Seeking the Anointing

From the archives of Oral RobertsFirst of two parts

I have a custom. Hours before I’m to preach, I seek God for His anointing. I want to feel it go through my head, my body, my limbs, my spirit, and my mind. I want to be aware of it. I want it to be in my being. I want divine energy. I want the glory of God to be upon me so that when I speak, it cuts right through to your heart, or when I act, it moves upon your life in an inescapable manner.

One evening in Philadelphia, where I was conducting a crusade, the anointing of God had not come upon me. That evening the driver was to pick me up and take me to the auditorium, but the anointing had not yet come. He knocked on the door, and I didn’t answer.

I said, “God, I will not leave this room without Your anointing.” There were thousands of the most afflicted people I’d ever seen waiting in that auditorium. There were many who had never known Christ. In my audiences, at least half the people did not know the Lord. More than half were sick in some way, and more than half wanted my hands laid upon them. Many of them had no hope other than a divine healing.

I just sat in a chair and kept praying. “God, I’m not going to leave.” And the thought came, What will happen to the service? Well, it won’t have me, for if I go without the anointing, what will they have? I can’t face those sick and afflicted people with any degree of confidence if I don’t feel God’s anointing. I can’t stand up there and preach about a Christ who is in the now when He’s not in the now of my life.

I continued to sit there—5 minutes… 10 minutes… 20 minutes. The driver continued to knock on the door. I just sat there.

All of a sudden, I felt the anointing come into my feet and up through my body! I jumped up, opened the door, and said, “Mister, I’m ready to go!”

When I walked into the meeting, the people stood like a covey of quail and began to rejoice. We had a healing revival that night! The anointing was there to preach the gospel to the poor — the poor in spirit, poor in body, poor in finances, poor in intellect, poor in any way. I was anointed to preach to those people!

Share the Post: