Prophetic-School: Impartation
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Originally from: <jimmy@cornerstonemin.org>
Originally dated: Mon Sep 14 19:00:43 1998
Rick asked...
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Salisbury [mailto:ricksalisbury@hotmail.com]
Subject: [prophetic-school] Impartation... how does it work out ?
My question is, how does this work out - is an impartation like a seed that
grows? And if we could discuss something about the theology of impartation...
I don't recall how long ago I posted this but here are some thoughts on
impartation and maturation from a while back that I thought would apply to this
thread.
The Lord told Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the
nations." God was preparing Jeremiah before he even entered this
world!
This brings up the whole issue of God's pre-ordained purpose and destiny for
each one of us. It seems God begins to form us and put into us the raw
ingredients we need to be what He has planned and purposed us to be, from the
beginning of our life. So God is at work in us, forming us and training us,
sometimes before we even know what He is up to. He is laying the foundations in
us so that when the time comes for the annointing to come upon us we are
adequate to do the job He calls us and commissions us to do.
A very intriguing story related to this has to do with King Saul at the time he
was coming into his Kingship. In 1 Sam.10 we see Samuel instructing Saul and
saying... 6 "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will
prophesy with them and be turned into another man... 9 So it was, when he had
turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all
those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came there to the hill, there
was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and
he prophesied among them. 11 And it happened, when all who knew him formerly
saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one
another, "What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also
among the prophets?" 12...Therefore it became a proverb: "Is Saul
also among the prophets?"
This story exemplifies the reality that there can come upon us a transference
of annointing from coming among the "company of prophets". There can
come a point in time when giftings are imparted and we are changed. There is
such a thing as a transferable and inpartable annointing from God. Paul spoke
of this to the Romans: "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift, so that you may be established" Rom 1:11
David serves as an example, on the other hand, of someone who was annointed by
Samuel and functioned in his "propheticness" for years, 20+, before
finally coming into his ultimate placement. (By the way, David's case seems to
lead me to believe psalmists are a "kind" of prophet)
In my own case.. I caught glimpses of the fact that God had a call upon my life
even as a youngster. But, then there came a point in time for several years,
when others would tell me I was prophetic but I had a hard time believing it
because the gifting would only come in occasional spurts. Then came the time
when I associated myself with a company of prophets and hands were laid on me
and it was as if booster rockets were put on my back and the ministry went into
orbit.
In my wife Carolyn's case, she is an example of how God can be at work in a
life ahead of time as well. For instance, she took speach classes in school and
actually won first place awards for public speaking in high school. Then, the
night she surrendered her life to the Lord at age 19, it was prophesied to her
that she would be prophesying within three months. She didn't even know what
that was at the time, but within three months she was doing it.
Her gifting then developed over a number of years through regular use, (note:
Heb. 5:14); and then when we associated with a group of prophets, 11 years
later, her gifting went to even deeper levels and dimensions of anointing and
ability.
I've also seen in my own ministry, times when I could lay hands on someone and
a fresh gifting was imparted... and it was as if the dry kindling that God had
put there suddenly was ignited and became ablaze through the impartation of the
Spirit.
So my conclusion is that there is the work God does throughout our lives to
prepare us for our destiny and purpose; plus there is the anointing that can
come to us through association, mentoring and transference through the laying
on of hands - that moves us forward in our ability to do the work He calls us
to do.