Dealing With An Orphan Spirit

Robert I Holmes

I was born into the kingdom at a time when the TV evangelists were coming down, judgment was upon the church and the prophets were getting into trouble. There was a lot of talk about the fall of great men of God, and leaders were, by and large, backing away from mentoring.  I knew right from the outset that to grow in the gift, I needed to find someone better, older, wiser than me. On the music side, I picked up a guitar and started hanging out with gypsies. I penned songs and took them to be critiqued by folk song writers. I joined the church music team and learned all I could. But the prophetic. was not going to be that easy.

In 1993, I went to John, my pastor and we drafted a list of every prophetic person we knew of in Australia: big or small, famous or infamous. I wrote 21 letters asking for help, opportunity to learn, time for a coffee, anything. Three responded. One invited me to his conference and gave me a copy of his book. One invited me to his church and read a copy of an article I had written. But the last fellow took a little more interest. Brother McIntyre had been in the game for quite some time. We did breakfast, we did lunch and we travelled to Melbourne together. I learned much from his teaching, but more from his conduct. He even read a copy of my first book (which incidentally, never saw the light of day). He and I grew busy with our schedules, and lost touch. but it made me hunger for more. I went back to my pastor, and we drew up a list of internationally recognised prophets. Only 12 letters this time. and 3 responded. Off we went again!

"I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you" (John 14:18).

Some hallmarks of an orphan spirit

An orphan is someone who had been abandoned by their primary care giver.  The kingdom of God is based upon relationship, and the central relationship is one of parent to child - father to son. "Older women. should admonish the younger women" (Titus 2:4). "Timothy, my true son in the faith" (1 Tim.  1:2). "I am your father in the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15). We become orphaned when those who are caring for us abandon us, or when those who should care, do not.  We may have an orphan spirit because of the natural parenting we received.  Perhaps you were literally abandoned, or adopted out. Perhaps you had an absent father, or abusive mother. Perhaps you raised yourself because of the financial condition of your family, or the number of children in the home. On the spiritual side, neglect happens at every level in institutional christianity. Leaders demand instead of admonish, berate instead of beseech, are busy with church life instead of the life inside the people, and are not being fathered by the system themselves. There are promises of parental love, but in reality, scarce little more than a request for the tithe.

So what are the hallmarks of an orphan spirit?

- Inability to have lasting relationships

- Hatred of authority, general distrust for     leaders

- General lack of direction for your life

- Inability to make key, strategic decisions

- Drawing near, then backing away from intimacy

- A sense that they're just going to reject you anyway

- A gnawing sense of failure, never quite good enough

- An inexplicable drive to succeed, win, prove yourself

"But you have received the spirit of adoption" (Rom. 8:15 c.f Gal. 4:5)

The effects of adoption

Jesus knew we would suffer with doubt about belonging to the family of God.  He knew that the church would generate thousands of mentors, but not many fathers, so He promised to give us the spirit of adoption. The very Spirit of God, who teaches us how to pray, gives us the confidence to cry "abba, Father".Under the laws of Australia, America and England an adopted child has certain privileges assigned to them that even natural offspring are not afforded. For example, you cannot disown them. You cannot disinherit an adopted child. They have equal share in the Will and Testament of the parent(s). This gives the adopted child unshakeable confidence that they will always belong - so far as the law is concerned.  Our spirit ceases to feel orphaned when we have confidence that we belong to a family  God's family. It enables us to connect with our brothers and sisters, and yield ourselves fully to those in authority in the church.

"Appreciate those. who have charge over you in the Lord" (1 Thess. 5:12)

The issue of inheritance

When it comes to money, there are two ways we can receive it: by work or by grace; by labour or gift; by reaping & sowing or inheritance. Any orphan can work hard to earn a  salary, indeed he can even become rich. But only a son can receive an inheritance. There are things that can only be obtained by inheritance - from being part of a family.

We must be rid of the orphan mentality, and receive confidence from Christ that we are His. Our behaviour will demonstrate what we believe. If we behave like a slave, a servant, a man under bondage to the law then we are orphans still. If we must work to be pleasing to God; must achieve to gain His favour; must obey this legal requirement or another to be acceptable (or saved) then we are orphans.  But if we behave like a son, then we will work from that perspective. God the Father owns the land. It is His business, and one day we will own a part of it. So we work without guilt or need to please. We labour for Him because it is our pleasure.

No longer a slave, but a son.  and an heir of God through Christ" Gal. 4:7)

A harlots' son

We can probably name most of the people in the "hall of faith". But tucked away in vs 32 of Hebrews 11 is Jephthah. Jephthah's story is drawn out in Judges chapter 11. He was the son of a harlot. His father had a fling one night with a prostitute, and he was the result. His father's wife had other children, but these loving sibling half-brothers said, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman". Enter the orphan spirit. Disinherited, rejected, wounded in the house of his father Gilead.

So Jephthah fled, and the Lord brought him soldiers, warriors, mighty men in like the "endebted, distressed and disenfranchised". He was David in another skin. Now Ammon invaded the land of his father, and the elders of Gilead came to him, begging for help.  They invited him back and accepted him as leader.Now the man was faced with his own heart - it was saying "But you drove me out, you hated me." Would he rise above that orphan voice? What if they said, "You will  become head over us, your inheritance shall be of us"? So Jephthah told them he would do it, if he made them his chief. He threw his lot in with them, defeated the Ammonites, defeated the Ephraimites (42,000 of them) and became judge over Israel for six years.

Rise up man of God!  o wonder Hebrews says he was a man who "conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises".  Noble indeed!