How to Receive Spiritual Mantles from the Past

Would you like to receive spiritual gifts and anointings that you see in other people? Would you like to have a portion of, or even double, the giftings of some of the heroes of faith of olden times?

You can!

How?

By receiving spiritual mantles from the Lord that He also placed on other people. He is the only One who gives spiritual mantles, but He will give them to you, shaped for your life, if you ask Him to do so!

What is a spiritual mantle?

A “spiritual mantle” is a calling, gift, passion, ability, anointing, skill set, or level of authority that God has given a specific person. For example:

• Jonathan Edwards had a mantle for preaching salvation. Even though he read his sermons (as was the custom of the day), people fell under the power of the Holy Spirit and the First Great Awakening ensued.
• Charles Finney had a mantle for prayer and preaching. God used him to birth the Second Great Awakening. Finney’s anointing–and the Presence that he carried–were so powerful that he would ride through towns without even getting off the train, and revival would break out in those towns. He would walk into factories, and the workers would fall to their knees and confess their sins to God before Finney would say a word.
• Kathryn Kuhlman had a special relationship with the Holy Spirit. She carried a mantle for preaching the Word, with confirmation by the Holy Spirit through healings and miracles.
• A.W. Tozer carried a mantle for seeing God as He really is in the third Heaven, and communicating what he saw to earth.

How can you receive spiritual mantles from the Lord that other people carried?

Receiving a spiritual mantle that someone else also carried is certainly possible. Here’s how to actually get those mantles:

1. Become a student of how God used that mantle on the earth in someone else’s life.

This will build your faith, and it works whether the person who previously carried that mantle is alive or dead. He or she does not have to be alive in order for God to give you an impartation of the mantle that another person also carried in the past.

For example, one of my heroes is Charles Finney. My life has been GREATLY influenced by his. I’ve never met him; he died in 1875. However, I have become a student of Finney’s life. I read his books. I read his journals and biographies.

A number of years ago, I traveled to Oberlin, Ohio, to visit Finney’s grave.

While I was there, I asked God to give me everything Finney had that is also God’s plan for me. It simply built my faith to stand there at Finney’s grave, knowing that the dust of the person whom God used to change the world in his generation was right beneath me.

And so, my faith rose up, and I believed God could do it in me too. So, I asked Him to do so! (The Lord totally changed my life after that, by the way.:))

Of course, you can learn from other people as well. You can listen to preachers and teachers who have already been where you want to go; who have revelation that you need and want to learn. You don’t have to have met those people, but you can still learn from them and benefit from their legacies.

And, when you honor a righteous person or a prophet, you’ll receive a righteous person’s or prophet’s reward–an impartation from the Lord of at least part of what they carry.

2. Emulate the habits of those who live godly and holy lives.

A child imitates his or her father and mother. Mentors emulate mentees. Christians emulate Jesus, but we also emulate those who demonstrate godly and holy living to us.

Hebrews 13:7-9a instructs us to “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines….”

Too often, we tend to think that the instructions in Hebrews 13:7-9 are a collection of seemingly disparate ideas, almost like a chain of individual Proverbs. However, this is not the case.

This passage is actually telling us to imitate our spiritual mentors, because the truths they taught us will not change. When we review the passage above in context, we see that the author was telling us:

• That what worked for our mentors in the faith will work for us.
• The truths from God’s Word that our leaders taught us are still true for us.
• Because Christ doesn’t change, neither does His doctrine.
• Therefore, we should not allow strange, new doctrines to carry us away from truth.
• We are to stick with the truths taught by our mentors; and
• We are to imitate them in doctrine, faith, and conduct.

If you want to receive an impartation of what God has given your spiritual mentor, you need to live out this passage every day. Do what they did to get what they have!

For example: 

• Listen intently as they teach. Then, take the instruction to heart, and act on it.
• Notice the prayer life that your mentor has, and try to imitate it.
• Dig into the truths from the Word that your mentor teaches you. Seek to understand those truths more clearly, so you can grow like they have grown.

Emulating your teachers in the Word in every godly way changes you and honors those who teach you. When you do that, God will honor you and bless you with more of the mantle your mentors carry.

3. Ask God to give you everything your mentors have/had that He desires you to also have.

Years ago, when I went to visit Finney’s grave, I didn’t ask God to turn me into Charles Finney. I’m not Finney and never can be. However, I do want everything Finney had that lines up with God’s purposes for my life! I want God to use me, in my generation, just as much as He used Finney in his!

What mantle does your mentor carry that you also desire to have? Ask God for it! A spiritual mantle at its core is the functioning of the Holy Spirit in your life, and Jesus promised that our Father would give us the Holy Spirit for the asking! (Luke 11:13: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”)

So ask! Ask! Ask! God honors bold requests. He answers specific prayers. Ask God for a double portion of His Spirit that was in Finney, Tozer, Moody, Edwards, or others. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by asking.

Do you desire spiritual mantles from other people?

You should. It’s a godly desire. It’s a little part of how spiritual fatherhood and sonship work. Elisha asked Elijah, his spiritual father, for a double portion of his spirit before he was taken to Heaven (2 Kings 2:9). He got it, too!

So don’t delay! Ask God for the mantles you desire! Ask Him for the gifts and anointings you desire! Then become a student of how God uses those mantles in everyday life, and emulate (only in godly ways!) the people who carry those mantles in godly ways.

I will caution you, though: ONLY ask God to give you mantles that HE wants you to have …

… and then let Him say “no” to certain things if He wants you to. You always want to walk in 100% of who you are, not in any part of trying to be someone else. But God will still take the spiritual mantles you desire, shape them to fit the plans He has for your life, and give them to you–if you desire, and if you ask.

As you do that, you will receive an impartation of the gifts and graces and spiritual mantles you desire.

Whose mantle will you ask God for today? Leave a comment below!