Shiloh Place Ministries
Seeing The World Experience the Father's Healing Love
Through the Hearts of the Leaders
www.shilohplace.org

From Slavery to Sonship Part 2
How do you displace the orphan spirit?

The orphan spirit is not something you can cast out because it is ungodly beliefs and/or attitudes of our flesh that has been developing over a lifetime. It has become part of our personality and character. It must be displaced (put to death) by a personal experience in the Father's love and a revelation of the spirit of sonship. This will require a re-positioning of our life. Peter Lord recently said, "If you keep doing what you have been doing, you're going to keep getting what you already got!"

We must first acknowledge our need for change. Between 1988 and 1991, Trisha and I were on staff with Pastor Houston Miles at Evangel Cathedral in Spartanburg, SC. At that time, we had no revelation of what it meant to live life as a spiritual orphan or as a son/daughter. We thought we were faithful and loyal staff members. We never spoke against the pastor. We did not stir up strife. But we acted more like servants than sons as we slaved to build the church and our ministry. Until we received a revelation of sonship, we could not see that we were not there in a spirit of sonship ­ subject to another's mission and doing everything to make him more successful. We were there to build a name for ourselves. We were using that season and Pastor Miles as stepping stones to go on to what we wanted to do. We did not value him for relationship, but for what he could do for us by making us successful in our ministry.

A parent can pick up on a wrong spirit quickly in their children, but they continue to love and nurture. Pastor Miles sensed our spirits and continued to honor us, but he could not fully trust us when we started Shiloh Place Ministries in 1991. As an apostolic covering for many pastors, churches, and for us, he believed in what we were doing and the anointing upon us to minister to leaders. But he could not fully endorse and promote us because he knew the motives of our hearts were often tainted with spiritual ambition. As we struggled to build the ministry, we often reasoned that he had the power to make us more successful and visible, but could not understand why he seemed to withhold that from us. Sadly, it took us years to receive the revelation that this was not about Pastor Miles, but about the orphan spirit within us.

Then in October 1997, a close friend, Pastor Roger Gosnell, told us that he felt the motives of our hearts were not pure in relationship to Pastor Miles and Evangel Fellowship International (EFI), the minister's fellowship he founded and of which we are a part. At first, we could see no fault on our part because we worked so hard to do everything right. The orphan spirit usually struggles with self-deception and points fault elsewhere. For several weeks we searched our heart attitudes, and the Holy Spirit began to convict us of many of the characteristics of the spiritual orphan within us. We faced the truth that we were with EFI and on staff at Evangel Cathedral years earlier for the same purpose: what they could do to promote us so that we could build our ministry.

Second, we began to confess to one another the sins of the orphan spirit. As we began to acknowledge our impure motives, it was as if we stepped out of darkness and into the light. Soon, we could sense the motives behind our ministry beginning to shift. We knew that in order to move more deeply into this revelation, we needed to go to Pastor Miles and share our hearts with him.

Third, we felt there was a need to receive forgiveness from those against whom we had sinned. I (Jack) took a four-hour drive just to meet with Pastor Miles and tell him how our eyes had been opened. I shared how, for nine years, we lacked a spirit of sonship and related to him for what he could do for us and not for how we could make the vision God had given him more successful. We did not intentionally dishonor him. It was an unconscious grasping within us for position and recognition. We were blinded by our own orphan issues to our own need! He said something like, "I forgave you long ago, but was waiting for you to see it yourself and acknowledge your need." It was as if the relationship with us was reborn as basic trust was restored.

Fourth, Trisha and I knew this would be a daily walk of repentance. The spirit of sonship was not a garment we put on, but it was a change of heart so deep that it brought change to our habits. A new passion was awakened within us to be a blessing in every way possible to Pastor Miles, EFI, and our local church. No longer did we want to bless in order to get something in return. No longer did we grudgingly give of our finances. No longer did we have to be seen or accepted. We knew our identity was in the Father's love, and it became the desire of our hearts to do everything we could to see another's vision and calling fulfilled.

Fifth, we received revelation on sowing into our inheritance. God soon branded on our hearts several verses: "For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things." "And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Romans 15:27; Galatians 6:6-8)

God began to speak to us about the debt we owed to our local church, EFI, and Pastor Miles for all the years of their putting up with our immaturity and helping equip us in our calling. For years, we had sown to our vision and what we wanted, and we reaped very little from our own flesh. Our ministry remained small, unknown, and struggling. It was time we began to repay the debt and sow all we could into our mentors, apostolic covering, teachers, and local church in order to make their missions successful. How could we serve them? How could we bless? How could we support them financially? How could we pray for them?

Sixth, we began receiving our inheritance. For so many years, we had fought and grasped for recognition and ministry. Then, as a passion for the spirit of sonship rose up within us, almost overnight the blessings of God came upon Shiloh Place, Trisha, and me as we began receiving the inheritance that God had spoken over us many times from as far back as 1980: "I will make you a voice of healing and restoration to the nations." For 17 years we had struggled, but the anointing began to increase in our ability to bring forth the message of the Father's healing love. More people were being saved than ever before. Ministers' families were being healed and restored. Invitations began coming in from around the world. Financial support increased dramatically. SPM became a voice of healing and restoration throughout the nations. What we had fought to achieve for years as spiritual orphans had come in a very short time as the favor of God poured out upon us when we began walking in submission and sonship. That is where His inheritance flows! Spiritual orphans do not have legal rights to the inheritance. It is reserved only for sons and daughters.

Many people have been given words that God will use them mightily to minister to others. Yet, it seems the day and the hour of the Lord's release in your life has been delayed. Others have wondered why they have prayed every prayer known to mankind for deliverance or healing of emotional pain, yet they still battle frustration, anxiety, loneliness, and fears. For Trisha and me, we had to address the hidden, unconscious issues of the spiritual orphan. There is so much more to say about this, and I know this answers some questions and opens the door for many others to be addressed. If you must hear more, you may want to order the 3-audiotape series from SPM, "From Slavery to Sonship." It goes much more in-depth into this revelation, and is setting captives free, releasing greater anointing in leaders, and having a greater impact than anything we have taught before.

With the Father's love,
Jack & Trisha Frost

(We must give our thanks and appreciation to Mark Stibbe and his book, From Orphans to Heirs, and to James & Denise Jordan, for their help in giving us insight into the issues of orphans and sons.)

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PO Box 5
Conway, SC 29528, USA
(843) 365-8990
http://www.shilohplace.org
info@shilohplace.org