Authority, Anointing, Ability

Yesterday (HERE) we saw the incredible ministry of Bezalel - the man chosen and called by God to create and prepare every piece of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 31:1-11). 

David also chose his worship team carefully (1Chron.15:16, 17, 19; 16:41; 25:1–8). When we are chosen by God for any ministry at all, we need these three attributes - it is absolutely impossible to be successful if any one of these attributes is missing from your life:

Authority — This affects our position in ministry. The Lord honors the leadership structures that are in place in your church. There is no way you can walk into any ministry without being given the authority to minister. You must be given authority - you can never just take it. You are given authority so that you can serve God's people - never for the purpose of lording it over people. The more authority you have, the more of a servant you should be. Anyone in Christian ministry who has been given authority, must be in the business of equipping and releasing to their call. We don't have authority to take, but to pour into God's people and make way for their success.

Anointing —  This affects our power in ministry. I have a long series on the anointing: HERE. There are 3 anointings we need to walk in: The anointing of water (the Word of God washes us and prepares us for the other 2 anointings); The anointing of oil (go HERE for the ingredients of the anointing oil); and the anointing of blood (HERE). It is the blood of Jesus that seals the anointing on our life.

Ability — This affects our productivity in ministry. It is no good to have the authority and anointing to minister, but to lack the skills to do the task you have been assigned to. David's musicians and singers were expected to be skillful and to go through training:

1 Chron. 25:1

Moreover David and the captains of the army

separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph,

of Heman, and of Jeduthun,

who should prophesy with harps,

stringed instruments, and cymbals.

And the number of the skilled men performing their service was:

verse 7

So the number of them, with their brethren

who were instructed in the songs of the Lord,

all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.

Please note that it is not enough to be skilled in the practical details of your craft - we must also be skilled in the spiritual and prophetic aspects of our ministry. In verse 7 (above) David's singers were also instructed in the songs of the Lord, or prophetic songs.

It is quite useless to have any 2 of these without the 3rd - these three work together:

Ability without anointing brings pride

Anointing without ability is ignorance

Ability and anointing without authority brings frustration

Authority and ability without anointing brings legalism