At intervals, now, I want to share with you situations or occurrences that I have seen or experienced that may be out of your realm of knowledge. That is what mothers and fathers do with children, do they not? They sit together by the fireplace-all warm and cozy-with only the glow of the fire to light the faces of those gathered—and share. The enemy has sought to kill those of our generation before we can pass on to you—who are our children—the wisdom and knowledge gathered through “skin-of-our-teeth” experiences.I am sharing this first experience in the hope that, by hearing, you, our children will choose godliness.
THE “DEEP THINGS OF SATAN”
Are there “deep things of Satan?”
The Lord says there are:
Revelation 2:24
“But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan…”(NAS)
Scholars believe the Lord is referring to the Gnostics who said that they knew the deep things of God—and the Lord is turning the phrase on them. (Gnosticism mixed the teachings of the old false gods with Christianity). But are there other “deep things”—those that do not slip so neatly under manmade labels? Yes, there are.
I want to share with you one such—in the hope that, by sharing this true story (one in which I myself was present to observe), the fear of the Lord will rest upon all of us.
STEALING GOD’S ANOINTING
Can an anointing really be stolen? Yes, it can; but the consequences usually are swift and severe.
BACKGROUND TO THE STORY
My husband and I spent a sabbatical year of prayer before the Lord– after laboring four years for Him in a large metropolitan area. During that year we were attending a small, but highly prophetic, worship group that functioned like a very small home group. Years before, we had known the man who presently was their leader. The worship music was glorious and the young members anointed and trained in the prophetic.
Near the end of sabbatical year a very well-known “father-among-prophets” was coming to a church in a town nearby. This older prophet was a friend of ours. For the space of a year it had been known that he was coming to bestow an anointing on the congregation of a friend of his at their evening Service. Of course all the young people in the small worship group wanted to attend the service. So did we.
THE REQUEST
After learning of the older prophet’s schedule, the leader of the worship group approached Al and I saying he knew the older prophet would be ministering at his friend’s church Sunday night—but what if he was invited to a nearby retreat center beforehand—like Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning? This would allow the younger people of his group to minister to him. Also, it would give him much needed rest before that Sunday night service—and—the older prophet, who loved the younger generation, always sought an opportunity to encourage them.
That sounded like a great idea; so we invited him. He accepted.
Then the leader suggested that Al and I invite a number of our own friends from other areas to be a part of the week-end. We thought it strange that he called by name certain ones he would like to attend. Many were in international ministry and highly anointed. But we shrugged off these reservations with the thought that they, too, were friends of the older prophet and would love to be with him and minister to him.
They, too, accepted.
The week-end retreat was lovely—nothing unusual—and then came Sunday. Oh my—Sunday!
THE SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE BEGAN IN A USUAL WAY
There was worship, prayer and some teaching. Then the older prophet rose to share with the group. As he moved to the center of the area up front, the group leader asked him to tell everyone about the anointing he was taking to his friend’s church that evening.
The older prophet began to share the story of how the Lord had directed him to bestow this anointing on that congregation. As he spoke, the anointing in the room began to rise—and rise—and rise until it became astounding.
SUDDENLY
Suddenly, the entire group of those at the retreat center jumped up and rushed to the older prophet, crying out and grabbing into the air high above him. I stepped back with my mouth open because I had never seen anything like this before. [I found out later (from the older prophet) that he calls that a “feeding frenzy.” The anointing is so high and available that people are grabbing for it.]
After a goodly interval of those present bathing in a virtual waterfall of an anointing, everyone packed their cars and headed quickly to the evening service in that nearby town.
TARRY AWHILE
After everyone left, I asked my sister to remain a few minutes. I sank down on a nearby sofa and looked at her.
“Alice,” I said, “something happened here, but I don’t know what it was. But, “I continued, “something about it wasn’t right.”
Then we, too, went to the evening service in the nearby town.
IMMEDIATELY
When I walked into the extremely large sanctuary I could sense that something was wrong. The older prophet and his friend (the pastor of that church) were seated on the platform. The pastor was not talking to the older prophet. Instead, his eyes were scanning the congregation. I took my place beside my husband and glanced around the congregation myself. The leader of that small group was over on the far right side surrounded by his young charges.
I looked back at the platform to my friend, the older prophet. It was then that I realized that my friend had nothing to give the congregation. The anointing had been given.
STANDING IN THE GAP
Oh my, I began to pray. I looked over toward the leader of the small group to see if he, too, was praying—and saw that he and the young people were leaving. I knew he saw the problem. The older prophet had arrived empty handed. [Remember the time in the Bible when Jacob tricked his father, Isaac, to bestow the blessing upon him instead of Esau? Esau cried out to his father: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac told him that he had given everything to Jacob in that blessing. “Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” (Gen 27:36c and 37c). It was gone.
I returned to praying for my friend on the platform. Finally the Lord answered—but the anointing bestowed on that congregation was not of the extraordinary intensity of the original poured out on those at the retreat center.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
The service at the church came to a close and my husband and I went to the motel where the leader of the small group and his wife were staying. When we walked in I asked the leader why they had left the service. “Well,” he answered, “he had nothing to give.”
“And,” I said “you did not stay to pray for him and beseech the Lord to give him something to give to that congregation? They had been waiting a year to receive that anointing.”
“No,” he shrugged. He was sitting in a recliner with his legs up and crossed at the ankles. The soles of his shoes were facing me.
I indicated his upturned soles. “You pulled a Jacob,” I said (referring to his upturned feet
–because when Jacob was born he came out holding onto the heel of his brother Esau. Therefore he was called “the supplanter”.)
He leapt to his feet in agitation and said: “I told you that anointing belonged to us.”
“You didn’t tell me that, brother,” I said. “I never would have been a part of such a thing—and then, you didn’t stay to pray when you could see that he needed people to stand with him.” I shook my head and left.
WERE THERE CONSEQUENCES TO STEALING GOD’S ANOINTING?
Sadly, yes.
1. The highly gifted worship group split up almost immediately.
2. The leader’s marriage fell apart.
3. That congregation was cheated. Who knows what the Lord intended for them.
NOW LET ME SHARE WITH YOU LIKE A MOTHER WITH CHILDREN
If you see any such tendencies in yourself, run to the Lord for Him to cleanse you. When over a period of time there is a contriving to sin; when there is deep plotting that is deliberate and takes a long time to work its way into your heart, you are contemplating a much more heinous sin than sins of sudden passion. These are densely dark and show deep wickedness. Always, those who practice such sin justify them to themselves and others. All who so connive employ cunning to hide what is being done. Run from such tendencies in yourself and flee from anyone that plots such harm to others. Look for small things that are wrong—these may lead you to deeper discernment. Always, always look at the character of a person. Our heavenly father is not looking for the gifts in a person, but the character of Christ. If you step into any such entanglement repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness.
A SIDE NOTE:
I was able to share this story with the pastor of that congregation and ask for forgiveness for my part of what happened. This occurred almost 20 years ago. I know more now. Therefore, what I have learned, with the Lord’s help, I will share with you.
