Category Archives: Discipleship

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Are You Seeking God’s Anointing?

How to experience an anointed life

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Have you ever felt like you were “in flow” and your words came out with ease and power? Or during a conversation with a nonbeliever you had just the right questions and ideas to share? Or had scripture verses right there on your tongue? Have you ever had a surge of creativity, solved a knotty problem, or gotten a wonderful new insight? Shared a prophecy or word of knowledge that was right on the mark? Times like this are so exhilarating! We feel like we are operating at a level beyond our usual selves, because we are! What we are experiencing is God’s anointing, a wonderful gift He is delighted to give to His children.

I know this feeling well. Under the anointing I function at a higher, more effective level.  It isn’t my abilities, but the anointing that gives power to my prayers.  When God has anointed my prayers I have seen miracles: color vision restored, incurable diseases, broken bones, cardiac disease, injured backs, knees, ankles and shoulders, and GI problems healed.  As followers of Jesus we should all desire to have God’s anointing for our life and ministry. The question is – How do we develop and maintain an anointed lifestyle?  Below is how the Lord explained living under the anointing to me.

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What does it Mean to Enter into God’s Rest?

Trusting God and Resting in Him

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We all face difficult and troubling situations during our lifetime—no one is exempt from trials. The Bible instructs us to trust God and rest in Him. But how? There are many Bible verses that tell us of the benefits of resting and trusting in the Lord, but doing it isn’t easy! What does the “rest of God” look like, and how to we get there?  This is what the Lord said to me about resting in Him.

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What happens when the need looks bigger than your faith?

The power of prayer in the natural and in the spirit

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Over the past months there have been a number of serious events in the lives of my family and friends.  These ranged from serious medical conditions to major relationship issues.  The magnitude of each seemed overwhelming.  My wife and I immediately went to battle in prayer and we enlisted others to join with us.  We know that nothing is too difficult for the Lord, so no issue is too big for Him!  I believe, and I have seen miracles many times in the past. But sometimes I feel the need is too large and my prayers are too small.  I can relate to the man who said to Jesus, “Help my unbelief!” This is what the Lord said to me about praying about such difficult situations (His words are in blue):

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Being Aware of His Presence

What it takes to know that Jesus is with you

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Do you ever feel like the men on the road to Emmaus right after Jesus rose from the grave? As they walked along, Jesus walked with them.  However, for much of their journey, they weren’t even aware that it was Him.  They didn’t recognize Jesus’ presence! (see Luke 24: 13-35)

The scriptures are clear that Jesus is with us always, ready to speak into our lives and help with our every need.  However, sometimes I don’t recognize His presence.  When I am oblivious to His nearness I have missed His input into my life.  I believe this is a common experience.  Here is what Jesus told me about discerning His presence (His words are in blue):

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Do You Want to Minister Like Jesus?

The key is having faith like His disciples

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Recently, I was ministering to a person who was struggling with depression and loneliness.  My prayers and the scriptures I shared seemed to fall short of the need.  I felt poorly prepared, weak in my response, and lacking anointing.  Perhaps you’ve been in a similar situation?  I know that Jesus would have ministered much more life and hope in this situation, and I want my ministry to be like His.  When I questioned Him, here is what Jesus told me about it:

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How to Know Your True Value

What everybody ought to know about their self-worth

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In my youth, we had to try out to play on a Little League baseball team, and if you were not chosen you played in the minors.  At my tryout I played well enough to make a major league team, quite a feat for a small, 8 year old kid!

I was a good player, but when they selected the all-star team I was not chosen — I was crushed.  I felt that I had failed as a ball player!  What a hard lesson to learn as a child; my self-worth had to come from something other than success as all-star.  I have had to learn this same lesson about self-worth repeatedly over the years.  Feelings of inferiority and inadequacy are all too common. Fortunately, the Lord’s perspective has helped me see my true worth (His words are in blue).

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The Secret to Becoming a Disciple that Changes the World

Growing through experiences with Jesus

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As long as I have known the Lord, my desire has been to be like Him, to truly be His disciple.  It was so exciting to attend John Wimber’s healing conferences years ago and learn that Jesus’ ministry, including praying for the sick, was for all of Jesus’ followers, including me.  Wimber taught that the men Jesus chose to be with Him were examples for all of Jesus’ followers today.

How did three years with Jesus change these ordinary men so dramatically that they went from cowering in fear to boldly sharing the truth of the kingdom of God with power and love everywhere they went?  They were completely dedicated, amazingly courageous, powerfully anointed and overflowing with love.  They exhibited everything that I desire to be, but I don’t feel I’ve arrived.

When I asked him how to become as devoted, courageous, anointed, and loving as the early disciples, here is His response:  (His words to me are in blue)

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How God Sees Us

Seeing with fresh eyes

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If you are anything like me, you have areas in your life that are not working as well as you’d like, and that are holding you back.  To help me, the Lord said: “What do you see when you look back on the previous year?”  Answering this question helped me see my life from His perspective.  While meditating on this question, one thing He told me was to “get it done!”

As I pondered this, I realized what the Lord wanted me to see.  In the past I often worked so hard getting things just right that I took much too long to finish.  Practically, for example, this led to me taking too long to update our Kingdom Partners website or completing my blog posts.  I simply wasn’t getting it done.

Today I share some of what I learned that has helped me to “get it done” (His words to me are in blue).

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Keys to More Effective Prayer

What are "effective fervent" prayers?

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Hearing the doctor’s words,“Your wife has ovarian cancer,” really increased my commitment to prayer!  My prayers for Norma became more frequent and more intense each day. I am believing the truth found in James 5:16 “…pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Since I have seen God miraculously heal many people when I prayed, I expected the same healing results for Norma.  Over the past few months He has answered many prayers for her well-being. However, miraculous, direct, supernatural healing has not yet occurred.   Not surprisingly, this causes me to ask many questions. Why are the answers to my prayers so varied?  Why isn’t she healed? How can my prayers be more effective?

Here is some of what the Lord said to me about effective prayer (His words are in blue).

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Ways to Sense That Jesus is Always With You

Seeing with the eyes of your heart

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I have found that everything goes best when I consciously include the Lord in every area of my life.  However, during those seasons when I am very busy or distracted, it is often too easy to forget His presence, and to not interact regularly with Him.

Seeing the Lord working really helps me to include Him in my life.  While I know some people who are true seers who commonly see very clear visions with their natural eyes, this is not my usual way of seeing.  I tend to see with the eyes of my heart.  When the Lord spoke to me in my journaling about this difference, it helped me to have confidence that I can see Him. (His words are in blue).