As we were preparing to enter into the New Year, with all the new projects that we had planned, God Himself asked me this question. All too often, the work that we are intending to do for the Lord is slowed down, or even brought to a halt by what appears to be a lack of provision.

We serve a God of abundance, a God of blessings, a God who delights in the prosperity of His servants (Ps 35:27). Yet, with all this, it seems that there aren't a whole lot of believers who are prospering. In fact, it seems that a sign of a believer is the opposite; that instead of being the head, we are often the tail, instead of being the blessed, we are often the needy.

If God is a God of abundance and blessing, how can we, who are supposedly trying to do His work here on earth, be walking and working with so much lacking in our lives? How can we proclaim the blessings of God, when we aren't manifesting them on a daily basis? How can we accomplish His work, when we have to beg for every dollar that's needed?

There's a saying in the church in the United States. It goes like this: "If God orders the pizza, He pays the bill." In other words, when God commands us to do something, He provides everything we need to finish the task. We aren't lacking because God has forgot to pay the bill; we're lacking because we don't know how to receive from Him. We aren't lacking because God is limited, we're lacking because we've put limits upon God's ability to bless us.

If we, the church, are ever going to accomplish our Heavenly Father's will here on earth, to extend His Kingdom, we need to remove these artificial limits we've created, and receive the fullness of what God has for us, materially, financially, and especially spiritually.

I'm not talking here about some spiritual "get rich scheme." There's been way too much of that in the Body of Christ already. Nor am I taking about how to twist God's arm, in order that He bless us with a new house, a new car, and whatever else our little hearts desire. I'm taking about receiving the provision and blessing that God has already prepared SO THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL!

Until the church learns how to receive from God, and receive with correct motivation, we won't see the fullness of the Kingdom of God revealed here on earth. Until we see the fullness of the Kingdom, we won't see the rapture. It's that plain and simple. Not so that we can show up the unbelievers in the game of financial prosperity, but so that we can show up their financial prosperity with our spiritual prosperity.

So, why aren't we receiving what God has ordained for us to receive? What are these artificial limits we've created? Why did we create them in the first place? And finally, what can we do to get rid of them?

I'm glad you asked, lets look at those very questions, and see what we can do to get rid of a couple of very critical areas of limits that we've unknowingly erected, which are preventing us from having the capacity to receive that God wants and needs us to have.

The first area of limits I want to look at is in faith.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. ² And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. ³ Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. ⁴ And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. ⁵ So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. ⁶ And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. ⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

2 Ki 4:1-7

The first thing I'd like to point out in this story is the need for a seed. When the woman went to the prophet (Elisha), he asked her "what do you have in the house?" Now, if she was like us, she would probably have said, "I don't have anything, that's why I'm coming to you." The truth of the matter is that we always have something, but we don't think in terms of what we have, we think in terms of what we lack. Our negative world has taught us to be negative in our outlook. This negativity destroys our faith.

We always have something, maybe it isn't much, but there's something. If we want God's provision and blessing, we need to look at what we have; not so much in terms of what we can do with it, but in terms of what God can do with it.

What we have to learn to do is see things as God sees them. Not look at those things that we have from the point of human limits, but look at them from the point of a limitless God. When we place anything in God's hands, he is able to do great things with it. He can take the little that we have, and turn it into great things.

This woman, even in her poverty, had obviously looked throughout her house, before the prophet asked her, for something that she could offer to God. She had determined that the best seed she could come up with was this pot of oil. It may not seem like much, but inside every seed, whether it is a natural seed, or a financial seed, or a seed of service, or a seed of a gift, is a harvest waiting to come out.

The prophet gave the woman some very specific instructions for what to do with her little pot of oil. His first instruction to her was to borrow LOTS of empty vessels from her neighbors. I like that. All too often, when we have a need, we look for a "just barely enough" type of answer.

We don't serve a "just barely enough" type of God, so we shouldn't expect a "just barely enough" type of answer from Him. If we need a car, we shouldn't ask God for a piece of junk, we should ask him for what we need, a good, reliable, functioning car. I'm not saying ask for a Cadillac, I'm saying ask for something that meets the need, and will continue to meet the need.

Having a "just barely enough" mentality is having a poverty mentality. It is a form of false humility, saying that "I'm not worthy to receive more than this."

When the Israelites were in Egypt, they lived in a place where they never had enough. As slaves, they didn't reap the benefit of their work, the Egyptians did. They constantly had to scrounge to have enough to get by.

When God took them out of Egypt, and they were walking in the desert, God provided manna for them. They received just enough manna for every day. They didn't have any more lack, but they didn't have any abundance either.

But, God wasn't satisfied with just barely meeting their needs, He wanted to give them abundant provision. He wanted to take them to a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of blessing, a land where the harvests were so big, that it took to men to carry a bunch of grapes! That's abundance. The prophet told the woman to ask for lots of vessels because he knew that he knew that our God is a God of abundance! When He does miracles, they are miracles of abundance!

The prophet's next instruction to the woman was to close the door. Why close the door? To keep unbelief outside.

Jesus did this too in His ministry here on earth. When Jairus came to Him, because his daughter was gravely sick, Jesus went with him to see her (Mk 5:22; Lk 8:41). However, before they could get to the house, a messenger came to tell Jairus that his daughter had died (Mk 5:35; Lk 8:49). Jesus didn't allow death to stop Him, but instead told Jairus to hang onto his faith (Mk 5:36; Lk 8:50). Arriving at the house, Jesus found the typical crowd of (professional) mourners and kicked them out, closing the door (Mk 5:40; Lk 8:54), so that no unbelief could come in while he was raising her from the dead.

Whenever one is living, or working by faith, there are always unbelievers who will gladly tell them that what they're doing won't work. I'm not talking about unconverted unbelievers, I'm talking about Christian unbelievers. Those who supposedly have accepted Jesus as their Savior, but don't have any faith in Him.

The third instruction that the prophet gave the woman was to fill the vessels she had borrowed with the oil she had. This is the miracle part. As she started pouring out oil, God started multiplying it. The more she poured, the more He multiplied. Every time a vessel was filled, she'd have her sons give her another, and just keep on pouring. That one vessel of oil she had was multiplied 20, 30, 50, maybe even 100 times! Until… she ran out of vessels to pour it into.

The moment the woman's capacity to receive stopped, the miracle of multiplication that God was performing stopped. I think that that one little bottle of oil she had would have filled a supertanker, if she had one on hand. But, she didn't. So, when her capacity stopped, her blessing stopped as well.

This is the same thing that happens to many of us. We ask for blessings, but we don't have the capacity to receive what we are asking for. God can't bless us like we want, simply because we don't have anyplace to put the blessing.

Several years ago, I was working as Assistant Pastor in a church in upstate New York. This church was very active, and had three assistant pastors, in addition to the Senior Pastor. One of the Assistant Pastors had the additional responsibility of accounting for the church. His most regular prayer request was that somebody send the church a check for $100,000.00 (dollars).

One day, I asked this other Assistant Pastor why he was constantly making this same prayer request. He told me that the church had outstanding debt for a piece of property we were buying, and various bills, that totaled $40,000.00.

I asked him, "What are you going to do with the other $60,000.00?"

He answered, "Put it in the bank, in case we need it."

Ii shook my head, answering him, "Brother, I can't agree with you on that prayer request. I don't believe God will have somebody send a check for $100,000.00."

"Why not?" He asked me."

"Because, you don't have a need for $100,000.00. You have a need for $40,000.00. As soon as you put that money in the bank, you'll quit praying for provision, quit having faith in God, and start having faith in that money in the bank."

Most of us are like this. We ask for things, without thinking what we are going to do with them once we get them. We limit our capacity, by our inability to use what we are asking for.

Just recently, I heard about a pastor who had been praying for God to give him a church of 1,000 members. There was a large evangelistic campaign in his city, and he went to it, along with 200,000 other people. The evangelist received a word of knowledge that there was a pastor in the meeting who was praying for 1,000 members. He called for that pastor to come forwards, and asked him if his building was big enough for 1,000 people. When the pastor said no, he lost the opportunity to receive all those people he'd been praying for. He didn't have the capacity to receive them.

We need to have a vision that is bigger than we are. We need to have a plan for what we are going to do with God's blessing. Otherwise, we can forget about receiving it.

I have a $100,000.00 plan right now. If God were to drop that much money into my lap, I know exactly what I'd do with it. I also have a $250,000.00 plan. I don't have a $500,000.00 plan, but I'm praying for one.

The final instruction that the prophet gave to the woman was to sell the oil, pay her debt, and live off the rest. I like that; that phrase shows the abundance of God's Blessing. Instead of giving the woman just enough to pay her dept, He gave her enough to meet tomorrow's need as well. Even though the woman hadn't asked for God to provide for her future, God took care of that as well. The miracle of multiplication that God did wasn't limited to the problem of the moment, but to the totality of the woman's need.

But, if the woman needed the money, why didn't God just give her the money? Because God didn't have the right to multiply money. To do so would have been counterfeiting, and God never breaks the law.

God did what God had the right to do. He couldn't multiply money, because He didn't make it, the government did. However, He did make the oil, so he could multiply that.

The woman in this story had faith. She had a need, and she knew where to go to have her need met. Her capacity to receive was in direct proportion to that faith. When her faith ran out, so did her capacity. God filled every bit of the capacity that she had.

Let's look at another story in the same book, which illustrates another aspect of faith. The effect that lack of faith has on one's capacity to receive. Just as faith helps us to receive from the Lord, lack of faith hinders our ability to receive from the Lord. In fact, it can so hinder us that we are dying in the midst of people who being blessed.

And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

2 Re 6:24-25

Israel (the northern part, after the nation split) was in great distress. Their capital was surrounded by the Syrian army, there was famine, and there didn't seem to be any natural help. In the middle of all this, the Lord gives a Word to the prophet, Elisha.

Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. ² Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

1 Re 7:1-2

Unfortunately for one of the princes of Israel (mentioned here as "a lord on whose hand the king leaned"), he didn't believe the Word of the Lord. Even though he was an important man, a counselor of the king, and quite possibly the "first minister" of the kingdom, he wasn't a man of faith. Position doesn't give one faith, and many times takes what faith they have away from them.

The prophet, on hearing the words of this trusted advisor, responded to them, and let him know that his lack of faith had a price; that of his death. Although it isn't recorded in scripture, I wonder what the reaction of this important man was. Did he just scoff the words of the prophet, as he did with the prophecy? Or, did this direct word against him personally give him pause, and make him think that there may be something to what the prophet had said?

Of course, as with all prophecy that God gives, He brought it to pass. I really like how He did it, too. He used four lepers to bring about victory for Israel, without one soldier having to raise his hand to the battle.

We could go into a whole teaching about that, but let's just leave it at this: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Cor 1:27).

When this victory came about, the king appointed the same official to take charge of the gate. But, the people were in such haste to receive of the spoil that they trampled him in their haste to get to the spoil. So, while the people of Samaria were enjoying their newfound wealth, preparing wonderful meals, and rejoicing in the victory, this prince, for lack of faith, was dead; just as the prophet had said.

How many times do we miss out on God's blessing because we don't believe. The Bible tells us "the just shall live by faith" (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38). That phrase is important enough, that God felt it necessary to write it four times in scripture. If we don't live by faith, we may end up dying for our lack of it.

Our capacity to receive is limited by our acceptance of God's Word. Just as this prince didn't accept God's Word, through the prophet, and therefore didn't receive. So too, when we don't accept something that God has said to us, whether it is through His written Word, or His spoken Word, we don't receive. We can be in the midst of blessing, watching everyone else receive, and not participate in the blessing for our lack of faith.

Just as our lack of faith can limit our capacity to receive, great faith can augment our ability to receive. This phrase, "great faith," is only found in two stories in scripture, and in those stories Jesus was speaking of people whom the Jews would think of as unbelievers.

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, ⁶ And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. ⁷ And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. ⁸ The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. ⁹ For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. ¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel… ¹³ And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Mat 8:5-13 (also in Luc 7:2-10)

While here on earth, Jesus was not in the habit of doing miracles for Romans, Samaritans, and other non-Jewish people. In fact, he actually refused to heal a Canaanite woman's daughter, saying she was as a dog.

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil… ²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. ²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. ²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. ²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Mat 15:22-28 (also in Mar 7:25-29)

These two people grasped hold of a biblical principle that many believers never grasp. That is "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6). Even though their capacity to receive from Jesus was essentially zero, by having great faith they augmented their capacity to the point where they both received miracles of healing.

How is it that people who were supposedly non-believers had this great faith, while those who had spent their lives studying scriptures didn't have any? Or, even worse, how is it that a someone can come to a crusade, without knowing anything about the Bible, and have the faith for a miracle, while those of us who have studied the Bible for years, don't have that level of faith?

I think part of their great faith came out of their need. In both cases, there wasn't any other hope for them. They needed Jesus to do something, because nobody else could. In our modern society, we have too many other options available. Because of that, we all too often leave God to be a "last resort," instead of seeking Him as our first step.

If God isn't our first, last, and only hope, He isn't anything. God doesn't move when we have a plan B, nor does He move when we are trying every other possibility. He moves when we walk out on the water, and expect Him to hold us up, because nothing else can.

Great faith, or for that matter, any kind of faith, is manifested through our words. Our words are an expression of our faith, or lack of faith. When we use words of faith, declaring the Word of God, we receive what we are saying. However, when we use words that are the opposite of what we are believing for, we also receive what we are saying, even if it is what we don't want.

Remember, God created this entire universe with His words. In Genesis, chapter one, we see how God used His words to bring about the creation. He imagined what He wanted to create, believed in faith to do it, then He spoke it out. That which He spoke came to pass.

Often, instead of saying what we want, we say what is. Faith always speaks about things that are not yet manifested in the natural. By declaring in faith that which is not yet manifested, we help bring it from the spirit realm, into the natural one.

We need to understand that there is a difference between reality and truth. Reality is what we see around us; truth is that which is stated in the Bible. If someone has cancer, the reality is that cancer. But, the truth is that "by Jesus' stripes we are healed" (Is 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24). If we spend too much time focusing on the reality of the cancer, we help that cancer overcome its victim, and they die. However, if we focus upon the truth of God's healing, and what the Bible says about it, we help bring about that healing.

Our words are like spiritual seeds. We speak them out, "sowing" them into the spirit realm. Those which are of faith in God, He helps to grow and bring about a harvest of blessing in agreement with our words. Those which are not of faith will grow as well, bringing about a harvest of cursing instead of blessing.

In Second Kings, chapter four, there was a Shunammite woman, who was called in the Bible a "great woman," recognizing Elisha as a man of God, she wanted to bless him. She spoke to her husband, and convinced him to build a room on their house for Elisha to use whenever he passed by (2 Ki 4:8-10).

Elisha, of course, appreciated this gesture and asked his servant, Gehazi, what he could do to bless the woman. Gehazi noticed that she didn't have a son, and told Elisha so. This gave Elisha the opportunity to bless the woman, and told her she would soon have a son (2 Ki 4:14-16).

Of course, she had the son, as the prophet said, but later on, that same son died.

And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹ And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. ²⁰ And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

2 Ki 4:18-20

The woman could have cried, and wailed, and complained, but she didn't. She knew the importance of her words, and maintained a positive confession of faith.

And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. ²³ And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. ²⁴ Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. ²⁵ So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: ²⁶ Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

2 Ki 4:22-26 (emphasis by author)

Even though the reality of the situation was not well, her son had died, she told both her husband, and Elisha's servant that all was well. She didn't even share with her husband that there was a problem! It was his son as well, but she didn't tell her husband that he died! It wasn't until she spoke to Elisha that she gave any indication that there was something wrong. Even then, she didn't wail and lament, she didn't even say her son was dead. All she said was "Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?" (2 Ki 4:28).

This was enough for the prophet to understand that there was a problem with the woman's son. He didn't need the details, he just needed to know that there was a problem. Let me say here that all too often we concentrate on the details of the problem, instead of the solution. It doesn't matter what the problem is, the important part is the solution. Jesus is the solution, we need to concentrate on Him.

Had the woman concentrated on the problem, she wouldn't have spoken in faith, she wouldn't have gone to see the prophet, and she wouldn't have received her son back to life. But, instead of focusing on the problem, she maintained a good confession of faith, and went to seek the answer to her faith.

Our capacity to receive is limited by our faith. If we have great faith, and act upon that great faith we will receive great things from God. But, on the other hand, if we don't have any faith, and go around complaining about our lack, all we will ever see is lack.

How much faith do you have? Are you using it? Faith, like a muscle, must be exercised to grow. If you never use your faith, you will only have the "measure of faith" that is given to every man (Rom 12:3). But, if you are wise, and plant your faith in those areas where you need to, God will cause it to grow, and you will have great faith. Your capacity to receive from God will increase, and you will receive more from Him.

Go to Part 2 of this Teaching