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ROYAL LETTER
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You can know God, be filled with the Holy Spirit from your mother’s womb, commune in the wilderness, grow in stature, be strengthened in your spirit, and still miss your destiny. This is the scandal of John the Baptist. Here is a man formed by God, anointed, set apart from the womb, sent to be the promised Elijah, the one who was to prepare the coming of the Messiah. And yet, when asked in John 1:21, “Are you Elijah?”, he answers, “No.” What? The Son of God later says, “If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:14). He didn’t know himself. Here is a prophet who could discern the Lamb of God but didn’t know his own identity!
Can you believe that a man walks with the Spirit for years and ends up with his head on a platter like a godless man? Can you fathom that God forms you, fills you with power, and you still fail because you’ve ignored a man God placed in your life? John the Baptist ignored his father, Zechariah, the bearer of his mystery. Are you aware of the vital importance of your spiritual father? It all hinges on this: within the entrails of those God has placed above you lie the revelations you will never receive without submission.
Scripture is saturated with examples that scream this truth: Moses grew up in the secrecy of the palace, but his life truly began when he humbled himself and listened to Jethro. Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, could only be protected through the discernment of Joseph, His earthly father. And what about Samuel? Surely he was a prophet, led by God, but only through Eli’s instructions did he learn to recognize the voice of God. You can be called, you can be anointed… but if your heart flees from the fatherly voice, sooner or later, your hull will burst open mid-journey.
The child grew… became strong in spirit… and lived in the wildernesses. (Luke 1:80)
There are deserts in your life that are not assignments against Satan, but appointments with God. They are places of alignment, incubation, solitude willed by Heaven. It’s where John the Baptist grew. He wasn’t trained in Israel but in the desert, hidden from the eyes of men so God could work in depth. It’s there one becomes strong, where one matures, where one encounters the Spirit. But beware. The desert alone is not enough. You can have extraordinary communion with the Spirit like John the Baptist and still be blind to yourself.
And this is where the mystery strikes: his father, Zechariah, had received years earlier the vision of who his son was. The angel told him: “He will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah…” (Luke 1:17). What God wanted to do with his son, He told his father. But the transfer never happened. Why? Because John did not listen. He never sat down to say: “Father, who am I? Tell me what God told you about me.” Scripture doesn’t say so explicitly, but his ignorance is glaringly obvious.
How many today despise the fatherly voice? How many believe that their anointing, their visions, their experience with the Holy Spirit are enough? But the anointing alone will not spare you from decapitation. And the tragedy is that you think you’re ready, you show up because God has “filled” you, but you’ve never allowed yourself to be instructed. John the Baptist showed up without ever having received the motherboard of his destiny. The anointing, the authority, the stature are there, but the operating system was never installed.
Look at Moses. God spoke to him face to face, not in riddles like with other prophets (Numbers 12:8). His intimacy with God was exceptional! And yet, it was Jethro, a pagan priest, his father-in-law, who came to say, “What you are doing is not good… Choose leaders of thousands, of hundreds…” (Exodus 18). This principle of cells, of decentralized administration that the Church still uses today, was not born from a direct heavenly revelation to Moses but from a fatherly counsel. And Moses listened and did EVERYTHING his father-in-law said. The most humble man on earth according to God is the man who knows how to listen to a father—even one who speaks little, or who doesn’t share your apparent spiritual stature.
John the Baptist should have listened. But he did not honor Zechariah. And look at the end: a powerful prophet, filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb, decapitated at a banquet by an adulterous king to satisfy the whim of a filthy dance. It’s the terrifying image of a man full of God but dying prematurely because of a lack of submission.
You can see the Lamb of God. You can touch the greatest glories of ministry. But if your heart remains rebellious, if you refuse to sit down and receive your identity from the one God has appointed to reveal it to you, you can lose it all.
Even Jesus Himself did not escape this law. When His life was threatened, it wasn’t Him who acted. It was Joseph, His father, who, through divine instruction, protected Him in Egypt and then brought Him back to Israel (Matthew 2:13–23). Even God incarnate was submitted to Joseph! For as long as the heir is a child, he is no different than a slave, subject to guardians until the time set by the father (Galatians 4:1–2). That time is never determined by your enthusiasm or your level of anointing. That time is marked by your father.
Look at Rebekah. Without her, Jacob would never have received Abraham’s blessing. Isaac, blind, was about to give it to Esau. But a woman sensitive to God, prayerful, discerning, intervened. She prepared Jacob, instructed him, advised him strategically, and above all… she took the risk. She said, “Let the curse fall on me.” Rebekah wasn’t just a tent decorator. She was an intercessor, a prophetess. She knew the spiritual identity of her children. Jacob did well to listen. Because even if God loved Jacob, if he hadn’t submitted to Rebekah, God could do nothing. God loves you, but He’s placed the key of your transmission in the hands of your father or mother. Are you ready to listen?
The trap today is confusing spiritual manifestation with divine validation. Because you see the fruits of the anointing—miracles, revelations, prophecies—you believe you’re established. You ignore the fact that you’re merely equipped for training. Anointing without submission leads to desolation.
A generation without fathers is doomed to decapitation.
I will turn the hearts of the children to their fathers… or else I will strike the land with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)
Before Jesus comes, the restoration of spiritual relationships is crucial. And it is Elijah’s anointing that does this: restoring intergenerational relationships. Whoever rejects this connection fails.
Your father saw the day of your birth. Even your own mother knows things you don’t. She was there when you took your first breath. They are the ones who know the nuances of your character, the traps woven into your DNA. That’s why sometimes your dad tells you: “Pray again about that girl.” And you insist on your own way! They may not seem “modern” anymore, but they hold keys. You despise what they know, rush out prematurely, and go through unnecessary pain. What you call rigidity is sometimes wisdom you’re not yet able to understand.
Lord, today I choose humility. Break within me every trace of pride, every tendency toward rebellion masked by pseudo-maturity. I acknowledge that it’s neither anointing, nor knowledge, nor even my walk with the Spirit that guarantees the fullness of my destiny, but obedience to Your voice and to those You have placed over me.
Establish in me a deaf loyalty to Your word, even when it comes through mouths my flesh considers weak. Father, I don’t want to be John the Baptist without Zechariah. I want to know my true identity so I can bear lasting fruit.
May my life glorify You, may I be known in Heaven as a son who manifests the Father’s glory. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
🙏 If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, say this prayer with faith:
Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I need You. I believe that You died for my sins and that You rose again. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Transform my life and lead me on Your path. Amen.
- Luke 1:17 – He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah… to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.
- Malachi 4:5-6 – He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children…
- Galatians 4:1 – As long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave… until the time set by the father.
- Exodus 18:24 – Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
You will not live halfway. God did not invest in you for you to fall with your head in a basket. He is calling you to walk in clear identity, to go through the stages according to His order. If this message stirred your heart, if you want to go further, don’t delay your obedience.
📽️ Want to go deeper? To watch the full video: click here.