Preaching WITHOUT the anointing

[Optimax]

There was an older Minister that said about the anointing.

"I do not know what it is!"

"But, I know when it ain't!"

 

[Frogster]

I can only speak for myself then. Many times, or quite a few at least, in ministry situations......The holy spirit has fallen on me, and i have been changed into "another man". AKA Old test passage (Samuel I think). When that happens to me - I turn into SUPERMAN LOL - that is the MANTLE I'm on about. maybe its just me. BUT I definitely do things BETTER.

I believe you're a gifted brother for sure.

 

[Frogster]

There was an older Minister that said about the anointing.

"I do not know what it is!"

"But, I know when it ain't!"

not ain't...tain't..tain't put the t first, tain't!

 

[Optimax]

not ain't...tain't..tain't put the t first, tain't!

It ain't a tain't! It's an ain't!

Not an ain't like in Minnie.

Nor an ain't like in bite.

But an ain't like in "not present"!

 

[FoundInGrace]

Theres times that you just have to keep doing what God seems to have called you to, and you dont feel like and it seems a bit dry but you just have to keep doing it. God always gives you encouragement when you most need it though and glimpses of Himself to keep you going but personally (and it may be just where I am at in this season of my life) feelings arent that good to go on when it comes to following God.

I have had seasons where I feel God, dont get me wrong there, and that is amazing but in this season its perhaps a perseverance time regardless of how I feel to simply keep going where God seems to have called me. And thats a different kind of learning time with God which I am finding a blessing.

God is good.

 

[FoundInGrace]

I was, and remain, anointed from the moment Christ entered my life. I do not have to “feel” like being used to be used any more than I have to “feel” saved to be saved. Anointing means to be set aside, devoted, for God’s use. If and when he uses me is not a matter of me being worked-up emotionally—God uses me at his will whenever he (not I) chooses (1 Cor. 12.7, 11). Most of the time I am totally unaware (until later) that God uses me. My job is not to work myself up emotionally before I am used of God, I simply keep my connection to him open and he uses me. It's not about me "feeling;" it's about him and others. Period. All the Law (and life) is fulfilled in loving God and loving others. It's not about me.

 

[jiminpa]

Theres times that you just have to keep doing what God seems to have called you to, and you dont feel like and it seems a bit dry but you just have to keep doing it. God always gives you encouragement when you most need it though and glimpses of Himself to keep you going but personally (and it may be just where I am at in this season of my life) feelings arent that good to go on when it comes to following God.

I have had seasons where I feel God, dont get me wrong there, and that is amazing but in this season its perhaps a perseverance time regardless of how I feel to simply keep going where God seems to have called me. And thats a different kind of learning time with God which I am finding a blessing.

God is good.

Yes, sometimes you need to push through, but other times that sense of dryness is God telling you something, and you need to stop and listen to Him. It is very easy to push through when God wants to change our direction and we end up going in our own strength. Walking in our own strength is never a good thing, in spite of what some on this forum preach to us.

 

[Tobias]

Yep. Balance. That's what we need.

We need the sensitivity to know when God is leading us to do something or change directions; and the tenacity to stick with what He's assigned us to do even when we don't feel His tangible presence or see jaw dropping results.

 

[JimB]

I know we all have the anointing in us at the NEW Birth. And some people who do not believe in a BAPTISM in the SPIRIT, are pretty good teachers and quite profound in some areas of their doctrine - John MacArthur being one. What I'm talking about is the DIFFERENCE the anointing that comes UPON us makes.

I have preached both ways and the RESULTS are massive.

I am at the stage whereby, if I am asked to say a few words here and there and the UPON anointing hasn't shown up - I shouldn't/don't expect too much in the way of "anointed" results, and by that I mean - somebodies life is transformed - in an INSTANT !

Does this make sense to anybody ?:o

Sure it does. Over the years I have preached to an estimated 5,000 congregations and am convinced that I have never preached without the anointing, no matter how I felt about it. I am always anointed to preach. But many external things contribute to whether or not we feel useful when we preach, none of which indicate the presence or absence of “the anointing,” IMO. We were anointed to preach the gospel the moment we came to Christ—we are always anointed!! Sometimes we fall flat when we deliver a sermon. Anything can cause that—poor preparation, a conversation with someone earlier, mentally preoccupied with something else, bad pizza for dinner last night, something worrying you, needing some rest, etc. etc. Some days we just don’t have it and others we do. We can be live wires and feel great when we deliver a sermon—man it just flows. But I have found that no matter how I feel, God is able to work with or without me. Some of the worst sermons I have ever preached (by my estimation) when I thought I was a complete failure, have proven to be the most lasting and effective and, conversely, some of my greatest performances have produced the fewest lasting results. So, today, I really don’t care whether I do good or bad (by my own estimation), I just faithfully deliver what I feel God has laid on my heart and leave the results to him. Heck, even an ass preached the truth to Balaam with results.

 

[JimB]

Oh, OMT … Maybe it is the Word, the truth, that is preached that is important, not the preacher. Maybe the messenger is secondary to the message. Even if the preacher is off-base in how he/she lives her/his life (and who among us isn’t from time to time), there is still power in the Gospel that she/he preachers. God sends his word and heals us, and the Word never returns void, no matter who delivers it. So I would say clean up your life for his sake, not for yours, and leave the results of your service to him, not to an imagined “anointing.” Just do your best and he will do the rest. Heck, he will do the best with or without you and whether you feel like it or not. You are just the messenger; the message is anointed whether you feel you are or not.

IMO.

 

[New_Wineskin]

The problem is when preachers keep saying how "they feel that anointing", while they teach, what a perfect way to self validate, just say you feel it, and surely God has to be behind it all. These are the self anointed types.

There are many ways to manipulate . Simply saying beforehand or after that there sermon was "the word of God" is typical . So , if you are not listening or obeying the teaching , you are ignoring or being disobedient to the Lord . Far be it for you to ask the Lord if He has anything in the lecture for yourself - the essence of Spirit-filled theology .

 

[JimB]

I have often been amazed at what people get out of my sermons/lessons. I have had people come up to me and say, “Do you remember when you said …whatever… Well, I have never forgot it” and for the life of me I can’t remember ever having said anything that resembled what they remember. There have been times when I didn’t even believe what they remember I said. It has occurred to me that the Lord is as much involved in what people hear as in what the preacher says.

Speech therapists tells us that when we communicate, the speaker will encode a message and speak it; it then passes through all the life filters of the hearer (their interpretation of what was said based on many things—upbringing, definition of words, life experiences, culture, etc.—and then decode what was said, and it is not always what was meant. This further breaks down when they then decode your words and encode a response that then passes through your filters and is decoded by you then … encoded … decoded … encoded .. decoded … This is how conversations sometimes break down—you are talking about apples they are hearing about oranges.

God knows this and so he may take what I say as a preacher and apply it however he chooses to the ears/hearts of those who hear. So, I just do my job and God does his. It may turn out nothing at all like I meant it but exactly how God means it. I do my best and God does the rest.

 

[Frogster]

There are many ways to manipulate . Simply saying beforehand or after that there sermon was "the word of God" is typical . So , if you are not listening or obeying the teaching , you are ignoring or being disobedient to the Lord . Far be it for you to ask the Lord if He has anything in the lecture for yourself - the essence of Spirit-filled theology .

often we just see it..hard to explain, spiritual instincts i suppose...flesh exaltation...it just has an adverse reaction to our spirit.

 

[Tobias]

Ok, I think I can get on board with the idea that God inspires our words many times even when we don't personally feel the anointing. But aren't there conditions to Him anointing us, that we must strive to meet before we can expect Him to use us?

I mean, many people tell me that a preacher with personal sin or bad doctrine cannot be anointed. So which is true? That God anoints despite our trying, or must we be meticulous in our doctrine and lifestyle?

 

[Forge3]

I have never been annointed to preach but I think it is possible I preach through the works of charity by proxy lol.

 

[Frogster]

Ok, I think I can get on board with the idea that God inspires our words many times even when we don't personally feel the anointing. But aren't there conditions to Him anointing us, that we must strive to meet before we can expect Him to use us?

I mean, many people tell me that a preacher with personal sin or bad doctrine cannot be anointed. So which is true? That God anoints despite our trying, or must we be meticulous in our doctrine and lifestyle?

works can't earn, but we see bad vessels used, even a donkey.

Numbers 22.