Elijahsha: The Handoff

Well, if you are just joining us, we are in the middle of a series called Elijah Shah.

And uh this is not a real word, so don't worry about mispronouncing it.

You can pronounce it however you want to.

What we're doing is we're studying the lives of these two prophets from a long time ago, two men that lived about 3,000 years ago.

One was named Elijah, the other named Elisha, and their stories kind of run into each other's.

These are two people who experience God in an absolutely profound and powerful way.

Two people who had a closeness in relationship with God, who experienced what it's like for God to do things in your life like few people have experienced.

And so we're studying their stories because their stories still speak to us.

It's important for us to understand that, you know, we don't just we don't just come here to know about God.

We don't just get together on Sunday mornings so that we can know more about God, because we don't have to settle for knowing about God.

We can know God.

There's a lot of people in this world who I know about, but I don't know.

I know a lot about a lot of people that I've admired and looked up to, and I've read their books and I've watched them from afar, but I don't know those people.

When it comes to God, as crazy as this sounds, we don't have to settle for just knowing a lot about God.

We can actually know God.

We can have a relationship with God, we can experience the same thing that Elijah and Elisha experienced.

We can experience God acting in and through us in our lives today.

In John chapter 17, Jesus prayed, and this is shortly before he went to the cross, and he's actually praying for us, for this world, specifically his followers.

John 17 · chapter mention

And he says this in his prayer this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

And it's interesting when we read that phrase eternal life, we almost always think about living forever in heaven.

And that's absolutely part of the promise.

Jesus defeated death, and he says, anyone who follows me will have life forever with God.

But when Jesus talked about that, he used the phrase everlasting life.

And there's actually a difference between everlasting life and eternal life.

And if you read the teachings of Jesus, if you read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, sometimes you'll see Jesus say everlasting life, sometimes you'll see him say eternal life.

And when he's talking about everlasting life, he's talking about living forever with God, that our lives will go on beyond this life.

But when you see Jesus talking about eternal life, he's actually talking about what it's like to have God, to have what's eternal, invade your life today.

To actually have life that is defined right here and right now by God Himself.

That's eternal life.

That's experiencing God in our lives today, and that's something that Jesus says we can have.

That we can know what it's like to have God in us, working through us, working around us, that we can experience God now.

We can have eternal life.

That's why we study people like Elijah and Elisha because they lived eternal life.

They lived a life where God was doing things.

And I think at some level, whether you've been a Christian for a long time, maybe you're not even a Christian, you don't necessarily know what you believe yet, you're just sort of figuring that out.

At some level, I think we yearn to see God do things in us and through us.

We want to see God work.

We want to see God move.

We want to see God show up.

We want to see God do something.

And that's why it's awesome for us to be able to study the lives of people who experience God doing something.

Because we can look at what they did, we can look at how they followed God, how they thought about God, how they responded to God, and then we can follow suit so that we can experience that same eternal life that they experienced.

Now, so far, our series has been a bit of a misnomer.

I talked about this last week because we've really only studied the life of Elijah, and this series is called Elijah Sha.

We hadn't really got to the Shah part yet.

But last week we met Elisha for the very, very first time, and today we get to witness the handoff moment between Elijah and Elisha.

Today we get to witness the moment where Elijah actually steps aside, and Elisha gets to step forward and he gets to fill Elijah's shoes.

And those are some big shoes to fill.

I don't know if you've ever experienced the pressure of having to fill in for someone that everyone admires and everyone respects, someone that's done an amazing, amazing job.

Like we see that happen in the world sometimes, and it's it's kind of nerve-wracking, like in sports, that's kind of a classic example.

You never want to be the coach who follows the legendary coach.

You want to be the coach who follows the guy after the guy, right?

You want to be the one who goes, oh, well, you know, because everyone's standards get lower after that.

You know, the guy who comes in after the legend, everyone expects the same thing, and then they they they usually fire that guy after like three or four years because he's just not that good.

Then they hire another guy who may not even be as good as the guy they fired, but the standards are now lower.

That's the guy you want to be.

Like you don't want to be Elisha having to now come and fill Elijah's shoes.

I've had experiences similar to that, at least you know, from my perspective, maybe not to the degree that Elisha had to deal with, but but I remember the very first time that I ever spoke from this stage.

I was 24 years old, so it was about 11 years ago.

And and Steve Craig was the teaching pastor back then.

Steve and Susan started his hands.

Many of you know have known them.

And and Steve is well, he's not me, let's just say that.

Uh you know, Steve has a story that I don't have.

He has life experiences that I don't have.

You know, Steve is this man that I admired, that I looked up to.

Steve started a company in his basement from scratch, grew it to over a billion-dollar company, sold that company, started a church, bought a Kmart.

Who does that, right?

Like that's a pretty good resume.

At the time, you know, when I was 24, speaking here for the first time.

I didn't even have kids yet.

Steve had raised two children, and so Steve had this way of speaking with authority.

Like he could teach with authority, he had all these stories.

He could say things like, you know, back when I started my business, and I can't say stuff like that, you know?

And I definitely couldn't when I was 24.

And so I had to stand here, I had to give a message, and I'm following Steve, and everyone just admired him, and I admired him.

And I had nothing, I had nothing to pull from.

The only thing I had, you know, for my for myself as an advantage is that I'm just legitimately funnier than Steve.

Like that's it.

That's all I had going for me.

And that's a fact, by the way.

And if Steve was in this room right now, I would say it to his face, and he would agree, right?

We've had this conversation.

I'm at least 37% funnier than Steve.

I've thought about it, there's a whole equation for it.

So that was like the only thing I could sort of cling to.

But but back in those days, Steve would actually proofread my messages, and he would always tell me to take out the jokes.

And he would always tell me to take out the funny stories.

Like he would rob me of the one thing that I had.

It was like he actually wanted me to rely on God and pray and hear from God when I spoke.

Maybe he was teaching me something.

I don't know.

But it was, it was it was maddening.

It was intimidating to try to fill someone's shoes that everyone, including myself, admired.

So I can only imagine what Elisha must be going through in this moment that we're about to look at.

That now he has to be the guy who follows the guy.

That's tough.

But uh but don't feel bad for Elisha because he actually does a couple of amazing things in today's story.

Two things that we're gonna look at in particular.

Two decisions that Elisha makes, two dynamics that he really understands that essentially secure his place as a worthy successor to Elijah.

And these are our decisions, by the way, that we can emulate.

These are decisions that we can make in our own lives that allow us to experience God in a way that maybe we never would otherwise.

Now, before we actually jump into the story, I want to get everyone caught up.

And if you haven't been here, by the way, feel free to catch up online, use our mobile app, use the website, however you want to.

But we've really been looking at some big players, some big things that have been happening in Israel at this time.

That's where this story takes place.

And a lot of our story so far has been Elijah as this prophet of God versus Ahab, the king of Israel.

Ahab, if you've been here, you know that he married a woman named Jezebel, and uh and she brought with her the worship of a false god called Baal.

He was a Phoenician god uh that didn't exist, but but he was worshipped.

And so Baal worshiped, it kind of becomes the thing to do in Israel.

You know, Jezebel brings it, it's exotic, it's new, and and King Ahab he starts to worship Baal, and he actually sets up Baal worship as the official worship in Israel.

So pretty much all of Israel has left following God.

Now they're worshiping Baal, and that's when Elijah stepped onto the scene and said, Hey, I represent the real God, and then some stuff goes down.

And it's been sort of Elijah versus Ahab for a long time.

And so here's what we need to know going into the story today.

Ahab, he's dead.

He has died.

Since we last looked at Elijah's life, Ahab has he has literally bit the dust.

Um that's well, not literally, he didn't bite dust, but he died.

Okay?

So what happened with Ahab is basically the same thing that happened all the time in his life.

He just refused to listen to God.

He was gonna go out into this battle, he was gonna go fight this war, and a prophet told him, if you go out to battle, you will die.

That is what God has said, and he goes, Yeah, whatever.

And he goes out to battle and he dies, and then his son becomes king, but his son only reigns for a couple years, and then he dies, and then his other son becomes the king.

So a lot has actually changed since the last time we we looked at Elijah's life.

And today, a lot's about to change again.

And so let's go ahead and pick it up in 2 Kings chapter 2.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

Here's what it says When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, which is a very loaded sentence in and of itself.

Like, what in the world?

Like you need to stop and explain what you're talking about, God.

It says, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.

But Elisha replied, As surely as the Lord lives, and you yourself live, I will never leave you.

So they went together to Bethel.

Now the group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha and asked him, Did you know what the Lord is going to do today?

Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?

And Elisha answered, Of course I know, but be quiet about it.

I like Elisha.

He's a pretty intense guy.

You'll see this in the weeks to come.

He basically says, Yeah, I know.

Shut up.

And then Elisha said to Elisha, Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Jericho.

But Elisha replied, Again, As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.

So they went on together to Jericho.

And then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and they asked him, Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?

Of course I know, Elisha answered, but be quiet about it.

And then Elisha said to Elisha, Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to the Jordan River.

But again, Elisha replied, As surely as the Lord lives.

It's almost like he's saying, You should know the answer by now.

If I have to repeat myself, I will, as surely as the Lord lives, and you yourself live, I will never leave you.

So they went on together.

And fifty men from the group of prophets also went, and they watched from a distance, as Elisha and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River.

And then Elijah folded his cloak together and he struck the water with it, and the river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground.

And when they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, Tell me what I can do for you before I'm taken away.

And Elisha replied, Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.

You've asked a difficult thing, Elijah replied.

If you see me when I'm taken from you, then you will get your request, but if not, then you won't.

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire.

It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

Elisha saw it and cried out, My father, my father, I see the chariots and the charioteers of Israel.

And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.

Then Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up.

Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.

He struck the water with Elijah's cloak and cried out, Where's the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.

Okay, so this is a crazy story, right?

This is nuts.

There's all sorts of crazy things happening here.

We've got the waters parting, we've got Elijah like literally being picked up and given a ride to heaven.

It's like God sent his chauffeur and said, Hey, go grab Elijah.

I want to talk to him.

It's a really crazy story.

And Elijah's one of a very small number of people in the story of the Bible that have a kind of special exit.

You know, they sort of leave in a special way.

And we could spend a lot of time talking about that and what that could mean and what that could signify and other times in scripture where something similar happens.

And we could spend a lot of time talking about the water dividing and how it does this for Elisha too, and what's the significance of that, because there's a lot in scripture about that.

I mean, there's just so many things we could we could look at.

We could probably spend weeks on this, but but I want us today to look at this story primarily through the eyes of Elisha.

Because again, this is Elisha's moment.

This is the moment that Elisha steps forward into his destiny.

This is the moment that Elisha sort of takes the reins, as it were, where he becomes who who God has called him to be.

And he's not, he's not just some inactive viewer of what's happening.

He's not just someone who is who's observing.

He's actually participating in this moment.

He's making some decisions, he's doing some things that actually allow all of this to happen, at least allow him to be there when it happens.

And it's because of the way that Elisha has chosen to approach this situation, it's because of how he's handled this that his place as God's prophet is secured.

Like I said a few minutes ago, I want to look at these two things, these two decisions that Elisha makes that really change everything for him, for his life.

And these are decisions that we should emulate.

Like if we would do what Elisha does here, we would experience good things happening.

I'll even say it this way.

If we would do what Elisha does here, we would experience God things happening in our lives.

So the first thing I want to focus on is really simple.

Multiple times Elisha says to Elisha, Stay here.

Hold back.

Because God's telling me to go somewhere else.

And every single time, Elisha says, No way.

Like there's no way I'm gonna leave you.

There's no way I'm gonna hear about whatever happens today through some secondhand account.

I want to be there.

I'm going with you, I will never leave you.

Where you go, I go.

No way.

Every time Elisha says to Elisha, hey, stay away, Elisha says, No.

And he goes.

And because of that, he's actually there when this crazy thing happens.

He's not even like the 50 prophets that are described as watching from afar.

Like Elisha, Elisha, he's there.

And because he's there, he experiences something that he could never have dreamed of.

See, Elisha understood this dynamic that's really powerful in our lives, and it's the power of proximity.

The power of proximity.

There are certain things that you can only experience by being somewhere.

There are certain things that you can only grab a hold of, that you can only really catch and understand if you're there, if you're in proximity.

Proximity is a very powerful thing, in good ways and in bad ways.

Like we've got three kids at home and another on the way.

And so it's not uncommon for one of our children to get sick.

And if you have young children or if you've had young children, a small child sick is like the most pitiful thing you can witness.

You know, it's it's like they they just sort of melt.

They haven't had that much experience with being sick before.

It's it's like they believe that this is their whole life now, you know?

And they have a cold or something like that.

But they just sort of wilt.

And and about a week ago, week and a half ago, Liam got sick.

He uh he got a fever, he could not hold any food down, he had to miss school, and and I my heart like broke for him.

Because I'm looking at my oldest boy, and he's just, you know, he's so down, he doesn't look good, he's pale, you know, he he's just gloomy, and he's having to miss school, and he was super worried he was gonna have to miss his first basketball practice, which was like about two days later, and we were like, we don't know, it depends on how you do.

So he's just down.

And so I'm looking at Liam and I'm saying, son, I love you, and I'm so sorry you're going through this, but here's the deal.

Um, we're gonna put you in this room, and you're gonna stay there all day long.

We when we're when our kids get sick, we quarantine our children.

That's what we do.

And I don't know if that makes us bad parents or what, but we're okay with it.

So, like we quarantine our children.

And don't feel bad for him.

Like, we put him in a room in our basement that has a TV and video games and a mini fridge, and we we we stock the mini fridge with Gatorade, and he missed school and he sat all day long watching TV, playing video games.

Like it wasn't that bad.

But we made him stay in there and we told him, You are not allowed, like you can yell for us and we will come and we'll get you whatever you want, but you're gonna stay here.

Because the only thing worse than having one sick child is having multiple sick children, and the only thing worse than having multiple sick children is having multiple sick children with at least one sick parent trying to take care of them.

That is the worst we have been there.

And so, because of the power of proximity and how easy it is for your other kids to get sick, we're we quarantine our kids.

And Liam was miserable.

He was miserable for that day, but we had to do it.

We had to do it.

Last Sunday, I woke up.

This is a few days later, two days later, I woke up.

And uh, have you ever had strep throat?

Raise your hand if you had strep throat.

Strep throat is a very distinct feeling.

It's not like other sicknesses, right?

Like, at least for me, when I have strep throat, I'm like, I have strep throat.

I know exactly what this is.

And I woke up on Sunday morning and I said, Yep, I have strep throat.

And the good news is I just have to give two messages, which I use my throat for extensively.

Uh, and then last week was square one, and so that's something we do where if you're new, you can stick around and we talk.

And it's funny, we had more people ask more questions at square one last week than in any square one we've ever had before.

And I'm sitting there the whole time, like in just pain, after giving two messages with strep throat.

I knew I had strep throat, and I'm fighting through it.

By the time it was done, I felt like I was breathing through a straw.

And so Monday morning I go to the doctor, they do the test.

Yes, you have strep throat.

I'm like, I knew that, uh, you know, and they gave me my medicine, and then I got to be quarantined for 24 hours, and it was amazing.

It was the best, right?

No, like no one talked to me for 24 hours.

I just got to be by myself.

And what Liam sat in miserable, I was like, this is this is awesome.

This is how can I stretch this out for like another day just to be left alone?

It was awesome.

But but I had to be quarantined.

It was for my children.

It wasn't for me.

I wasn't doing this selfishly, it was for the family.

It was for the greater good, right?

Because of the power of proximity.

Because if I'm around them, they could get that.

I don't want Judah or one-year-old to get strepped through.

I don't want that to happen.

Proximity is a powerful thing.

You catch things by being around other people.

But it's not just sickness, it's not just negative things, you catch positive things by being around other people as well.

For example, Proverbs chapter 13, verse 20 says, walk with the wise and become wise.

Proverbs 13:20

Associate with fools and get in trouble.

Walk with the wise and become wise.

What this is basically saying is that wisdom is contagious.

That if you spend time with wise people, you will actually absorb some wisdom.

If you spend time with wise people, you'll begin to think like they think.

You'll begin to apply the filters they use in your own life and you will see tremendous results.

If you walk with the wise, if you're in proximity to wise people with an open mind and an open heart and a humble spirit, you'll become wise.

The same is true with things like hope.

I'm sure we've all been around someone who only sees the negative in life.

You know, it's one of those people where if you ask them how you're doing, you instantly regret it, right?

But sometimes there's just those scenarios where the only thing to ask is how are you doing?

Like it's just what you're saying, and then you go, oh no, why did I say that?

Because they go, well, let me tell you, okay, here, and you're like, ah.

You don't want to be, you know, someone that lacks compassion, but at the same time, you're just like, man, this is, who, everything is going wrong all the time.

And there's people that that just fixate on every possible thing that can go wrong.

And when you're around people like that, you start to do that too, right?

You start to see all the things going wrong in the world.

But you know what?

If you spend time with people that are filled with hope, people who are filled with the belief that God is gonna do something, that God is about to move, that God can solve any problem, and they have that hope, you all of a sudden become filled with hope.

Because hope is contagious, just like wisdom.

And if you spend your time in proximity with people like that, you grow in those ways.

I have some very good friends, very good friends, who are just wise, hopeful people.

And when I get stressed out, the first thing I do is I schedule lunch with one of my friends.

I've got a friend named Todd, and Todd is like, he's my boy, and Todd is way smarter than me, and I love being surrounded by people way smarter than me.

That's not hard to find, which is great.

But Todd is just unusually intelligent, and Todd is wise and he is he's very positive, he's hopeful, he's always looking for a solution, not a problem.

And the second a problem gets brought up, Todd just sort of goes, Yeah, yeah, that's a problem.

Let's figure out how to solve it.

And when I get stressed out, I schedule lunch with Todd, and we have this one place that we go.

We eat sushi, and I love sushi, and it's great.

But when I leave lunch, I'm always more excited about life than when I got there.

I almost always show up with a problem that I'm struggling with, and I leave with like five or six possible solutions to that problem.

And it's not because sushi is a magical food, although if it's good, it's pretty close, right?

It is.

But it's because I'm in proximity to wisdom, it's because I'm in proximity to hope and to belief and to faith.

And it makes me leave better.

Elisha understood the power of proximity.

He was not about to be far from Elijah because he wanted what Elijah had.

He wanted to catch hold of what God was doing with Elijah.

And if you spend your life and your time in proximity to people like that, if every opportunity you have, you get around people like that, you will experience what they've experienced.

It's one of the beautiful things about having a church, is we have the opportunity to be in proximity to amazing people every single week.

Sometimes multiple times a week, you can join a home group, you can join a team, and you will be in proximity of incredible people, the most incredible people I've ever met in life, I've met through this place.

And I have the joy of being in proximity to all of you, and I grow because of you.

Be in proximity to great people, people that are living life like you would want your life to be lived, and I'm telling you, it's contagious.

Wisdom, it's contagious, hope is contagious.

The Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit's contagious.

So get in proximity.

Elisha did that and it worked out well for him.

Number two, not only was Elisha dedicated to being in proximity to whatever God was doing, Elisha had this moment where Elisha looked at him and said, What do you want?

Is there anything you want to request before I'm gone?

That's a big moment, right?

It's basically like a wish is being given to him.

Do you have anything you want to wish for?

And Elisha answers with the most preposterous answer he could have answered with.

He says, Yes, I would like a double portion of your spirit.

Now, what you have to understand is up to this point in history, Elijah ranks perhaps among the very greatest people who have ever lived.

In fact, he really would still rank among the greatest people who have ever lived if you were to make a list when it comes to following God for sure.

Elijah had had experiences and miraculous experiences with God that no person had ever had before.

Unprecedented things happened in Elijah's life with God.

He had so many incredible, miraculous moments that he literally stood above anyone who had gone before him.

And Elisha had the audacity to ask for double what Elijah had.

My oldest boy Liam, the one who was sick and quarantined just a week ago, I remember when he was like three or four years old.

And we were at Walmart, and he just straight up asked me if I could buy him all of the toys.

Like, just didn't bat an eye.

He just went, hey dad, can you buy me all these things?

And I said, No, I cannot.

Not, not, I will not.

I literally cannot.

You can have anything under$10.

You can have one thing.

And it's, you know, he was four years old.

At that time, he didn't understand what things cost and income and all that.

You know, now he's he's a little older and he's learned some of those lessons.

And so it's about to be Christmas, and he's making his list, and he's asking for things in a much more wise manner now.

Like, you know, he's asking for things that seem realistic.

So the things that he's asking for, they're not crazy.

They're things that are totally doable.

And I'm sure there are crazy things in his mind that he'd like to ask for, but he's old enough and mature enough to go, yeah, that's never going to happen.

So let me ask for this because I think I actually have a shot at getting that.

That's what Elisha should have done.

That's what a mature, wise adult would do.

What he should have done was looked at Elijah and said, Elijah, if I could just have half of your spirit, half of the portion of the Holy Spirit that you have in your life.

When we say Holy Spirit, what we mean is God's presence living and dwelling in us, working through us.

If Elisha would have looked at Elijah and said, I'd like half of what you've got, that would have been, that would have been a bold ask.

You want half of what Elisha has.

Woo! That's a lot.

But that would have at the very least been polite.

I want half of what you've got, but not Elisha.

Elisha's much more like the four-year-old at Walmart.

He says, I want a double.

Everything you've experienced, the power of God that you've experienced working in you, I want that and then some.

I want, I want a double.

And God gives it to him.

It's interesting if you make a list of the miraculous experiences that Elijah has, there's 14 stories involving Elijah where something miraculous happens.

And guess how many there are with Elisha?

28.

28.

Exactly double.

And it's all because Elisha asked.

And asking God for things is a very interesting concept.

I'm sure there are many of us in the room, I'm not going to make you raise your hand, but if you struggle to ask God for things because you just feel like, man, he's got to have bigger fish to fry.

I feel bad.

I'm so blessed.

I don't want to ask him for this.

I just feel I feel selfish asking.

That's a pretty normal feeling.

But listen to what James says.

James, one of the leaders of the early church, talking to a group of Christians, he said, you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.

And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong.

You only want what will give you pleasure.

And the idea there is not just pleasure like I would really enjoy this.

It's pleasure that would exist apart from the will of God, if that makes sense.

Things that you would have maybe a fleshly pleasure with that you would enjoy, but they aren't necessarily good for you.

And it's a really interesting thing because basically what James is saying here is like, look, ask God for stuff.

If you need something, ask God for it.

If you want something, go ahead, ask God for it.

Because God's not like me.

God does not have limited resources.

When my son asks me for something crazy, I say no, not because I refuse to bless him, but because I literally can't.

I don't have the resources to pull that off.

That's never happened with God.

There's never been one moment where God said, I just don't have enough with me right now.

I'm sorry, I can't afford it.

Right?

I can't I can't I can't spring for that right now.

I apologize.

That's not God.

So if you follow God, you should ask God.

You should ask God for what you really need.

Don't be afraid to ask God for big things.

Don't be afraid to ask God for things that feel silly.

Let God sort that stuff out.

But ask.

That's what James is saying.

Like ask and ask big, but then there's this other dynamic, and it's interesting.

Because he's saying you should ask God, but then it's almost like there are certain things that if you ask God for, it's more likely to happen.

There are certain things that maybe please God when you ask him for them in a way that is unique.

That's what Elisha experienced.

Because Elisha could have asked for anything.

But Elisha asked for God's spirit in his life.

And here's the thing: God already wanted Elisha to have that.

So not only did Elisha ask big of God, Elisha desired what God desires.

Elisha desired what God desires, and he asked God to give him what God already wanted to give him.

Yeah, I mentioned my oldest son, Liam, asking me for things.

He's got nothing on my daughter, Lily.

Okay?

Lily is not bashful about asking me for stuff.

And she's a girl, and I've only got one girl, I've got two boys.

Lily and I have this little dialogue every day.

There's these things I like to say to my kids every day.

It's just kind of a repeat after me.

It's a special thing.

And so with Liam, it's it's why do I love you?

And he says, Because you love me.

And then I say, What's my job?

And he says, To teach me to be a good man, and I say, What do we focus on?

And he says, the good.

That's Liam and I's thing.

Lily and I, we have a different thing, and it's how many boys did God give daddy?

Two.

How many girls did God give daddy?

One.

What does that make you special?

And she loves that.

And we do this all the time.

And I know I've said these things before, but you know, it's I I repeat things a lot and I just forget what I've said and what I haven't, so forgive me if I've said this.

But when Lily came into my life, my life changed.

And in some ways I didn't anticipate.

Like I had some dark thoughts that I didn't think I could have when Lily was born.

Because for the first time in my life, I understood murder.

You know?

Like before I had a daughter, I was like, I could never envision murdering someone.

And now I'm like, yeah, I could probably do that.

You know?

Like, given the right circumstances, you mess with my girl, I'm like, Lord, you know, no one suspects the pastor.

So I'm gonna take advantage of that.

You know?

She's my she's my girl.

And she's so, she's so beautiful, she's so intense.

She is so intense.

I know I talk about that, but guys, you just don't understand.

Like we have these rules in our home.

Lily struggles getting out of bed at night.

She just wants to get out of bed all the time.

And we've told her the only reason you can get out of bed is if you're really sick or you're really hurt like you're bleeding.

And so Lily has started doing this thing.

She picks her scabs at night in bed so that she can come into our room and tell us that she's bleeding.

This is the level of intensity that we deal with.

She has a scab on her chin that will not go away because every night she goes, and then comes in our room and goes, I'm bleeding.

And we're like, who does this?

That's my daughter.

But she has she has like a direct line to my heart that I just can't explain.

And so when she asks me for something, it's powerful.

It's almost like kryptonite.

I have to be like really strong and go, no.

You know?

But here's what's what's really cool is she'll she'll ask me for stuff all the time.

She does not hesitate.

I took her to a store called Claire's about a year ago.

Do you know what Claire's is?

It's like, I don't know what to how to describe it.

Uh it's just tons of cheap jewelry.

And she walks in and everything sparkles and she just goes crazy.

She loves it, right?

So I took, she'll she'll ask me almost all the time, can you take me to Claire's?

Can we go to Claire's?

I want a bracelet.

I want a locket.

I want she wants stuff from Claire's.

And I have to look at her and say, Yeah, I will get you stuff, but not right now.

But a few days ago, she came up to me and she asked me, not for a thing.

She didn't say, Dad, I want you to take me to Claire's and buy me something.

She said, Dad, will you take me on a date?

I know, right?

She said, I want to go on a date with you.

I want us to just have time, just me and you.

Now, what do you think my answer to that is?

Yeah, you bet ya, right?

Because I so greatly desire time with her.

I so greatly desire just to be with her and to be near her.

Because I know one day some stupid boy is gonna try to take my place and she's gonna think that he's better than me or something like that, you know?

And he's not gonna be.

He's gonna be 14, he's gonna be an idiot, but she's gonna be enthralled by him, you know, and I'm gonna have to deal with that.

But right now, right now I'm the man.

And so she she comes and she asks me for time with her.

Not not a toy, not a not a necklace, time.

My answer to that question is yes.

Because she has asked me for something that lines up so perfectly with my heart for her.

She's gonna get it.

We're gonna have an awesome date this week.

When we ask God for what he already desires to give us, that's powerful.

And I'm not saying that you shouldn't ask him for a raise, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't ask him for something you know that's tangible, that you shouldn't ask him for maybe an experience, a vacation, or whatever.

No, ask ask him for that stuff.

Ask him for anything.

He's your father, he loves you.

But when you ask him for the things that he already wants you to have, when you ask him for the things that he's already dying to give you, the things he's dying for you to experience, the things that he literally died for you to experience, that's powerful.

So when you ask God for his spirit, when you ask God for a greater portion of his spirit active and working in your life, you better be ready to receive that.

When you ask God for wisdom, you better be ready to receive that.

When you ask God for grace and for compassion for people, when you ask God to fill you with a love for people that is greater than your love for yourself, when you ask God to give you the things that he already wants you to have, you need to be ready to receive.

Because he will answer those prayers.

Elisha, Elisha was brilliant in this moment.

Not just because he made a bold ask, but because he asked for something that he knew God wanted to give.

Because God wants us to experience his spirit.

God wants us to experience his power, God wants us to experience him doing like supernatural things in us and through us.

He wants us to experience that.

You cannot read the Bible and come away with the conclusion that God wants to deny his presence from his people.

Ever.

What you can do is read the Bible and come away with the conclusion that we don't yearn for his presence nearly enough.

But he wants us to have that.

And Elisha asked for what God desired to give, and he got it.

He got a double portion of what Elijah, the greatest prophet in the history of Israel up to that point, had been given.

So we're gonna wrap up this morning.

Worship team, if you guys wanna wanna make your way out, out of the shadows, wherever you guys are.

I'm always I always feel like they're watching me, you know?

I don't know where they are.

It's dark back there.

Oh.

See?

Play the guitar just now.

He's messing with me.

I said last week that I really like Elisha, and I really do.

Elisha is a really interesting dude.

And over the next few weeks, as we explore more of his stories, you'll see that.

Elisha, he's just, I think he's a lot like my daughter Lily.

He's really intense.

But man, does this guy get this moment in life right?

And we have this blessing of being able to live out what Elisha lived out.

We have this blessing of being able to study his story and go, wow, look what he did.

He did two simple things.

He understood the power of proximity and he decided, I'm gonna be there.

I'm gonna be near God.

I'm gonna be near someone who I know is close to God.

If you know someone, if there's one person in your life and you look at them and you say, I want what they've got, be near them.

Like it may have gotten on Elijah's nerves that Elisha wouldn't leave him alone.

Maybe Elijah really wanted to be alone that day.

He's like, Will you stay here?

I'm gonna go over here.

And Elijah's like, nope.

I'd really like to be.

He's like, uh-uh, sorry.

Look, if you're so hungry for more of God that you're willing to annoy someone who has more of God until you get it, like just that's good.

Okay?

If there's someone that you look up to that you admire, be near them.

Get around them, talk to them, let them know that you want to learn from them.

See what happens.

Like, get in proximity to someone who's experiencing something with God that you want to experience.

And ask God for what he desires to give you.

Ask him for his spirit.

If you've never asked God to fill you with his spirit, to to literally like fill you to the point that you're overflowing with his spirit, with his love, with his wisdom, with his discernment, with his understanding.

Like, ask him for that stuff.

The Bible says that all knowledge and understanding comes from God.

It just like it flows from him.

Ask him for it.

Because he's generous, because he's good, because you're his child and he loves you.

And be ready to receive.

Pray with me, please.

Father God, right now we're gonna worship you because you deserve to be worshipped.

We're gonna sing out to you, we're gonna celebrate you because you deserve to be celebrated way more than anything in this world.

And I pray right now, God, that you would give us receptive hearts.

That we would be like Elisha, that we would expect to receive something from you.

God, make us people who have the wisdom to get in proximity to those who have what we need more of.

Fill us with the wisdom to desire being close to what is good, to what is right.

And Jesus, we want to experience more of you.

Holy Spirit, we want a greater portion of you than we've experienced so far.

I want a greater portion of you than I've experienced so far.

I need a greater portion of you than I've experienced so far.

And I pray that as a church, as a family of people, that collectively we would cry out to you and we would say, We want more.

Give us more.

And we believe you want that for us, Lord.

And we want that for ourselves.

And we want that not just so that we can experience it, but we want that so that we can pour it out and bless the people around us, so that we can love the people around us, so that we can change the world around us, Lord.

So give us more of your spirit, of your power, of your presence.

And we ask for this all in your name, Jesus, because it is the name above all names.

Amen.