The following teaching was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, at the Friday night prayer and praise service held on June 15, 1984. The title is The Right Use of Positive Confession, and the scripture reference is 2 Kings 4, verses 8-37. 

Just a real brief vignette tonight. This is the sort of thing that sort of speaks for itself, and I don't have a whole lot to say about it. I just want to remind us of this story and let God apply it to our lives in whatever way he sees fit.

2 Kings chapter 4. and starting with verse 8. This is a story about Elisha and most of you are probably more familiar with Elijah.

This was his understudy. This was the man who inherited Elijah's ministry after he was taken up in a whirlwind chariots of fire up to heaven. It says, One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food.

So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. She took care of him. She was concerned for this traveling minister of God, and she shared of her wealth.

And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. He's in our neighborhood all the time. Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us he can go in there.

I don't know if you've ever heard the phrase a prophet's chamber, but that's where it comes from. That's a phrase that is often used in some churches about having a place available in your home for the missionary who comes back from the field or for the traveling evangelist or for the YWAM worker or whatever it might be, that you would have a special room, a guest room, ready, set up for any such person and you would want to extend your hospitality. And that's where that phrase comes from.

This wealthy woman would never even learn her name. it's obvious that she had the agreement and the cooperation of her husband but she took the lead she said here is a man of God and he's continually in our neighborhood and he's not very well off maybe we can provide a little bit for him can we provide some food and a place for him to stay so we read on one day he came there and he turned into the chamber and he rested there and he said to Gehazi I always want to say God bless you after that. He said to his servant, to his servant, he said, Call this Shunammite.

And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, Say now to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us. What is to be done for you?

You've been so gracious to us. is there anything that we could do for you by way of returning the favor? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?

She answered, I dwell among my own people. I don't need that kind of intervention. I'm fine.

And he said, what then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, well, she has no son and her husband is old. probably too old she's not ever going to have a son and Elisha said call her and when he had called her she stood in the doorway and he said at this season when the time comes round next year you shall embrace a son and she said no my lord oh man of God do not lie to your maidservant.

She didn't believe it, like so many other women in very similar circumstances in the scriptures. This is a miraculous intervention at the time when either she or her husband or perhaps both of them were too old to bear children. This is something she couldn't believe.

And yet the prophet says, God is going to intervene here and he's going to do the miraculous. He's going to give you a son. She says, don't lie to me.

Don't put me on. But the woman conceived. And she bore a son about that time the following spring, just as Elisha had said to her.

Now that's the story in itself, but it's the epilogue to that story that is really the concern here tonight. When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers, and he said to his father, Oh, my head, my head. He had some kind of an attack, a blood clot in his brain, some stroke, it doesn't really matter.

He had some kind of an attack. The father said to his servant, carry him to his mother. And when he had lifted him and brought him into his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.

And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went out. Then she called to her husband and said, Send me one of the servants and one of the asses that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again. Now, I'm as interested in what she didn't say as in what she did say.

Apparently, she didn't tell her husband that the boy had even died. Now, he knew something was wrong, desperately wrong, had the servant take the boy in to his mother. He trusted her spirituality.

He trusted her prayer. He trusted her relationship with God. She was the one who was motivated out of a spirit of generosity to provide for the prophet.

She was the one to whom the prophet spoke, and it turned out spoke accurately. She was the one in whom the miracle occurred, and she conceived and bore a son. but as I read the passage it does not appear that she went back and told her husband what had happened she simply says I gotta go and see the man of God send me one of the servants and one of the asses that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again and he said he the husband said why will you go to him today it is neither new moon nor Sabbath y'all don't need preachers except on holy days see Notice this answer. This is lovely.

Notice this, and she's going to speak again in a moment. And she said, It will be well. Then she saddled the ass, and she said to her servant, Urge the beast on. Do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.

And she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God, Elisha, saw her coming, he said to Gehazi, his servant, Look yonder. There is the Shunammite.

Run at once to meet her and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?

He has some kind of a feeling that she's coming here in great haste and great agitation. Before she even speaks to him, he senses maybe things aren't right. So he asks, Is it well?

And she answered, It is well. I love that answer. She said to her husband, it will be well.

She says to the prophet, it is well. And at this point, it's not at all well. Her son has died.

This miracle child has died, and that's why she's there. But she says, it is well. And when she came to the mountain, to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet.

And Gehazi, the servant, came to thrust her away. But the man of God said, Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress. And the Lord has hidden it from me.

Isn't that interesting? Here's one of the mightiest prophets of God that you'll ever find in all the scriptures. You read some of the things that God accomplished through Elisha and it'll make your hair stand on end.

But God has not told Elisha at this point what the problem is. He just knows in his spirit there's something very wrong. She hasn't told me and the Lord has hidden it from me.

Then she said, Did I ask you, did I ask my Lord for a son? I didn't ask for a son. Did I not say, do not deceive me?

This whole thing was your idea. I didn't ask for a son you came up with that and when you told me about it I didn't believe it but it happened he said to Gehazi gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go if you meet anyone do not salute him and if anyone salutes you do not reply and lay my staff upon the face of the child the child is laying in Elisha's bed, dead. And he says, take my staff. You can get there faster than I can.

You're a young man. I'm an old man. You take my staff and lay it right on the child's body, right on his face.

Then the mother of the child said, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her. Now it may be, and I'm not sure, it may be that he intended just for the staff to go, you know, just take my staff and let that be a vehicle of God's grace and God's miracle working power.

Something like Peter in the book of Acts sending out those napkins. That may have been his intention. But this woman says to him, I'm not going to let go of you.

You're going back there with me. Kind of like Moses. When the Lord said, I'll send my presence, he says, unless you yourself go, I'm not leaving.

I want you to see that this woman is relating to the prophet of God as if he were God. She's relating to him as if he were God. That's not blasphemy at all.

That's not idolatry. He is the vehicle of God's grace to her at this particular moment. And she's relating to this man as if he were God.

And she's saying, I'm not going to let go of you. You can send your staff if you like, but I'm not going to let go of you. See?

So he arose and followed her. Gehazai went on ahead and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he, Gehazi, returned to meet him, Elisha, and told him, The child has not awakened.

When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his own bed. So he went in and shut the door upon the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child became warm.

Then he got up again and walked once to and fro in the house and went up and stretched himself upon him again, and the child sneezed seven times. I told you, you had to say Gezunite in this story. And then he summoned Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite.

So he called her, and when she came to him, he said, Take up your son. She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she took up her son and went out.

Now, I don't think that this is the kind of story that you can make into an absolute and draw conclusions that will apply to every situation. It's a story. It's a narrative.

And God deals differently with different people in different situations. And you can't take just one story and build your whole worldview on it. Nevertheless, I think there's some fascinating principles at work here.

And I just want to mention a couple of them, as I say, very briefly. She went to Elisha as unto the Lord Himself. And in essence, what she said was, do you give gifts only to take them away again?

Is that what this is all about? Are you toying with me? Did I ask you for a son?

you said what can we do for this woman and I didn't ask anything it was your idea and you were the instrument of God here on earth in giving me this unexpected and unrequested gift have you given it just to take it away again is that the kind of a God that you represent Is that what this life of faith is all about? That's a rhetorical question. Obviously, the answer is no. And obviously, she wouldn't even ask it if she thought the answer was anything but no. God is not that kind of a God.

He doesn't just give gifts to toy with us. Now, the problem is that that is a very tough question if you try to make it an absolute. and the truth of the matter is that sometimes that appears to be exactly what's happening the book of Job says the Lord gives and what?

and the Lord takes away blessed be the name of the Lord sometimes that's the way life is the Lord gives and the Lord takes away blessed be the name of the Lord but in this particular instance I want you to see that this is a legitimate question. It's a legitimate question because sometimes it's not the Lord who takes away at all, but it's the enemy. Do you follow me?

You with me? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

But sometimes the Lord gives and the enemy would seek to take away. And that's a legitimate question. it's a legitimate question did you give me this gift just to take it away the answer is no God didn't give that gift just to take it away and I cannot force that into a formula for you but it's a legitimate question God you gave me this gift there's absolutely no question that you gave it Now, it appears that it's being taken away from me.

Are you taking it away? Or is that the work of the enemy? Ought I to accept this in faith, or ought I to resist it in faith?

Are you with me? Notice that if she had not gone to that man of God, And in going to him, she went to the Lord himself. Notice that had she not gone with that insistent demand, her son would have remained dead.

He died. That's it. It's all over.

But she wasn't willing to settle for that. God gave me this gift. Did he give it just to take it away? I don't believe that.

He gave me this gift, this child, this miracle son. He gave this to me and I don't believe it's God who's taking it away. And I'm going back to God and I'm going to talk to Him and I'm not going to let go of Him until I get this thing sorted out.

That's what she's saying. One of the phrases that has become very popular in our generation is the phrase positive confession. And I think that's a very slippery and sometimes a very dangerous phrase.

And a lot of people seem to use that phrase to mean, whatever you confess, just keep confessing it, whatever you confess, you'll finally get. And I don't believe that's biblical. I think, in fact, that's magic.

But there is an appropriate use of that phrase, and I think this epitomizes it. This lady is involved in appropriate positive confession. And I'd put it to you this way.

Biblical positive confession is that what God has given to me, I'm going to confess is mine and stand against the devil who would seek to take it away. And that's exactly what I see in her. She's saying, I confess that this gift, this son of mine, has been given by God, and it's not God who's taking him away, it's the enemy, and I'm not going to let go of God until I get him back.

All will be well, she says to her husband. All is well, she says to Gehazi, even while all is very far from well. And that's an act of faith.

The enemy is trying to steal, what God has given. But I'm hanging on to God and I'm not going to let go. And I'm not going to let the enemy get it.

That's exactly the same thing that Abraham did. You remember when they go up to Mount Moriah and God has said, you've got to take your only son Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice and they're on their way up the mountain. And they leave the servants behind and Isaac says, Father, where is the sacrifice?

Do you know what Abraham says? God will provide. Now it's an open question and one of the most fascinating questions of the whole scripture whether he thought that God would do what God did namely provide an alternative or whether he thought that God would allow Isaac to be sacrificed and raise him from the dead.

I don't know the answer to that question. That's a fascinating question. But Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day.

Abraham, by faith, looked down the corridors of time and saw the day of resurrection. And he confessed what God had given him as a gift. God will provide one way or another.

I don't know how he's going to do it. I don't know if there's going to be a ram in the thicket, or I don't know if he's going to raise Isaac from the dead, but I do know God is going to provide. That's what the woman is saying.

God will provide. That's positive confession in the true and biblical sense. When God says it, you confess it.

Do you hear the difference between that and the other thing that I described? I mean, so many people. Maybe we're mishearing them.

Maybe that's not what they meant to say, but it sure sounds like what they're saying is you just decide what you want and confess it loudly enough and long enough and it'll be yours. I don't find any warrant for that in Scripture. But what I do find in Scripture is when God says it, you confess it and you stand on it.

And the devil's going to try to take it away, but he's not going to be able to if you'll hang on to God. Pretty soon the enemy's going to get sick and tired of trying to confuse you. And that raises a question.

And I just raise this for you. What has God given you? What has God given you?

Because I suspect that sooner or later, most of us are going to find the enemy trying to convince us that what God has given, the enemy can take away. Whether we're talking about salvation, new life from God, the promise of eternity, healing, our marriages. How many of you know that your marriages are going to come under attack?

If they haven't already. Did God give you your marriage? If God gave you your marriage, God doesn't want to take that away.

But that might slip through your fingers if you don't hang on to God. Because the enemy wants to steal it away. And he will if you let him.

can you see yourself running to the feet of Jesus and hanging on to Him and saying I'm not going to let go of you until you restore that thing that the enemy is trying to steal away from me your kids the enemy wants to take your kids and make them his God you gave me those kids did you give them just to take them away no God didn't give you those kids to take them away but the enemy wants to take them away and he will if you let him your job God gave you a job to do as unto the Lord only you try to do it as unto the Lord and it doesn't quite fit the system and the enemy wants to take that away. Did you give me this job just to take it away? No. The enemy wants to take it away.

Do you follow what I'm saying? Sometimes the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

But sometimes the Lord gives and the enemy wants to take it away. And like this little lady whose name we don't even know, we've got to run to the Lord and grab Him around the ankles and say, I'm not going to let go of you until you restore that which you've given. And I confess you gave it.

The world didn't give it and the world can't take it away. Satan didn't give it, and Satan can't take it away. You gave it, and I'm hanging on to you, and I expect you to protect it.

May God apply that to our lives personally, however it fits. Let's bow our heads together. Bill Reardon, would you lead us in prayer, please? Father God, we praise you for all you have given us, but most of all we praise you for the love with which you surround us and which kill us. We praise you for giving us each other. We thank you for sending your only son Jesus Christ into the world to find us and bring us back to you.

Father God, we thank you for not the things that you've given us for. Those people, those things we cannot touch, that are our life. The world has not given, and the world cannot take away.

and what you have given and made part of us, the devil cannot take away. Amen. We praise you, Father. Be with us in this quiet moment. Strengthen us to stand on every promise that you have made, to affirm and assert every one of us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.