What No Eye Has Seen 2023: Steps To The Anointing
Day 4-Bishop Dag Heward Mills
The first thing I want to explain is why the anointing is so important. Zechariah chapter four says,
“And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.”
In this dream, the olive trees were feeding the bowls, and the bowls were feeding the lights. It continues,
“So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.”
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous part of the scripture that everybody knows: “not by might, and not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” The part you may not know as well, but that is very important to understanding the anointing, comes after it.
When the scripture says “the hands of Zerubbabel,” you might as well substitute it with “the hands of Pastor Jonathan.” The oil, the anointing, and the vision are for one reason; building the house of the Lord. The anointing for building God’s church. The most anointed people are those who build the church. That’s God’s primary purpose for granting us His anointing; to build.
What God said through the prophet Zechariah, is that it’s not by might nor by power, but by God’s Spirit or His anointing upon Zerubbabel that will cause the house of God to be completed.
God’s anointing is not about getting a good job or a nice car. The anointing is for building the house of God and finishing it. Completing the building of God’s house takes real power. It requires power that can only come through the Spirit of God. That’s why the Word says, “not by power, not by might, but by my Spirit says the Lord” it is a prophecy for Zerubbabel to lay the foundation of the church and to finish building it.
You are anointed to build God’s church. It is for this purpose that God wants to anoint you.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”
In this scripture, Jesus is telling His disciples that he was anointed for the purpose of preaching the gospel. Preaching the gospel takes power, that's why the anointing is necessary. God wants to anoint you to join the Revival Today team. God needs more anointed Revival Today members to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to recover sight to the blind, and to set free those who are bruised. May you carry that powerful anointing in your life.
Things that don’t go away easily or have an element of stubborness have a demonic nature. Attachment is a sign of a demonic force. Don’t take it lightly or wear it as a badge of honor when someone calls you stubborn. Stubbornness is a characteristic of a demon.
When Jesus told the demons to come out of the madman, the demons fought and negotiated with Him. There were 6,000 devils in one man. When the demons moved out of the man and into the pigs, the pigs committed suicide. They ran into the water and drowned. They preferred death over being possessed with demons. Demons have that stubborn element.
Any stubborn form of captivity in your life, whatever chain that is holding you captive and refusing to change or yield is broken today in the name of Jesus and by the power of His anointing.
The anointing is said to restore sight to the blind. Blindness is another stubborn thing. Even with all our science, it’s still a very difficult thing to fix, but Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to deal with this as well. I believe God is granting you whatever kind of sight you need.
The Spirit of the Lord anointed Jesus to set at liberty them that are bruised. A bruise signifies hurt and offense. The chances are you’ve been hurt in your life. It’s nearly impossible to live in this world and not be hurt. Hurt and offense has the potential to change you completely and forever.
But the anointing.
The anointing has the power to heal every hurt person. If you’re reading this and you’ve been dealing with years of hurt, only God’s touch can heal you. What can’t be healed through psychology, advice, or motivational speaking will be healed by the anointing. Be healed today in the name of Jesus.
Be An Anointed Worker
I met an Englishman named Michael Bassett in London in 1983 who was starting a church. I’m not sure how I even came across his church; it was so small at the time. When I began working for the pastor, he didn't even know me, but I decided to go around the whole of London and find anyone I knew wasn’t going to church and bring them to that church.
The church didn't have instruments. I bought the first instruments. I became one of the first drummers in the church. Then, I started to play the piano. Before long, the church became the biggest church in London.
After I invited everyone I knew to church. I bought Kenneth Hagin booklets to distribute to everyone I invited. I even gave them away to people I didn’t know. The pastor didn’t know me or pay me to do this. I woke people up on Sundays, waited for them to get ready, and took them to church with me on the train. I was working behind the scenes.
A church is built by anointed people who work even when the pastor doesn’t know it. Not every effort to build the church has to be coordinated by the pastor. No mega church is built by just one great man of God. It takes many people who are anointed to do good and bless people, even outside the eyes and vision of the pastor. It will take many people who are willing to work without being told ‘thank you’ every time they do something. It will take people who work because they love the Lord and are anointed to do His work.
Say this: I am anointed!
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Jesus was anointed to do something good. If you are not called to be a pastor, you can at least do something good. Don’t worry yourself about whether your pastor knows about the good you are doing. My pastor in London didn’t see me when I was in London passing out booklets and dragging people to church. However, many years later, he called me and asked me to work with him and year after that, he ordained me into ministry. Then, he allowed me to preach at his church, which was still the largest church in London at that time. He even took an offering for me. I was very blessed.
That was the beginning of ministry for me, but it really began with me working behind the scenes. Very little can be accomplished without the anointing and I was anointed to do good, you can be as well. I want to share with you some of the steps to the anointing.
Steps to the Anointing
Step One - Your Vessel Must Change
In II Timothy 2:20, the Bible says,
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.”
This scripture is explaining that there are vessels which carry the anointing. No one would pour Coca Cola into a gas tank and no one would put gas in a drinking glass. If you want to be filled with Coca Cola, you need a coke bottle. If you want gas, you need a gas tank. Likewise, in God’s house there are many different vessels. If you want the anointing, that spiritual liquid that comes on you to do the work of God, you need to be a vessel that can carry that anointing. You need the right vessel to carry the right anointing.
That is why God allows you to go through a molding process, so that you become a vessel unto honor or a vessel that can be used. When you are honored as a vessel it means you have been chosen.
The other day I walked into my kitchen to make a cup of coffee. I opened the cabinet and there were three rows of mugs. My body was facing the coffee maker, away from the cabinet and as I reached for a mug, my hand missed the first row, then I reached again and I missed the second row. Then I turned to face the mugs and when I did my hand went straight for a red mug from Switzerland. I picked that mug and decided to use it to make my coffee because it’s my favorite mug. I use it whenever I make coffee. It’s privileged above all my mugs. I always choose it for coffee.
I see God choosing you today. God is choosing you out of all the other vessels. I own another mug that is similar to the one I chose for my coffee. It’s red and also from Switzerland, but it’s a bit too narrow. I needed it to be slightly wider in order for it to be big enough to hold the amount of coffee I want to drink. I see an adjustment taking place in the spirit realm that will transform you into the perfect vessel to be used for God’s specific purpose for your life.
When God chooses you, He will bypass many others to pick you. God always has a reason. God goes through the crowd to pick a specific vessel. Revival Today Church is a very spiritually important place.
You must develop a love for the anointing. It’s what makes the difference. It’s what makes people who they are — it’s not genetics, it’s not DNA, it’s the anointing. Whatever you need to do to change your vessel, do it.
If you are accustomed to telling lies, there are certain anointings that will not fit into a lying vessel. If you don’t like to read, there are certain anointings that will not correspond with your vessel. If you are sleeping around all over the place, and doing certain things, there are certain types of oils and anointings that cannot be used for that vessel. If you are a lazy vessel, Jesus addressed you in Matthew when He said, ‘thou wicked and slothful servant. Why did I even waste my one talent on you?’
It's not going to be given to you. Beginning from today, every characteristic that is not compatible with the anointing leaves you today in the name of Jesus Christ. Receive it in Jesus name.
Step Two - Servanthood
Only servants were anointed in the Bible. The Bible says, “Now after the death of Moses, Joshua the servant…” Joshua was a servant of the Lord.
“But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.”
Elisha was Elijah’s servant. Anointing does not flow horizontally, no liquid does. Rivers flow downstream. Anointing comes from the head and streams downward. Anointing does not flow to equals, it flows to servants. Be careful how you interact with your pastor. You pastor may be relaxed and casual around you, but never feel as though you are the same, if you do, you will never become anointed.
Even though you may work on a team, God always chooses a man.
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the
gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
God doesn’t look for a team or committee, He searches for a man to use. Always remember, the anointing flows down. That’s why God requires you to be a servant. Servants are lower than the one they serve. Servanthood is what qualifies you for the anointing. As you take a lower position of servanthood, the anointing flows to you. You have to be low enough for the anointing to reach you. Everyone God anointed in the Bible was a servant. After becoming a changed vessel, decide to be a servant. Jesus said to His disciples,
“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
Jesus said this because his disciples were His servants before they became His friends.
No matter how old you are, have the mind of a servant. It is not by age, but by grace and by the gifts of the Spirit that have been bestowed upon those who God has chosen. Age, stature, reputation, and money are irrelevant.
Joshua was not Moses’ equal, he was his servant and became anointed. Aaron was Joshua’s equal and Aaron was never anointed. Miriam, Moses’ sister, criticized Moses and she ended up with leprosy, not anointing. Make yourself a servant and you will be blessed.
There are four criteria to becoming a servant. First, you must have a master. Secondly, a servant is at the beck and call of his master. Third, a servant executes the command of his master. Lastly, a servant cannot be inconvenienced. Fulfilling these four components of servanthood makes you eligible for anointing. Make sure that no matter how big you grow or how long you stay around, you always consider yourself a servant.
Make it known to your pastor that you are there to serve. Be present to build God’s mega church. A servant does what his master wants in the way he wants it done. I’ve done every job that exists in the church. I’ve played instruments, cleaned floors, arranged chairs, counted and deposited offerings, worked as security, officiated weddings and held many other roles within the church. I love working in the church in every capacity. Never be ashamed to call yourself a servant of the Lord.
If you want your church to grow, you have to say positive things about your pastor. Tell people that your pastor is anointed. Tell them your pastor is the best pastor. Tell them how much you like his preaching. The more you speak about your pastor in this way, the more of a servant you become. The more of a servant you become, the more anointed you will be.
A servant ministers to his master of his substance.
“And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”
Servants minister to their masters with their substance. That means your offerings and gifts are a way of ministering as a servant. You bestow your master with good things. It reveals your servanthood when you minister of your substance.
Step Three - Receive A Father
When Elijah was taken to heaven he shouted, “my father, my father.” Seek to grow in your relationship with God's anointed until they become fathers to you. Having a father guarantees inheritance flows naturally.
I was on a bus from the airport in Kenya when I received word that Kenneth Hagin died. Tears began to roll down my face for a man I had never spoken with. I wasn’t crying because he was a great man of God, which he was, I was crying because he had become a father to me. I knew I owed many things to him in the realm of the spirit. The way I honor and speak about Kenneth Hagin, you would think he was Ghanaian.
Grow spiritually until certain people become spiritual fathers to you. You don’t need many, but spiritual fathers guarantee inheritance.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”
Show me a son or daughter who loves their father and I will show you someone who is blessed. This attitude of love and adoration can exist past childhood. The Bible says,
“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
It is my sincere wish that Americans would turn their hearts back to the fathers of the faith in America. Open your eyes and see the rich heritage you have. So many great men and women of God hail from your nation. Walking in America is like walking through a gold mine of anointing and gifts. I pray for God to touch your heart and cause it to be humbled towards these people. Search out their gifts instead of their faults. Seek to learn from them instead of criticizing them.
If your aim is to learn from people who are without fault, you wouldn’t be able to read most of the Bible. The majority of the Bible was written by murders; Moses, David, and Paul. Moses was wanted in Egypt for murder and he wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. David wrote the Psalms and was wanted for adultery and murder. If you were to research David’s life and hold him to the same standards you hold men of God to today, you may have never read the Psalms in your life. You would never know. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Paul supervised the murder of Stephen and many other Christians, yet God used him to write the majority of the New Testament.
If you search for people’s faults you will not receive the anointing that God wants you to have. Open your eyes and refrain from being an analyzing, criticizing, fighting, contending Christian. Open your heart and see the good that is coming from God’s servants. Seek to find fathers in the faith.
Step Four - Follow A Man of God Closely
Following is an art. I am a follower and a copier of men of God.
*For more see, The Mega Church by Bishop Dag Heyward Mills*
Step Five - Spiritual Ministration
*For more see, The Mega Church by Bishop Dag Heyward Mills*
Step Six - The Passage of Time
*For more see, The Mega Church by Bishop Dag Heyward Mills*
Step Seven - Minister to a Man of God
If you want the anointing to flow in your life, learn to minister to men of God by communicating how much you value them. The woman with the alabaster box didn’t pour oil on Jesus' feet because He needed oil on His feet. She poured oil on His feet because Jesus was precious and she wanted to bestow on Him something precious to her. Ministering and giving to God’s servants must begin and end just as it did with the woman with the alabaster box.
Many years ago, I wanted to honor Kenneth Hagin with an offering. That same day, he announced that his tithe was $27 million. If you’re good at math you realize it means his income for the year was $270 million. When I looked at the offering I brought from Ghana, I didn’t want to give him my small offering. But the Lord rebuked me and told me I wasn’t giving it to meet his needs. This genuine prophet of God will never need anything from me, but my offering is about the value I bestow on him.
The greatest miracle that was ever performed was the raising of Lazarus from the dead, four days after the funeral. Lazarus was in the ground for four days and Jesus woke him up. Do you know who Jesus performed that miracle for? He performed this miracle for the woman who bestowed upon Him the greatest value, the woman who poured her alabaster box on His feet.
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”
Anyone who criticized God’s servants will never be anointed. Love your pastor. Love Pastor Jonathan. Bestow your appreciation and value on God’s servants. It provokes the glory, anointing, and power of God, just like it did for the woman with the alabaster box. What you value and treasure, you attract, so value the anointing.
