Claim the David Anointing By Doing This

Some of us who have been raised in a democratic society may struggle with the idea that God gives more favor to some people than others.

God’s favor is not the same as His love. You cannot do anything to change the vastness of God’s love for you. But even Jesus Himself had to grow “…in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). This verse amazes me. I can understand the fact that He needed to grow in favor with man, but why did He have to grow in favor with God? He was perfect in every way. The answer lies in the fact that Jesus did everything He did as a man, laying His divinity aside, in order to be a model for us. Therefore, He, like David, had to be tested. At His baptism, He received His anointing as the Spirit descended on Him and remained, and He was declared by the Father to be the Son of God. But instead of launching right into His ministry, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There He was tested by the enemy, specifically in the area of the Word that had just been spoken over Him. If you look at the account of Jesus’ temptation in Luke, you’ll notice that He goes into the wilderness “filled with the Holy Spirit” and He returns “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:1,14). Because He passed the test, the expression of the word over His life, the favor to walk in His potential, was released in a greater measure.

The “favor” that Jesus grew in is the word charis, which refers to the divine grace and ability of God Himself that comes upon and enables a person to accomplish His purposes. As Jesus modeled, each of us must grow in favor if we are going to fulfill our destiny in God. But favor, because it is so glorious and powerful, is a weighty thing. Thus, God, in His mercy, gives you His favor in the measure your character can handle, taking you from glory to glory, faith to faith, and strength to strength.

The Purpose & Authority of Ministering to Yourself

David’s life shows us that the ability to strengthen and minister to ourselves is a vital skill that we must learn if we are going to develop the character to fulfill our potential as kings and priests. It is impossible for anyone to reach his ultimate destiny in life without learning to minister to himself. We can best appreciate the significance of this ability by understanding the nature of the role to which we are called. When Scripture says “we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10), the implication is that every one of us has a destiny to stand in a position where we influence people around us. Each of us will have a different size and kind of sphere of influence, but we are all called as leaders in society. We are not called to “rule over others” in the sense of domination. In God’s Kingdom, the power of rule is the divine enablement to serve others more effectively. And just as kings are to provide protection and prosperity for their citizens, so those who serve well in God’s Kingdom will offer safety and blessing to all who come under their influence.

Perhaps the first quality that distinguishes a leader is initiative. God knew David would succeed as a leader because he took the initiative to seek Him in the secret place. This is the same quality of maturity that He is looking for in us. To experience the positive peer pressure and momentum of a move of God in a corporate group is wonderful. But those who seek God’s face and pursue His destiny for their lives when nobody is around, are the people who possess the initiative required to strengthen themselves. If they learn to sustain their initiative to seek God by strengthening themselves in testing, they will be the people who will experience the personal breakthroughs that release a corporate blessing to those around them.

God wants us to learn how to strengthen ourselves through Him because developing our skills will promote spiritual longevity. We need longevity because our destiny and potential cannot be attained in a few years; they extend to the end of our lifetime here on earth. For this reason, I like to tell the students in our School of Supernatural Ministry, “Anyone can burn for God for a year. Come back in twenty years, take me out to coffee, and tell me you’re still burning.” Then I spend much of the school year teaching them the tools I’ve learned for strengthening myself. It’s obvious that the students possess enough initiative to pay the price to come to school; but without discovering and using tools to minister to themselves, they won’t, I’m convinced, be able to sustain the desire that brought them initially. Sadly, I know too many Christian leaders who lack this ability, and as a result are suffering from burnout or moral failure.

Now, let me be clear that learning to strengthen ourselves does not mean that we develop an independent lifestyle. Our lifestyle as believers is always focused on serving, loving, and leaning on the Body of Christ. But for the sake of becoming mature and growing in favor so that we can bless those around us, God brings moments into our lives when we have to stand alone in difficulty and testing. God will even blind the eyes and deafen the ears of our closest friends in those moments so we can learn to minister to ourselves. We must recognize this because I know a lot of believers who fall into bitterness, thinking their friends are failing them in a hard time. Understanding God’s priority to teach us this lesson helps us to avoid that trap.

Victory As A Lifestyle

My book, Strengthen Yourself in the Lord, is written to share the tools that the Lord has taught me to use to strengthen myself. My purpose is not to make an exhaustive list of tools in the Scripture, but to show you the things that have brought me through tough days in the trenches. As you read about the things that God has put in your arsenal, my desire is that the conviction of the destiny over your life will be more deeply rooted in your heart. He has equipped you for great victory—not just merely to break through, but to release and establish the dominion of God around you. However, it’s your responsibility to use these tools to bring strength to yourself so you can stand in that victory. The invitation of a lifetime is before you—an invitation to walk in a place of favor where you co-labor with God and make history as a king and priest of His choosing. Let’s rise to the challenge!