When arrayed in battle before their enemies, soldiers wore their armor to ensure protection during physical encounters and against the arrows of archers.

Spiritual warfare implies dangerous encounters with enemy armies that can cause serious injuries or even death. Our natural, limited means are incapable of standing against the demonic hordes that make up our spiritual adversaries.

The anointings of God manifest in the form of spiritual armor that covers God’s ministers during times of spiritual warfare.

This spiritual clothing is a form of invisible armor, a spiritual garment that rests upon God’s instruments during specific spiritual operations. It is like a spiritual halo that crowns God’s servant.

The spiritual clothing reflects both the spiritual power of the anointed, their capacity for endurance, and their firmness in the face of adversity.

Before preaching, especially in places of high spiritual resistance, God’s servants often feel surrounded by a fire that covers them from head to toe. Their hands often feel like red-hot iron rods. This covering gives them confidence in their ability to operate successfully during their various ministerial interventions.

The Holy Spirit Himself manages the various spiritual operations that occur in our lives because He is the one who anoints us with spiritual anointing that manifests in multiple ways. In the case of the spiritual clothing, it is not under our control, but we can simply feel it completely enveloping us.

When the external covering is combined with the internal flame, it is a sign that we are ready for the offensive. The anointing covering is the essential armor that servants of God must wear before entering the spiritual realms where they engage in relentless battles with the enemy.

It is when they feel this armor upon them that they must confront the enemy. It is a guarantee of their spiritual safety during the fight. Without it, they can be dangerously wounded.

The Inner Flame (Luke 24:32)

The anointing generates and sustains the divine flame in the believer’s heart. This flame is more than enthusiasm, zeal, or any emotional display — it is a manifestation of the Spirit through divine anointings.

The inner flame creates a halo that ignites the heart and keeps the Christian spiritually awake. It is like the burning bush that was not consumed. It burns without harming God’s child.

Two disciples were on their way to Emmaus when Jesus approached them. He spoke with them at length on the way, and they were deeply moved by the burning revelations from the Master.

“They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” — Luke 24:32

It is also a flame of love that God places in the heart to help us love Him against all odds — for or against everything and everyone. It presses heavily to push us toward the things of God. It is also a gentle inner compulsion that leads the believer to obedience toward God and His Word.

“Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the Lord.” — Song of Songs 8:6

Different anointings always create an inner flame — the emotional and spiritual bond that keeps the Christian spiritually alert and active.

The Inner Drive

“My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue.” — Psalm 39:3

One of the most frequent manifestations close to the inner flame is that of the drive — the inner compulsion. It manifested in many heroes of the faith who achieved great things with God. God’s anointings consecrate human instruments and communicate a powerful inner push to move them immediately into action for the service of God.

The goal is the fulfillment of specific objectives, even offering oneself as a sacrifice for the glory of God.

Most of the Holy Spirit’s requirements demand particular courage because man is naturally incapable of engaging in acts that may cost him physical or emotional suffering, or even his life. His intelligence warns him and holds him back from willingly engaging. Yet Paul emphasized this so well: it seems that God has made us the “least of men,” like those condemned to death, because He delights in subjecting us to trials that continually challenge our obedience and our sense of sacrifice (1 Corinthians 4:9).

Only an inner drive can push us into trials that often seem like lost causes from the start. Samson felt driven to provoke the Philistines; David felt compelled to leap; the prophets were moved to speak about spiritually significant circumstances they didn’t fully understand — sometimes even to confront kings at the risk of their lives. In their time, their bold declarations seemed like madness.

The inner drive is a form of stimulation produced by the anointing to push God’s instruments into immediate action, regardless of the risks involved. The sole aim is to glorify God and expand His kingdom.

“But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” — Jeremiah 20:9

I find it hard to stay seated when I’m seized by a particular anointing — I always stand up, unable to control the gesture. Most times when the Holy Spirit compels me to act, I even find it hard to sleep until I’ve fulfilled what He asked me to do.

The inner drive is thus a major manifestation of the anointings in the believer’s life, serving to instinctively put them into motion without regard for the risks involved.

Ecstatic Phenomena and Anointed Objects

Ecstatic phenomena and anointed objects are also manifestations linked to the presence of anointings. They are common today and, although controversial, remain biblical and observable both in the Old and New Testaments, taking different forms depending on the individuals, ministries, and the power accompanying them. We will give special attention to these topics in the next two chapters…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Divine Anointings: To Know – To Understand – To Experience” written by Guy L. BAYONG.

We invite you to read the following article: “ECSTASIES: WHAT ARE THE SPIRITUAL MECHANISMS?”

THE SPIRITUAL CLOTHING. THE SPIRITUAL CLOTHING. THE SPIRITUAL CLOTHING.