Chapter Two – The Cultivation of Inspiration by Pastor Roddie Nelson
“When the spirit of prophecy comes upon you, you merely take your intellect and lay it off somewhere in a cool place to rest, and unship your jaw and leave it alone; it will work itself. The result is prophecy.” –Mark Twain
Inspiration lies at the heart of all prophetic ministry. It is a key that unlocks creative ability. Inspiration it what causes an ordinary person to do extraordinary things. The greatest book every written, the Bible, was given to us by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Something eternal invaded their natural reality and transformed them into spiritual authors. II Timothy 3:16 says: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (emphasis added). The word inspiration in the Greek means divinely breathed in. In other words the Scripture would only be words written from the hearts and minds of men; however, when these men came under the divine influence, they wrote from a heavenly perspective. The prophetic in its most basic operation functions with the same principle. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit a person is able to see from a heavenly, or divine perspective. It allows them to understand the heart and mind of the Lord concerning a matter.
Job 32:8 says, “But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” The word inspiration in the Hebrew is nesha ma h. The word means divine inspiration but also speaks of the intellect and the soul and even the very breath and the spirit. What Job is saying is that under divine influence a person can gain understanding into the mind and the Spirit of the Almighty. God actually breathes His life into the life of man in order for humanity to become spiritual. It is the same Word used in Genesis 2:7 when God formed man. He put the inspiration of God in Adam. It is also the same Hebrew word that the Psalmist used in Psalm 150:6 when he said “let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord”. What the writer is saying is that the inspiration of God has been breathed into the life of man, and with every single breath of air we take, we should be inspired to Praise Him!
Creativity is the first gift given to every human being. It remains as an untapped, unknown potential until unlocked. Once it is opened it releases, not the human spirit, but the Spirit of God. When God spoke those beautiful words, “Let there be”, it was like a painter with an empty canvas making the first delicate strokes of a masterpiece. It was like the potter seeing a piece of clay but not just for its current function. He sees the potential being molded in His skilled hands becoming an incredible work of art.
Creativity has always been linked to artistic expression. The sounds of music like rushing waters, rustling trees, or the whistling of the air. The variation of colors like that of the rainbow, the ever-changing sky, and the seasonal mix of unparallel proportions. Even life itself is displayed in variance. From minerals to vegetation, from animals to human beings, the earth is full of the breathe of God. It is as if God took a piece of Himself and made something remarkable.
In my mind are many things of profound revelation, personal convictions, and real life issues. For a person like me it becomes difficult to focus on one single thought in order to birth a concept or idea or dream into reality. Inspiration is the driving force behind creative action, but where must that inspiration begin. Surely my heart, mind, and spirit must come into alignment first so that one special thought can come into a measure of beginning. Creativity is simple, the unlocking of God-birthed potential. It is the ability to bring something into the realm of reality where that one thing never existed before. The fulfillment of life must come from the expression of the heart. The emphasis on success, money, and fame does not even compare to a life that lives its dreams. Where is my potential? Can someone else draw that out of me? Is it something so powerful that only a deity can unveil it in its truest form? I am not sure but my best idea is that no one person has achieved greatness outside of the understanding that they were born to be great. Along with that understanding comes the discipline to invest into that greatness. I continually listen to preacher after preacher on different media networks talk about the principles of life. It seems that their method of unlocking favor or the release of anointing must come from some monetary exchange. Although I totally agree with seed faith and the principle of sowing and reaping, I cannot help to wonder if these principles have become a way to manipulate people into believing that they must settle for mediocrity.
The main intention of prophecy is to encourage, exhort, and build up. Any person flowing in the prophetic has the opportunity to release creative ability in others in order for them to fulfill their destiny. The Prophet must be inspired in order to release inspiration. What drives a person to pursue their passions is determined by what inspires them. We must cultivate and develop that inspiration. Jesus said He did nothing unless He received it from the Father. His inspiration came from the Father. If our motives and inspiration comes from a different source, then we will get into a soulish arena and that will be dangerous for everyone. So the question is. How do I cultivate inspiration? I believe there are several things that we can do as prophetic ministers to nurture that inspiration. I will give seven.
Number 1– We must Remember Who We Represent.
Many men and women of God forget the source of their inspiration. They have a tendency to believe that they were the ones that accomplished these things and they neglect to give glory and honor where it belongs. Myles Monroe said in his book, “Rediscovering the Kingdom,” that “Good ambassadors never speak their personal opinions, but only the official policies of the government that appointed them.” I can not tell you the number of times that I have found myself in tears because of the Lord’s faithfulness to release the prophetic anointing in me when I knew that I personally had nothing to give. I have learned that when I give Him the credit He never leaves me empty handed. When we recognize the author and the finisher we will always be inspired because He is always looking for an opportunity to reveal Himself. When you and I realize the value and the trust that the Lord has bestowed upon us to represent His kingdom, we should never lack for inspiration.
Number 2 – We must Value the Call.
One of the big tragedies in the Body of Christ is that many people don’t value their call. I submit that if one does not value their own calling then, they can not expect someone else to. John the Baptist was doing something that no one else in history had done before. He was considered a great prophet but the new thing he was doing was baptizing people. Even the religious leaders were astonished by what he was doing. What gave this man the courage to step out and do something no else had done before? I believe it was because he knew that what he was doing was ordained by God and John valued the anointing. When Jesus came down to John in Matthew chapter three, He does something for John. When Jesus declared that He needed to be baptized by John for righteousness to be fulfilled (see verse 15), He validated the call and anointing on John. When we value the anointing and the call, the Lord will validate it. When we allow the anointing to inspire us privately, He will prove us publicly. We should be inspired knowing that He has called us.
Number 3 – We must Practice Presence.
The greatest inspiration that has ever came into my life was not in the pulpit preaching to the multitude, it was not seeing the deaf hear or the blind see, and it was not prophesying accurately. The most motivated I have been is when I have been alone with no one else except the Holy Spirit. I believe the key to success can only be found in the place of His presence. The minister who does not practice being in His presence when no one is looking becomes unqualified to handle His presence when the crowd has assembled. Jesus as our example showed us that being in the presence of the Father was more important than being with the people. I will talk about this more concerning the secret place in Chapter 6.
Number 4 – We must Surround Ourselves with Prophetic -Minded People.
If we were to ask any famous artist such as a musician or Hollywood star where they get their inspiration, they will tell us of the people that influenced them along the way. It is no different from the prophetic minister. Sometimes pride keeps us from allowing others to inspire, encourage, and even sometimes rebuke us. Every Prophet needs to be in relationship with other prophetic people. When we look at the Old Testament pattern for ministers and for the school of the prophets, we find something of a principle. The most effective prophets and leaders had a predecessor. Elisha had Elijah, Joshua had Moses, Samuel had Eli. The New Testament gives us more examples. The 12 had Jesus, Timothy had Paul, and Gaius had the Apostle John. There are those who we can glean from as Spiritual mentors and even spiritual fathers. We need to take the attitude of humility and learn from others that have the same gift that we have. Learn to celebrate in other people the gift(s) that you have in common. In order to cultivate inspiration we must learn to receive from others.
Number 5 – We must Focus on Our Family.
My wife Michele and I recently celebrated 10 years of marriage. I gave her a little note that told her of my continued love and how much she inspires me. You may be thinking what does this have to do with the prophetic anointing? If a person can not be inspired by the ones they love then they will be an empty vessel and their prophecies although valid, will be delivered with a callousness that won’t be effective. I don’t believe that the modern day Prophet is to have a personality that does not reflect the love of Christ. I told Michele that I wanted to give her the dream of her heart because everyday with her is my dream fulfilled. I know it sounds like a card that you buy at a gift shop, but it is absolutely true. My wife inspires me to be a better husband, my children inspire me to be a better father. What a shame for a person to be considered a great Prophet but a horrible spouse or parent. My family inspires me to lead them into the presence of the Lord. I am convinced that the intensity of prophetic anointing on my life has a direct correlation to the relationship with my family.
Number 6 – We must Treasure the Word.
I am amazed at the limited amount of time ministers spend in the Word of God. I am not just talking about the study and knowledge of the Word, but allowing the Lord to reveal Himself through His Word. No matter how much a person knows, when the light of revelation is illuminated, there is nothing to compare it to. I heard of a story where Pastors in Africa were gathering monthly to exchange chapters from the Bible because they only had one to go around. They would be so excited to receive the new verses that they would literally run home to get alone with their Word. They were not motivated to preach a new sermon, but to receive a fresh revelation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I remember after hearing this story that I prayed this prayer to the Lord. “Lord I pray that your Word would be hidden in my heart ( Ps.119:11) so much that if it was ever taken from me where I did not have access to it, I would still know it.” The Lord spoke to me and said,” Then read it.” At that moment I realized that in all of my life as a Christian I had never read and devoted myself to the Lord. We want the benefits of the Word, but we must have the discipline in the Word. The Bible is the more sure Word of prophecy (II Peter 1:19). If we are in the Word, we will be inspired by the Word, so that when we release the Word, others will receive the Word.
Number 7 – We must Ascend in Worship.
We must ascend in worship before we descend in war. Jesus always ascended to the mountain before descending to war with the religious spirits. He prepared His heart in worship so that His heart would not give in when the battle ensued. The prophetic anointing has enemies as we will discuss in Chapter 8. Those enemies have one goal and that is to disrupt, discourage, and destroy, the prophetic anointing. When we ascend into worship we see what the angels see. We understand that victory is already been won. We can say with confidence that when the enemy comes in like a flood, My God shall raise up a standard (Is 59:19). Worship puts us back into a position of being in awe of God. We worship the things that are mysterious and amazing.
“When we have learned what worship is we have experienced what wonder is.…In that sense, worship is not only a science in that there is a discipline to it, but it is an art in that there is a beauty to it.” (Zacharias)
True worship reveals the heart of humanity toward its Creator. It recognizes that without the Almighty One, there could be no collective. The prophetic anointing functions at it highest measure when the vessels remain in awe of their Maker.
