12th dec 08 - tomorrow is the day.

I'm reading Kings 17.17-24 about Elijah and the widow's son at Zarephath. Elijah brought blessing to the widow after she fed him out of the last of her food. But then her son got sick. And he died. Elijah took the son's body into the upper room. The upper room - the secret place, behind locked doors. Jesus chose the upper room as the secret place where He would share His last meal on earth with His friends. The upper room is the place where we "make preparations" for the divine to dwell (Luke 22.12). It was in the upper room of King Elgon's palace where God gave Ehud victory over the Moabites after eighteen years of Israelite oppression (Judges 3.12-28). The upper room, the secret place is where we take victory because of the Lord. After taking the boy into the upper room, Elijah began to cry out to God. He cried out in the place of the grieving widow. He interceded on her behalf and on behalf of her dead son. "But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help, He heard my cry from His sanctuary; my cry reached His ears" (2 Sam 22.7). This was the song of David after years and years of hiding and praying and believing and trusting - GOD HEARS OUR CRY. When we feel the distress and burden of the situation, God hears the cry that comes from that place. He ACTS. Intercession takes time. Divinely appointed time. Not just lengths of time, but leaving all our time available to God to use at any time. "Be still in the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act" (Psalm 37.7). The Amplified says, "lean yourself upon Him". "Elijah stretched himself out...three times" (1 Kings 17.21). Praying for healing is stretching (I know because I'm doing it!). It takes me to the edge of my faith. But God calls us to STRETCH OURSELVES. Sometimes we stretch ourselves to the point where we think it is enough. But God calls us to STRETCH OUT AGAIN. Three times Elijah stretched himself out over this boy, a prophetic act of taking authority over the boy's condition. He must have told stories, amazing stories, to his disciple Elisha, because Elisha stretched himself out in the same way over the son of the woman from Shunem (2 Kings 4.34-35). AS ELISHA STRETCHED HIMSELF OUT, LIFE RETURNED, HEALING TOOK PLACE. The Lord says now is the time to "enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes" (Isaiah 54.2). So the Lord hears Elijah's prayer. He restores the boy and they celebrate the goodness of God. "Look, your son is alive. The son who was dead is now alive. The daughter who was sick and close to death is now restored. She is healed and she is delivered. Then the woman says, "Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you" (1 Kings 17.24). The Lord is the Source of the healing, all who mourn and harbor anger toward Him will have revelation of His goodness, because of what He will do, because what He is doing, all generations of Israel will be justified - I WILL BOAST IN HIM (Isaiah 45.24-25). Many will look and see what He has done and be amazed, because of this testimony many will put their trust in him, like the widow at Zarephath (Psalm 40.3b)

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