BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 2 1 When we listen for God to speak to us about doing something, we usually expect "something spiritual." We look for re from heaven, maybe angels singing or something else "worthy of a message from God." But as I started going through the Word, I saw people who moved into the miraculous by rst having to just respond—respond to the Spirit. Just responding may not seem like a great spiritual feat, but blessings follow simple obedience. Take, for example, the story of the woman in 2 Kings 4:8-37 (Amplifi ed Bible, Classic Edition) who built a chamber in her home for the prophet Elisha. Here was a "rich and in uential" woman who "perceived" that Elisha was "a holy man of God" and she knew that her resources could help him in his busy schedule. She just responded. Elisha wanted to bless the woman for the concern she showed. When asked what he could do for her, she claimed to be satis ed. Continuing to seek a way to bless her, Elisha learned the woman had no children. With this knowledge, he prophesied, "At this season when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son" (verse 16, AMPC). By just responding, she received a great blessing. Just Respond Later, when her son suddenly became ill and died she knew what to do. Because of the relationship she had forged with Elisha, she had the con dence to reach out to the man of God. When Elisha prayed, the boy was raised! Just responding to a simple need led to blessings and healing being manifested in this woman's family. Like her, God is asking you to just respond even if the need seems simple. It doesn't take intense prayer, great ability or even money. So, if you're at the grocery store and God tells you to go over to someone and that He will give you the words to say, just do it! I dare you! He will lead you every time. Just respond. Lynne Hammond is a nationally known writer and teacher on the subject of prayer. Her husband, Mac, is founder and senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minn. For more information go to lynnehammond.org 6-foot-3-inch frame towered over Ken, was about to personally address the situation. "My name is Oral Roberts," he said, o ering Ken his hand. He had overheard Ken say he was a commercial pilot and asked if Ken could handle his ministry's airplane. "Yes, sir, I can," Ken had answered. Oral Roberts then told Ken, "Two weeks ago I started to hire a co-pilot for our evangelistic team's airplane. But the Lord said there's a student coming who's supposed to have the job. You're my man!" …It had defi nitely been one very supernatural day. I'll admit, at one hundred dollars for one week's work each month, that job didn't exactly qualify as a fi nancial windfall. But along with some money from the GI Bill and some fi nances that came through Ken's parents, it did give us an income. And, frankly, that income matched our level of faith. We had just a little dab of faith and it brought us a little dab of provision. Since then, both our faith and our provision have increased, thank heaven. Spiritually, however, Ken's job was invaluable because he not only helped fl y Oral Roberts and his team to the healing campaigns, but once they arrived, Ken was in charge of ministry in the invalid tent. After each meeting, Ken was expected to go to the tent, give a fi ve-minute synopsis of the sermon and get the people ready to have Oral Roberts lay hands on them for healing. Ken worked right alongside Oral Roberts, laying hands on the sick and learning directly from him how to minister to people. Ken saw tremendous miracles during those times. He saw a woman spit a malignant stomach tumor onto the ground. He saw paralyzed people instantly healed, crippled people cast o their body braces and run, and many other signs and wonders—including thousands of people coming down the aisles to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. In one instance, a little girl who couldn't move anything except her eyes, jumped up and ran, completely healed. Those things alone would have been more than Ken could have asked by Lynne Hammond Respond

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