Ordained Where You Are
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
John 15:16 NIV
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide." — John 15:16 (ESV)
The Moment
There was a morning I was praying through John 15 — that I am chosen, that I am appointed, that I bear lasting fruit — when my little boy called for me from the bathroom. He had finished his shower and needed help with lotion and dressing.
So I went up. And as my hands smoothed lotion over his small body, the prayer I had been praying for myself rose up and out over him.
You are ordained. You will bear much fruit. God will use you even in your young age. The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
Then I said to him, gently, "Say: I receive, in Jesus' name."
And he did.
The Reflection
There is no separation between the sacred and the ordinary when God is your portion. None.
The bathroom is an altar. The lotion is an oil. The child is ordained.
The world has trained us to think of "ministry" as something that happens behind a pulpit or in a conference hall, with worship music playing softly underneath. But the priesthood Jesus opened to us in 1 Peter 2:9 is not a pulpit priesthood. It is a home priesthood. A handpriesthood. Your hands are not merely performing tasks today. They are carrying an anointing into every task they touch.
You are a priest of your own household. The lotion bottle in your hand is no less sacred than the oil in a minister's flask. Pray over what you touch.
Today's Practice
Sometime today — at bath time, bedtime, breakfast, or the school run — lay your hand on someone you love and speak ordination over them out loud. Your child. Your spouse. Your own chest if you are alone. Even one sentence. Even if it feels strange the first time.
Declaration
You are ordained. You will bear much fruit. The Spirit of the Lord is upon you. You are chosen, appointed, and called. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Reflect
Whose anointing might be waiting on your hands this week? Write their name. Then write the one sentence you want to speak over them.