Rabbi Schneider - Pray for Spiritual Insight
David was described in the Bible as a man that was after God's own heart. God's a person, and even though we sometimes think of God as so holy, and so other than, we, we have a difficult time understanding because we think of him that way, that in addition to being so holy, and so other than, get this now, he's also right here with us. And has humbled himself to the point of even becoming a man in the person of Jesus Christ so that he sympathizes with you and I, that he can feel everything that we feel. Even as Jesus got down on his knees and began to wash the disciples' feet, so too, beloved one, our God is still here today as a servant, washing his children's feet. He's able to hear our every heart's cry. And even though he's God above, he's also God that's here on the earth beneath.
And get this now, you can move God's heart. We're looking at prayers that were prayed from men and women of God in the Bible to see how these prayers captured God's heart. And of course the application is that when we see the types of prayers that have captured God's heart, we can apply these same themes of prayer to our own life knowing that God is pleased with these types of prayers when they're prayed from a sincere place. And we know this, whenever God knows that we're praying from a sincere spot and it's according to his will, he promised us that he would answer our prayer.
So with that said, I just want to begin today with a prayer and then we're gonna get right into the pages of Scripture as we look at one of the prayers that Elisha prayed. Last week we looked at Elijah. Now we're gonna go to Elisha. Father God, we bless you today. And Father God, I want to thank you that, Father God, you are right now with every person around the world that's watching this broadcast, even now as I speak and as they're hearing me speak, and hearing me pray, you are with them right now, right here, Jesus, in the room with them, responding to their heart's cry to you, responding to their thoughts, responding to them because you're God and you're here. And you said, King Jesus, that you would never leave us or forsake us, and that we should cast our care upon you because you care for us.
So Father, we thank you today that you're with us and that this message is not just simply the words of a preacher, but that Father, you said that through the foolishness of preaching men are saved. And that Father God, you are working by your Holy Spirit with the preaching today to take ahold of the lives of your people that are listening and changing us from grace to grace and glory to glory.
God is doing something in your life right now, beloved, if your heart is open and you're reaching out to him in faith and love. God bless you. I want to go now to the Book of 2 Kings, chapter number 6. I'm gonna be looking verses number 15 through 18. And we're gonna look at one of the simple prayers that Elisha prayed. Many of you know Elisha the great prophet, the great mighty works that he did. Did you know that Elisha actually did more miracles than Elijah? I mean, he's a fascinating figure. Another thing that's interesting as we get ready to look at this, this example of one of Elisha's prayers and how God answered it, one of the things that's interesting as we just consider this man, is how it was that he got the anointing.
Many of us know that Elisha, this one we're about to study, he was Elijah's servant. And he would follow Elijah around everywhere that Elijah went. His whole life, Elisha's whole ministry was serving Elijah. And yet at the end of Elijah's life, the anointing came upon Elisha even stronger than it was on Elijah. This is really fascinating to me. It tells me one of the ways that we can pick up an anointing. How did Elisha, who actually did more miracles than Elijah, get the anointing that was on Elijah even double fold? How did it happen? Well the first thing was, beloved, that Elisha recognized the anointing that was on Elijah.
You see, Elijah recognized the anointing that was on him, because the anointing that you respect is the anointing that you're gonna receive from. The anointing that you honor and respect is the anointing that you're gonna receive from. So first of all, Elisha was in a place where he could receive the anointing that was on Elijah because he recognized the anointing that was on Elijah, and he received from that anointing. But you know what? In today's culture today people have so much pride, and they've been so brainwashed by the spirit of the ear that comes from the devil, is they have difficulty placing themselves under anybody. And sometimes we can miss so much of what we could have absorbed from somebody else's life because we have too much pride to be able to submit ourselves to a person that's walking in a higher level than we are.
And this applies, beloved ones, common sense wise not just to the spiritual realm, but this applies even to the earthly realm. In other words, if you go to work for somebody that has a great business mind, how are you gonna be able to receive from that person that has a great business mind? Are you gonna receive from that person by arguing with them? Are you gonna receive from that person by distancing yourself from them? No, you're gonna receive from that person that knows so much more than you do by placing yourself in a position of subjection under them so you can learn from them and receive from them everything that's in them.
But so many people today, beloved, lose opportunities to glean from others and to receive from others because of a spirit of rebellion and pride, because of a spirit of lack of humility often that comes from a spirit of inferiority and a spirit of self-defensiveness because the inferiority and it puts them in a position that they'll never place themselves in a posture where they could receive the anointing from the one that's so much more advanced than they are, thus making their life more difficult than what it ever needed to be.
Elisha recognized the anointing that was on Elijah, and thus he was able to receive from it. Secondly, because, listen now, Elisha recognized the anointing that was on Elijah's life, listen to this now, he stuck with him and he stayed close to him. In other words, if you were involved in a ministry somewhere and you recognized that there was an anointing on your pastor, or an anointing on somebody that you know, you know what you should do? Stay as close to that person as you can, as common sense in the Lord will allow because the more time you spend with that person, the more you're gonna absorb the anointing from that person.
You see, you can absorb an anointing through osmosis, get it now, and through transfer. In other words, the person that you are five years from now, let me say that again. The person that you are five years from now, is largely gonna be determined by the people that you're spending your time with over the next five years. If you spend your time with people that are more advanced than you, more anointed than you, more knowledgeable than you, in five years you're gonna be so much more anointed, so much more advanced, and so much more knowledgeable than if you would have spent your time with people that are at your same level or lower than you for the next five years.
And so anointings and knowledge and spiritual power, listen now, are transferable. We pick them up by osmosis just by being in close proximity with people that are anointed. And so Elisha stayed very close to Elijah. In fact, towards the end of Elijah's life, when Elijah announced that he was about to depart from the world, he told Elisha, I'm about to leave. And Elisha cried out to Elijah, and he said listen, he said when you leave, he said, let me catch the anointing that's on you. May the anointing that's on you when you leave, come upon me and even double fold. And listen to what Elijah said to him. Elijah said, if you see me when I go, it shall be as you requested. But if you do not see me when I go, Elijah said, you shall not have the anointing.
What was Elijah saying? Elijah was saying Elisha, you have to get so focused on me, you have to stay so close to me so that the anointing that's on me can come upon you. If you take your eyes off me, if you get distracted, if you get off focus, then the anointing that's on me won't come upon you when I leave. You know what happened? Elisha took Elijah at his word. He stayed focused. He stayed fixed. And when Elijah was taken away, Elisha saw him, and a double portion of Elijah's anointing came upon Elisha. Thus beloved ones, he did more miracles than even Elijah did. It's a fascinating story.
You see, this is why in the Hebrew Bible we learn that we should respect our elders. There's a strong system of order and relationships in the Hebrew Bible. And the reason for this is for help. To respect our elders so the stability and the wisdom that's been upon them can come upon our life. It's true in the natural and it's true in the supernatural. And I want to encourage you, if you do know people that you know are anointed, I wanna encourage you, listen to me, I want to encourage you to guard yourself, listen, against the law of familiarity.
Some of us have heard the expression before. Familiarity breeds contempt. Have you ever hard that saying before, that familiarity can breed contempt? In other words, we can become so used to somebody that's anointed, more developed, more advanced than we are, that we begin to take them for granted. And not only do we begin to take them for granted, we even begin to look at them without honor. This happened to Jesus. Jesus went into his own town and they said to him, who are you? It says they were offended with him. When he said I'm the bread of life that came down from heaven, they said, who are you? Who do you think you are, they thought. We know your mom and dad. We know Joseph and Mary. Who do you think you are? And the Bible says they became offended with him. And Jesus responded in this way. He said, a prophet is not without honor except in his own town and amongst his own people.
Thus we get the saying, familiarity breeds contempt. And so I want to admonish you, my beloved brothers and sisters, be careful that you don't develop a contempt for your pastor or those that God has place in your life that are your spiritual leaders if they should be respected. Be careful that you don't begin to take them for granted, that you stop being impacted by their messages, that you stop taking advantage of the opportunities they give you for growth, whether it's classes or other opportunities. Be careful that you don't begin to take them for granted and thus lose the opportunity to receive more of the anointing that's on them, because again, anointings are made to be transferred.
That's why Paul laid his hands on Timothy and through the laying on of Paul's hands, a spiritual gift was imparted to Timothy. And so I said all that just simply to say how Elisha, that did even more miracles than Elijah, how he was able to receive the anointing. He was able to receive the anointing by respecting, acknowledging, and honoring the anointing that was on Elijah, then staying close to him and focused on him so that the thing that was on Elijah, the holy power of God that was on Elijah, came upon Elisha even double fold. The same thing will work for you today. Many great men and women of God became great because they stayed close to a spiritual mentor, a spiritual father, or spiritual mother. God bless you, beloved one. I hope somehow that's helpful for you.
And Father, I just pray that you will apply it to every life today in a way that will bring health to each one, in Jesus's name, Amen. Well I'm reading now, 2 Kings, chapter 6, verse 15 through 18: Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? So he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Strike this people with blindness, I pray. So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Now the thing I want to focus on primarily at this point is how Elisha's servants didn't have the spiritual eyes or the spiritual capacity to see all the angelic hosts that were fighting for the armies of Israel. See, in this particular story, Israel was being attacked by the king of Aram. And it looked as though Israel was out numbered. But what Elisha saw in the spirit realm was the supernatural hosts that were on Israel's side. Of course, Elisha's attendant couldn't see it. He was scared because he was only seeing in the natural. So what was Elisha's prayer? He said, Lord, open my servant's eyes that he might be able to see in the spirit world and that he might understand that more are those that are for us than those that are against us. Elisha's prayer, beloved one, get this now, was for spiritual sight.
You see, we need to be able to see beyond the natural. We need to be able to see beyond the temporal. We need to be able to see through the circumstances. We need to be able to see through what people say. We need to be able to see with the eyes of the spirit. We live in a spiritual world. The Bible tells us that the things that are real are not the things that are seen. Because the things that are seen, Scripture tells us are passing away. But the things that are real, are the things that are unseen. Don't you have a desire to see in the spirit world? I know I do.
One of my daily prayers, one of my common prayers, one of my prayer themes, beloved, is the same thing that Elisha prayed. Lord, open my eyes that I can see. Lord, I want to be able to see in the spirit because the Bible says in Ephesians, 6, that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but it's against principalities and forces of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.
You see, we live, beloved, in a spiritual world, and we're not gonna be able to live in victory if we don't have spiritual sight. Jesus was able to see in the spirit. The Bible says he knew what was in all men. He had wisdom and understanding. He was able to see what was going on. If you and I don't have spiritual sight, which is a supernatural gift given to us by the spirit of Elohim, by the spirit of God, we are gonna walk floundering and fumbling our whole life. We're gonna live at an earthly realm. We're never gonna soar on the heights and we're never gonna live in spiritual victory. To live in victory, beloved ones, we must see spiritually. What does it mean to see spiritually? First of all seeing with the eyes of the spirit involves having spiritual discernment.
Do you know that Paul prayed in the Book of Ephesians that God would open the eyes of our heart? Think about that. Paul prayed that God would open the eyes of our heart, that he would open our eyes of understanding. So to see in the spirit is to be able to see and perceive what cannot be seen and perceived simply in the natural. It's supernatural. It's the ability to understand people, to understand your circumstances, and to understand the spirit world in which you live in supernaturally.
Now this may sound way out there for some of us. Beloved, I'm here to proclaim to you, this is not way out there. This is not pie in the sky. This is walking in a supernatural wisdom. It's walking in supernatural revelation and we should be asking for it just like Elisha prayed, Lord, let me see. Let me have revelation. Revelation gives sight. Jesus said to Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter said, you're the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And he said, and upon this rock I will build my church. What rock is that? Part of the rock, beloved, is having revelation. The revelation that Peter had, allowed Peter to see that Jesus was the Son of God when others couldn't see it. Peter had spiritual sight.