A New Anointing

A New Anointing

In many churches like ours, we talk about the anointing or a mantle. This basically means a gifting or skill, or a ‘cloak’. Well, whichever way you want to look at it, we were witnesses to a new mantle and anointing being manifest in our church the other day.  Elisha used Elijah’s cast off mantle to strike the water while asking, “Where now is the God of Elijah?” The company of prophets concluded the Elijah’s spirit or anointing was now upon Elisha.

Like every church, we have one or two usually younger folk of whom you can say, “They will be leaders one day.” We are no different. We have the honour of mentoring and being spiritual mum & dad to one of our young couples. Today we had the privilege and joy of seeing God anoint them, the young man in particular, and birth them into a new level spiritually. To be exact, I believe we were allowed to witness the birth of a prophet – a real prophet.

There were a couple of good pointers. He gave a very good prophecy to the church which all those with any of the gift affirmed, including both pastor and a visiting minister.  His words flowed right, they sat right, and they hit the mark spiritually within the whole tone of the meeting. He admitted afterwards he had felt the presence of God while he spoke and that he felt he could have given a word to several if not all of those present. One felt that this was a public God moment affirming and encouraging a willing ‘newcomer’ to the ministry.

Don’t get me wrong – there are still many faults and rough edges to be resolved, but it was a spectacular start. It could all still go very wrong, but with careful mentoring, prayer, and encouragement, this young man may have found the basis for his ministry. He has a road to tread and he has only just set out. He will have to meet and cope with many difficult  circumstances and trials. But he is a young man with great potential and also with God’s hand firmly upon him.

This young man carries the mark of God which, if eventually brought to fruition, makes this one of the most exciting “finds” in recent years – at least for our church. I pray Psalm 105:15 over him, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” But do not neglect them nor ignore them either. We now have a great responsibility as a church to nurture this young man and to encourage and grow his gifting.