In the book of Genesis chapter 20, we see the story of Abraham traveling with his wife, Sarah, to Gerar. Upon arriving, Abraham lies to King Abimelech saying that Sarah is his sister.

A few verses later we see that for the first time God communicates to a king through a dream and reveals the truth of the situation to him, calling Abraham a prophet.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife….And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.

Genesis 20:3

God tells the King to find Abraham and return Sarah to him because all the women had become barren because Abimelech had taken Sarah as his own. However, despite Abrahams’s deceit, the Lord instructs Abimalech to tell Abraham to pray for healing over his household.

1. The Anointing Flows Through Identity, Not Character

I find it amazing that the Lord instructs Abraham to pray for the barrenness of other women, despite his own wife being barren. I am sure that he did not want to do that, but I find it interesting that in the dream, the Lord had told Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet.

Anytime we flow through your character, we can’t see people get healed. Our character is filled with so many flaws. In fact, it is one thing that satan will have us focus on to detain us from flowing in the anointing. People who flow in healing and deliverance don’t do so because they’re perfect or because they feel worthy. They are used powerfully by God because they base their identity on what God says about them.

When we look closely at the passage we see a contradiction between how Abraham was acting and what God was saying about him. Abraham was lying, but the Lord was calling him a prophet. That means that sometimes our condition and our position don’t necessarily match.

God sees you through your identity, not your current condition.

There are times in our lives when God calls us to go out and pray for others while we are in need of healing, or He asks us to step out in faith and bless someone else when we are in need physically or spiritually. And I have learned that if you want to be an effective minister of God in any area, you must understand that satan will bring up your character flaws, your lack of fasting, or your inconsistency with Bible reading to try and prove to your mind that you are not qualified to be speaking or ministering to others.

If you don’t understand this scheme, satan will always be able to limit you because you’ll think that once you get better, once you do more, then you will be worthy to be used by God. Don’t allow that deception from satan to take root in your mind. Our character will always have flaws. It is being perfected and molded as we continue to submit to Christ, but our current condition should never stop us from allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through us. Every person who is used by God to minister is not better than you, the only difference is that they don’t look at themselves when they minister, they look at Jesus when they minister.

The first healing in the Bible happened through a man who was caught in deceit. It happened because Abraham had enough faith to believe what God said about him instead of what he felt about himself.

2. The Anointing Flows Through Obedience but Gets Quenched Through Offense

One of the reasons that Abraham didn’t want to pray for Abimelech’s wife is because the very thing that he was being asked to pray for, he didn’t have. His own wife had been barren for years.

At this moment, Abraham could have gotten offended at God and said, “you haven’t healed my wife, why am I supposed to pray for others to receive a breakthrough for something we can’t?”

Notice in the story of Jesus that He didn’t stop preaching when his brothers didn’t believe in Him. He didn’t complain that others were being saved and they weren’t. Don’t wait for your family to change before you do what God’s calling you to do.

Many times we allow logic to stop the anointing from flowing in our lives. However, we must understand that we are not the Source, we are just the channel. But, when we are connected to the Source, we can give what we don’t have because it comes from Him.

You will always be able to give to people what you don’t have when you’re connected to the Source–Christ.

If you want to operate in the anointing you must remember that satan will always use your situation to tell you to stop, and God will use His promise to tell you to continue.

3. The Anointing Operates Through Risk, But Fear Makes You Lazy

The Bible tells us a story of the man who hid his talent because he was afraid and the king looked at him and demonstrated that the real reason he hid the talent was that he was lazy (Matthew 25:14-30).

People who are afraid and don’t take risks for God will operate in a critical and lazy spirit.

Abraham could have said, “I can’t pray for the sick because what if they don’t get healed?” But he didn’t. Oftentimes, we shy away from opportunities that God gives us to minister to others due to fear. And more often than not, that fear is masked by laziness.

As believers, we must understand that nothing that we ever attempt for God will come without risk. That is why every hero in the Bible accomplished what they did through faith. Even though God spoke to them audibly, it still required a big step of faith to take action.

One way to avoid making dumb mistakes in this area is to not take risks that are motivated by copying someone else. Your risks must come from your relationship with God.

Every time you see God move powerfully, you can trace it back to one thing–someone took a risk in obedience.

4. If You Honor the Anointing In Others, It Will Increase In You

And lastly, I truly believe that if someone desires to operate in the anointing, they must learn to honor what God has placed in someone else’s life. Here are 4 ways you can do so:

Feed on the anointing. Rahab was a prostitute. She lived in a bad city, but she collected the stories of miracles that took place. Because she fed herself with the miracles of everything that the God of Israel was doing, it’s crazy to see how the spies landed in her home and God orchestrated her life to change forever. When you feed yourself on the miracles that God has done in the lives of others, you’ll begin to see miracles occur in your life as well.

Don’t attack someone else’s anointing. King Saul attacked the anointing in David and it never landed on his life. David, however, never attacked Saul’s anointing and as a result, God honored that the anointing was upon his life and it never left.

Serve the Anointing. Joshua served Moses, Elisha served Elijah, and the disciple served Jesus. When they did that, the anointing came upon their lives. Connect yourself to someone who has the anointing of God and learn to serve faithfully.

Support the anointing financially. If you find someone who blesses you and helps you spiritually, it’s important to also support them financially. Every time people want to sow, they always look for good soil to sow in. I believe that as we learn to honor the anointing in other people’s lives, God will increase the anointing upon our lives as well.