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"Contenders - Arise and Advance the Kingdom of God!"
By Alane Haynes
In this new year, the Holy Spirit has been stirring me with a strong desire for an increase in spiritual sight, to press in and activate every gift I have been given. I began to re-read the accounts of Elisha's
life, because of his persistence and because 2022 is a double-portion year. Halfway through the study, the Lord took me into a significant vision and subsequent prophetic activation, then affirmed it with insight and revelation from His Word as to what it
meant.
Spiritual Sight - the Key to Overcome and Advance
Elisha had developed
his relationship with the Spirit of the Lord to such a degree that his prayer was answered for his servant's eyes to be opened to see into the heavenly realm when the enemy army was advancing. Elisha also received strategy to overcome the enemy. He prayed
they would be blinded, then led them to another location; when it was the right time, he prayed that their eyes would be opened. After this, he showed mercy, feeding them rather than killing them, which brought Israel favor for the future.
What formed this ability? Persistent pressing after he received his appointment to be Elijah's successor. He destroyed the means of his previous livelihood, indicating he was not returning. He stayed
focused on the prize. He was determined to have not just the anointing of Elijah, but the double portion, and Elijah told him he could only have that by seeing in the spirit! Even when mocked by other prophets and told by Elijah to stay behind, he pressed
toward his calling and his desire for the double portion. He refused to let the other voices sway him away from what he knew was his!
"...As the Lord liveth and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee..." (2 Kings 2:2, KJV)
2 Kings 2:2 is a 2022 verse; we must say: "Though all forsake me, betray me and persecute me, I will not
leave You and Your calling on my life, LORD!”
Contenders Are Rising
I
heard, "I am raising up and releasing contenders." Contenders are heavyweight champions who have contended and will continue to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). Elisha contended for his calling, contended for the double portion,
contended for spiritual sight, contended for others to also see, and he contended for the nation of Israel.
In every new year, many contend past contentment as they
press into new goals of exercising or saving money, willing to go through pain or give up things they enjoy. This is necessary to go beyond where we are spiritually as well. There are new assignments, new callings, new visions and expanded horizons waiting
for us as we contend and advance the Kingdom of God!
Press into communion of the Holy Spirit and let Him illuminate, expose, repair and renew. Receive paradigm shifts
as light comes to the darkness and He draws you out into the deep or tells you to drop your net on the other side. Contend for the thirty, sixty and one hundredfold (Matthew 13:23); these are all 'doubles.' Continue sowing seed and contend for the multiplication.
Do Whatever It Takes
Elisha
and many others called for a minstrel when needing divine strategy. Recognize and acknowledge your need and do whatever it takes to get into the presence of the Lord. Pray in the Spirit and with understanding; study the Word of God with intentionality; fast,
worship or do something new that is a bold step of faith (if the Lord leads), and watch what He does!
In 2 Kings 4, the son of the Shunammite woman (whose conception
was prophesied to her by Elisha) died. She went to Elisha and laid hold of his feet, telling him her situation. He told his servant to take his staff and lay it on the boy's face. The woman said the exact words Elisha had said to Elijah: "...As the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee..." (2 Kings 4:30). He saw her determination, went with her, and raised her son from the dead. Determination, intentionality and pressing equals contending!
Declare with me in this 2 Kings 2:2 year: "I will not leave you, Lord; there is no turning back. I will receive all that I have desired of You and all that You have laid up for me. I am laying hold of life and decreeing into
every dead place and every dead dream: Life, life, life! Dormant gifts come forth and be activated to fulfill the will of the Lord!”
This is the time to be as
the woman with the issue of blood, the man pleading his cause before the unjust judge, the friend needing bread for his household; lay hold until you receive!
A Vision
of Dormant Dreams
As I was meditating on these things, I was stirred and began praying in the spirit. The Lord took me into an open vision. As I looked east over a
pasture below distant mountains, I saw myself striking the ground. I was stricken with longing, painful and deep, as God gave me knowledge that I would be given actual land to stake; and I had a strong desire to strike the ground – to stake it for the
LORD.
This was something the Lord had promised me in years past – that He would give me land and house(s) for the ministry He has put in my heart, but I had set the vision aside. Previously,
He spoke to me that we are to lay hold of dead and dormant dreams, visions and words He has given, for this is a year to lay claim and receive. Now He was repeating it to me in a vision and with great emphasis.
Next in the vision, I saw myself strike the ground with great force, and reverberations formed. I saw concentric circles – sound waves and visual waves of glory emanating from the center. In the vision, I struck seven times,
then an eighth, declaring it is done and the new had come. I then did it in the natural, in my room, as a prophetic act, declaring it done and to be manifested. I made other declarations and 'strikings,' as well, for other promises that had been lying dormant.
Contend for all that is laid up for you! It's time to strike the ground for the new sound to resound, bringing the rebound as old visions are restored and new vision is found.
No Holding Back!
After the vision, Holy Spirit reminded me of the biblical account
where the king didn't shoot all the arrows. I had forgotten that this was an 'Elisha account,' and I had not gotten that far in my recent readings! In 2 Kings 13, Elisha told Joash the king of Israel to take arrows, open the east window and strike the ground.
Joash failed by not striking enough. He picked up the arrows but only shot three.
"And he said, 'Open the east window'; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, 'Shoot'; and he shot.
And he said, 'The arrow of the LORD's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.' Then he said,
'Take the arrows'; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, 'Strike the ground'; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, 'You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria
till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.'" (2 Kings 13:17-19 NKJV)
There is great
significance here. I was standing and looking through the east-facing window in my house when the Lord took me into that vision! The east window in my vision represents the dawn of a new day. In addition, the word "open" (as in opening the window) in Hebrew
is "patah." Strong's Concordance notes that its meaning includes "plough," "break forth," "ungird," "let go free" and "unstop"!
The bow represents the power of the Holy Spirit, the arrows are the words of the Lord
and the bowstring is you allowing your will to be bent toward the direction of the Lord in obedience!
It is time to contend for the Kingdom of God in your life! Align
your will to His will and be set free; unstop the wells within; let His words be arrows and strike with all that you have – no holding back!
It's Time for Victory!
In this account, the Hebrew word for Syria, according to Strong's Concordance, is "Aram," which means the highland or fortress. In the Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, it means to swell
up or exalt oneself. This clearly represents satan, the king of pride, and his demonic cohorts. This is what the Lord wants us to strike down with the arrows, or words, He gives!
Also, the word "Aphek" in Hebrew is "apeq," which means fortress (as in a stronghold). There are specific strongholds where the enemy dwells – the center of the networks of demonic activity that will be subsequently taken out when we hit the
stronghold through continued and advancing strikes with the Lord's arrows!
We know that we already have the victory, that Jesus has already overcome, and that the enemy is under His feet, but also that it has not fully
manifested here on Earth yet. We must press in through prayer to receive strategies from the Spirit of the Lord, take our places of authority in the heavenly realms where we are seated with Christ, and decree (or shoot as arrows) His words into the earth.
The sun is rising on a new day, and the Son of God is rising by His Spirit residing in His sons and daughters! It's time to go forth in the authority of the Lord, decree His Word,
and see the mountains of resistance fall. Put the enemy to shame as you proclaim the Name above all names; strike the ground and stake the claim, for this is the King of king's domain!
By Alane Haynes
Eternal Truth Now Ministry
Email: eternaltruthnowministry@gmail.com
Website: www.alanehaynes.com
ElijahList Publications
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