Divine Appointments

God always keeps His promises to us, no matter how impossible it may seem in the natural. One way He blesses us and answers our prayers is through divine appointments. “Divine appointments” describes how God sets people on a collision course with others who will somehow be a blessing or an answer to prayer.

Specific Instructions

After Ashley and Carlie moved to the United States from England, they still owned a rental home. This home was occupied by a wonderful Christian family, who were faithful with paying rent, and planned to live there long-term. The time came when Ashley and Carlie knew they should sell the house, but they didn’t want to see their renters kicked out.

After praying in the Spirit, God told Ashley that his friend Dan would have his answer. Ashley knew Dan would be at an upcoming conference a couple of months in the future. So, Ashley decided to just wait until he saw his friend in person, rather than contacting him right away.

At the conference, Ashley eagerly found Dan, expecting to have a divine appointment moment with his wise friend. After Ashley explained the whole situation, he was dismayed when Dan didn’t have an answer for him! No brilliant solution that would allow Ashley to sell the property and protect the renting family. Although Ashley was discouraged and confused—knowing that God told him Dan would have the answer—he continued to confess, “I have the mind of Christ, and God’s going to give me the answer to this!”

An International Divine Appointment

At the conference the following day, Dan rushed over to Ashley. He said, “I want to introduce you to someone!”

An English woman had recently received an inheritance and wanted to own real estate. She had prayed, “God, I want to own a rental house, ready to go, tenants already in it, within thirty minutes of my home, for this specific price.” She prayed in the Spirit, and God told her, “Go to this conference in Denver, Colorado.” Though the Lord’s instructions seemed bizarre—finding a house in England by flying to Colorado—she traveled to Denver to attend the very conference Ashley and Dan were attending, even though she had never heard of any of the ministries involved. The second morning of the event, after Ashley had asked Dan for advice regarding his situation, she met Dan.

As Ashley began to speak with her, he discovered that this woman lived around twenty minutes away from his rental house in England, and the amount that she wanted to pay was a few thousand dollars more than what he’d planned for an asking price. His home was exactly what she had prayed for, including the long-term, established tenants Ashley had not wanted to evict!

God’s perfect plan sent this woman from England to Colorado to reveal the answer to both of their prayers. God’s arranged this divine appointment, to bless both parties. His plans surpass anything we could possibly imagine ourselves!

Other Biblical Examples

Consider Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch. In Acts 8:26, it says, “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down to Jerusalem to Gaza.'” Phillip obeyed, and it was during his travels that he overheard an influential Egyptian officer reading the prophet Isaiah to himself. Through that divine appointment, the Ethiopian official was born-again and water baptized!

Arguably, Jesus discovered all of his disciples through divine appointments, but there is one that stands out as uniquely unusual. Interestingly, Phillip is the disciple who initially approached Nathanael and said, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Jesus saw Phillip bringing Nathanael to meet Him and said, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Nathanael asked Jesus how He knew him. Jesus replied, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Phillip called you.” The Spirit revealed Nathanael to Jesus before they had even met, and sent Phillip to bring him to Jesus.

In 1 Kings 17, Elijah was sent to the widow of Zarapheth in the middle of a famine. She fed Elijah the small meal she had planned to be her last. However, when her small portion of flour and oil never ran out until the famine ended, it was obvious that God had set up this divine appointment to benefit both of them.

Expect Divine Appointments

When you are believing for a miracle in your own life, expect God to come through! He can set up divine appointments that you could never have imagined. Ashley could never have dreamed up a scenario like the one that played out for him regarding the sale of a home halfway around the world. But God did the impossible for him, and the woman who bought his home!

Speak the Word over your situation, believe that God is already on the job, and then wait with expectation. Even when things look like they aren’t working out, just hold on: the answer is on the way!

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