One time, I read a scripture in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit whispered a profound revelation to me. Ever since that day, I have always been mindful of the lesson the Holy Spirit taught me.
The interesting thing is that the story came from a scripture I had read many times, but I had never paid attention to that specific verse.
I will share the story and the lesson I learned so that it can improve your prayer life, just as it improved mine.
Wisdom hidden in bible stories
The Old Testament is full of stories, and unlike the New Testament, where the authors give clear instructions and guidance, the Old Testament often presents stories from which you are expected to draw your own conclusions.
Among the many seemingly random stories, one particular story caught my attention for a long time. I knew there were many lessons in it, but I just couldn’t figure out how to draw them out.
This went on until one time when the Holy Spirit randomly revealed that story to me and gave me a profound revelation.
The story of Elisha and Naaman
The story begins in Syria, when Syria was at war with Israel. You would think that God would hate the Syrians for waging war against Israel, but this story presents a very different picture.
In one of the raids that Syria carried out against Israel, they captured a young girl. When she was taken to Syria, she ended up serving the wife of the commander of the Syrian army.
Because the commander had won many battles, the king highly favored him.
One day, the slave girl told the commander’s wife about a powerful prophet in Israel who could heal him. The wife immediately passed the message to her husband, who had leprosy. The husband, in turn, passed the message to the king of Syria.
Humility of the Syrians
The first important point that the Holy Spirit revealed to me was how seriously the Syrians took the message from the slave girl. She was young and a captive, yet her suggestion was taken so seriously that the king of Syria sent a message to the king of Israel based on her report.
The Holy Spirit made me understand that God intentionally uses weak vessels to deliver His message so that only the humble can receive it.
Because God desires humility, this strategy ensures that only the humble benefit from His power. The Syrians, in this case, passed the humility test with flying colors.
This also shows that God is willing to help anyone who humbles themselves, even if they are not the most religious people.
Humility of the King of Israel
After the king of Syria sent a message to the king of Israel asking him to heal his commander, the king of Israel tore his clothes as a sign of humility. In his humility, he could not understand why such a request was made.
He responded, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy?”
Though not holy by any standard, the king of Israel acknowledged that healing is the work of God, not a mortal man.
Elisha’s self-exaltation
However, the great prophet of Israel asked the king to send the sick commander to him. In his own words, he said, “Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
Ironically, it is the great prophet who fails to humble himself and instead boasts of his ability to heal the commander of his leprosy.
The Syrians humbled themselves, the king of Israel humbled himself, but the prophet exalted himself.
His boasting annoyed God. Yet, for the sake of the Syrians and the king of Israel who had humbled themselves, and also for the sake of His name, God still healed the commander through the prophet.
The commander was Naaman, the great prophet was Elisha, and their story is found in 2 Kings chapter 5.
The profound revelation on humility
The Holy Spirit helped me understand that just because God has answered your prayer does not mean you have done everything right.
There are many cases where God answers a prayer for reasons different from what people assume.
In this case, Elisha may have thought he was powerful, but God answered because of the humility of the Syrians.
To show that He was not pleased with Elisha’s pride, God later struck Elisha with an illness that led to his death, as recorded in 2 Kings 13:14.
God allowed Elisha to die from that illness as a form of humiliation for bragging about his power to heal. This shows God’s consistency in dealing with people, regardless of their position, as Luke 14:11 states:‘ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Holy Spirit made me understand that God requires humility from anyone who approaches Him, regardless of their status.
God’s incorruptible integrity
Lastly, the Holy Spirit taught me a deep lesson from Naaman’s words after he was healed.
First, Naaman tried to persuade Elisha to accept a gift, but Elisha refused. When Naaman realized this, he made a vow to stop worshiping other gods and to worship only the God of Israel.
However, because of his role as a commander, he was required to accompany the Syrian king when he worshiped the god Rimmon, which meant he would have to bow as well.
Because of this, Naaman asked to be forgiven whenever he bowed down.
The Holy Spirit helped me understand that this request was not granted. It was a case of asking God to legalize sin. As surprising as it may sound, many believers do this all the time.
God will never legalize sin for anyone, no matter how much they ask. As it is written in Ezekiel 18:20, the soul that sins shall die.
Unfortunately, many believers fall into this trap. They expect God to answer future prayers based on past answered prayers.
This is a form of manipulation that does not work because God treats each prayer individually. Each prayer comes with its own set of demands in terms of the level of faith and humility required.
Conclusion
Naaman humbled himself and received healing from God. But the healing quickly made him proud that he asked God to permit him to commit sin.
On the other hand, Elisha exalted himself in healing Naaman but showed humility by turning down any compensation for the healing.
This shows that receiving an answer to prayer does not make you holy, and receiving punishment does not mean you are wicked.
God is a righteous judge who exercises righteousness and justice to all without favoritism.
God bless you.