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Going with the Flow
The Power of God's Anointing
.
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Laura
Bagby
There is no other word for it -- God is truly
amazing.
A couple of months ago I was complaining to
my friend that I didn't feel close to the Lord, that God hadn't seemed to be
talking to me, and that I was at a spiritually dry place.
I missed being anointed for ministry.
Sickness and busyness and fear of man had
made it hard to move in the prophetic and I felt badly that I wasn't doing what
God had intended.
God chose the most unusual time and way to
answer that prayer.
In the midst of a busy day, I was asked to
help with worship at one of CBN's staff chapels.
I agreed, though I lacked spiritual exuberance.
While my coworker was expectant that the Lord would move mightily in power, I
was hoping chapel wouldn't go too long because I had a lot to do.
Knowing that I was unprepared for what the
Lord might do, I prayed that God would just allow me to worship Him and not
worry about what anyone else thought of me.
I prayed for God's peace and for His
anointing -- never expecting that God would come in power an hour later.
And God did come, at first very gently.
As the Holy Spirit swept through that chapel
room and into my heart, the tears flowed, slowly and then steadily.
Soon I was an embarrassingly soggy mess of
brokenness before the Lord -- in front of a large crowd of people.
There was no hiding my face, but that was OK,
because I knew that it wasn't for man to judge my tears, not this day.
I was in the presence of the Almighty.
I couldn't explain why the dried up well
suddenly sprang to life except that it was God being gracious to answer my
prayer.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Faith rose up within me, bolstering what God
had begun. I sensed God's presence strongly in love and in peace.
I felt ready to do battle for the Lord. It
wasn't about the singing. It wasn't about performing anymore. This was about
the Lord and His business.
I felt God nudge me several times while I was
singing, compelling me to pray and prophesy over people, but at first I was a
little unsettled.
After all, I wasn't an
"intercessor." There was a team in place for that.
I watched as those needing prayer came
forward toward the intercessors.
As soon as one came up, someone stepped in to
pray.
I was almost disappointed, because I really
felt led to walk off that platform and pray for them myself!
Now that is audacious. But sometimes God
calls for that.
God doesn't care about our rules or even
about us saving face or looking good in front of others.
Yet still, I watched and waited. The room was
abuzz with intercessors speaking prophetic words and those prayed for weeping
and praising the Lord.
The spiritual decibel level was high. Maybe this
wasn't my time to pray, I wondered.
But I noticed that there were those who were
waiting to be prayed for.
They were waiting and waiting. What are they
waiting for, Laura?
God seemed to be speaking to me. Get out
there and pray, and I will give you the words to say.
So off I went into the wild blue yonder of
God's grace, along with those intercessors who had boldly gone before me, to
the throne room of God.
It was a little scary. I am new to this
spiritual gift.
I am not a prophet. I certainly don’t have
"a word" in every corporate meeting.
I don't claim to know all things. If I did, I
would be God.
No, but God has given me the mind of Christ,
as He has you, dear saints of Christ.
And when you and I have His mind and He
brings His power to match it, amazing things happen, simple as that.
And this day I guess God wished to use me as
one among many.
It didn't happen because I was somehow
chosen.
We are all chosen. I am not more special; I
would be thinking about myself more highly than I ought if I thought that way.
I am beginning to understand that you can't
be afraid when God asks you to speak over someone.
Fear snuffs out faith. I experienced a bit of
that snuffing when nervously praying for the first individual that I saw who
needed prayer.
I was worried about offending the individual
and about saying the wrong things.
As the words came out from my lips, I
wondered if I had made a terrible mistake. It didn't seem right.
But instead of walking away like I was
tempted to do, convinced that I should leave the work to one more experienced,
I decided to press in further by asking the Lord to grant me wisdom and faith
so that I would know what to say.
And it was amazing. God met me every time.
And though we don't
always need a word from God to get us moving -- most days we just must obey,
relying on His word -- a word of edification or exhortation or healing can be
just what we need to build our faith, to turn our cold hearts again to a God
who is truly concerned for us, or to step out in a new direction with boldness
and joy.
And the second thing
I have begun to learn is that you can't bottle up the power.
The Israelites tried
to do this when God sent them manna from Heaven. Some gathered more than a
day's worth of the bread.
They were trying to
bottle up God's anointing. God was not pleased.
God gives us our DAILY bread. We need His new
perspective every day.
Those Israelites who stored more food than
was necessary for the day had moldy bread.
Likewise, when you are moving in the realm of
the prophetic, you can start to think you have a bibidee-bobidee-boo wand of
spiritual insight that you can wave over people any time you want.
Not true. Only Jesus has that kind of anointing.
We as humans must rely on His impartation and His timing.
God's power is never meant to be some warm
and fuzzy sideshow.
To do so would make a mockery of a God who is
so holy that we can't stand before His presence without the robes of Christ.
We must be careful not to go about
proclaiming that we are Prophet So-and-So or Prophetess So-and-So, wanting to
justify our actions and bring the glory to ourselves.
Have we forgotten this is the Lord God we are
dealing with?
We do this not for ourselves. We don't speak
a word over another like some misguided psychic trying to piece together an
individual's future.
It is not intended to please man, but to do
the will of God, as is the case when we use every spiritual gift.
If we do so to seek the praises of men, then
we have missed the point entirely and are in grave danger of deceiving
ourselves and of disillusioning others.
All the gifts of the Spirit, whether they
come in power or in gentleness, in meekness or in strength, are all about God.
It isn't about us.
All I did was show up and obey. God did the
rest. And that, my friend, is all you have to do, too.
If God is calling you, nudging you, or
compelling you, and it lines up with Scripture, go out and do what He asks of
you.
Lay hands on sick people if that is what God
is speaking to you.
Give your entire paycheck to the poor if God
is directing you to do so.
Speak a word of knowledge that is directed by
God. And do it all humbly, giving thanks to God and praises to Him.
Expect nothing in return except God to show
up and accomplish His purposes. You will stand in awe of what He can and will
do in your midst.
"So shall My
word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void
[without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I
please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" - (Isaiah 55:11,
Amplified).
Laura
Bagby
A
Tennessee native, Laura first came to sunny Virginia Beach to attend graduate
school at Regent University after a brief and exciting summer working in
Yosemite National Park in California (whoo-hoo!).
After
graduating from Regent with a master's degree in communication (emphasis on
film studies) and a master's degree in journalism (emphasis on
photojournalism), Laura came to work for CBN as an Internet Producer. That is
when she discovered she had a God-given talent for writing.
Laura
hopes to see the Body of Christ healed, whole, and actively pursuing a godly
life full of wisdom, joy, and freedom in the Lord. As part of this mission,
Laura hopes that her writings encourage and exhort others to continue in their
Christian walk with renewed passion and victory, no matter what walk of life
others find themselves in. She writes inspirational, humor, singles, and health
articles.
Laura
served as the producer for the Health and Finance sections of CBN.com.
In
her free time, Laura loves to laugh, sing, travel abroad, ballroom dance, act
in plays, paint ceramics, bake, visit pet stores, take long walks in the great
outdoors, snap photos, and talk about the latest nutrition information.
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