Asking And Believing
2 Kings 13:14-17
14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. {Put thine...: Heb. Make thine hand to ride}
17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
I have entitled this today: “Asking and Believing”
In our opening text, it is believed Elisha was at least 80 years old at this time.
His illness was probably the result of a natural decay.
Today we are talking about how an arrow of faith changed history.
This portion of Scripture tells of one such battle.
Elisha who had received a double portion of Elijah’s mantle and performed miracles and signs in Israel for over 60 years was dying.
He summoned Joash, the King of Israel, for one final audience to bless Israel.
During this encounter, Elisha tells the king to take some vital prophetic actions.
Joash, the king of Israel, came down unto him, and wept over his face.
It is amazing to me how Joash as privious Kings of Israel knew the worth of Elisha, but still would not serve Elisha’s God.
Men, in general, love their sin.
2 Kings 13:15
15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
Allthough it is not mentioned here, evidently Joash had sought direction from the Lord through Elisha.
As it regards to the threat of Syrian domination the Holy Spirit, evidently tells Elisha what to do.
The Word says in:
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
2 Kings 13:15-17
15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.
17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
Notice that the arrows became the Lord’s arrows of victory in a very real way.
Joash’s actions, blessed by Elisha, released the power of God on behalf of Israel.
This was an act of obedience, which affected the destiny of an entire nation.
Victory or defeat, survival or slaughter, was determined by this apparent silly action.
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
Unfortunately, Joash was somewhat apathetic about performing this prophetic act.
Certainly, he must have known the stories of Elisha’s command to dig ditches in a deserted valley where soldiers were dying of thirst, and how those ditches were miraculously filled with water.
Elisha gave him another chance to overcome his indifference.
2 Kings 13:18-19
18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.
19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
Elisha told Joash that his actions would determine the future of the Israelite people, but the king did not truly believe the prohetic word.
His waivering cost many Israelites their lives, and Israel gained only partial victory.
History was changed because of a poor and casual response by the king.
Had Joash believed the impact of his actions, he would have repeatedly smashed the arrows into the ground.
We, too, are given opportunities to prophetically intercede for the land of our inheritance.
These opportunities may require us to take prophetic action that, in the natural, seem to be puny, unrelated, or even foolish.
Beware! What appears to be absurb or insignificant in the natural, may accomplish great things in the spiritual realm when done in faith and obedience.
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
I have entitled this: “Asking and Believing”
24.2-25-06
Asking an Angel for what I wanted:
I dreamed that I was at the church. It was almost as if I was in a lifesize video game, but I knew it was not. I knew that I was going to ask an Angel for what I wanted. My task was to get as close to the moon as I could. I would get close then I would etch all the way to it. Past the moon was a beautiful Angel of the Lord. I was able to pinpoint myself and land directly on it. I asked the Angel for what I wanted. I was then back at the church telling Candy about the Angel.
Interpretation
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Moon-indicating rulership, to reign in the night season, light of God in a dark season
I etched over-push Pray until something happens
Past the moon was a beautiful Angel of the Lord. I was able to pinpoint myself and land directly on it. I asked the Angel for what I wanted.
Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Etching could be drawing closer to God.
Are we drawing closer to God?
Are we taking the arrows God has given us and doing with them what He wants us to do?
We can have greater victory than what we sometimes do, but we need to be obedient to what Jesus says to do.
Sometimes what He ask might seem foolish. Let me give you some advice… it might seem foolish but God would not have you do it if there was not a reason or a lesson that He wants you to learn.
The older generation of saints are dying off and we need their mantles in our lives.
We need the torch to be passed our way.
Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
2 Kings 13:19
19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
The promise of total and complete victory over the Syrians had been given, but because of a lack of faith, Israel fell short.
To Joash, defeating the Syrians three times was big in his sight, but the Lord was willing to give much more.
How often do we fail to achieve God’s best simply because we stop short of total victory?
God wants us to know that this is not a game that we are playing, but it is reality.
All things are possible when God gets involved.
Are we etching, drawing closer to God?
Are we in the Word and are we on our knees seeking God’s face in the things that we are going through?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Are we asking and believing today?
Maybe what you need is a total victory in the situation that you are going through.
Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you!
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Closing
Asking and Believing
It is time that we ask and believe that God can and will for us!
If you are interested in seeing some God given dreams given to me and others in our church go to:
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/w/windoffaithdrea/
Go to the new text page for the God given dreams.
