The Word AND the Anointing!

If we want to see people healed, we need the Word AND the anointing to go forth when we minister.  One without the other will produce only partial results.  We don’t want to just preach the Word; we want to do so in the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:12).

You can get anything by the Word that you can get through the anointing, but some people are not in a position to receive healing for a serious condition through the Word.  They could get to that point in the future if they continue in the Word, but they have not yet developed their faith and may not have the time left that they need to do so.  They will either be healed through the anointing or not at all.  No one has the right to demand healing through a special manifestation of the Spirit, but God is gracious and does heal people that way, though not every time.

If we as ministers don’t spend time in prayer before we speak, we will likely miss out on what the Spirit want to do in our services.  It is a mistake to plan out the service and then “lean unto your own understanding” by refusing to ever deviate from your predetermined plan.  What if God’s power suddenly manifests when you are still singing the first song?  I’ve had this happen.  I did not blindly “plow through” the song list anyway when it was obvious that God was changing the order of the service.  What will you do if someone interrupts your message crying out to be saved or delivered from a demon?  I’ve had this happen!  I made sure they got saved or delivered.  I didn’t tell them to be quiet and quit disrupting my carefully prepared message.  Jesus dealt with interruptions, too, and He also made sure the person was delivered rather than plowing ahead.  (See Mark 1:23-26 for an example.)  God doesn’t always show you in advance what will happen in the service, and you must be willing to “go with the flow” as the Holy Spirit leads.  Like Paul, you should pray in the Spirit and with your understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15).  By praying in the Spirit, you can pray out mysteries about the service and literally be in a position where you have already prayed about a “surprise” that comes up because the Holy Spirit gave you the utterance in advance to pray about it.

Paul prayed in the Holy Spirit a lot (1 Corinthians 14:18), and I would recommend that you do so as well.  If you don’t pray in the Holy Spirit at all, you are praying with one hand tied behind your back!  Praying in the Holy Spirit gives God the legal right to do things that are beyond your understanding – because you asked Him to do it – even though your mind was completely clueless about what you were asking!  If all you do is pray with your understanding, you limit God to what you can come up with.  I realize that you COULD pray, “Holy Spirit, do whatever You want to do” and He could honor that, but there is something about praying in other tongues that will get you ready for a service with a Holy Spirit flow like nothing else will.

I’ve learned what works for me.  If I’m going to be mostly teaching, I spend a lot of time studying the Word.  If I know it will be a “find out what happens when you get there” service where I’ll mostly be flowing spontaneously in the Holy Spirit, I spend more time praying in tongues, because there isn’t much I can pray with my understanding to really prepare for such a service.  Sometimes I’ll THINK I’m going to teach but end up flowing in the gifts, while at other times I’ll THINK it will be a flow-in-the-gifts service but I end up teaching, but I usually have a pretty good sense in advance which way things will go.  If I pray to find out what message the Lord wants me to preach and keep “hitting a brick wall,” I start praying in tongues instead.  That’s what I do NOW – what I USED to do is think that I was somehow deficient in prayer for not coming up with a decent message, so I’d stay up way too late the night before the service desperately praying for a message – and still not have any better idea what I was going to say and do after all that prayer!  As you grow in ministry, you learn how the Holy Spirit uses you and you get more comfortable with it.

On the other hand, you cannot base your ministry on manifestations of the Spirit, as some healing ministers have done to their detriment.  The people may or may not get healed as the Spirit manifests Himself.  What will you do as a healing minister if there is no special manifestation of the Spirit in a service?  You’d better have developed your ability to preach the Word!  Even if people get healed by a special manifestation, they will most likely lose their healing if they do not hear the Word concerning their salvation from sickness.  The Word, not the anointing, is the foundation for healing ministry.  You must always put the Word first.  This will give God something to confirm and give people something solid to stand on for their healing, not only now but in the future when they need to be healed and you aren’t there to minister to them with a special anointing.

In your own language, you can pray for boldness to speak the Word about our redemption from sickness despite widespread opposition to this teaching.  You can pray that God will open the eyes of people’s understanding so that they will be enlightened and know their inheritance in Christ, which includes healing.  You can expect that as you preach the Word boldly, God will stretch forth His hand and do signs, wonders and miracles by the name of His holy child Jesus.  (Of course, YOU must use this name; He isn’t going to come down from heaven and use the name of Jesus for you.)  You may find, as I have, that when you start praying in the Holy Spirit (tongues), the Holy Spirit will start showing you things to come, including needs that will be represented in the service, specific words that need to be given, and so on.

Our generation needs to see the goodness of God manifested, and He will use His Body to display that goodness!  I want YOU to be one of the people whom He uses that way!