There was a time I led a fellowship at the University of Benin. It was one of the pivotal seasons of my Christian walk.

I remember a time I taught on the subject of the ‘believer’s authority in Christ.’ Then I would teach that a convert who just gave his life to Christ has as much divine empowerment as any other believer no matter how long it is they had become believers.

I vividly recollect an incident in a particular meeting. After teaching the Word, I gave the altar call and several people came to give their lives to Christ. To demonstrate what I had taught, I asked anyone in the congregation who might have any ailment to come out for prayers. I then requested those who had just given their lives to Christ to pray for them. It was awesome as we witnessed new believers pray for the sick and God healed them.

There is an alarming rate of spiritual prostration in the Body of Christ today. Many believers are living as though they “were not anointed.” Challenges of life have brought many to become flat-faced on the ground and trampled by the enemy!

Believers are troubled and distraught, seeking life solutions from pillar to post. There is hardly a man of God in town that has not laid hands on their heads for one form of deliverance or the other, for some. Others have simply given up altogether. 

I do not intend to sound insensitive. I know people have legitimate needs. Nevertheless, what our Lord achieved on our behalf through the passion and resurrection is no child’s play. Before all that, He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and power, demonstrating the possibilities for His disciples. 

And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

The anointed ones, which is every believer in Christ, ought to be bringing deliverance to the oppressed and not them being the oppressed needing deliverance.

A particular phrase catches my mind in David’s lamentation for King Saul after he (Saul) died in battle:

Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

God has anointed every believer in Christ. If you are a child of God, you are anointed by the Spirit of God. Yes, troubles and trials will come, but you cannot continue to live as though you were not anointed.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God. 

To be anointed is to be endued with God’s power: the supernatural dynamic ability to cause changes and make a positive impact. It is to have spiritual grace and strength: capacity to handle anything the flesh, the world or the devil may bring against you as a believer, victoriously. That ability resides in you. 

With God’s power working in us (you and I), God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 

Nevertheless, power is useless if it cannot be harnessed into profitable use. The Mambila Plateau in Taraba State of Nigeria, said to have tremendous potential agriculture and hydroelectric power that can reach up to 3000 megawatts, has been a ‘dream’ for about 40 years, can comfortably supply power to large areas of the country for decades to come. This is besides the enormous impact it could have for agriculture. 

However, until that potential is harnessed, it remains potential that is merely talked about. Moreover, if all the country’s leaders continue to do is talk, talk and more talk, it remains a pipe dream.

It is not enough to have the anointing of God’s power residing in you, the question is how do you engage that power, how do you bring it to benefit other people and yourself?

The first level, of course, is the knowledge and acceptance that such potential resides in you. You must agree with God’s word that there is divine might within you. This is a spiritual reality with the capacity to affect the spiritual and physical. You even have “Power … over all the power of the enemy.” Think about it!

Why is this prostration? David said, “The shield of the mighty is vilely cast away.” I am sure you know that the ‘shield’ represents the believer’s faith. Paul speaks of the shield of faith, by which we quench the fiery darts of the devil. If your faith is ‘vilely cast away’, the darts of the enemy easily get you. Your life can easily become ‘as one who is not anointed.’ 

Do not cast away your confidence and faith, because it has great reward. Your faith puts you over. It always obtains victory. Your faith releases the power of God within you, through you and for you. The just shall live by faith. 

So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

How do you employ your faith? You first get God’s word about your situation, pray in line with His Word, believing that you receive what you have asked for. Do not doubt in your heart but speak only what you believe -what the Word says about your situation. If you truly believe then continually speak and you will have what you say. The enemy cannot successfully take you on when you walk by faith. 

Our Lord wants to lead you in chains of non-stop victories constantly:

I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume. 

Believe me, you are empowered! You ought to be a victor, not a victim. 

I pray that God would bless you with a life full of triumphs of faith.

Thank you. Do not forget to keep living, loving and learning. 

References: Acts 10:38, NLT; 2 Samuel 1:21; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:27, NKJV; Ephesians 3:20, NCV; Luke 10:18; Ephesians 6:16; Hebrews 10:35; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Mark 11:23-24; 2 Corinthians 2:14.