[ LPM Sunday Service - 16th
July 2006]
Have
you received a word from God or a promise
from Him and it has not yet come to pass?
The reason for the delay is often our
inability to appropriate His Word. God says
He will do great and mighty things and we
believe that "someday" it will happen but
probably not right now. Or maybe God
promised you something, but you got the
direct opposite. Take Isaac for example. God
said to him that He will multiply his seed
like the stars in the sky, but then gives
him a barren wife. Lets look at this story
and see how Isaac turned his situation
around:
The Promise
of inheritance:
In
Genesis 22:16-17, the promise is given to
Abraham first. Abraham has a son Isaac
through whom the promise will continue. God
gives Isaac a wife Rebekah who will bring
forth the nation of Israel, but Rebekah is
barren. God gives Isaac a promise but
reality (and all the experts) says
impossible! Isaac knew that STOP signs
are not ROAD BLOCKS but opportunities to
build our faith. He started to appropriate
the promise. He reminded God of His word and
stood on that Word, reminding Him of His
faithfulness. In other words, he said
something like this: "God, you gave my
father Abraham the promise to bless and
multiply his seed as the stars in the sky.
The promise came to Rebekah and to me. I
thank you that Your Word will not return
void. I thank You that Rebekah's womb will
be opened and she will bring forth the
Promise, Amen". As Isaac kept on standing on
the Word, Rebekah's womb was opened (Gen
25:21) and she brought forth twins .
The Promise
of God's hand of protection:
Another example of this is found in Gen
31-33. God tells Jacob to return home: And the LORD
said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy
fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be
with thee. (Gen 31:3 KJV) . God promises to be
with Jacob and bless him. Along the way home
Jacob gets the following report:
And the messengers returned to Jacob,
saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and
also he cometh to meet thee, and four
hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly
afraid and distressed (Gen 32:6-7 KJV).
Jacobs older
brother has not forgotten the treachery of
Jacob. Remember Jacob tricked his father
Isaac, and stole Esau's birthright (Gen
). 21 years have passed and Esau has
suffered long for this treachery. He has
been waiting for the opportunity to "get
even". Now his enemy is returning home
and Esau is ready to get his revenge. Jacob
also has suffered for 21 years but now is
afraid of what his brother will do. God told
him to return home. God told him that He
will be with Him and bless him. But is God
sending him to his death. Instead of
running, Jacob decides to appropriate the
Word God gave to him. Listen to his prayer: And Jacob
said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of
my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto
me, Return unto thy country, and to thy
kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I
am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies, and of all the truth, which thou
hast showed unto thy servant.. Deliver me, I
pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from
the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he
will come and smite me, and the mother with
the children.
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good,
and make thy seed as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he lodged there that same night (Gen
32:9-13 KJVR).
Jacob
reminds God of His Word (Promise). He stands
on the Word despite the fear of death in the
morning:
And
Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a
man with him until the breaking of the day.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh.
And he said,
I will not let thee go, except thou bless
me. (Gen
32:24-26 KJV)
All
night long he wrestles with God, claiming
the Promise, until finally God responds:
And
he said, Thy name shall be called no more
Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou
power with God and with men, and hast
prevailed. (Gen 32:28 KJV)
First
God changes Jacobs name to Israel, then God
changes Esau's heart:
And
Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they
wept. (Gen 33:4 KJV)
Jacob
appropriated the Word over his situation
despite the danger over his life. He
understood that the word when release cannot
return void but will accomplish that which
is is sent to do (Is 55:11) when it is
appropriated.
The Promise
of Rain (abundance/overflow):
God
told Elijah to come out of hiding and report
to Ahab. He promised Elijah that He will
then send rain upon the earth:
And
it came to pass after many days, that the
word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third
year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab;
and I will send
rain upon the earth.
And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab.
And there was a sore famine in Samaria. (1Ki
18:1-2 KJV)
Elijah
did as God said. He then made a
prophetic declaration to Ahab even
though there was no sign of rain:.
And
Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and
drink; for there is a sound of abundance of
rain. (1Ki 18:41 KJV)
Now
Elijah starts the process of appropriating
the Word God had spoken to him:
So
Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah
went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast
himself down upon the earth, and put his
face between his knees, (1Ki 18:42 KJV)
Elijah
continued to appropriate the Word, despite
not seeing any signs of its fulfillment.
Nothing stopped him. Even the negative
reports from his servant did not stop
Elijah. He closed off his face and thus his
view of "reality" and kept on looking with
his spiritual eyes, kept on appropriating.
Even when we don't see the miracle, we need
to still keep appropriating until it finally
arrives. Delay is not denial. God's timing
is perfect and our part is to keep
appropriating until the break-through has
arrived.
And
it came to pass at the seventh time, that he
said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud
out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he
said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy
chariot, and get thee down, that the rain
stop thee not. And it came to pass in the
mean while, that the heaven was black with
clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.
(1Ki 18:44-45 KJV)
God
has "great rain" planned for you. It will
come when like Elijah we learn to see with
the eyes of the Spirit, keep appropriating
His promise until the miracle has arrived.
The Word is
living and Powerful:
Some
scriptures to take note of:
"For
the word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
"So
shall My word be that goes forth from My
mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but
it shall accomplish what I please, and it
shall prosper in the thing for which I sent
it." (Isaiah 55:11)
"Is
not My word like a fire?" says the Lord.
"And like a hammer that breaks the rock in
pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:29)
"It is
the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits
nothing. The
words that I speak to you are spirit, and
they are life"
(John 6:63)
"This
is my comfort in my affliction, for Your
word has given me life." (Psalm 119:50)
"Your
words were found, and I ate them, and
Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of
my heart ..." (Jeremiah 15:16)
"How
sweet are Your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm
119:103)
But He
answered and said, "It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'
" (Matthew 4:4)
"...
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of
the word, that you may grow thereby, if
indeed you have tasted that the Lord is
gracious." (1 Peter 2:2)
The Process
of Appropriating the Word over your
situation:
-
Get a Prophetic
Word for your harvest:
-
This can be done via
fasting and praying
-
This may come via
personal prophesy
-
This may be a relevant
scripture extracted from the bible (logos)
-
This may be a biblical
scripture or promise or prophesy extracted
from a sermon preached
-
When God gives you the
Word
TAKE IT
or it remain in the atmosphere.
-
Get ready - Satan will
do all he can to stop the word
-
Start appropriating
the Word over your circumstances
-
Keep appropriating
until the Word is manifested
-
Testify of His
Goodness so that He will get the Glory and
continue to bless you.
Some
examples on
Appropriating
the Word over your situation:
-
I have
given to God my tithes and offerings of
every rand I've earned to date and they are
in God's hands as seeds of my faith. My
seeds of time, service, money and ministry
are sown and God is growing them invisibly
but absolutely. God is changing my seedtime
into harvest time. God is rebuking the
devourer for my sake. (Mal 3.10-12)
-
My
giving is causing the windows of heaven to
unlock ... to open ... and God is pouring
out ideas and insights into my mind greater
than I can contain about what to do and how
to make miracles happen in my life. I give
and it is given unto me, good measure,
pressed down, shaken together men are
pouring into my lap. The measure that I use
will be measured back to me. (Lk 6.38)
-
God is
able to make all grace abound towards me,
that I, always having all sufficiency in all
things, may have an abundance for every good
work. (2Cor 9.8)
-
I know
the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, that
though He was rich, yet for our sakes he
became poor, so that we through His poverty
might be rich. (2Cor 8.9)
Siva Moodley
www.sivamoodley.com