There Is More!

1. Impartation: God's "More" for Every Believer

This belief causes them to seek Him for an impartation of more.

A deeper reality. Impartation is the tangible experience of God drawing near, a "more" that transcends routine church life and marks the difference between revival and decline. It's not merely a blessing or strengthening, but a sovereign act of God that often carries a prophetic destiny, empowering individuals to become history makers in their spheres of influence. This "more" encompasses:

• More love for God and humankind
• More power and anointing
• More joy and burden for the lost
• More revelation, conviction, and faith
• More conversions, healings, and deliverances

Beyond mere talk. A powerful impartation is characterized by a demonstration of power, producing lasting fruit for the Kingdom of God. It moves beyond intellectual understanding to a tangible experience of God's enabling graces. This divine touch equips believers to tangibly demonstrate God's love and power, changing their personal history and the history of those around them.

A personal journey. The author's own journey, from a non-charismatic background, illustrates that impartation is a grace-based gift, not earned by human will or theological upbringing. It's a sovereign invitation from God, often met with a desperate hunger for more of His empowering presence, leading to a life powerfully used by Him.

2. Biblical Roots: Impartation is Foundational, Not Bizarre

The idea of impartation or transference of anointing is a strong biblical concept.

An elementary teaching. The laying on of hands, a key aspect of impartation, is considered a foundational and elementary teaching of the apostolic Church in Hebrews 6:1-3. This practice, alongside prayer and waiting on God, is one of two primary biblical ways to receive anointing, gifts, or fillings of the Holy Spirit. It's not a strange anomaly but a consistent thread throughout Scripture.

Old Testament precedents. The concept of transference of anointing is clearly documented in the Old Testament, demonstrating God's initiative in empowering His people:

• Numbers 11:16-18: God takes the Spirit on Moses and puts it on seventy elders to help carry the burden.
• Deuteronomy 34:9: Joshua is filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid hands on him.
• 2 Kings 2:9-15: Elisha inherits a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit, signifying God's Spirit working powerfully through him.

New Testament continuity. The New Testament expands on these practices, showing impartation for ordination, healing, and spiritual gifts:

• Ordination: 1 Timothy 4:14, Acts 6:6, Acts 13:1-3 show hands laid for commissioning and gifting.
• Healing/Blessing: Jesus laid hands on children for blessing (Mark 10:16) and the sick for healing (Mark 6:5, 8:23-25, Luke 4:40, 13:13-14). Disciples continued this (Mark 16:18, Acts 28:8-9).
• Impartation of Spirit/Gifts: The Holy Spirit came with laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17, 19:6) or through prayer/waiting (Acts 2:1-4, 4:29-31, 10:44-47). Paul desired to impart spiritual gifts to the Romans (Romans 1:11-12) and reminded Timothy of the gift received through his hands (2 Timothy 1:6).

3. Receiving Impartation: Hunger, Humility, and Faith

The same Holy Spirit who can develop the desire in us for a victorious lifestyle can also provide the faith for such an experience and the faith to continue in that lifestyle.

Prerequisites for reception. While God can act sovereignly, certain conditions often prepare a heart to receive impartation. These include:

• Recognizing inadequacy: Acknowledging personal defeat, indifference, lack of power, and inability to impact the Kingdom.
• Desiring change: Allowing the Holy Spirit to cultivate a serious desire for a victorious Christian life, rejecting defeatist viewpoints.
• Honoring God: Seeking power and gifts not for ego, but to serve God's glory, bind the enemy, and break down the gates of hell.

Unity in expectation. Traditional theological walls regarding the Holy Spirit's work are falling, driven by a desperation to experience biblical realities. Whether one holds a "two-stage" (conversion, then Spirit baptism) or "three-stage" (conversion, sanctification, then Spirit baptism) view, the core need is to be filled with the Spirit. Theological perspectives influence expectation, and faith to receive is crucial.

Practical steps for openness. To facilitate reception, practical advice includes:

• "Get out of analysis and into romance": Quiet the spirit, focus on intimacy with God, not intellectual dissection.
• Don't resist or force: Neither try to fall nor try to stand; allow the Spirit to move freely.
• Stay in the presence: Remain on the floor after being touched until it's naturally easy to move, not rushing the experience.
• Stop praying while being prayed for: Be receptive, not actively "claiming" or "priming the pump," allowing the Spirit to initiate.

4. Impartation Fuels Lasting Fruit and Radical Obedience

God begins by preparing our hearts, turning us away from the things of the world and creating in us a great and desperate hunger for Himself.

Transformed lives, lasting impact. Impartation uproots believers from old lives and replants them by living water, enabling them to bear fruit for God's Kingdom. Testimonies abound of ordinary people radically changed, equipped, and launched into extraordinary ministries, often enduring resistance and trials.

• Heidi Baker: Received a prophetic word for Mozambique, leading to over 10,000 churches and a million salvations, despite immense suffering and sacrifice.
• Marcelo Casagrande: From skepticism to a powerful healing anointing, seeing blind eyes open, deaf ears hear, and over 150 physical healings in a year.
• Pastor Silvio Galli: Church grew from 350 to over 9,000, planting 23 new churches, after impartation brought revelations and anointing to conquer the city.

The price of the anointing. Impartation often comes with a cost, preparing individuals for radical obedience and suffering. The "baptism of love" sustains them through hardships, while the "baptism of power" enables ministry. This includes:

• Enduring resistance: From family, friends, and even church.
• Persecution and trials: Facing dangers, as seen in missionaries in hostile regions.
• Family sacrifice: Spending significant time away from loved ones for the sake of the harvest.

Intimacy and humility. The twin engines driving this move of God are intimacy with God and humility before Him. It's not about a quick experience, but a deep work of grace that breaks pride and self-seeking motives, leading to a willingness to be completely poured out for Jesus, whatever the cost.

5. Seeing Beyond the Natural: Impartation for Revelation

I want your eyes to be opened to see into the heavenlies My resources for you, just as Elisha prayed for Gehazi’s eyes to be opened.

Biblical precedent for spiritual sight. Scripture consistently records individuals whose eyes were opened to perceive the spiritual realm, including angels and heavenly resources. This "impartation to see" is a key to greater miracles and healings.

• Balaam (Numbers 22:31): Saw the angel of the LORD.
• David (2 Samuel 24:17): Saw the angel striking down people.
• Elisha (2 Kings 2:9): Saw heavenly host taking Elijah.
• Gehazi (2 Kings 6:17): Saw mountains full of horses and chariots of fire.
• New Testament figures: Zacharias, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Paul, John all saw angels or visions.

Revelation fuels faith. Prophetic words and spiritual "seeing" (whether literal visions or strong "knowing") build faith, which in turn empowers believers to declare God's will and see miracles manifest. This "spirit of faith" (2 Corinthians 4:13) is linked to understanding God's present activity.

• Randy Clark's prophecy: Received a word to "see into the heavenlies My resources," which later manifested as a strong "knowing" for declarations.
• Gary Oates' testimony: Desperate to "see beyond the natural," he received an impartation that opened his eyes to angels and led to dramatic encounters with Jesus, transforming his ministry.

Intimacy and obedience. Jesus connected revelation to intimacy and obedience, promising to "show myself" to those who love and obey Him (John 14:21). The Holy Spirit guides into all truth, taking what is Christ's and making it known (John 16:12-15). This ongoing revelation, rooted in abiding in Christ, produces "much fruit" (John 15:5), empowering believers to do "greater things."

6. Signs and Wonders: God's Glory Revealed, Not Just Authenticated

The main way God reveals His glory is through signs, wonders and miracles.

A theology of presence. True Christianity is founded on the tangible presence of God, who desires to be known and reveals Himself through miracles, healings, dreams, visions, and prophetic words. Dismissing these "vehicles of God's self-revelation" diminishes the dynamic relationship God offers.

• God's desire to reveal: Isaiah 65:1, Romans 1:20, John 1:14, Luke 2:32.
• God's glory defined: Exodus 33:18-19, God defines His glory as His character and nature (compassion, grace, love, forgiveness, justice).

Miracles as glory. The Bible explicitly links God's glory to demonstrations of His power, particularly through signs, wonders, and miracles. This is the primary way God reveals His goodness to a world ignorant of His true nature.

• John 2:11: Jesus revealed His glory through His first miraculous sign.
• John 11:4, 40: Lazarus's resurrection was for God's glory, so that God's Son might be glorified.
• 1 Corinthians 2:4-5: Paul's preaching was with a "demonstration of the Spirit's power," not just persuasive words, so faith would rest on God's power.

The message is the power. Signs and wonders are not merely to authenticate the Gospel message; they are a vital expression of the message itself. They reveal God's nature—His goodness, love, and compassion—and are a powerful weapon against the kingdom of darkness. This empowered ministry is crucial for the expansion of the Kingdom, as modeled by Jesus and commissioned to His disciples.

7. "Nobody is Safe": God Empowers the "Little Ole Me"

God is to be glorified in and through His Church! He is glorified when we finally believe that it is not about what we can do, but all about what He will do through us by His power, if we will let Him.

Nameless, faceless revival. Prophecies of a coming revival emphasize equipped saints, not superstars, where the distinction between clergy and laity blurs as many are touched and empowered. This aligns with Ephesians 4:11-12, where the five-fold offices are to "equip the saints for the work of the ministry."

Historical patterns of empowerment. Throughout history, powerful impartations have launched ordinary individuals into extraordinary ministry:

• Early Pentecostalism: Many pioneers received power at Azusa Street, spreading revival globally.
• Latter Rain Revival (1946-1949): Emphasized healing, impartation, and prophecy, fueling new missionary outreach.
• Current Outpouring (1990s-present): Thousands are receiving impartations and taking them to nations, planting new churches.

God uses the unexpected. God delights in using those who perceive themselves as "little ole me," demonstrating that His power is not limited by human qualifications or status.

• John Gordon: A skeptical layman, powerfully touched, instantly moved from mocking to ministering healing and deliverance, even praying for 100 cancer patients.
• Anne Stepanek: A "little ole home school mom" who, after a healing school, saw instant healings and trained others, leading to a child's heart defect being healed.
• Carole Baerg: From chronic pain and ready to die, she received a powerful impartation of joy and healing, now traveling to twelve countries, seeing miracles like a dead baby raised and a deaf pastor healed.

Changing perception. Impartation changes one's perception of self and others, empowering believers to see and act as God does. God's glory is revealed when we trust in His power working through us, rather than our own abilities.

8. A Lost Doctrine Restored: The Church's Journey to a New Pentecost

Our history is a wonderful story of how God has moved among His people throughout the entire Church Age.

A rich, often ignored, heritage. The Church's history reveals a consistent pattern of God invading His people with His manifest presence, marked by signs, wonders, and phenomena. This challenges the cessationist view that miraculous gifts ceased after the apostolic age.

• Early Church Fathers: Justin Martyr, Hermas, Tertullian, Origen, Irenaeus, and Augustine all attested to ongoing miracles, healings, and exorcisms as core to Christian experience and evidence of the Spirit's presence.
• Augustine's shift: Initially critical of ongoing miracles, he later documented over seventy healings in his own bishopric, acknowledging God's continued work.

Theological shifts and suppression. The decline in the understanding and practice of supernatural gifts was influenced by:

• Thomas Aquinas (1200s): His rationalistic theology, influenced by Aristotelian philosophy, left less room for the supernatural in earthly life.
• The Reformation (1500s): Reformers, reacting against perceived Catholic abuses and "false traditions" validated by miracles, became largely antisupernatural.
• The Age of Reason (1700s-1800s): Scientific skepticism and "higher criticism" further eroded belief in the supernatural, even in biblical accounts.

Winds of change and restoration. Despite suppression, a hunger for the restoration of gifts grew, leading to significant revivals:

• First Great Awakening (1735): Jonathan Edwards documented powerful physical manifestations, tears, trembling, and "fainting" as signs of God's presence, leading to tens of thousands of conversions.
• Great Evangelical Revival (1735): John Wesley and George Whitefield witnessed similar phenomena, including people "thunderstruck" and healed, despite initial skepticism.
• Second Great Awakening (1792): Cane Ridge Revival saw thousands "swept down" and experiencing "jerks," leading to massive church growth.
• Charles Finney (1800s): Experienced a mighty baptism in the Holy Spirit, leading to thousands falling under power, healings, and deliverances.
• Pentecostal Revival (1901): Azusa Street became a global hub for impartation, leading to unprecedented missionary outreach and growth, despite prejudice and rejection from other denominations.

9. Unity in Diversity: Embracing God's Varied Ways of Impartation

A God who likes diversity appears to be at work here, and I suggest that we need to learn to like diversity, too.

Beyond narrow interpretations. The Bible and Church history demonstrate that God's impartation of the Holy Spirit is not confined to a single, uniform experience. Both Pentecostal and evangelical positions can be too narrow, failing to appreciate God's diverse methods.

• Acts' varied accounts:
  • Acts 2: Spirit baptism with tongues at a prayer meeting.
  • Acts 4:31: Spirit baptism without tongues.
  • Acts 8: Spirit came after water baptism, with laying on of hands, no tongues mentioned.
  • Acts 10: Spirit came at conversion, before water baptism, with tongues and prophecy.
  • Acts 19: Spirit came after water baptism, with laying on of hands, tongues, and prophecy.

Focus on relationship, not just experience. The emphasis should be on a continuing, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, rather than a past experience. Being "baptized in the Holy Spirit" is not a one-time event but a call to "continue being filled with the Spirit" and live in His ongoing power.

• Marital analogy: Asking if someone had a wedding doesn't reveal the intimacy or health of the marriage; similarly, a past experience doesn't guarantee present spiritual vitality.
• Power as evidence: Jesus linked the reception of power to the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). Those who received "power from on high" historically exerted powerful influence on Church and society, regardless of their denominational background or specific manifestations.

Building bridges of understanding. Overcoming skepticism and division requires:

• Good biblical interpretation: A radical exegesis of the text to find common ground.
• Consistent historical method: Honest evaluation of miracles and phenomena throughout history.
• Reporting positive fruit: Focusing on the transformative outcomes of renewal, not just the bizarre.

All that He has is ours. God's desire is for His children to enjoy their full inheritance in the here and now, not to live like "hired men." When believers hunger for intimacy, humility, and impartation, they are drawn to God's heart for the lost, the poor, and the suffering, becoming co-laborers with Christ, empowered to bring His glory to the world.

Last updated: April 1, 2026