fear prayer because
of the hell it might bring in my life. Let me tell you it has too! You know
what though? It is worth it! I have seen like 900 prayers answered since I sold
out to prayer. So I guess what I am saying is yes you can be sold out to Jesus,
but until we are sold out to prayer, our anointing will not have much affect
and we will feel like we are spinning our wheels and going nowhere.
Accessing
the Right Oil
These are key component
to accessing the right oil in our lives not in any specific order just how they
came to me:
1)
Are you praying?
2)
Are you
submitted to your pastor?
3)
Have you
allowed your pastor veto power in your life?
4)
Who are you
following?
5)
What are
you feeding your soul? Movies, music, entertainment etc.
6)
Who are you
letting speak into your life?
7)
Do you have
a teachable spirit?
8)
Are you looking
for faults in others?
9)
Can you handle
rejection?
10) Will you
trust the voice of God?
11) Are you
humble?
12) Are you
consumed with the opinions of others?
13) Can you trust
God in your failures?
14) Do you
think you have to be perfect?
15) Are you
faithful to the things of God and His house?
16) Will you
obey the voice of God?
17) Can you
stand alone?
18) Can you
stand with others?
19) Do you seek
recognition?
20) Are you
looking for a title or position?
21) What are
your motives?
22) What drives
you?
23) Are you
willing to pay the cost for anointing?
24) Do you trust
others?
25) Do you
trust God?
26) Do you trust
yourself?
27) Can you see
beyond self to others?
28) Can you
live a life of forgiveness?
29) Are you
willing to ask for forgiveness?
30) Are you
leading anyone to Jesus?
31) Are you
seeking souls for the Kingdom?
32) Would you die
for Jesus?
33) Do you have
to always be right?
34) Can you keep
the trust of others?
I know I fall short in
many of these areas. It truly is a lifelong journey to obtain the fruit of the
spirit in these aspects. I am not saying this list is complete either, but it
is meant to provoke you to think and assess your own life. To have true anointing,
we must be sold out, consecrated, willing to see our own faults, and willing to
give them to the Lord so He can make us over for His glory.
A Cost of Anointing
We cannot walk alone
and be an island unto ourselves but there are many times in seasons of our
lives that we will walk alone with the Lord. Why? Well honestly, I think it is
because sometimes people in our lives cannot go where we are going, or they
will not go, or they just are not there yet. The Lord will leave us alone, so
that He can continue to press us and work things out of us. I long for the day
that I can have a husband who walks beside me and me beside him. There is
something to walking with someone who knows you, hears the same voice from God,
and is seeking the same things in God. Yet, I feel even in marriage there will
be times we feel alone and that really is a sign that God is trying to speak to
us. He is trying to prepare you for the calling on your life. The cost of anointing
is self… losing your identity and becoming the vessel He has called you to
become.
The Reward
of Anointing
1)
Souls are
saved
2)
People are
set free and delivered
3)
Signs,
wonders, and miracles
4)
A life where
you are not bound by sin
Souls being saved is
the reward of an effectual soul winner. We want to see souls saved! We want to
see revival! We do not want to be shallow in our walk with God, for we only
fool ourselves and no one else. Nothing is scarier than being outside the will
of God. Nothing drives me more than knowing my life can affect souls being saved
or that once they are in the church, I can affect their understanding of who they
are in Jesus. There is a weight and responsibility to knowing you can make or
break someone in the Kingdom of God. Your life can affect someone to the cross
or away from the cross.
Anointing does not come
over night and it will never come by accident. Jacob purposely sought the
blessing from his father. He might not have done it the right way, but he was
after the things of God. In the end, God said. “Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated.” Why? Because Esau cared nothing for the things of God. It might
have been his birthright or his “calling” but he sold out for the blessings of
God for a bowl of porridge and missed his calling. No soul winner accidentally reaches
for souls. Everything we purpose in our hearts for the Kingdom will come to
pass if we seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. "But Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
Negative
vs. Positive
There will be some
negativity that comes against you and honestly that’s just par for the course.
If we run the race with patience we will win. We must be patient with ourselves
and others. You may be misunderstood. Others may be jealous of your anointing but
that is really because they do not really understand what it is, or they would
not be jealous of you. You may have a target at times on your back but that is because
your anointing shines in the darkness. People will not know what to do with
you. But do not give up hope! There is so much more positive than there is
negative. Look at the negative as a time to reflect. Ask yourself the hard questions
I listed? Be willing to take constructive criticism. Learn to tune into the
right voices and not to be overcome by the negative voices. The enemy will seek
to steal your anointing, but he can only have it, if you stop praying and you
let him have it and give up in defeat.
So, keep praying, keep
pressing in the Holy Ghost, do not be discouraged and know that no matter what
the weapon is we win!
The Balance
Pray for wisdom for
those who pray for it will receive it liberally. Pray for knowledge of the word
of God and then allow the wisdom of God to guide you in that knowledge. Be wiling
to learn, be teachable, and be faithful. Be careful who you let speak into your
life, but also be careful not to wall yourself off to others. Know that most
people truly want the best for you but pray for discernment, “the
ability to know what is right and almost right.”
Do not be afraid to cry
out to the Lord. Seek Him early and seek Him often. Seek wise counsel, stay
submitted to your pastor, and be listening to the voice of God to lead you. The
life of anointing cost you everything but if you lose your life to Christ you will
gain it and great is your reward in Him. The life of walking in anointing is worth
the fight! The reward is Heaven! The reward is well done thou good and faithful
servant! The reward is the people you take with you to Heaven!
Your anointing is worth
the tears, the pressing, the loneliness, being misunderstood, the anguish, the doubts,
and your fears. Anointing costs you everything but in the end, you gain
everything and more!
