Pattern, Position Power: How To Experience The Glory Of God (Part 1)
Position
And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 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 (2 Kings 2:1-9).
The Lord wants us to position ourselves to find His plan, His purpose, and His way. I know you want to do that and I want to do that too. The first thing the Lord spoke to me was pattern. The second thing is position. You need to position yourself.
You need to position yourself to receive the anointing, to recieve the plan of God, to receive His power. Second Kings 2 tells the story of Elijah and Elisha on the way to the Jordan where Elijah was taken up to Heaven. Notice that Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay right where he was on threee different occations. He said, “I’m going down to Bethel. You stay here. You don’t have to go.”
But Elisha knew Elijah was going to be caught up to heaven by a whirlwind. He already knew that. So they continued down to Bethel.
“And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. (2 Kings 2:4)” Twice Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay behind. He tried to get him to stay at Bethel and then at Jericho.
“And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. (2 Kings 2:5-6)” For a third time Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay, first at Bethel, then Jericho, and again Elijah tries to get him not to go over to Jordan with him.
However, Elisha said that he wasn’t going to leave Elijah. Elisha was being tested. He was tested three different times. Why in the world did Elijah test Elisha three times? Because God knows the future and he knew Elisha had been greatly influenced by the anointing that was on Elijah’s life. He knew that Elisha wanted the anointing or part of the anointing that was on Elijah’s life.
But God was proving him, testing him, trying him to see if he really wanted it or not. Sometimes God will permit you or allow you to be in situations where you are tested and tried and see if you’ll stand true. He does this to see if He can give you an anointing, if you’ll appreciate it, if you care about it.
“And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. (2 Kings 7-8)”
After three times of trying and proving Elisha, Elijah turned to Elisha and asked him what he wanted. Second Kings 2:8-9 says, “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. 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.”
Appreciating The Things Of God
Notice this — there were three times that Elijah has tried to get Elisha to stay behind. Why? God is not going to give His anointing to those who do not appreciate it. A good pastor friend of mine, Tony Cowan, preached a message one time talking about the reason why God doesn’t move more. He was talking about his church and services and other meetings and services. It’s because we don’t appreciate the anointing. In fact, he brought out something in Matthew 7 that I have never seen in this life.
Jesus said not to cast your pearls before the swine or hogs unless they turn again and trample you under their feet. You don’t give a hog precious jewels, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, or anything else like that. Why? Because they don’t even know what they are. They could care less. Could you see a hog out in the hog pen, with mud all over it, with a $40,000 necklace and a toe ring on it’s hoof? You know what he’s going to do with it? He’s going to flop around in the mud. Why? Because he could care less about it. The priceless jewelry would get lost in the hog feed and he’d swallow it. Why? He doesn’t care. He doesn’t see the value in it. There’s no respect or appreciation.
God will not give his anointing to people who do not appreciate it. It’s precious, it’s holy, and only if you want it and really desire it, truly know it’s benefit, then God will give it to you. If you appreciate God’s anointing, that’s when God is going to give it to you.
Elisha had proven that he recognized the anointing that was on Elijah was something to be desired. It was something that he wanted more than anything else in life. How did he prove it? Elijah had given him three opportunities to stay behind. He could have stayed behind at Bethel, at Jericho, and he could have stayed behind at the Jordan River.
But he didn’t. Elisha walked across on dry ground with Elijah. If you’ll keep walking with God and doing His will, I don’t care how it hadn’t been working for you, God will show up and vindicate you every single time. It’s promised in His Word.
Just as Elisha appreciated the anointing of God that Elijah had and showed respect for it, we show our appreciation and respect by seeking God and waiting for His direction. We do it by seeking God’s pattern and then positioning ourselves in it.
Elisha put himself in a position to receive the anointing from Elijah when the prophet was taken up. Elijah said that if you see me when I’m taken up, you’ll get it.
Second Kings 2:11-15 says, “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. 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. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 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. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”
What happened? Elisha put himself in a position to receive the anointing of God from Elijah. If you’ll find out God’s heavenly pattern, God’s heavenly plan for you, your life, your ministry, your church, and position yourself right there, you will be put over, you’ll come out on top, and you’ll experience the glory of God every time. How long will it take to find that pattern? I don’t know. But if it takes you 40 days and 40 nights, it would be better to have God’s pattern when you came out that other side rather than spend 40 years of your life and not know what God is telling you to do. Get up and go to the mountain of God. Get up and decide that you’re not going to let society lead you anymore. You’re not going to let church-anity lead you anymore.
I’ve always said this, and it’s not to belittle anyone, but if you will find the way 80% of the church world is going and go the opposite way, you’ll be following God. Why do I say that? Because 80% of the church world, excuse me, well…as Brother Hagin used to say, “they wouldn’t know the Holy Ghost if He came walking down the aisle with a red hat on.”
I’m not knocking anyone, I’m just flat telling you the truth. Go before God for yourself. Find out God’s pattern, God’s plan and position yourself there. If He says don’t move—don’t move. You may wonder, what if it takes me a long time? Don’t move! Be there! And I guarantee you that God will show up. God has never failed to speak to one of His children, who has sincerely, honestly, come before Him and said, “God, I want you more than anything else in life.”
And when you do that, God’s going to show up. It might not be on your day, your timing, but if you’ll stay in His presence, and keep an attitude of prayer, God will show up. And you’ll be positioned to receive the supernatural anointing just like Elisha did.
Elisha esteemed the anointing of God. He esteemed it as precious and valuable and he positioned himself to recieve it as well. That’s why it came on his life.
Pattern, Position Power: How To Experience The Glory Of God (Part 3)
