Exodus 40: 12-15, “And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats; And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priests office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”
Many in the church world today are doing a lot of talking about the anointing and how it is needed in our lives. This is true. But what I see is an ever-increasing tendency to believe that the anointing is only one level and once you receive the anointing, you will remain the same day in and day out forever and ever. I disagree. For, throughout our Bibles, it clearly shows us that there were men and women who increased in the power and anointing of God in their lives as they learned how to flow in His power. From these very examples, I have compiled a list of things that I have discovered are secrets to increasing the anointing in our lives.
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Understand That It Comes From Relationship And Not Formula.
The anointing of God cannot be attained by ritualistic formula. It cannot be attained through self-endeavors. It cannot be attained by copying something that you’ve seen someone else do. No. It comes through relationship with God. It comes through that intimate fellowship that you have with God. And out of that fellowship comes the anointing of God’s presence. You want to increase the anointing in your life? Then get in God’s presence and have an intimate relationship with Him.
Just remember this…Formula means you may have power with men. Relationship means you’ll have definitely power with God.
2. Let Prayer Be Your Main Focus.
Many today are trying to have the anointing on their lives but are not willing to pray the price to obtain it. There are no shortcuts to deep levels of the anointing. There are no magic formulas, not any magic words. Just intense prayer with God. For out of intense prayer with God is birthed power and anointing. For in His presence there is increased power. In His presence, there is increased anointing. For anointing does not originate from any other source except from Him!
3. Let The Word Of God Be A Top Priority.
Reading Christian books is good. They will help edify you and uplift you. BUT! They are NOT a substitute for the Word of God! We must not ever substitute reading anything else more than we read the Word of God. This is a danger in Christianity today with all the wonderful books that are out there for the believer to read and learn from. They are good and have their place in the development of the believer’s life. But, they must not take the place of the Word of God. For staying in the Word and learning what it has to say is the way to increase the anointing in your life. IT must be your top priority.
4. Learn To Listen To God.
If you want to increase in the anointing of God, you must learn the valuable lesson I learned a long time ago. And that is, to quit talking so much and learn to listen to His voice! I used to spend so much time in prayer just talking, talking, and talking. But, the one thing that I hardly ever did was just stop talking and listen to Him. And it wasn’t until I finally discovered that all I was doing was talking and learned to listen to Him, that I really started to grow in the anointing. I wasn’t giving Him a chance to speak because I wasn’t stopping long enough to hear what He had to say. If you want to increase in the anointing, then take the time and get in His presence and listen to what He has to say.
5. Pattern Your Life After Jesus.
God is not going to entrust you with deeper levels of the anointing if you are patterning your life after everyone else except Him! Many today are trying to be copycats of other people. They see Brother So In So with an anointing on his life, so they think if they can copy what he does or what he says, that maybe they too can have the type of anointing he does. My friend, it doesn’t work that way! If you want to have the anointing of God placed upon your life and then to grow in it and have it increase through you, you must pattern your life after the most anointed man that has ever walked the face of this earth – Jesus!
6. Hang Around Anointed People.
There is an old saying that goes like this…You show me who you hang around, and I’ll show you what you are! This is a very powerful statement that even has strong implications in the spiritual realm. Many in the church today are trying to have the best of both worlds, the earthly and the spiritual. But you can’t. They try to have the anointing of God but still hang around the old crowd and do the old things. It can’t be done. If you want the deeper levels of the anointing, you must hang around people who are just as hungry for more of God as you are. Because if you don’t, and you hang around the spiritual deadheads of the religious realm, they will drag you down with them. You hang around doubt-peddlers and you’ll become a peddler. You hang around the skeptics and you’ll become a skeptic. But, if you’ll find you some fired up, Holy Ghost filled people to hang around with that are going after God with a passion, it won’t be long before they will be contagious and rub off on you and you’ll be seeking God like never before.
7. Stay Humble And Don’t Become A Legend In Your Own Mind.
If you want to increase the anointing in your life, you must stay humble before God and give Him all the credit! There are many that have forgotten where they came from and have forgotten that it is God and God alone who gives the increase. Watch out for these people, for they will soon fall, or at least the only reward they will have is here on earth. They assume that because they can draw crowds or possess some supernatural gifting, that they are invincible. But, as soon as anyone thinks that they are the one who deserves the praise, they will immediately lose the favor of God upon their life. If you want more of God’s anointing on you – stay humble!
8. Don’t Try To Go Too Fast.
Deep levels of the anointing do not come overnight. Many today want everything fast and right now. We live in a fast-food mentality today. We want everything right now, even the deeper things of God. But if you are to experience the deeper levels of God’s anointing, you must be willing to be molded and shaped and conformed into what He wants you to be. You cannot just demand of God to pour out His power upon your life, because He won’t do it. Why? He can’t trust you yet! God is not going to entrust His anointing and power to people who have not as of yet been fashioned by His mighty hand. Don’t get in a rush. Take your time. Let Him teach you. You won’t regret it.
9. Let Character, Integrity And Faithfulness Rule Your Life.
If you want to increase the anointing in your life, show God that you deserve it. Well, not really deserve it, for none of us really deserve anything that God has ever done for us, but show Him that you are willing to let these Godly traits rule your life. These three traits ruling your life will show to God more than anything else will that He can trust you with His anointing. God doesn’t need people in His kingdom who are braggers, who all they can do is brag on what they’ve done. No. What He needs are people He can count on to be faithful to Him in every area of their life. What He needs are people who will have the integrity and character to reflect the best for the Kingdom of God. Let these three traits rule your life and God will release more anointing into your life than you’ve ever dreamed of.
10. Release Yourself Totally To The Spirit.
This is the final one that you need to learn to increase the anointing in your life. And it is probably one of the most important ones. Unless you are willing to totally release yourself to the Spirit and what He wants to do with and through your life, you will never be able to move into the deeper levels of God’s anointing. You must trust Him enough to allow Him to accomplish that which He seeks to do in your life. Sometimes it may be scary, sometimes it may be unorthodox, but do not try to reason out in your mind what He is trying to do, just do it! Our finite minds will never be able to totally fathom the deep things of God, and sometimes it is just better to quit worrying about things and just let God be God. If you truly want to increase the anointing in your life, then let loose and let God have His way!