Anna: Adoration And Proclamation

“[Anna was] worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day… and [began] to speak of him to all…” — Luke 2:37-38 ESV

There is a pattern in the Bible of ministry coming from intimacy. Jesus went to the wilderness before starting His public ministry. He also called his disciples “to himself” before He sent them out. Paul similarly went to Arabia before preaching the gospel. In fact, everyone who was used by God and ended well in the Bible ministered in the public place out of what they had cultivated in the secret place. Anna knew this principle well. She lived in the presence of God — praying, fasting, and worshiping. Then everywhere she went, she couldn’t keep her encounters with God to herself. What she had received in secret, she released in public. The precious revelation she received from her hunger, she freely gave away to people who shared the same hunger.

I knew a lady who was an intercessor for Reinhard Bonnke. Her name was Margaret Vis. She was a full-time intercessor who prayed eight hours a day at minimum. She was elderly, short, joyful, and full of spiritual power. I saw her preach, and it so powerful it was almost terrifying. As soon as she would get to the pulpit, she would lift her voice to pray in the Holy Ghost. The atmosphere became electric, as the same God who met with Moses on Mount Sinai was hovering over the place. Out of nowhere, people began to cry out and weep and wail. People fell on their faces, and without an altar call, they ran to the altar and fell facedown. She hand selected a few people who were resisting coming forward and told them, “You must get to this altar now!” Not one person put up a fight. She probably only preached for five minutes. After all, there are no words that would help to describe God when He shows up manifestly. She had the mantle of Anna.

Where does this kind of power in public come from? No place other than the secret place. And it comes as a reward for no motivation other than to seek his face.


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This blog is an excerpt from Robert Presson’s devotional book, “People Of His Presence,” available on Amazon: Click here to purchase on Amazon.  Alternatively, the book is available for free when you give a donation of any amount to City Revival Ministries at  cityrevivalnola.com/give. Please indicate that you would like the book when you give.