What is Anchoring?

Communicating a prophecy is like communicating any other message. The goal is still to send the message. The goal is for the message to be understood. The most effective communication is remembered. Anchoring is a technique that is used in the Prophetic Language System (PLS) to make sure the person receiving the prophetic word “gets” the message, in the best way possible.

An anchoring technique includes the association of behavioral responses to environmental triggers, but it also links most internal states, responses, or feelings to various types of triggers. For example, one can anchor a belief to an action such as the touching of another person’s arm. A person’s tone of voice can also be an anchor for a feeling of confidence or excitement. The way you deliver a prophetic word can encourage a person’s faith in the Word of God through anchoring techniques.

At the end of the day, the purpose of PLS is to help people to receive God’s truths. As prophets, our goal is to make sure the Church of God can access God’s Word in their mind when they most need it. When we have successfully created anchors in the prophetic word, we can help believer deliberately access desired internal states using these triggers, to help them live transformed and victorious lives.

Most of the time, people have environmental cues when it comes to remembering something. Internal states are more uncontrollable. We usually cannot help how we feel or think. Through anchoring, the associating act helps a person consciously control what one knows and feels.

The anchoring technique is a very powerful tool because it can be used to access desirable mental processes whenever a person wants to. Internal resources, such as creativity and concentration, can be associated to cues of some form. Through anchoring, a person can easily access internal resources if needed or desired.

The actual term “anchor” is a very appropriate and important metaphor for the technique we are distinguishing. The act of anchoring, which came from the maritime field, is the process by which the ship’s crew is lowering a hook-shaped deadweight (the anchor) into the sea and connecting it to some stable point, so that the ship itself will be kept in its current position. Through the anchor, the ship will be kept in place despite the wavy waters that could shift it to the left or to the right.

In the same way, as prophets, the goal is to help believers anchor themselves in the Lord. When we give a prophetic word, we want to anchor it back to who God is. We want to anchor it in what God can do for their lives. We want to be able to help the Body of Christ set their eyes directly forward on Jesus, we want them to hear only God’s voice, and to experience God’s power as they obey His will.