Jared Moore

Questions 1 and 2 and their answers can be found here; questions 3 and 4 and their answers can be found here.

Many pastors and teachers pray for an anointing from God before they preach/teach their message.  What are the implications of such a request?

V. Does praying for an anointing exalt the Pastor to the position of Priest, eliminating the priesthood of the believer?

If indeed there is such an anointing concerning pastors, then it would have to take pastors to a higher spiritual level at that moment in the pulpit… As if the Pastor is literally a mediator between God and His people. Now, the men who pray these prayers must answer between them and God concerning exactly what they’re intending when they pray for an anointing before they preach; however, from an audience member’s perspective it sounds like these men are praying for some extra-empowerment in communicating the Word of God. Now, if you need an extra-anointing, an extra-empowerment, then why does Paul lay “rightly dividing” the Scriptures at the feet of Timothy. After all… why study at all, why make it a point to handle the Word of God properly if the whole process can be eliminated by praying a priestly prayer for a divine anointing before you preach? A pastor cannot be a mediator of God’s Word to man; however, God’s Word is His Word to man, so pastors only need to repeat it and expound upon it.

Bottom line, to pray for something extra is to doubt what you have already been given. To pray for something extra is to doubt that God has already equipped you to the task. All the ability you need in speaking the Gospel or in any ministry for that matter is given through the Holy Spirit at salvation, and spiritually grown and equipped through the Holy Spirit’s application of God’s Word by sanctification. Praying for something extra or God to divinely intervene in your preaching is to pray for a miracle. This prayer for a miracle is praying for God to intervene in a task that He has given you to perform. We are responsible to faithfully preach the Gospel. I’m not saying God won’t intervene; however, I am asking you why He would divinely intervene in a task He has equipped you to perform, and given you His Holy Spirit as your helper in performing it?  In other words, what more do you need?

Also, if God uses His Holy Spirit to make us recognize truth, to make us understand what has been interpreted as divine truth or untruth, then preaching should be the easy part. I mean, what a great sermonette the demon-possessed woman was preaching in the aforementioned passage (Acts 16:16-18). We must preach the truth… I’m doing my best to say that preaching is not a divine work. The faithfulness rests on the individual. God has clearly placed being faithful to the Gospel as a responsibility of His church. He will always keep a remnant; however, if pastors want to preach untruth, then God will allow it. How do I know this? How many pastors have prayed this prayer and still preached the Scriptures wrongly? Countless… It’s like praying for God to take your desire to lust away… in order to do this completely, He would have to kill you…. for then, and only then would you be sinless. However, God has promised that His Holy Spirit has given us the power to pass through temptation resisting as we are carried safely through in obedience (1 Corinthians 10:13). Because of God’s provision in enduring us through temptation, why would we want to pray for something He has already provided for us? In like manner God has warned us of our handling of His Word; as well as, equipping us to the task. Praying for an anointing… praying for God’s intervention, is neglecting the responsibility He has given us as pastors to study to show ourselves approved. It is also neglecting the clear provision God has provided… it’s like saying, “God, you haven’t provided enough ability for me to preach your Word.”