DIVINE ADVANCEMENT DAY 8 "ENGAGING THE MYSTERY OF HOSPITALITY FOR SUPERNATURAL ADVANCEMENT"

SCRIPTURE

"Don’t forget to show hospitality to believers you don’t know. By doing this some believers have shown hospitality to angels without being aware of it." (Hebrews 13:2)

KEY STATEMENT

Anytime people in the Bible practiced genuinely and consistently hospitality, they also made for themselves room for a supernatural advancement and progress in their life.

1st case : Abraham and Sara were unable to conceive for 25 years. But when they showed hospitality to the strangers who passed through their home, bareness was broken and Sara conceived.

2nd case : The Shunammite advanced from barreness to fruitfulness by showing hospitality to the man of God the prophet Elisha. 

3rd case : By engaging the mystery of hospitality, Rahab the prostitute was spared and exempted with her household from the destruction of the city of Jericho.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOSPITABLE?

According to the King James Dictionnary, hospitality is the act or practice of receiving and entertaining strangers or guests without reward, or with kind and generous liberality.

5 THINGS THE SHUNAMMITE TEACHES US ON THE POWER OF THE MYSTERY OF HOSPITALITY

We find the story of the Shunammite's hospitality in 2 Kings 4:8-17. From this story we discover how powerful is the mystery of hospitality in provoking advancement in someone's life.

1st lesson : She teaches us that hospitality is every believer's ministry whose heart is available to care for others. 

"And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where [was] a great woman ..." (2 Kings 4:8)

The Bible never identified the Shunammite by her name. No one ever knows and will ever konw her name. However she is just described in this text as a "great woman".

My friend, you don't need to have a title or a big name to show hospitality. All you need is a heart available to care for others.

2nd lesson : She teaches us that  hospitality is not about what you are able to offer but about how available you are to offer what you have.

"One day as Elisha was traveling through Shunem, she constrained him to eat bread" (2 Kings 4:8)

From this Scripture, we see that the Shunammite never waited to have more opportunities to show hospitality to the man of God. She never tried to find out his tribal background or his denomination background.

She was just spiritually sensitive to the leading of the Lord that the same day she met him, the very same day she seized the opportunity and constrained him to come home and eat bread.

It is therefore important for you to understand that hospitality never starts when you have money or food. It starts when you are spiritually sensitive enough to see and seize opportunities coming your way. In other words, you don’t need more strength or ability or opportunity to show hospitality. What you need is to use what you have. 

3rd lesson : She teaches us that if hospitality is genuinely from the heart, it should never be occasional but rather a lifestyle.

"...And [so] it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread." (2 Kings 4:8)

It happens then that whenever Elisha was in the area, he stopped in to eat in the Shunammite's house. When the Bible says "whenever", there is no mention of how many times the prophet stopped by to eat in that house. 

It shows that the Shunammite's hospitality was not occasional but a part pf her lifetime.

4th lesson : She teaches us that we don't need a reason and we don't need to be pushed or forced to be hospitable. True hospitality is a willingful and a growing hospitality.

"And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this [is] an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither." (2 Kings 4:9-10)

Not contented with proffering the mere hospitality of rest and food, the Shunammite determined to upgrade the level of her hospitality. She purposed in her heart to do this even though no one asked her to. 

She did not only want the man of God to visit her but she wanted the man of God to dwell with her.

5th lesson : She teaches us that hospitality always bring reciprocal blessing

2 Kings 4:16 And Elisha said to her, "About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son..."

In making room for the prophet in her home, she also made room for a supernatural advancement which moved her from bareness to fruitfulness.

PROPHETIC DECLARATIONS AND PRAYERS 

I PRAY MY HEAVENLY FATHER TO DESTROY IN YOU ANY SELFISH SPIRIT AND GIVE YOU A HEART THAT CARES FOR OTHERS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST !

Declare and pray _____________________________

I PRAY MY FATHER TO GIVE YOU SPIRITUAL EYES TO SEE AND SPIRITUAL HANDS TO SEIZE AROUND YOU THE OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW HOSPITALITY TOWARD SOMEBODY IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST !

Declare and pray _____________________________

I PRAY MY GOD TO MAKE YOU BE DETERMINED AND WILLING TO PRACTICE HOSPITALITY AS YOUR LIFESTYLE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST !

Declare and pray _____________________________

I PRAY MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN TO HELP YOU MAKE ROOM IN YOUR LIFE, IN YOUR SALARY, IN YOUR INCOME, IN YOUR DAILY FOOD, IN YOUR TIME FOR THE LORD, FOR YOUR CHURCH, FOR THE POOR AND THE NEEDY, FOR THE WIDOWS AND THE ORPHANS, FOR THE HEARTBROKEN, FOR THE PRISONERS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST !

Declare and pray _____________________________

SO SHALL IT BE. 

🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃🔃

JESUS IS LORD !

Pastor T.D. KASUKU K.K.

The Word Of Life Church International

Nairobi/Kenya