Tim Timberlake - Expediting The Miraculous

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Summary:

In this spontaneous message on «Expediting the Miraculous,» inspired during a break between services amid a season of fasting and prayer, the preacher uses the story of Elisha’s relentless pursuit of Elijah in 2 Kings 2 to outline four keys to hasten God’s miracles: (1) Relentlessly search after God’s presence, following wherever He moves; (2) Maintain a tenacious attitude, holding firmly to God’s word despite obstacles; (3) Live with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s timing and leading; and (4) Pursue purity in spirit, mind, and body, allowing God to filter out impurities. Emphasizing that God’s love is unconditional but His blessings and miracles often require obedience and posture, the call is to deepen commitment through fasting, prayer, and surrender for breakthroughs in this season.

Introduction to Fasting and Prayer
Fasting is the fuel that gets the vehicle of prayer to the ear of God a little bit quicker. Amen. And so fasting is when we push aside certain things to make a substantial sacrifice to get time with God. I am a firm believer that God speaks the longest to those who are willing to listen the longest. I don’t want us to rush moments of fasting and prayer because I believe God desires to speak to us in ways and manners that we would not normally hear Him. Amen. We serve a speaking God.

Oftentimes people say, «Well, I’m not hearing what God is saying.» The reality is that God does not stop speaking, but oftentimes we stop listening. If you’re not hearing the voice of God, I encourage you to change your approach so that you can get in tune with what He is saying. Amen.

Shift to Expediting the Miraculous
As I mentioned, I’ll be switching gears here. In between the first and the second service, God began to download some things to me. I jotted down a few notes that I want us to look at today, and it’s about expediting the miraculous.

How many of you have a miracle that you need in this season of your life? Each and every one of us hits seasons where we need a miracle from God, and my prayer is that we would do whatever it takes to expedite the miracle that God has for us. Amen. The team won’t have these notes because I didn’t send them to them. So you’ll have to go old school right now. You will have to get out your pen and paper or type really fast so that you can keep up with what I am saying because they don’t know. Amen. And amen. That’s all right. It’s okay not to utilize technology for your commitment to God sometimes and to go a little old school.

Scripture: Psalm 86:10
I want to start in Psalms chapter 86:10, which is a very familiar passage of Scripture. As I was thinking about this in between the first and second service, it began to radiate a little differently. It says, «For you are great and do great miracles; you alone are God.» This is an indicator to me that not only does God desire to provide a miracle for you, but God is willing to provide a miracle for you. We just have to figure out how to move the miracle from the supernatural to the natural. Amen. Oftentimes we can see God’s hand at work, but it would behoove us to look at the mind of God so that we can see why God does what He does.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. You’re so good to us. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for dwelling with us. Thank you for speaking to us. Thank you for allowing us to dwell in your presence. God, we promise that whatever you do, we will return the glory to you. In Jesus' name, we pray, and all those that agree say, «Amen.»

Scripture: 2 Kings 2 (Selected Verses)
I want us to go to Second Kings. Second Kings, let’s begin at chapter 2. I will hop around a bit. I’ll read 2 Kings chapter 2:1-2, then verse 4, and then verse 6. 2 Kings chapter 2, verse 1 says, «When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way to Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went to Jericho.»

Verse 6 says, «Then Elijah said to him again, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them walked on.»

Point 1: Relentlessly Search After God’s Presence
We see a pattern here in Second Kings with Elijah and Elisha. Elijah is about to go somewhere on assignment, and his mentee wants something from him. We see Elijah receiving instructions from God to carry out an assignment in three different instances in three different places, while his perspective is to go without Elisha. Elisha’s perspective is that no matter where you go, I’ll be with you because you carry something that I need.

Oftentimes people ask me in leadership, «How do people follow leaders, or how do people follow you?» The answer is very simple: You follow whatever feeds you. Elisha understood that Elijah carried something that feeds him. What I see happening in our society and culture is that people are not leaning into church, people are not leaning into the assembly of God, whether it’s in person or online, because they don’t find value in the food that’s being presented. In this season of fasting and prayer, it is my desire, my prayer, and my fast that I would have a new desire for some of the things that I like to consume. So during my fast, I like to push away food; I like to really go in and go after the heart of God because it gives me appreciation for the things that I would normally not appreciate the way that I do when I cannot eat them.

Elisha is telling Elijah, «Listen, no matter where you go, I will be with you. I know you plan on going to Gilgal; I plan on going to Gilgal with you. I know you plan on going to Jordan; I plan on going to Jordan with you. As surely as God lives and as you live, I will be with you.» This gives me the first indication of how to expedite the miraculous. If you’re writing notes, I want you to write this down: In order for you to experience the miraculous life that God desires for you to have, you have to live your life in search of the move of God. You have to live your life in search of the move of God. God, I will be wherever you are, and I will go wherever you tell me to go. God, as surely as you live and as surely as I live, I will follow you because I believe that where you are, there is fullness of joy, and at your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Is there anybody in this place or watching online right now who has their mind made up to say, «I will relentlessly pursue the presence of God?» If so, say «yes.»

Elisha is telling Elijah, «No matter what you do, no matter where you go, no matter how long the journey is, I will chase after you.» It is my prayer that we are developing a heart, a mentality, and a spirit to chase after the presence of God. God, no matter where you move, that’s where we move. God, no matter where you go, that’s where we’re going. God, no matter what you say, that’s what we will do. No longer, no, no, no matter how long it takes for us to go and to get and to do what it is that you desire for us, we will relentlessly chase after you. Elisha is telling his mentor, «No matter where you go, I will be with you.» The reality is that God is saying the same thing to you today: «No matter where you are, I am with you.» There’s nothing you can do that would separate you from the love that I have for you.

The one thing I want you to walk away from this message knowing today is that God’s love is unconditional. Amen, but His blessing is based on condition. The miraculous is based on condition. There is nothing you can do to separate you from the love of God. His love is unconditional, but His blessing has conditions. There are people who believe they deserve blessings, breakthroughs, and miracles from God without commitment, and it is impossible for me to receive God’s best without giving God my heart. Come on. Elisha is telling Elijah, «I will relentlessly pursue after you. There’s nothing you can do to get rid of me.» That should be my mentality with God: «God, there is nothing you can do to get rid of me. I want you to know me.» I told my wife the other night, «My desire, my whole life’s purpose, the only reason I’m here is so that God would know my name. I’m not doing what I’m doing so people will know me. As a matter of fact, I don’t really care who knows me. I’m doing what I do because God told me to. I want Him to see that what He told me to do is being stewarded to the best of my ability. I only live so that He would know me. I only live so that He would be pleased with me. I only live so that at the end of my life, He gives me those two words: 'Well done.' If you’re not living for the 'well done, ' then you’re not living at all; you’re just existing.»

I believe I’m talking to a group of people who will lay down their life for His life and say, «God, I live for you, and for God I live, and for God I die. Because of your will for me, I will do whatever it takes to see your will unfold and manifest in my life.» In order to see that, though, you have to relentlessly search after God. Yes, Elisha is telling Elijah, «You can’t get rid of me. I’m stuck to you like glue. Where you go, I go. Where you be, I be. What you say, I echo. Because I’ve seen God move through you, and I’m holding on to a promise from God that you spoke to me: that I will do greater works than what you do. So in order for me to do greater than what you do, I have to see what it is that you do. To see what God desires to do, you have to see what God has said. If you can go back to what God has spoken to you, then you can start to see things in the spiritual manifest in the flesh. But it’s impossible to place value on something you can’t see. That’s why you have to develop a relationship with God and ask Him to show you. When God gives you insight, He gives you His image through words. God speaks to us through pictures. Whenever God speaks to you through a word, through His scripture, through His voice, or through His spirit, He always talks to you to paint a portrait in your mind for what’s possible if you depend on Him.

Elisha is telling Elijah, „I don’t quite know what’s possible, so I need to continue to see. When I continue to see, then I continue to say. And as I continue to say, then I continue to see. Because I’m a firm believer, you see what you say.“ Elisha relentlessly pursues Elijah. He understands that Elijah holds the key to his next. In this season, it is important that you find the person that holds the key to your next. You are not supposed to stay stuck where you are. You need to find the person, the voice, that has the key to your next. It is only through hearing the word of God that gives you access to the person that has the key to your next. The reason Elisha followed Elijah is that Elijah had the key to Elisha’s next. If you’re not under the word of God, and if you’re not hearing the word of God, then your faith is not being charged. The only way faith grows is by hearing and hearing the word of God. When you hear the word of God, it gives you access to understand what God desires for your next.

Is there anybody desperate to know what it is that God wants for me next? Is there anybody desperate and hungry to know what it is that God wants me to go after next? If that’s you, shout „yes!“

Point 2: Have a Tenacious Attitude
It is through the word that you find the answers that you’re looking for, but it takes something called tenacity. I want you to write that word down because it’s important. Tenacity is important in your relationship with God because you’re not going to get what you’re praying for with the first prayer. Tenacity is important in your relationship with God because you’re not going to get what you’re hoping for with the first hope. Tenacity is important with God because you’re not going to get what you are believing for with your first belief. It takes tenacity. It takes a relentless pursuit. It takes a „dog mentality“ to go after the things of God when you’re staring at reality in the face, but you know what God put deep down in your spirit. It takes a tenacious spirit. It takes a tenacious person. It takes a tenacious mentality to say, „I know what I see, but I also know what God said. As long as I cling to the voice of God, it doesn’t matter what’s in front of me. I will continue to move through this season until I get to the season that God wants for me.“

Is there anybody that has their mind made up: „Regardless of what I see, I’m going to rely on what He said, and I have a tenacious spirit that won’t let me shake the word of God. I will hold on to the word of God until I see what He said manifest.“ Elisha had the tenacity to not listen to the first thing Elijah said. Elijah said, „Stay here,“ and Elisha said, „I’m going.“ Elijah said, „Wait here,“ and Elisha said, „I’m coming with you.“ Elijah said, „Stay back,“ and Elisha said, „I’m charging forward.“ Wherever you go, that’s where I want to be because you carry something that I need. Am I talking to anyone that says, „God, I want to be where your presence is. God, I want to be where your virtue is. God, I want to be where your spirit is. I will do whatever it takes to get from where I am to where I need to be.“

No matter who’s trying to hold me back, no matter who told me not to go there, I know that you are calling me. I will relentlessly pursue you because you are good. So, number one, I must relentlessly search after the presence of God. Number two, I have to have a tenacious attitude. In order for you to have a tenacious attitude, you have to know where God has brought you from. See, when you know where God has brought you from, you can’t settle for where you are because you know He has more for you. When you know where God has brought you from, you can’t operate in pride because you know you didn’t get yourself to where you are. The only prideful people in the kingdom of God are people who think that they got themselves where they are.

The only prideful people in the kingdom of God are those who think that they can provide the miracle they need on their behalf. The only prideful people in the body of Christ are those who think that they gave themselves salvation. But there’s a group of people who understand that you couldn’t save yourself; you couldn’t heal yourself; you couldn’t deliver yourself; you couldn’t set yourself free. You don’t have the power to do it, so you serve somebody powerful enough to do it. It should bring you to a place where you are operating from humility and understanding that you need a Savior. Yes. And His grace is sufficient for me.

Elisha understood that in his own power, he couldn’t do what he needed to do, so he needed to see it worked out in the life of his mentor. He relentlessly pursues his mentor. He relentlessly chases after his mentor. He relentlessly goes after his mentor. Even when his mentor tells him to wait, he says, „I got to go.“ Sometimes God will give you a glimpse of the vision He wants you to carry out, and nothing can stop what it is that God desires to do in and through you, even if people don’t see it. Did you know the only limitation you live under is the limitation you give yourself? You will only advance to the level you see yourself advancing. The depth in which you believe is the depth in which you will receive. So if you believe God is the God of little, He will indeed be the God of little. But if you believe you serve a God that is the God of much, He will indeed be the God of much.

God operates based on your faith. Every prayer that we pray is an invitation for God to enter into our problem. God is sovereign; He won’t force His way. He has to be invited. When you have a tenacious mentality, when you have a tenacious spirit, you’re asking God, „God, I need you to do what only you can do because I’ve tried everything.“ If you’re like me, you’ve tried some things without God, and they failed. If you’re like me, you’ve tried some things without the presence of the Holy Spirit, and they fell flat on their face. If you’re like me, you’ve done some things in your life outside the will of God. You understand that if it had not been for the will of God, you still would not be here.

In your best efforts, in your best work, it doesn’t matter how much money you have; it doesn’t matter what you don’t have; you still don’t amount to enough to live the life that God desires for you to live without Him.

Point 3: Live with Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
The third thing I want you to write down is this: In order to expedite the miraculous, you have to live with sensitivity. You have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You have to be sensitive to what God desires for each and every moment in your life, each and every day. You can’t be so stuck in a program that you miss an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to do what He desires. A prime example is that we had a video that we were going to show for MLK Day right before the message, right in between praise and worship and the message. I felt the Holy Spirit say, „Wait,“ so I wait.

In between the first and second service, the Holy Spirit said, „Change the message.“ I changed the message. If you’re not sensitive to the Holy Spirit, you’ll get boxed in your routine and say, „God, this is what I studied for; this is what I prayed for; this is what we’re supposed to do; this is what we planned to do.“ He’s saying, „I know all of that, but I still want to have my way. If you’re open to me having my way, I’ll do some things in your life that you could never do in your plan and in your will and in your power and in your purpose. If you give me the opportunity, I’ll do what I want to do.“

I wonder if I’m talking to anybody who’s sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who says, „God, I’m flexible. God, I’m pliable. You can make and mold me into what it is you desire to make and mold me into. God, in this situation, I believe you desire to do a good work, and He who begins a good work shall finish it until the day of His return.“

In order to see the miraculous expedited, you have to be sensitive: sensitive to where He tells you to go, sensitive to where He tells you to speak, sensitive to where He tells you to sow, sensitive to where He tells you to pull back, and sensitive to where He tells you to push forward. You have to be sensitive.

You’ll see me wait in praise and worship because the Holy Spirit is saying, „Wait.“ You’ll see me wait in moments of the service because the Holy Spirit is saying, „Be sensitive.“ I know that in moments, the Holy Spirit is telling me to wait; someone’s life depends on it. If I push ahead with my plan, someone won’t encounter the presence of the Holy Spirit like they need to because I’m looking at a clock, because I’m rushing to get to lunch, or because the message is over and I’ve got to go grab my kids from C Kids before I hit traffic. You have to be sensitive. Amen.

I’ll be super transparent with you because I want you to know my heart. One of the things that drives me crazy is that we’re in a moment where people are giving their hearts to the Lord, and people are rushing out of here to beat traffic. You have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. What would you do if your life weighed in the balance, and someone tried to push past you to get to their car? You have to be sensitive. This is not a routine that we play out every single week. This is a relationship that we want to deepen and strengthen, to set roots, and for God to transform us and transfigure us. This isn’t something that we rush; this isn’t something that we blow through; this isn’t something that we blow past. This is a moment where the Holy Spirit desires to pull out of us everything that looks like us and to download in us everything that looks like Him.

He desires to do something unique in each and every one of us, and we have to be sensitive. The quickest way to kill contentment is to compare what God is doing in someone else to what God is doing in you. Oftentimes we forget that the service is not about us, but the service is about Him. We often forget that the worship is not about us, but the worship is about Him. We often forget that the prayer is not about us, but the prayer is about God. We make it about us, and so we miss opportunities to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit desires to do in a moment what we would take a lifetime to complete.

Elisha is sensitive to the presence of God. Look at what the scripture says in 2 Kings chapter 2:3. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, „Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?“ He said, „Yes, I know, but I do not speak of it.“ Yes, I know that there are things that I know, but I have to be sensitive about the timing of speaking about it. Someone asked me, „Did you already know this?“ I said, „Yes.“ It is one thing to have revelation from God; it is another thing to have the timing to reveal the revelation that God gives you to others.

Elisha is sensitive to the voice of God, so he does not speak until God tells him to speak. One of the things that I try to practice is not saying what God does not say and not being where God has not called me to be. My fear is not failure; my fear is actually finding success in something God never called me to succeed in. Success is the most dangerous thing that God could trust us with because when we find success, our tenacity takes a back seat. Elisha is saying to Elisha, „There are things that I know that I’m not going to say until God tells me to say it. There are things that I’m supposed to do that I’m not going to do until God tells me to do it. There are places I’m supposed to be that I’m not going to go until God calls me to be there.“

Are you sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to hear His voice and the timing in which He desires for you to communicate it to others? You have to be sensitive. Amen. In this time of fasting and prayer, that’s one of the things that I encourage you to pray for: „God, give me the sensitivity to hear your voice. God, give me the sensitivity to know when to move and when to stay. God, give me the sensitivity to experience your fullness in the presence of your majesty. God, give me the sensitivity to know when you are telling me to do something and when you’re telling me not to do something. God, tell me what to speak. God, tell me when to be quiet: have the sensitivity in me that you need so that I can be who it is you’ve called me to be.“

There are things that God desires to do that will require a sensitive spirit.

Point 4: Live with Purity
To expedite the miraculous, you have to search out the presence of God, you have to have a tenacious spirit, and you have to be sensitive. The fourth and final one before we get out of here is this: You have to live your life with purity. Society and culture are enamored with how pure water is. We will spend big money to purify our water. As a matter of fact, in 2020, statistics say that we spent somewhere around $27 billion dollars on purifying water because we love to ensure that what goes into our bodies is pure. When we go to the grocery store, there’s a regular option and an organic option because there’s a consumer that desires to know that what they are consuming is pure. We don’t want our bodies processing just anything.

In order to see the miracle that you’ve been praying for expedited, it’s going to take you to operate and live your life in purity. I love that in the New Testament, when the disciples tried to cast a demon out of an individual and they couldn’t cast it out, Jesus comes and simply speaks to the demon, saying, „Be cast out.“ The demon goes, and the disciples look at Jesus and say, „Why didn’t we have the ability to do that?“ Jesus looks at them and says, „There are some things that will only leave through fasting and prayer.“ There are things you’ve been wrestling with that you know are not pure that you have to fast and pray about. There are some mentalities, some attitudes that you know have to change in order for you to see God’s best.

Did you know your miracle, your blessing, will be limited by your attitude if you allow it? I know plenty of people who are called, anointed, and gifted—people that could preach me under a pew—but their attitude is terrible, so their attitude delays what it is that God desires for them. If you’ve got a bad attitude, you need to fast; you need to pray. If you’re not sure if you have a bad attitude, ask the people closest to you; they’ll tell you. One of the biggest misconceptions about purity is that purity is always physical: „I’m sexually impure, ” when in fact, the first step to purity is spiritual, then mental, then physical. There are some things you’ve been trying to work out physically that you can’t work out until you first tackle them spiritually. Once you get a good handle on it spiritually, then God gives you the mental capacity to continue to battle it and put it in warfare so that your body will no longer be a slave to the sin that you continue to revert to.

In order for you to see the miraculous expedited, you have to live a pure life. People often confuse purity with perfection. Jesus knows you’re not perfect, but He still calls you to be pure. Jesus knows that you’re prone to sin, but He still calls you to be pure. Jesus knows that you’re prone to mistakes, but He still calls you to be pure. If He is calling us to be pure, it means that He desires to get something to us through purity that we can’t get ourselves.

In 2 Kings chapter 2:7, we see purity. Fifty men of the company of prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, „Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?“ Look at what he says: „Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.“ Elijah replied, „You have asked a difficult thing. Yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours; otherwise, it will not.“

It’s easy for us to ask God for something and not be in the place that God desires to do it because we’re not living a pure life. The only reason Elisha could ask Elijah for a double portion of his anointing is that he was living a pure life. Elijah still gives him instructions: „You will get what you ask for if you are in the right posture.“ You will only get what God intends for you to get when you are in the right place with the right posture. If you’re not right, the word of God says otherwise, you won’t receive it. We can pray, we can pray, we can pray, we can pray, but if we’re not postured right, we still won’t receive.

In order for us to see the miraculous expedited, it’s going to take us living a pure life. There is a filter here today that desires to filter out every sin, to filter out every attitude, and to filter out everything that does not reflect who He has made you to be. If you will process your life through His filter, He will clean you so that you can live the life of purity He desires for you to live. Don’t start off your year living the life He never intended for you to live.

Closing Altar Call and Prayer
So I want us to stand to our feet right now. There are some of you depending on a miracle. There are some of you waiting on a miracle. There are some of you praying for a miracle. I hear the Holy Spirit saying that these things will be expedited if you can follow through on the things you just heard. I want all heads bowed and all eyes closed right now; if you know that you need to live your life through the filter of Jesus so that you can see the miraculous that you need take place, so you can receive the miracle that you’ve been praying for in this season, not allowing it to linger or wait longer than it should, I want you to lift your hands right now. I want you to lift those hands. I see those hands; I see them; I see them; I see them. Thank you, Lord.

Wherever God gives a word, He asks for a response from us. Wherever God gives us a word, He asks for a response from us. So this is what I want your response to be today. If you have your hands lifted and you know that your life needs to be filtered through Jesus so that you can live the life of purity He has called for you to live, I want you to pray this prayer after me:

„Lord Jesus, I desire to get closer to you, to get closer to your presence, to seek and search you out like never before. Your word says that if I seek, I will find. So God, it is my desire to find you like never before. I turn away from my sin; I turn away from everything that is not pure, and I turn towards you. God, I ask that you would cleanse me. I ask that you would pull out of me everything that does not reflect you and everything that does not reflect who you have made me to be. God, I expect to see what it is you have spoken in and through my life in the name of Jesus.“

So I confess with my mouth that you are my Savior. I believe with my heart that you are risen from the dead. I believe with all of me, God, that I can live a life worth living, a life through purity so that I can see the miraculous expedited on my behalf in Jesus' name.»

If you believe that, with the hands that you have lifted, go ahead and put them together.