OBEDIENCE IS PARTNERING WITH GOD BY FAITH FOR HIS WILL TO BE DONE ON EARTH
The prophet or intercessor when revealed the will of God  partners with Him to ensure His will in heaven is made manifest on earth. Their prayers and actions in obedience to their call affirm that they are perpetually engaging in acts which are aligned to how the greatest prophet and intercessor Christ Jesus  taught His disciples to pray “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” . Thus they are confident of the outcome of events to the glory of God.

As believers in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us who is also the Spirit of prophecy/Testimony of Jesus (Rev. 19:10). The Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and reveals His will to us and makes intercession for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26/1 Corinthians 2:9-12) each of us therefore has the ability to know the will of God and to intercede for His will to be made manifest on earth. This is our inheritance as children of God.

In the account of Elisha raising the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead (2 Kings 4:8-37), we see that he was inclined to use a method which to the natural eyes looked unusual; Elisha performed the miracle of resurrection by the following process (2 Kings 4:33-35):

1. He prayed to God, then

2. He lay on the woman’s son,

3. He then took a moment to walk up and down the house for a while, then

4.He went back into the boy’s room and lay on the boy again. This time the boy resurrected from the dead.

Partnering with God in confidence and even in what appears to be peculiar ways for the ultimate fulfillment of His will by Elisha reminds us of Christ. There is a long list of examples in the life of Christ, however we will focus on resurrection miracles of Jesus:

He said the Synagogue official, Jarius’ daughter was not dead but sleeping (Mark 5:39) and was laughed at by the crowd. When Jesus was told by Lazarus’ sisters that he was sick, he said that the sickness would not end in death but it was for the glory of God, and so that he, Christ would be glorified (John 11:1-4). However Lazarus died. Jesus also referred to Lazarus death as “sleeping” to his disciples.

By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary told Jesus that if he had come earlier their brother would still be alive.

Christ knew that there would be the manifestation of a greater miracle and therefore greater glory to God in the resurrection of Lazarus than in his healing, “so when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,..” (John 11:6). In both resurrection incidents, Jesus demonstrated himself as the giver of physical life as he is also the giver of spiritual life. He said

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:..” (John 11:25 KJV).

The attitude Elisha and Jesus had and the actions they undertook in the resurrection process are not easily understandable to the natural human mind.

This is because the ways and thoughts of God are higher than those of men (Isa. 55:8-9) “and because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinth.1:25 KJV).”

As Elisha knew it was God’s will to resurrect the Shunammite woman’s son, so too Jesus knew it was God’s will to resurrect Lazarus. Therefore when Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping and took what seemed like a long time to arrive, he was speaking and acting as one who already knew the outcome, which has already been decreed by God in heaven being one with God (John 10:30).

As children of God, we must remember our identity as heirs with Christ which means we are exceedingly abundantly blessed and therefore with a great capacity by the dwelling Holy Spirit to be used for His sake. This includes seeing things the way Jesus did and therefore making ourselves available to be used by God for miraculous works. Jesus even said that those who believe in him will not only do his works but greater works than he did (John 14:12 KJV).

As we live a life abiding in God and He in us through Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing should stop us from exercising our faith as  Christ did. This includes declaring those things that we know are His will by faith, preaching the Gospel and other works of the ministry (Matthew 28:18-20) and taking authority against Satan and his demons (Luke 10:18-19).

My prayer is that we would know our God intimately through daily bible reading and meditation while in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This way we will become more like God, speaking of those things that be not as though they were, (Romans 4:17). We will also walk in His wisdom, knowledge and understanding, always strengthened by the power of His might to do exploits for Him.
“…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits](Daniel 11:32).”
You are blessed, determine to stay blessed,

©Deborah E. Nyamekye 13/11/2015