HOW TO RECEIVE A MIRACLE

HOW TO RECEIVE A MIRACLE
By Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo 0n 07/15/15 @ the afternoon session of the Power Explosion program at Victory Temple, Bowie.

2 Kings 4:8-17, 32 – 35 The account of the Shunamite woman

We have been processed to “see it before we believe it” after all “seeing is believing” according to man. But to operate in the miraculous the opposite is in fact the truth – WE’VE GOTTA BELIEVE IT BEFORE WE SEE IT TO OPERATE IN THE MIRACULOUS.

In 2 Kings 4:1, there is the account of a woman with children but no money but in verse 8 of this same 2 Kings 4 is the account of a great woman with money but no children. This just goes to show that we all have diverse needs.
The Shunamite woman was called a great woman. She must’ve been very wealthy, influential, and knew the king. But her problem pushed her to God. Many turn away from God in rebellion when the going gets tough. Many blame God for their situations when in fact they were the ones that opened the door for the enemy to come in and attack. Beloved, when you break the hedge the serpent will bite. For example, if you do not obey the red traffic light and end up in an accident you can’t possibly blame the system now, can you??? Beloved, just as laws are put in place for our protection, GODS LAWS ARE ALSO IN PLACE FOR OUR PROTECTION!!! Everyone faces trials but the way out is to know how to operate in the miraculous. YOU WILL HAVE A TESTIMONY IN JESUS’ MIGHTY NAME!

HOW DO YOU OPERATE IN THE MIRACULOUS?

GIVE RECOGNITION TO THE WORD OF GOD!!! The Shunamite woman was always at church meetings listening to the man of God. She was hungry for the word of God. THE ANOINTING YOU RESPECT BRINGS THE BLESSINGS YOU EXPECT!!! The Shunamite woman became tire of just getting the word once in a while and so she decided to do something about it. She convinced her husband that they should make a room in their house for the man of God (the anointing, God’s word). Beloved, until you break out of the “regular” you may not see great changes because God cannot take you past your level of hunger, desire, and expectation. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6). This woman got tired of the mercy drops of revelation and hungered for the showers of blessings of it. Beloved, though this woman asked her husband to bring “another man” into their home, he agreed because as it is written in Proverbs 31 “the heart of her husband trusted in her”

FIVE (5) STEPS THE SHUNAMITE WOMAN TOOK TO HER MIRACLE

#1 SHE BUILT A ROOM OF HIGH ELEVATION FOR THE ANOINTING: She elevated the word of God in her life. 2 Kings 4:10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. Beloved, this woman built a room of elevation for the word. She positioned the room for the man of God ABOVE THEIR OWN ROOM!!! Who puts the guest room ABOVE theirs? This woman put the anointing ABOVE her room because she knew that whatever is above flows down (including healing, grace, favor, etc). She knew that Elisha was a carrier of God’s word. She raise the word of God ABOVE her circumstance. THE ANOINTING WILL DESTROY THE YOKE IF YOU RAISE IT ABOVE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE!!! Beloved, until you elevate the word of God above that of your Doctor, your feelings, your thinking, nothing will change.

The Shunamite woman made room in her house for the anointing, the man of God, the word of God. If you make a PERMANENT room for the word of God in your life, YOU WILL GET A PERMANENT MIRACLE! You must live and carry the life of Christ with you. It must be in the way you relate to people. BUILD AN UPPER ROOM FOR HE WORD IN YOUR LIFE – a place where you go when you don’t know what to do. Many people do not have an upper room in their lives (upper room of prayer and fellowship with God). You should have a room of elevation where you take impossible situations to. Beloved, as you do so GOD WILL INTERVENE.

#2 SHE PUT A BED OF RESTORATION IN THE ROOM: Studies have shown that even when a person is not actually sleeping, merely lying down refreshes and rejuvenates the body. When this woman’s son died she took his body into the room of elevation she made and placed him on the bed of restoration she made for the anointing! She knew that the anointing could restore what the enemy stole (see Joel 2:25). GOD WILL RESTORE WHAT YOU HAVE LOST. David said in Psalm 23 “He restoreth my soul” Psalm 116:7 says Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. I DECREE A RESTORATION OF YOUR JOY, FINANCES, PEACE, TESTIMONIES, IN JESUS’ MIGHTY NAME! In Christianity you are supposed to elevate and respect the anointing (your pastor). If you disrespect grace you’ll walk in disgrace. There’s an account in the bible when some children mocked Elisha and he cursed them and they were devoured by a wild beast! The Shunamite woman elevated this same Elisha and received a blessing! Don’t take the anointing for granted. Jesus could do no mighty works in a particular town BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBBELIEF. They kept saying “Is this not the so n of a carpenter?” Beloved, the grace you don’t respect can’t work in your life.

#3 SHE PUT A TABLE OF REVELATION IN THE ROOM: The Greek word for “revelation” is “Apocalypse” which can be translated literally from Greek as a “disclosure of knowledge, i.e., a lifting of the veil or revelation”. Precious things such as gold, diamonds, and crude oil are precious because they are hidden. GOD EXPECTS YOU TO DISCOVER THE TREASURES IN HIS WORD THROUGH APOCALYPSE!!! The bible tells us in Proverbs 25:2 that “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter”. In Isaiah 45:3 God says “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel”. Beloved, REVELATION IS A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. This woman knew that any challenge in her life will be crushed by revelation. MAY GOD SET A TABLE OF FAVOR, BLESSINGS, AND UNCOMMON FAVOR BEFORE YOU!!! Everything this woman did was deliberate. Many are not walking in the revelation of God’s words. WHERE THERE IS REVELATION, GREAT THINGS HAPPEN. After three and a half years of being under his tutelage Jesus asked His disciples who men said He was. One after the other they began to say all manner of nonsense. One person said he was Elias and so on and then SUDDENLY a shaft of light came from the heaven and hit Peter causing him to see Jesus after the spirit. He now said to Jesus “thou art Christ!”

Beloved, sometimes you think you know your spouse until one day when he/she “shows you revelation” of who they really are (laughing out loud). There was a great apostle of our time whose mother was very demanding of him until God one day showed her in a revelation that in the spirit he was a giant and she was like an ant! Until one gets a revelation one can walk in limitation. Here’s yet another illustration: When Peter was wrongfully thrown in prison and the church prayed for his release, a damsel by the name of Rhoda must’ve seen in the spirit that Peter was the one knocking on the door. Others thought she had gone “cuckoo’ when she told them it was Peter at the door!
Beloved, the Shunamite woman put a table of revelation for the word of God in her home AND SO SHOULD YOU! On Sundays, when the pastor is preaching your prayer should be “God, give me a rhema as my pastor is speaking” and as you do so God will give you an answer to the problem you are facing.

#4 SHE PUT A CHAIR OF ENTHRONEMENT IN THE ROOM: The Shunamite woman enthroned the word of God above her situation and challenges by placing a chair in that room. Beloved, who you hang out with determines who you become. HANG WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ENTHRONING THE WORD OF GOD.

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Prophet Isaiah was a Prince and everytime he had a problem he ran to his uncle (King Uzziah) and not God. But as soon as King Uzziah died he had no uncle to run to and this was when he turned to God and saw the glory of God! Beloved, the spiritual realm demands a pursuit. People do not understand that the enemy can cause distraction (even through your children) just so that you can miss a revelation. God had nothing to swear by and so He swore by Himself and His word. Beloved, when you’ve done all you know to do and you don’t know what else to do a revelation from God can turn things around for you.

#5 SHE PUT A CANDLESTICK OF ILLUMINATION IN THE ROOM: Psalm 27:1 says The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Beloved, God is light. Out of all God’s creation light is the fastest. God, therefore, must be faster than light because He created light and the created CANNOT be faster than the creator. When they don’t know what to do or which way to turn many go to the wrong people for help who may tell them to do things that are not biblical such as break an egg or use a miracle orange! MAY THE LIGHT OF GOD SHINE IN YOUR WAY! MAY IT SHINE INTO EVERY DARK AREA OF YOUR LIFE! Beloved, don’t walk in the dark. Don’t create in the dark. God did not create in darkness. Anything created in darkness is bound to fail. You need bright light for every step you take. There was a pastor’s daughter who asked God to show her the spirit of a young man who wanted to date her. This young man had come with a group of singers to “minister” at her church. After she prayed for a revelation, in a vision God showed her a brand new car which was untouched and a big dog trying to break into it! After this revelation you can imagine “who let the dog out” (laughing out loud).

Everything Jesus did was intentional. There were many widows in Zarephat but God sent Elijah to one particular widow in Zarephat. This widow was a praying woman who walked in the spirit because the bible says God told Elijah “I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee”.

NOTE: The Shunamite woman provoked a blessing. You can provoke the anointing. The lesser is blessed by the greater. When you need a breakthrough YOU SHOULD SOW UP AND GIVE THEM QUALITY SEED. When you give to the poor you lend to the Lord.

CONCLUSION

Upon hearing Elijah’s prophecy that she would embrace a son the Shunamite woman said “man of God, don’t lie to me”. This was because many “men of God” had lied to her in the past. But this time it was different. She was now connecting with grace and so disgrace was removed from her life. Beloved, the boy she gave birth to ended up dying! What a disgrace it must be after you publicly share your testimony and it dies! Where do you go? Many people do not have an upper room (a prayer room in their home). The Shunamite woman knew where to go when her child died. She took his body to the upper room of elevation and placed him on the bed of restoration both of which she had made for the anointing. The book of Hebrews talks about this kind of woman who had their dead restored to them.

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Do not allow every Tom, Dick, and Harry around your children because people carry different kinds of energy. Elisha’s dead body raised the dead! The anointing of Elisha was on the bed the Shunamite woman placed her dead son. The very room Jesus had the last supper was the room where Peter raised up Dorcas from the dead. YOUR TESTIMONY MUST MANIFEST! THE DEAD IN YOUR LIFE MUST RISE! You carry the DNA of God.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

After the Shunamite woman laid her dead son on the bed of restoration she went to look for the man of God. Learn to create the atmosphere for a miracle. When you are adoring God (worship) angels float around in such an atmosphere. I know David danced to glorify God. The bible even says praise God in the dance (Psalm 149:3) but at times lots of dancing may appeal to our flesh and not our spirits. Let us be careful we don’t miss the dimension that creates the right atmosphere for worship.

The Shunamite woman went to look for the man of God and told him that the son whom he prophesied into her life had died! Elisha then gave his staff to his servant but his servant couldn’t raise the dead boy! This is because if you do not carry the grace and anointing of the owner of the staff it will not work for you!!! Elisha then came to the upper room with the woman behind him. The bible tells us he pushed her out and shut the door! Beloved, this is because he was about to go into the realm where the dead is raised and the Shunamite woman didn’t carry that anointing. Let us not let emotion get in our way. YOU NEED TO PUSH SOME PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR LIFE. Many still hang around people who do not feel or see what you see. You may still hang with people who can’t handle the fact that you are rising and “talk you down”. YOU NEED TO SHUT THE DOOR AGAINST SUCH PEOPLE!!! MAY THE SPIRIT OF GOD CUT OFF AND SEVERE FROM YOUR LIFE ALL THOSE WHO WILL WEIGH YOU DOWN!!!

AFTER ELISHA SHUT THE DOOR:

HE PUT HIS EYES ON THE BOY’S EYES: Surround yourself with people who see what you see. MAY GOD SEND PEOPLE INTO YOUR LIFE WHO WILL HELP YOUR VISION!

HE PUT HIS MOUTH ON THE BOY’S MOUTH: You need people who will affirm what you are affirming. It is only life that can give you life. STOP MOVING WITH PEOPLE WHO CONSTANTLY BELITTLE YOUR VISION!!! Choose who walks and talks with you.

HE PUT HIS HANDS ON THE BOY’S HANDS: You need people who will hold your hands and pull you to your next level.

The Lord gave the word; great is the company of those that published it (Psalm 68:11)