Benny Hinn: My divorce experience made me know the difference between heart and head anointing

Divorce made me know the difference between heart and head anointing

Evangelist Benny Hinn has again related his experience in ministry, while also using it to counsel upcoming evangelists and ministers of the gospel.

Hinn spoke at the first Christ for all Nations Bootcamp graduation. It was the graduation ceremony of evangelists trained by CFAN in the last 6 months. CFAN was founded by Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke who died on December 7, 2019

At the ceremony which held on Friday June 5, Hinn took the graduating evangelists through his own personal journey in ministry confessing that he did not have the opportunity of proper education while growing up in ministry.

Hinn said he was caught between the counsels of some church leaders on whether to go for theological education or not. But that seems not to be the issue for him other than the fact that he was grossly inexperienced in his early years in ministry. Even at that, he was greatly anointed to operate in the office of an evangelist and a prophet

He recalled that he was 24 when he was asked to preach at the funeral of the then well-known evangelist Kathryn Kuhlman. That experience was to later put him on the world stage. Hinn said he was literally scared to come out when he was invited to the podium because of the large attendance at the event.

It took an usher to push him out of his seat. He got to the stage and could not say anything. He was scared. “I had to tell the Lord and said, Dear Jesus I cannot do anything.” Immediately I said that, the Lord said to me clearly, I’m glad you said you can’t do anything. I will step in. Right there in my presence the power of God came down. Maggie and Ruth who were close to Kuhlman when she was alive jumped out of their seats and the power of God engulfed the entire auditorium. People jumped out of their wheel chairs and diverse sicknesses were healed that day.”

He said from that day he knew the key to the power of God is not education. “I wish I had education. But God will work regardless of your education. That was the first lesson I learnt. God is looking for those who are pliable. We just need to surrender to the Lord. When you love someone it will be easy for you to surrender to him.”

He said from that time he began to learn the importance of the anointing. But he soon realized that there is a great danger in being anointed and not know the Lord. “I did not know Jesus when I began the way I know him today. Today, it’s a different world to me. I sang some songs then, but when I sing them now it makes more meaning to me than then. I now see that it is a privilege to die for the master.”

Baby Love

Hinn said many Christians usually begin with baby love for Christ, “but with time we realize that ministry is not about money, fame and friends. It’s about how deep our love is for Christ. My cry today is that God will give me a love for him that I have never had. It’s not important how you begin. It’s how you finish. The end of the race is a tough point.”

Anointing of 1John2v27 and that of Acts 1v8.

He then went on to explain what it means to be anointed within and without. He said when John wrote 1john2v27 stating that we need no man to teach us, that the anointing within will teach us all things, there was a lot of false teachers in the world then.

“People were preaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh and that Jesus is not the son of God. But John now wrote saying the anointing within will show you the truth. You cannot be deceived if it is in you. “

He explained further that the anointing of 1John 2v27 is different from the anointing of Acts 1v8. The former is the one at work inside you while the latter is the one outside you. The one outside is the anointing for office. “The moment a person is saved, the anointing within will produce a hunger for the word of God. Hunger is a sign of life. The person becomes so hungry for more of the word. Faith is also given to the person at that moment of salvation. At that point the person knows he has eternal life. Nobody has to tell you. Then you begin to love Jesus. These are the three realities a person experiences at salvation.” He said.

The anointing within according to him is “what makes a saved person to always want to stay with the saints and to thirst for more of the word of God. It makes the word come alive and productive. Prayer becomes easy. You become a worshiper. Your life is captured by the love of God. It is the anointing within that guarantees heaven not the one for the office. Anointing for office does not guarantee heaven” he said.

He said further in the one-hour message that every preacher will face challenges. “What matters is how we come out of the challenges. I have had many challenges. I have been investigated by government five times. But the greatest of all challenges is spiritual challenges and it becomes worse if you are not properly equipped to face the challenge. That is when you need to fall back on the reservoir of the word of God in your heart.”

Divorce a big distraction

Hinn stated that he has learnt more about the anointing within in the last 10 years than he has ever learnt in all the years of his ministry before then. “My divorce came. Thank God my wife is back and we are doing well now. But when it lasted it was a big distraction. It was when it began to affect the children that it was taking toll on me. My hunger within for God was not deep.”

His divorce notwithstanding, he still went out to preach and there were great manifestations. “It was frightening for me because I saw that God was still manifesting himself. That was when I realized that there is a big difference between the anointing inside of me and the anointing upon me.”

While declaring that ministry is not a game of chance, he said God showed him a revelation in 2015 where he saw himself with the Lord Jesus and he saw a lady playing the organ and the Lord told him, “I’m watching you, don’t blow it.”

Ministry is dangerous without relationship with Christ

 He said that experience has helped him to refocus, “I no longer have a desire of my own. I want to stand in his presence and see him smile to me. I don’t want to hear, “I don’t know you. Ministry can be dangerous if one’s relationship with Christ is shaky. As the Lord anoints my heart and the ministry he has given me, I have been able to realize that the anointing outside is different from the one within.

“The one within is not emotional. It is not about feeling but the one outside is about feeling. The one within is completely spiritual but the one for the office is physical. The one within is for your own good and your growth in the Lord. But the one on you is for others. The anointing within depends on your hunger.”

Polluted anointing

He said sin can corrupt the spiritual life of the believer while he still has the anointing to operate in his office. “But when the Lord withdraws mixture comes in. That is when the minister would operate one day from the spirit of God and another day from demon. Balaam is a clear example in the Bible. He operated with the spirit of God and he also used witchcraft. Saul is another example of mixture. He prophesied through demonic help and also through the spirit of the Lord. Today we have a lot of mixture in the prophetic ministry.”

I no longer watch television

Hinn said he has become so engrossed in loving God that he no longer have time to watch television and follow things happening around him. I have been spending my time studying the Bible and concentrating on my call. I do not know there has been riot in this country until yesterday to tell you that I have not been following news. I have not watched television for almost four years now. I know nothing about what is going on in the US. It was the Lord who had to prompt me to pay attention to what is going on so that I don’t go and make embarrassing comments outside while speaking. I no longer concern myself with the things of this planet. After a painful divorce experience, the Lord said to me, I was waiting for you to come back home. I am not the same Benny Hinn of three years ago. And I don’t pray I will remain the same in years to come.