“The men of the city said to Elisha “…the water is bad, and the ground barren”…He went to the source of the water and cast salt there, and said…I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.”  2 KG 2:19-21

Healing the water of a city which had been making people sick, even causing some to die, was the first of sixteen miracles performed by the prophet Elisha. Many which followed were like it and have left me with a deep impression, rising in my spirit to become a cry: Lord, in our day, I want more than prophetic “words” or prophetic “acts”. What I long to see is a prophetic generation arise in the spirit of Elisha whose “prophesies” are more than words and were not merely symbolic. Lives will be saved. Hearts will be changed. Impossible and tragic situations will be solved. The kinds of challenges we face in this hour don’t need to be temporarily bandaged and mitigated. V. 22 says “the water remains healed to this day.” The Elisha affect is practical and permanent.

One of the keys to understanding Elisha is “he went to the source”. While it is noble and caring to go to the city and pray for all those who were sick and dying because of the accursed water, Elisha did something much better. He healed the water itself. If you were to ask all of those people who were writhing in pain or stricken with a high fever which they would prefer, to get deathly ill and be healed or to never have gotten sick in the first place, which do you think they would choose? Which do you prefer? God help us! I don’t want to only contend for people to be healed. I want to believe God for the wisdom, power, and authority to heal at the source.

In recent years I have seen glimpses of what God has in mind. Elisha did not just provide money for the widow when she and her son were in desperation. The oil that filled all the jars she had gathered met her financial need into the distant future. Beloved, we can do much better than just give people a handout. We are called to empower them to truly live, not just to stay alive. When my daughter shared with me her call to rescue women being trafficked and enslaved in the horrific sex trade, I told her that I believed the Lord would have her to pray about not just rescuing a few; but to expose and take down the systems which control this entire industry over regions. Church, in these last days, we simply have to do better. It could be compared to stopping a haul of a thousand tons of cocaine at a nation’s border to trying to arrest hundreds of distributers spread out across a sea of cities.

By contrast, I feel the Church is often engaged in tactics which are weak and largely ineffective. While we should certainly honor and celebrate effort, and sacrifice, the hour has come for us to ask God for keys to unlock mysteries, to unveil supernatural wisdom, to direct our steps and give us access to the root causes of pain and injustice. Why should we spend so much effort to catch a gecko by the tail only to have it grow back a short time later. The promise given to us as the sons of Adam is that we would be head crushers. We need a download of Heaven’s strategies and the kind of courage whereby all the false prophets of the enemy holding people captive and blind over regions are (Mount) “Carmelized” and denuded overnight.

Some of these agents of change will not just be “prophets”, but slingshot-yielding “kings”. I met two such men in a period of one week. One was a governor whom God had given practical ideas which were dramatically lifting the quality of life of the citizens of his “kingdom” so that the people of all faiths and backgrounds recognized and celebrated his historic accomplishments. Another was a member of a Prime Minister’s cabinet responsible for two government departments. His ideas were equally brilliant, based upon these words which I will never forget. He said “most Christian ministries only deal with the symptoms of problems, the fallout felt at the foot of mountains, but God has called us to take the mountains and rule from its summits.” Touché! Where are the Calebs in our day who will cry out: “give me this mountain”, upon which the Word says definitively, “then the land had rest from war” (Jos 14:12,15).

These are the kinds of prophetic acts which Joseph performed, feeding mighty Egypt, even the surrounding nations, during an otherwise hopeless drought that had affected the entire Middle East in his day. This is the kind of prophetic action so marvelously displayed through the ministry of Elisha who directed Israel’s army to “make this valley full of ditches” (2 KG 3:16) after traveling through the desert areas for seven days during which neither army nor animals had had any water to drink. This seemingly strange solution not only slaked the Israelite army’s and animals’ thirsts when water suddenly filled the valley, the enemy mistook the water for blood when the sunrise’s reflection in the valley was deep red. A great victory ensued over the panicked and confused Moabite army.

Join me, beloved, in crying out to God for a mighty revelation. As much as we need Spirit-directed prophecies and prophetic acts to be done in this hour, may the mantle which was on Elisha to bring true and lasting transformation also rest upon us who have been promised that “greater works than these” should yet be performed. May it result in enlightened prophetic acts which don’t just scratch the surface of the complex and overwhelming quandaries of our day. Father, put salt in our hands. Show us how to heal the waters of cruelty and destruction. Yes, Lord, take us to the source.