In this article, we will be looking at something that I believe is going to help us. I trust that we will be quick in it, and it will be refreshing to our spirit, How to Receive the Promise of the Father or How to Receive the Promise of God.

 

I am sure many of us are familiar with the story of Elijah and Jezebel, shortly after fire came from heaven and consumed everything that was on the altar and leaked the water. Jezebel was informed about the event and she got angry. So, she threatened to kill Elijah, so Elijah had to run away. We will not go into the entire drama, but let's look at the conversation between God which is going to be like a promise now, and Elijah.

 

1 King chapter 19 and we will read from verse 14, How to Receive the Promise of the Father. Knowing fully well that it is one thing for God to promise you, it's another thing for you to receive it. The side of God is the promise, the side that we are is to receive. 1 King 19 from 14, see what the Bible says;

 

“And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel are forsaking your covenant, tore down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword, I alone am left and they seek to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Hazeal as king over Syria. Also, you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi as King of Israel, and Elijah, the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.”

 

The story continues. There was a drama in the life of Elijah, and the word of the Lord came to him in the midst of that drama. He was like, “God, I'm not better than my fathers. I alone am left”. You know, you're talking to God who is the God of knowledge, by whom all actions are weighed. He knows your thoughts, let alone the things happening around you. Now, God who knew that he was not the only one left but God gave him a charge. Inside that charge is a promise. God said, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive,” when you get there, “anoint Hazael as king, anoint Jehu as king, anoint Elisha as prophet in your place,” that is the assignment. So, God has promised, if these people never got anointed that means the promise of the Father was never received. God has promised, on your way anoint! Anoint! Anoint! That is the mind of God.

 

In case these people wanted to know the will of God for them, don’t forget, they were doing other things at this moment. Elisha was a farmer at this moment; he had a business, a successful farming business. Jehu was also into something else. Hazael was also into something else. Now, the word of God came over them or came concerning them, you must be the king of Syria, you must be the king over Israel, you must be the prophet over the entire region. So, if these things never happened, it was not because God never willed it. It was because they never received it. So, the question is, how did these people receive the promise? That's what we are learning from, but it's not going to be restricted to their experience.

 

Shortly after that, let's jump to 1 King chapter 19 verse 19: “So he, that is Elijah, departed from there, and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yokes of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him, and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you? So, Ellisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them, and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and became a servant.

 

Then he arose, who arose? Elisha! And followed Elijah and became his servant, not the prophet. The will of God for Elisha was not that he will become a servant. The will of God was that he will become a prophet in the place of Elijah, who was going. However, if that will happen, Elisha needed to have a posture or a predisposition that will prepare him to be a prophet in the place of Elijah.

 

Many of us, the promise of God or the promises of God has gone ahead of us or they've gone ahead of us, and they are like alarm bells ringing in our ears, “You will be great; you will be the mother of nations, this will flow through your loins, your loins will produce this, God will order this to you.” And we are wondering, how shall these things be? And for some of us, we don't even wonder how shall these things be, we want these things to be. We want the promise of God to start taking place immediately. Our focus will not be so much on Elijah who was to be replaced. Our focus might be or will be on the man who was going to replace him who didn't start replacing him. So, when God shares his mind for you, to you, because it looks polished, you assume that you are just ready for what God has told you.

 

God said, “Through you, He is going to change Nigeria,” and then you assume you are already changed in such a manner that you can become a change agent in Nigeria, no! That is the declaration of the intention of God concerning your life, there is a path that you must follow to receive that promise from God. And we must not miss it.

 

Now, having seen that, I want us to see something else in the Book of Luke chapter 24, How to receive the promise of the Father. Luke chapter 24, let’s start from verse 46 to verse 49: “Then he said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance or remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and you are witnesses of these things. Behold, see it, realize what is happening around you and with your life, I will send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

 

 Now assuming Jesus did not complete that statement, and Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of the Father upon you”. There is a likelihood that you assume that the promise of the Father has landed on you. There is a likely likelihood to assume that you have received it simply because Jesus said it. For many of us, Jesus has said so much concerning us. But when we look at our lives, there is no serious correlation between what Jesus said, what the Holy Spirit has witnessed into our heart, and the life we are living and the experiences of our lives.

 

Jesus said, “Behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you,” but if that will become a reality your own life, there is something you must do. For these ones Jesus said, “but tarry, wait, in the city of Jerusalem,” is it going to be forever? No, He said, “Until!” Since our goal is how to receive the promise of the Father, the instruction of Jesus to them was, “tarry, wait, in the city of Jerusalem until you receive what the Father has promised you”.  Tarry, wait! Is it wait idling? No!

 

Let's go to the Book of Acts of Apostles, we will read chapter 1, from verse 7 to verse 11, “And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority,” so do we accept that there are things that the Father has in His own authority, He reserves them, He kept them well? “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Now when He had spoken these things, the Bible says, “While they watched,” another word we can say is while they were also waiting. They didn't hear from Him and turn their backs going. While they watched, the Bible says, “He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked”.

 

Few weeks ago, we looked at looking unto Jesus, do we remember? The Bible says, “While they looked steadfastly towards heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?” Look at that word, gazing up? That's present continuous tense. They didn't say, or the two men didn't say, why were you gazing? Or why did you gaze? They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus who was taking up from you into heaven,” see a lot of repetition of into heaven, gazing up to heaven. That's to show the direction of their focus, that while they stood, they were not counting their losses. They were not looking at how pitiable their situation will be, they were not looking around and getting confused, no! While they stood, they were looking up to heaven. He says, “I will look up to the hills from where comes my help, my help comes from the Lord, the One who makes the heavens and the earth”.

 

So, while they look up to God in heaven, the Bible says; Two men stood by them, sent from God. They said, “The same Jesus who was taking up from you into heaven will so come in like manner, as you saw Him go into heaven”. This is another promise from the angels, do we see? But what the Bible says is, Jesus told them, they will receive power. And Jesus had told them in Luke, “Tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power,” that means God is going to release power and they will receive the power. He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”. And to show us their disposition after they got that word, the Bible says they were watching Jesus. They were looking steadfastly toward heaven. As he was taken away, they were gazing up. No wonder as they were doing that, they received more assurance or word of assurance from the Lord. Can you see, they were getting closer to them receiving the promise of the Father. They got a promise, and as they kept looking at the right place, looking at the right person, they got another word of assurance.

 

Now let's go back to where we started from in the Book of 1 Kings. God had said to Elijah, “Go on your way to the wilderness, as you go, anoint this man, anoint this man, anoint this man,” don't just pour oil on them and walk away, anoint them, allocate a space in the will of God to them. Let Elisha receive a prophetic space, let him replace you. And I am sure that we saw that Elisha had already started following him. The journey started there.

 

Let's look at a place now in 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 1, see what the Bible says, “And it came to pass when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind.” ‘And it came to pass when the Lord was about to…,” You know the word “when” is about time, it became the right time for Elijah to be removed. God had told Elijah; Elisha should be a prophet in your place. And so, when Elijah was going, he saw Elisha and he dropped his mantle on him and walked away. Elisha quickly recognized what that symbolized for his life and destiny. Many times, we like the word of God to come to us expressly.

 

For Elisha, things were not clear 100 per cent, he only responded to what he saw. That’s why the man of God told him, “What did I do to you?” But He pleaded just for an opportunity for him to do like a set forth for himself. And as soon as he was done, he began to follow. Now, imagine the time came for Elijah to be taken away, but Elisha had not yet started following, what would happen?

 

Don't forget, God had said it. You know, we normally say, “God said it, and I believe it, that settles it”. God said it! I believe it! That settles it! These are 3 phases. God is saying things. God is declaring His will. I believe! And you can't believe until you hear. So, you must hear it, or you must see it. When you see something, whether very clearly or a little bit not too clear, do you believe it or do you sit down there doubting it? Because even though God has said it, as long as you never believed it that does not settle anything.

 

The Bible says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word will be established”. God has spoken, you believe it, your belief is you speaking what God has said. You know, when we say, “Amen!” Amen means so be it. Let it be unto me according to your word. That's another way when you say ‘Amen’. God said it, you agreed. When God speaks to your life and you refuse to say Amen, either with your mouth or with your action then you are disagreeing and nothing is settled. So, when God speak concerning your life there is a place, a place, no matter how tiny that place is, there is a place of you believing what God has said so that that thing can happen.

 

Imagine Elisha received the mantle on his body and he's like, “Ah! Man of God, are you not seeing, old man, don’t ever try that with me again”. Somebody can say, “if you want to die, go and die in your house, why are you throwing cloth up and down?  But he recognized, “this is not aimless or careless throwing of clothes, this is an extension of responsibility. The heaven is speaking concerning my destiny, this thing that looks funny is not actually funny, God is calling the deep in me.” Now they say, the deep calleth unto the deep.” What if the second deep refuses to recognize the call of the first deep? No communication! Are you recognizing the voice of God over your life right now? Are you? When God is creating a circumstance that should call your attention, that my son, there is something I want to use you for, or to make you do for Me, because of that, respond to my call, now! When you hear that call, do you acknowledge it, do you respond to it?

 

See! It doesn't matter how grand the plan of God for your life is, the moment you refuse to respond to the call of God on your life that comes in that form. Because if I want to call you, won’t I just call you, Bro. John? Then, I just throw paper at you, is it a call? It is not conventional; it is not normal. It can be despised, it can be rejected, it can be refused, it can be misinterpreted. But you must allow your spirit to recognize the call of God on your life. When God says, “He is going to make you the rebuilder of the broken walls,” it will not happen overnight. Because actually you don't know how to rebuild anything now. It is like that scripture in Isaiah, but God will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth so that you can beat the mountains.

 

God, was speaking concerning Israel in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 15: “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge.” I will make you! That means you are not.  Currently, you are not but I will make you into it. And until you are made into that thing, you cannot begin to thresh the mountains and beat them small. So, the plan of God concerning you could be that, my son, my daughter, I want you to become a sledging hammer with sharp teeth, and then, you that you are not yet a sledging hammer, and your teeth is not yet sharp, you begin to beat the mountains, you begin sledge, you begin to do the work of a sledging hammer, what will happen? You will be frustrated.

 

So, the word of God is going ahead of you, don't assume you're already there. Just know that God has a plan for my life, but there is a man I must become. There is a woman I must become; there is a growing that must take place. There is a following that must take place. There is a discipleship that is required to graduate me into the man, into the person of my assignment.

 

The Bible says, “And it came to pass,” 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 1, “when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, then Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal,” He had already started following, so the Bible says, Elisha followed Elijah up to Gilgal. Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So, they went down to Bethel.”

 

Now this thing happened in Bethel, it happened where again? It happened in Jericho. It happened in Jordan. Jordan is a very critical point. The man of God kept coming to him, “Elisha, I know you are doing a lot, you've abandoned your business. See, just stay here, God has sent me to another place”. The man of God said, “No, I will not stay here. I will not leave you. Wherever you go, I will go.” He was like Ruth saying to Noami, “Your God shall be My God, your people shall be my people, wherever you are buried there, there I will be buried also”. Look at it, Ruth also did not step into her own prophetic promise until she satisfied the conditions that were required. She stayed on, she tarried. She was not just tarrying, she was following.

 

How I wish I could explain that there is a difference between tarrying and following. And that tarrying is the sense of just sitting down. Elijah was not sitting, he was not staying, but he told Elisha, “Stay here”. But the man said, “No, I will not stay here, wherever you go, I will go with you,” that is following. He could have said, “At least, I have abandoned everything, I have abandoned my own old business. I have now begun to follow. So, it is him that said I should stay here, so what do I do? Do I begin to struggle with the man of God? So, I stay here.

 

 “So, while you stay, even though you have begun to follow, at that moment, you are not following. You know, we were looking at gazing. It is not enough that you have begun to do what God would have you do, you must keep doing it so that you will get to the promise. Now, we'll see something that is a bit sensitive in that. So, when they got to Jordan, let's look at verse 6b: But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So, the two of them went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water…”

 

Please, had Elijah ever done this before? So, if Elisha had been following but he didn't come to Jordan, would he have seen this experience? Yet God had ordained it that the man Elisha must replace Elijah. That is, whatever Elijah can do, he should do, but he had never seen the man do it before. Luckily, he was there with him, so he saw it.

 

“…And it was divided, the water was divided, this way and that so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground,” not Elijah crossed over, and Elisha was like sir, “it is at this point that we have to actually set things very straight, the kind of mind that I have, I cannot cross this river”. Anybody who knows River Jordan will know that is not very small, it is not that small. And we don't know the time of the year that they were there. So, it was a big river.

 

I don't know how comfortable you will be that you are passing a dry ground, and you can see water just beside you, and you can’t see glass or blocks blocking the water. And you know the water is coming from afar, you know the torrent or the force of water, so how many of us can comfortably choose to pass in between, and there is still a river at the other side? But as the man of God, Elijah was walking in the dry ground, the man of God Elisha was also following.

 

It was not only Elijah that believed God, that no problem would happen. Even Elisha, as a follower was believing, he was following and believing — “God said it, I believe it, that settles it”. So, he was following in faith. So, everything God was speaking to Elijah, and Elisha was following, it was not an exercise of faith by Elijah alone, but by the person that was following him. Because sometimes we assume, “oh, the man of God, he has so much faith.” If God spoke to the man of God so to say, and you are following the man of God and you choose to follow it, you are also a man of faith because you have chosen to believe what God has said. The moment you doubt, you can't follow again.

 

I still remember that story of Gideon, Gideon gathered a lot of people for God, “Let's go and deliver Israel,” and God said, “These people are too much for Me, I can't deliver Israel with these people, they are too plenty”. Normally, God is supposed to complain that they are too small, get more people but God was complaining that they are too many, reduce them. So, the question is Gideon, how do you know who to send away?

 

And He said, “Take them to the waterside, make them drink water”. When they got there, some were using their tongue to drink water, some were watching around and drinking water. If you want to go for warfare, who will you carry? That one that is bending down like this, he does see anything, they can kill him from anywhere. So, God taught Gideon a strategy. So, it's not all of us that are always believing.

 

When they got to the water front, even though it looked like those who were drinking water and looking here and there were the ones who were doubting, but they were really in faith, so to say, in that context of warfare, they were the ones that really believed. You don't know the frustration that pushes people into using their tongues to drink water inside a river like, “If we don’t drink, we will die,” but these ones know they won’t die, “We are drinking this water now, there will still be water another time, God will provide another water.” They believed the future. So, God taught him that lesson, and every one that leaked water with their tongue, God told them, to go back. And he was left from thousands of people to 300.

 

So, it is not enough that you have a desire, you want to be great. You have a desire; you want to follow. Don't forget these people that were chased away, they had already been enlisted. I'm sure their wives were already looking at their husbands like warriors, “my husband has gone for warfare. My husband is coming with the spoil of war.” “Where is your husband?” “He has joined them; he is at the battlefront.” And so many wives had boasted about their husbands. The very husbands had to return home. So, it is not enough to start, it is not enough to even be doing it, what is important is that you do it till the end.

 

Jesus said, “Tarry until you are endued with power”. That word “tarry” is another word that we are using now, for “follow”. Don't follow questioning, doubting. Follow, believing that what God has said concerning your own destiny is going to happen, it is a matter of time. But if you doubt, you will no longer be fit to continue. And then you will wonder, God have you changed your mind concerning my destiny? God has not changed his mind; you have started doubting.

 

So, let’s continue. Both of them had crossed in verse 9. 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 9, “And so it was when they had crossed over that Elijah said to Elisha,.” And I'm sure we are aware that Elijah never said anything like this before. Until the journey started, Elijah never spoke about this, even while the journey was in progress. How many of us know that it is not easy? The Bible says, they came to Gilgal at the beginning, from wherever, we don't know. You know, Elijah is not a prophet of the land of Judah, are we aware? Elijah was a prophet in Israel, and Israel is a bigger place than Judah. So, you don't know where he was coming from when he came to Gilgal. But they left Gilgal, they came to Bethel, you don't know how far. They left Bethel, they came to Jericho, you don't know how far. These places are a lot of distance.

 

Imagine moving from here to Dutse, or moving from here to Abaji, and you are not going on horses, they were trekking. And then maybe they now left there, they now went to Lokoja, and on their way back, they now went to Enugu, you don't know how long they were going, but they were going to those places, the man of God never said anything. But he got to a point he knew it, that the time had come for him to be taken away. And he had gotten to the place where he will be taken away and so he asked. So, there is nothing to test again. “God, there is nothing You want to know about this man that you have not seen. He has followed steadfastly.”

 

He said, “Ask.” I could imagine him saying, “Sir, I've tried, I have followed you. If I can just get a good land in my father's land, where I can farm. Sir, if you can also get me some gold and silver. Then if you also help me with some male servants and some maidservants; some servants, I will be fine. And then, please, before you go, please, connect me with the king of Israel so that direct! I will be getting contracts, so that whenever they want to dedicate anything in Israel, they will call me. The man of God has arrived.”  He didn't say all that.

 

“Ask what may I do for you,” I could imagine Elisha saying, Sir, “you know, I just want you to pray for me, I struggle with sleepless night. I struggle with some nightmares, Sir, just pray for me, I need healing”. Is that what you saw? It looks like if you follow correctly, many things will not be in your mind. He didn't ask for what to eat, what to drink, what to wear. He didn't ask that he should have deliverance from his enemies, both spiritually and physically. It means that when you follow very well, that will not be your problem. He said, “Before I am taking away from you”, Elisha said, “please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me”.

 

You know, we are looking at how to receive the promise of the Father. And Jesus said, “You will receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me”. So, he said, “You have asked a hard thing,” this thing that you have asked is very hard. The man of God did not keep quiet after that. He said, “Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if not,” it is not about emotion, good luck to you. It is not about whether I love you, or I don't love you, “if not, it shall not be so,” not it may not be so.

 

So, the things of God are defined. We are the ones that are saying, “Maybe I may be great, maybe I may not be great,” if God has said you will be great, you will be great. But there are rules, there are conditions you must fulfill so that what God has said will come to pass, not may come to pass, will come to pass. The man of God had told him how to get it, what you have asked for is not impossible, but it is just difficult, “However, if you can see me when I'm being taken from you,” if you're not busy here and there trying to find a good life for yourself, if you're not distracted, following me but sleeping as you are following me.

 

There was a message Bro. Gbile preached some years ago, I listened to the message in 2012, and he said, “Do you know for many of us if we were in the shoes of Elisha, that thing that Elijah wouldn't be easy for us to satisfy even if we were there.  You were following him, and he was going. Suddenly, there came a chariot of fire.  The Bible says, “It appeared with horses,” not just a horse. A chariot appeared. You know, a chariot is like a pick-up vehicle. You know the back of the Pick-up. Just look at something like that box, you can stand in it. But the bible says, with horses of fire!  I can imagine, you know, horse 1, horse 2, horse 3, horse 4. Four horses! And all of them, they are fiery, fiery horses, and they are all connected to the chariot, to that back of the pickup. And they came from heaven, coming down like this.  You now that you are looking at me, you will stop looking at me if you see them now.

 

The man of God did not say when you see the chariots of fire coming. He said, “When you see me,” the condition was that you must keep your gaze at Elijah if you will get it. Bro. Gbile said that many of us would stop looking at the man of God, we will start looking at the chariot of fire. It is fire we will be looking at. But the man of God has said, “If you see me,” the word is me, when I am taken.” The word is “M-E.” At that moment when I am taken, don't get carried away just keep looking at me.

 

Do we remember what we read about Jesus and the disciples as He was taken up? The Bible says that they kept watching. They kept looking, even the angels had to refer to them that they were gazing, that is it! You think when Jesus left, He went like this, He also went in a whirlwind too, it was also full of effects. But they were looking, not at the whirlwind, they were looking at Jesus. They were looking at Jesus! So, you could be in moments in life, you could be in circumstances. In those circumstances do you fix your gaze at the effects or are you are following still?

 

The Bible says, and that chariot of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father.” What is our title today? “How to Receive the Promise of the Father,” wasn't this a father’s promise? The father said, “When you see me go, you will get it’. So, the father was going, he said, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen. So, he saw him no more.” That means he was seeing him until he could no longer see him, that was not Elisha’s fault. The man of God had gone.

 

“And he took hold of his own cloths, and tore them into pieces.”  That cloth that he wore to the experience, he said, “this thing is not about me anymore”. He tore it. But look at what he did. Many of us have been missing this line, we jump to the next one, he first tore his own cloth, then he also took up the mantle of Elijah, that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. “Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen for him and struck the water and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he had struck the water, it was divided this way and that way, and Elisha crossed over”. The man of God was no more with him, he was alone, but he had followed to a point that he had received the promise and he was now able to be a prophet in the place of Elijah.

 

“Now, when the sons of the prophet who were from Jericho saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elijah, and they came to him and bowed to the ground before him.” These things didn't fall down like ripe pawpaw, he fulfilled the conditions. Let God be true, and every man a liar. Whatever God has said concerning your life, it will happen. If God says, you will be the head and not the tail, you will be. If God says, you will be great, you will be great. If God says, He will use you, he will use you. But what are the things that God has recommended as a part you must follow? Don't play around the part. God is too faithful to fail you. The faithfulness of God is not like the faithfulness of men.

 

When God asked you to follow a process or follow a path, it is not about the path, it is about God that you are obeying. So, don’t say, “What if I follow this path, and the “pather” fails me on the path? What if I follow this person, and this person disappoints me?” It's not about the person, it is about the One who has called you. Faithful is He who has called you. He will do it. The promise of the Father concerning your life is not maybe, maybe not, it is sure. You are the only one that can make it maybe, maybe not. Depending on maybe you believe, maybe you don't believe. God's Word is sure. We are the ones that makes it unsure. God's word is certain, we are the ones that makes it unstable.

 

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Gboyega ADEDEJI and Lara Gboyega Adedeji!

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