(James 4:5 Amp)
It really shouldn’t surprise us that God responds in a special way when we desire not just His gifts, but His presence. After all, God (in all three of His expressions as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is a person, and just as every person does, He enjoys being valued and prized. He yearns to be treasured and welcomed in our hearts. When we do what it takes to make Him welcome, wonderful things begin to happen.
What exactly does it take to make Him feel welcome?
Some years ago, the Lord gave me the answer to that question by speaking five words to my heart. He said, “Make room for the supernatural.”
At first, those words puzzled me. Make room for the supernatural? I thought. What does that mean?
By way of explanation, the Lord led me to 2 Kings chapter 4 to the story of the Shunammite woman. Talk about someone who knew what it means to make a person feel welcome! That lady had a real revelation of it. She proved it by how she treated the prophet, Elisha. Every time he passed through her town, she insisted he come to her house for dinner.
To understand the spiritual significance of her hospitality, you have to remember that in those days, the only access to the anointing and the presence of the Lord was through His prophets or His priests. So by seeking out the presence of Elisha, the Shunammite woman was actually seeking the presence of the Lord Himself. She was wise enough to know that she wasn’t going to just accidentally bump into that supernatural presence out on the street as she went merrily along her way. She knew that if she was going to have it, she’d have to do something to draw it to her.
So here’s what she did. She said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there” (verses 9 –10).
The Shunammite woman expended a great deal of time, effort, and personal resources to make Elisha feel welcome. And by doing so, she made room for the supernatural in her life.
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 4:8 – 17
Source: Devotions for the Praying Heart by Lynne Hammond.
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”