“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:8-10 ESV
While positional authority is about title and rank in the systems of our world, spiritual authority crosses system boundaries for certain tasks and assignments.
While positional authorities are always in relation to an area or various realms, for instance churches or governments, spiritual authority operates in the spirit realm.
While positional authority holds space and time and brings tangible results in terms of earthly structures and facilities and systems, spiritual authority sets the stage in the heavenlies for God on earth.
Spiritual authority carries a mark of the Spirit for the work of the Lord. 1 John 2:27
Spiritual authority is often for a specific task and time and place and season. There may be a beginning and an end or it may be for the lifetime of the person.
Spiritual authorities show up in our lives as mantles, specific anointing for specific times and places.
They show up as callings and passions — where our heart alongside the Father’s heart is set to change the course of our human experience in some way.
Spiritual authority is the heart of God that flows out of our beings by which others are impacted and blessed, strengthened and encouraged.
The extent of the work, the scope, the location or breadth makes no difference, as God orders and is Lord over it all. 1 Peter 4:10
Where the supernatural intersects our humanity, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, where the extraordinary becomes our new ordinary, we can be sure of spiritual authority.
We are living the same old life, but with God’s hand in the mix it is radically and profoundly different than anything we had ever imagined. 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
We do not have to do great things for God, we are to simply allow God to do great things through us.
Through all of this our experience of God deepens and broadens and we begin to walk in greater unity with our Lord and with others who walk with God this same way.
Our cultures are so focussed on doing we are not even trained to see impact that comes out of our being. Spiritual authority is all about the manner of our hearts, the spaces we hold for others, and the impact of God through us in very specific ways. 1 Peter 1: 22-23
This is why we must spend time with God, our heart meeting his heart, if we want to walk in spiritual authority. 1 Chronicles 16:11
Abiding is the primary anchor of our walk and further work of the Lord. John 15:4-5; John 8:31
Often we can only identify our spiritual authority by what others tell us. We may know our natural authority (the things we are good at), and we may have positional authority (that for which we are responsible), but spiritual authority is much subtler and not so easy to identify.
Spiritual authority is not about our strength, it is about the strength of God through us.
Spiritual authority is not about our knowledge, it is about the knowledge of the Lord lived through us.
In fact, spiritual authority is often the weakness of our lives, given over to God, which then becomes filled with the powerful breath and touch of our Holy Spirit. James 1:2-4
Infused by the work and life of Jesus Christ, all parts of our lives, the good, the bad and the most difficult things, are used by God to encourage and bless others.
Spiritual authorities often come from a mix of our deepest sorrows and yet most faithful places. Coming to know the spiritual authority that each of us carry brings us to that place of rest that Jesus speaks of.
Read Hebrews Chapters 3 and 4
Spiritual authorities are a joy to watch and a pleasure to experience.
For instance, I know a woman whose spiritual authority is all about blessing young women. It is something that she does not even work at doing, it comes very naturally to her. Wherever she goes young women gather around her, drawing strength and wisdom and personal value — just from being in her presence. This is God’s touch through her. God’s heart is revealed in this way to young women and they are empowered by her presence and this is her spiritual authority.
I know a man who upholds women in great honour and thought. This is something he does out of the integrity of his heart and a deep awareness of God’s value for women. Because of this in him, when women work alongside this man they are healed of the hurts from other men. This is not something that this man is ‘doing’ in the traditional sense of the word, but it is what occurs for women because of who he is. This is God’s touch through him and is an authority that impacts women very deeply, it is his spiritual authority.
I have been told that my presence gives courage to people to be honest before God in a new way. This is the journey of my personal life and it now touches others. You have been experiencing this through this course and this is the core of the spiritual authority through my life. God touches others through me and gives people courage to open their whole hearts to him, it is how he has chosen to use me and this is the spiritual authority that I carry.
You also have your own unique touch of God through you. It does not have to be loud and flashy, most spiritual authorities are not. It would come from a depth of your experiences through life and in the Lord. Others would make note of it, they would attest to the impact and influence that you have on them. Listen for what others say about you.
Of course, in our immaturity our spiritual authorities show up in broken ways. As we saw in both King David and in Moses’ life, their spiritual authorities showed only in part, and often immature, in their early days. This is the same with us. Our anointing and gift-set initially shows up through our immature self; we may not recognize it as the future mature touch of God through us. Yet if we know what to look for we can see where God is using our very ordinary self to create extraordinary impact.
God adds his heart and touch through a very ordinary part of who we are and out of it extraordinary things begin to happen. This is because of God and due to our response to him. We walk in him, we abide in God, we rest in his work through us, we obey his promptings, we are intentional and responsive, we open our whole hearts and life to him, and God breathes through us and others are changed and impacted and healed and blessed.
It is important to note that our spiritual authority can be either harnessed by Jesus Christ or given over to the enemy. Every witch doctor and the spiritual guru’s of our day, all the expressions of authority in Satanism and the occult and the new age movement are all the same basic spiritual authority. In these context’ spiritual authority has been given over to the enemy; the impact of our life brings either life or death depending on whom we have as lord.
This is why it is so important that we bring our lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ. As every part of our lives are captured by the love of God we then give him full glory. While our lives are given over to Christ in a general way when we accept Jesus as Lord, and while we are then sealed with the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1:13, the process of each part of our being and life coming under the Lordship of Christ is a process we must willingly engage in order to reach full maturity in Christ. Ephesians 4:11-16
It is why the surrender, and why discipline, obedience, and brokenness before God are so absolutely necessary. Proverbs 12:1
It is why there is need for a course like this.
How to walk in spiritual authority simply lays out the process by which:
- We are harnessed fully for the Lord. Matthew 22:37
- We shed the things of the enemy over our lives. 2 Corinthians 7:1
- We come under the leading and direction of the Spirit. John 16:12-14
- We agree with God about our lives. 2 Corinthians 1:19-22
- We abide in the Lord. John 15:5
- We strategically and deliberately bring the Kingdom of God to earth. Jeremiah 22:3
- We agree with God for the lives of others. Ephesians 6:18
We begin with the disciplines of the Spirit and the faithfulness to enter into the presence of God each day. Then we come into a settled peace and freedom to show up, to bring ourselves, and in that to be bringing God, so to speak. We come to find that a great bulk of the work is not really ours. The real impact and influence of our lives is due to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our life. We live his presence out to others and he makes a touch and an impact that is beyond us.
What this means is that we can show up, and be certain that God is working through us. We come to understand that there is a gifted essence within each of us that expresses the glory of God whether we are working at it or not. It is not anything that we are even aware of at first and we keep in mind that spiritual authority is not a by-product of any type of effort or striving — spiritual authority is the by-product of God’s touch through our god-captured, surrendered, hearts and minds and lives.
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV
APPLICATION
Today we take time to formally dedicate every part of our life and journey to God. We say ‘Yes’ to the Lord’s heart, touch, words, and love through us to others. We do this by claiming every part of our lives for the glory of God.
As we declare and ‘give’ to God our entire life’s experiences we surround all things of our lives with his glory. Doing this removes the handhold of the enemy from the impact of our life.
Let me say that again: As we dedicate our entire life journey 100% to God’s glory we remove any of the curses of the enemy that may have been working through us. Claiming our lives for God’s glory puts the authority of our lives back into God’s domain — we move from the assignments and curses of the enemy over our lives and into the life and joy and gladness of our Lord.
- Like this:
“God, I __________ (say your full name) come in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. God you know my journey. You know the good times of my life and you know the very bad times of my life. You know the losses and you know the gifts. You know the struggles and the heartaches and the very bad things. You also know all that has been good to my heart, helpful to my life and where I know your love.
Today I bring all of these things to you. I enter your throne room and I stand before you declaring that my life and all it’s good and bad is given over to you and to your glory. In fact, I claim the glory of you God over every part of my life.
Name every part of your life, short and simple but full:
I declare your glory God over all of the bad parts of my life, __________, __________, (speak each bad thing out loud, simple and short but as an offering to the Lord).
I declare your glory God over all of the good parts of my life, __________, __________, (speak each good thing out loud, simple and short but as an offering to the Lord).
Every thing that I have listed, and even the things I have forgotten to list but you know Jesus, I bring into the glory of God. I declare each of these moments and times in my life touched by my Living Lord Jesus Christ and reserved and preserved for the glory of God one-hundred percent. I declare the peace of God over all of these things, and I bring the peace of God into my mind and heart and life and into my past, my present and my future.”
- Then, have a friend or a colleague taking this same course, pray in agreement with you, and you pray in agreement regarding them and their prayer. Freedom and healing and testimony and witness is meant to happen in the body of Christ. So, take on agreement with another person and both of you will experience increased freedom and healing in your life.
PRAYER
“God we come to you today in the name and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Father for breathing your spirit through our lives. What an awesome privilege to carry you within our lives and out and through to others. Enable me to see how you are using me to impact others. Show me the exact work and essence that you are doing through me, and enable me to settle into you in this — may I not strive to be doing or being more than you have ordained for me to be. May I learn to rest in you and your touch through my life to others. I say ‘Yes’ Lord to you using all of my life, the parts I am proud of, the parts I am afraid of, the parts I am sad about — use all of who I am and my experiences in this life for your Kingdom and your touch of love, grace, mercy, renewal, strength and more, to many others. Thank you God that you take and make something good of every part of my life. I love you Lord. Amen and amen.”
SUMMARY – SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Our spiritual authority and the scope of its work is ordained by God. 2 Corinthians 1:21
God takes our ordinary, breathes through it with himself, and this becomes the unique mark of God in our life. 1 Peter 2:9
Others are increased and blessed with God’s touch and words through us. Luke 4:18
Spiritual authority is the grace of God pouring through us to others. 1 Peter 2:5
=> The next lesson will discuss The Chasm
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