Open Heaven 21 November 2022
MEMORISE: “And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” – (2 Kings 2:10)
BIBLE READING: 2 Kings 2:9-14 (KJV)
9. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
10. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
11. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went over.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
One day, long ago, as I entered a room, a man jumped from behind the door, grabbed my hand and started professing, “I receive the anointing, double portion of the anointing is mine!” I shook him off. You get the anointing by sacrifice, not by professing it. You spend hours, if not days, on your knees.
You fast for weeks, spend hours studying the word to know this God, you leave your comfort zone and go out to preach the gospel, you serve God with all your might. You sow seeds – seeds so great as to make you cry while sowing them. You have to be ready to make sacrifices to get power. The anointing will not come automatically by only following a man or woman of God.
When Jesus was on earth, hundreds of people were following Him, but only about 120 tarried at the upper room as He instructed and those were the ones who were filled with the Holy Ghost in Acts 2:1-4. Elijah had a servant before he had Elisha. In (1 Kings 19:1-3), when Jezebel was after Elijah’s life and he told his servant to stay somewhere, the boy did not hesitate, hence, he did not get a double portion of the spirit.
However, when it was Elisha’s turn, Elijah did everything to get rid of the young man but he stayed with Elijah to the end, then he got the mantle. Just following the man or woman of God is not enough to get the mantle, you must serve with all your heart and with all your might. You must follow him or her to the end.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. – (2 Kings 2:10)
By telling Elisha that if he saw him when he was going, he would get the mantle, Elijah was saying “If we see eye to eye, if you love what I love and hate what I hate, if you follow me with all your heart, then you will get my mantle”. If you want the anointing upon someone, then you must see eye to eye with the anointed. If your heart is not truly connected with the man or woman of God you are following, you cannot get his or her anointing. Finally, if you are not committed to serving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you cannot get His anointing.
PRAYER POINT: The anointing comes with sacrifices, not just confessions.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 12-13
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – No Automatic Power – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 21 November 2022
