Ask Patricia (page 2)

Women in Ministry

Q: 1 Timothy 2:11-12 says that a woman should not teach or usurp authority over a man…. so how can you be the head of a ministry and teach the Word?

A: In Christ there is no male or female (Galatians 3:28.) God is the one who calls and chooses those He sets into ministry positions. He gives us our sphere of influence. We are to know each other after the spirit and not according to the flesh.

There is a great deal of unpacking to do in teaching on women in ministry and this scripture in particular. I would suggest purchasing my set of tapes called Women in Ministry where I cover this topic in detail, or picking up Loren Cunningham's book, “Why Not Women?”. You would find these tools to be very helpful in understanding the subject.

Q: Has it been difficult for you being a woman in ministry?

A: Not at all. I have enjoyed great ministry relationships with both men and women and the Lord has blessed us with favor.

Every individual who is in a leadership position will have many struggles, whether you are male or female. It comes with the territory. The main thing is to commit yourself to passing all the love tests and the faith tests when they come. Find your confidence in His rest and love. There is no need to struggle or fight for a place to serve…go low and serve in humility…this has always made the way easier for me.

Featuring your name in advertisements & promotions

Q: It seems that all I see on your website and emails is “Patricia King.” I think we should see more of God and less of Patricia King. Are you ready to stand before Him and have Him judge your emails and the contents of your webpage?

A: As a team, it is our desire to walk in humble obedience before our Lord. So this is an excellent question to be asked and thoroughly examined! It has never been my desire to have my name out there in lights. In fact, many times when I see it posted, I die a thousand deaths inside. The name Patricia King was given by the Lord. It is a prophetic statement for Him and He has asked me to steward it.

When He first called us to bring the name forward, I resisted and had a difficult time accepting the call to that. I actually prefer to be nameless and faceless...but if the Lord has need of you in any way, then you humbly submit and obey. This is the process I walked through with our team when we followed the Lord initially in this journey.

As a ministry we are not into glitter and glamour. We are not into having the esteem of man. In fact, to be honest with you, I believe very few know the price that is paid to be brought forward into a place of public influence. There is a lot of bashing, despising, judgments, critical and bitter assaults to face on a continual basis -- you have no idea! We knew this as we stepped into this season and as a team we had to count the cost. It meant everything had to be laid down for the Lord, His body, and the world around us that needs Him. We were willing to walk in that commitment.

One of the things that helped me process a very similar question to yours during that initial season was that the Lord showed me how often He used people's names in the scripture. Let me give you just one example:

Abraham's name is used 230 times in the Bible and Abram is used 50 times, for a total of 280. It seems that the Lord is not afraid to highlight names. He proclaimed to Abram in Genesis 12:2 "...I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing ." The word "great" there (from Strong's means: "to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things, to magnify oneself ..."

That is quite a statement... and the Lord Himself made it. I would prefer to be hidden and out of the line of fire. My heart is to serve and even be in hiddeness, but the gifts the Lord has invested in my life and our ministry need to be more visible. If you are a "hand," you cannot be placed in the stomach is (a more hidden and internal place). So even if you wanted to be a stomach, you couldn't be if you were a hand. The hand, in order to be functional, needs to be placed in a more visible position.

My one desire is to love, serve and please Him. I want to obey Him in everything He leads me to do. I want to give Him everything HE is looking for and I desire to serve Him with my whole heart. This is the pulse of our entire team -- I would stake my life on that one! Each one has sacrificed so much. Why? Because we love Him. None of us desire the attention of man. If the attention of man does not draw more people to Him, then it is all in vain, it is for nothing. For us to live is Christ and to die is gain. Our lives are all about Him! It is our value.

We are willing to take a visible place in forerunning so that we can run through the minefields and prepare a path for others to follow. We are willing to take the hits and everything else that comes from that territory. Believe me, there is no glamour in it. It can be painful and difficult, but I wouldn't want to be in another place if that is what the Lord wants us to do. We are happy to lay our lives down.

Third Heaven Experiences

Q: Do you teach that all believers can go to the third heaven?

A: Yes. The Bible says so. It is our position in Christ. He desires us to have this heavenly perspective.

Ephesians 2:4-6 states that even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins that God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ. In Ephesians 1:20 the scripture teaches that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father … so, that is where we are. When did we get positioned there? When we were born again. It is our position in Christ as taught in the scriptures. Our bodies are in the earth, but our spirit man has access to the heavenlies.

Hebrews 9:24, 25 says: For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Hebrews 10:19-21 further states: Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...

Hebrews 4:16 teaches: Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This, of course, is a huge teaching that we go through very carefully in our Glory School , building it line upon line. The bottom line, however, is this: as born-again Christians we have already been given everything that pertains to life and godliness... we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...we are already seated in the heavenly places with Him…and we are to access all the covenant promises by faith. The righteous lives by his faith.

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