Making Room for God

  2 Kings 4:8-11 

Introduction 

There are many things we make room for in our life. And usually, we make room for the things that matter most to us. 

When it comes to: 

Work  

• • Overtime, shutdowns, fundraisers 
  
• • Extra shifts, side-hustles, work after hours 
  
• • We make room… 
  

Family 

• • Recitals, school programs, games 
  
• • Vacations, practices, birthdays 
  
• • Doctor appointments, parent meetings, etc 
  
• • We make room… 
  

Finances 

• • Budgeting, bills, deadlines 
  
• • Savings, 401K, retirement plan 
  
• • We make room… 
  

This is something that we do intentionally. We intentionally rearrange things in our life. We intentionally move things around. We intentionally adjust our schedules. We intentionally say no to some things so we can say yes to others. 

Whatever we truly value, we intentionally create space for. 

Before we go any further, I believe it is important to define what we mean when we talk about making room for God. What does that mean? 

Make Room for God = Intentionally creating space in your life for His presence, power, and His voice to be at work in us. 

It is intentionally moving things around for God instead of expecting Him to fit into whatever space we have left over in our life. 

So with that said, we are going to be in the book of 2 Kings. We will be in chapter 4. We are reading about a prophet named Elisha. A prophet was someone who God chose to speak on His behalf to represent Him to the people.  

2 Kings 4:8-11 

“8 One day Elisha went on 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. 9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.” 11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there.” 

Key definitions for this message: 

Elisha = Presence and Power of God 

Shunammite Woman = You 

Shunammite Woman’s Home = Your Life 

• 1. The Shunammite woman noticed Elisha passing her home
  
  9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way.
  
  The prophet Elisha was regularly passing by the Shunammite woman’s home.  As he passed, she noticed him walking by. Why was he walking by her home so often? We don’t know. But we know that we passed by continually (often, regularly). 
  
  Elisha represented the spirit of God and the power of God at this time. In this day and age, God spoke to His people through His prophets. And when He wanted to do something great, He did it through His prophets. Not all prophets were good prophets, not all prophets were good people. But Elisha was a good prophet. In fact, he was a great prophet. Out of the prophets in the old testament, Elisha was one of the most highly regarded prophets in Israel’s history. 

• 
  Not only is Elisha highly respected throughout biblical history, he was also held in high regard in his own day. 
  
  Elisha was well known across Israel: 
  -   Kings sought his counsel before making decisions 
  -   People recognized the power of God at work through his life 
  -   His reputation spread through repeated acts of miracles 
  
  Therefore, it was no guarantee that people would have automatically recognized Elisha right away. 
  -   He dressed simply 
  -   He embedded himself amongst ordinary people 
  -   He traveled constantly 
  
  So when the Shunammite woman saw him, she knew who he was. But it wasn’t just because he was well known, it was also due to her spiritual insight. She called him a “holy man of God.” Not only did she know that he was a prophet, she also knew that he represented the presence of God and the power of God in her life. She could tell that the Lord was passing by her home. 
  
  It’s important for us to recognize and pay attention to what the Lord is doing around us. Let me tell you that the God is here in this room right now, the presence of the Lord is here with right now in this room. We must recognize it like this Shunammite woman did.  
  
  While we must recognize Him when He is passing by our life, that is only the beginning. The Shunammite did not merely notice that Elisha was passing by… 
  
  
• 2. She decided to make room for Elisha in her life
  
  10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”
  
  The shunammite woman noticed when Elisha was passing by her home. She was aware of when the presence of God and the power of God were continually passing by her home. She realized that the power of God was available to her! When she realized this, she made room for Him. She made room for the presence and the power of God in Elisha by building a literal 

• room for him on the top of her house. She had her husband build a room with walls and a ceiling and then had him furnish it for Elisha as well. She didn’t just simply notice the presence and the power of God passing her by each day, she made room for Him in her life. 
  
  In 2026, if we are wanting to see more of God in our life then we are going to need to make room for Him. We will need to recognize that the presence and the power of God is passing us by regularly, and then we will need to do something about it. We will need to be proactive in creating a place for God to move in our life. 
  
  We will need to make room in our private life, our family, our marriage, in our career, our finances, etc. Whatever part of our life that we are expecting for God to move, we have to make room for Him to do so. 
  
  While we do need to make room for God by carving out consistent time to be in church, we can’t just wait around until the next church service in order to encounter God. We have to create that space in our own life as well. 
  
  That is what the Shunammite woman did. And because she made the space for Him in her life, look at what happened… 
  
  
  
• 3. Elisha turned in and dwelled in the Shunammite woman’s home
  
  11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there.
  
  Because the Shunammite woman made room for the man of God, he came in and stayed in her home. In the past he was continually passing by the house, but since room was made for him, he turned into her house and stayed in the room that was made available to him. Before he was passing by, now he was dwelling with them. 
  
  Remember that Elisha represented the presence and the power of God during this time. So you can also say that God dwelt among them in their home. Through Elisha, the Lord was passing by the home of the Shunammite woman regularly. She took it upon herself to create room for the presence of God to dwell with her in her home. 
  
  God is constantly passing by us—He is passing by our family, finances, marriage, difficult situations in life, etc. However, just because He is passing by doesn’t guarantee that He is going to move on our behalf. 

• Imagine how many people Jesus walked by day in and day out. Jesus walked by many many people, until someone stopped and reached out to Him. Imagine the amount of people Jesus passed by until the woman with the issue of blood reached out to Jesus to grab a hold of His garment. Jesus passed by many people, but only one of them made room for Jesus in her heart when she reached out for Him. 
  
  If we want God to stop and dwell among us, we have to make room for Him. If we want Him to do a miracle in our life, we have to do something to create space for Him to work. When we make room for Him, He will not pass us by. 
  
  And when Elisha dwelled with the Shunammite woman and her husband, God began to work a miracle in her life. 

Now, I believe that God wants to do more in our life. He does! 

God wants to: 

• • Do more FOR you
  
• - God wants to bless you, protect you, provide for you, etc. 
  
• - He has your good will in mind 
  
• - Not only does God want to do more FOR you, but He also wants to… 
  
  
• • Do more IN you
  
• - God is looking to work in you and to shape you 
  
• - He is looking to transform you inside out into the image of His son 
  
• - He is wanting to produce more love, peace, joy, patience, etc. 
  
  Not only does God want to do more FOR you, but He also wants to do more IN you, so that He can… 
  
  
• • Do more THROUGH you 
  
• - God wants to work through you to reach more people this year 
  
• - God wants to see you operate in your calling 
  
• - He is shaping you and molding you into the person He has called you to be 
  

But to do so, we have to be willing to make room in our life for Him to be able to operate. 

HOW TO MAKE ROOM FOR GOD 

• 1. Realize that God is near
  
  He is as close as the mention of His name
  
  
• 2. Identify what you need from the Lord 
  
• • What is it that you are believing for this year?
  
• • Where are you hoping to see transformation at?
  
  
• 3. Create a space for God to dwell 
  
• • Creating space requires for us to rearrange, organize, or get rid of things
  
• • There are times when we have to get rid of things in order to make space 
  
  
• • 
  
• - We can’t expect God to move in our life and then in turn tell God that we are too busy to do what He needs us to do 
  
• - We’ve got to make room in our schedule for: 
  
• ✦ Prayer 
  
• ✦ Reading scripture 
  
• ✦ Spending time with God 
  
  
• • 
  
• - We have to get rid of  
  
• ✦ Bitterness 
  
• ✦ Unforgiveness 
  
• ✦ Self-reliance 
  
• ✦ Distractions 
  
• ✦ Sin habits 
  
  
• 4. Respond to God in faith 
  
• • Faith is not just belief— faith is action 
  
• • The Bible consistently shows that faith is revealed through action 
  
• • It is taking the next step God wants you to take in obedience 
  
• • Taking a step of faith means being obedient before you see any results