ACCESSING HELP FROM THE SPIRIT|ACCELERATE CONF 2023|THE ELEVATION CHURCH LAGOS|APOSTLE JOSHUA SELMAN

Devotional

Day 1: Mercy as the Leverage for Impossible Breakthroughs

When human effort meets its limit, divine mercy becomes the bridge to supernatural possibilities. Like blind Bartimaeus crying "Have mercy!" without knowing the full solution, believers access heaven’s help by anchoring requests in God’s compassionate nature. Mercy isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom that acknowledges human frailty while activating divine intervention. This unearned kindness positions lives for favor, healing, and unexpected deliverance. Its renewing power arrives daily, fresh as morning dew, ready to rewrite stories of limitation. [10:37]

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us.”
(Psalm 123:2-3, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been striving in human strength instead of appealing to God’s mercy? What specific area of your life needs the fresh wind of His compassion today?

Day 2: Strategic Relationships as Divine Delivery Systems

Destiny helpers often arrive disguised as ordinary people. Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross not knowing he was preserving salvation history. These God-sent individuals don’t merely assist—they become conduits for ordained breakthroughs. Like the paralyzed man at Bethesda needing “a man” to lower him into healing waters, every believer requires human hands aligned with heaven’s calendar. Discernment turns chance encounters into destiny appointments where help wears skin. [16:31]

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”
(Acts 16:9, ESV)

Reflection: Who has God strategically placed in your life as a “Simon” or “Macedonian caller”? Are you resisting any relationships that might be divine help in disguise?

Day 3: The Holy Spirit as Your Built-In Advantage

The Helper doesn’t hover above—He dwells within, turning ordinary vessels into carriers of extraordinary power. Like Ezekiel’s dry bones reviving at the Spirit’s breath, what seems permanently dormant in your life can awaken through divine partnership. This indwelling Presence transforms limitations into launchpads, making weak men like Peter into history-shaping forces. Union with Him isn’t optional equipment—it’s the factory-installed upgrade for supernatural living. [21:11]

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant.”
(2 Corinthians 3:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What area of your life feels “insufficient” right now? How might the Holy Spirit be waiting to manifest His sufficiency through that very weakness?

Day 4: Guidance Versus Direction in the Spirit’s School

The Spirit doesn’t just point toward destinations—He walks the path with you. While direction says “Go left,” guidance warns about potholes along that left turn. Like Paul redirected from Asia to Macedonia, the Helper course-corrects in real time, protecting from “right” choices that lead wrong places. This active partnership transforms obedience from blind duty to dynamic dialogue, where every step becomes Spirit-lit. [33:21]

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
(John 16:13, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you seeking broad direction when God wants to give specific guidance? What practical step can you take today to sharpen your sensitivity to the Spirit’s whispers?

Day 5: Empowerment Beyond Human Capacity

The same Spirit who enabled Samson to topple temples with a jawbone waits to amplify your ordinary efforts. Divine empowerment isn’t about eliminating work—it’s about energizing your work with supernatural efficiency. Like Peter catching nothing all night until Jesus said “Cast again,” the Helper transforms fruitless labor into overwhelming harvests. His strength perfects weakness, making “I can’t” declarations into “I can do all things” testimonies. [36:16]

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
(Philippians 4:13, ESV)

Reflection: What task or challenge feels impossible in your own strength? How might the Holy Spirit be inviting you to partner with His empowering presence in that area?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 18 opens with a man who knows the secret of results that are not natural. “By thee, I have run through a troop. By my God, I have leaped over a wall.” The text refuses to credit human strength with divine possibilities. Psalm 20 adds that help can be sent like a messenger from the sanctuary, and that a man can receive strength out of Zion.

Romans 9 exposes the frailty of human will and human running, because it is “of God that showeth mercy.” Acts 26 shows that continued impact is not normal without obtained help from God. Uzziah’s story shows a man “marvelously helped till he was strong,” and help therefore means that God makes hard things easy and impossible things possible without taking over human responsibility.

The mercy of God stands as the first system of advantage. Bartimaeus’ cry, “Thou son of David, have mercy on me,” proves that mercy is not a cry for weak people but for wise people. Mercy is not only pardon for sinners. Mercy attracts favor, sponsors encounters, and makes a life become a mystery and a living epistle.

The gift of men stands as another way God helps destiny. Bethesda’s pool had mercy, but the crippled man said, “I have no man.” Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross shows that even when the Word became flesh, the Man Christ needed a man on the road to Golgotha. Men become prophetic midwives, either helping destiny arrive or crippling it through carelessness.

The Holy Spirit stands as the believer’s advantage and the Helper Himself. Paul’s confession says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves,” because true sufficiency is of God. Romans 8 says the Spirit helps infirmities, not merely sickness, but bodily limitation and mortal weakness. The Spirit first reveals the will of God, because power brings every anomaly into alignment with that will.

John 16 presents the Spirit of truth as the One who guides into all truth. Direction shows the destination, but guidance shows the steps, the depressions, the process, and the hidden dangers along the way. The Spirit also empowers, because saving grace brings life, but enabling grace makes a man say, “I can do all things through Christ.”

Mary’s question, “How shall these things be seeing that I know not a man?” receives Gabriel’s answer: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.” Jesus Himself did not minister under an open heaven until the Spirit descended upon Him. Genesis 1 shows the Spirit hovering over chaos before God spoke, so creation comes when the Spirit rests upon what is void, dark, and formless. Christ finally calls men to salvation, because transformation follows life, and Jesus remains the way, the truth, and the life.

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Key Takeaways

1. Help makes impossibilities possible Help is not God erasing responsibility, but God adding leverage to human obedience. Psalm 18 shows that a troop can be run through and a wall can be leaped over only “by thee” and “by my God.” A believer must learn to discern where natural strength ends and divine assistance begins. [03:25]
2. Mercy is wisdom, not weakness Mercy is not merely a sinner’s plea for pardon, though it includes that. Mercy is a spiritual advantage that attracts favor, opens encounters, and makes a destiny rise beyond calculation. The wise man calls for mercy because he understands that outside heaven’s assistance, limitation is already built into flesh. [15:03]
3. God sends men as help The man at Bethesda was not only limited by sickness, but by the absence of a man. Mercy was near, the pool was near, but there was no hand to midwife him into the possibility. Destiny often waits at the point where God-ordained relationships must discern, lift, push, and support. [16:31]
4. The Spirit guides the process Direction points to where a man is going, but guidance shows the steps that keep him from falling on the way. The Holy Spirit does not merely reveal a destination, He governs the daily details that bring a prophecy into manifestation. Many things can look right, sound right, and still require the Spirit of truth to interpret the path. [33:21]
5. The Holy Ghost is the advantage Mary asked how the impossible would happen without the normal human advantage, and heaven answered, “The Holy Ghost.” The Spirit comes upon ordinary men, ordinary businesses, ordinary families, and turns them into signs and wonders. Where the Spirit rests, dead things are quickened, wilderness becomes fruitful, and weakness receives power from on high.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[03:09] - By God, A Man Is Helped
[05:46] - Human Strength Has Limits
[09:51] - Three Channels Of Divine Help
[10:13] - Mercy As A Spiritual Advantage
[15:32] - The Gift Of Men
[20:44] - The Holy Spirit As Helper
[25:07] - The Spirit Reveals God’s Will
[29:42] - Direction And Guidance By The Spirit
[34:47] - Empowerment And Enabling Grace
[43:39] - A Vision Of Partnership With The Spirit
[47:52] - How Shall These Things Be
[51:57] - Jesus And The Open Heaven
[60:04] - The Spirit Hovering Over Chaos
[77:34] - Final Call To Salvation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 18:29
“For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.” [03:25]

Luke 1:35
“And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.’” [49:19]

Romans 8:26
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” [25:07]

John 16:13
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” [33:21]

2 Chronicles 26:15
“And he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.” [07:25]

Observation questions

In Psalm 18:29, what two impossible-looking actions does David say he could do, and who does he credit for them? [03:25]
In 2 Chronicles 26:15, what does the passage say happened to Uzziah before he became strong and widely known?
In Romans 8:26, what specific weakness is mentioned, and what does the Spirit do in response? [24:28]
In John 16:13, what future ministry of the Spirit is emphasized, and what is the difference between direction and guidance? [33:21]

Interpretation questions

If help means making hard things easy without removing responsibility, how should Psalm 18:29 shape the way a believer thinks about effort, prayer, and dependence on God? [09:01]
Bartimaeus cried for mercy before he asked for any visible change. Why might mercy be understood as more than pardon, and how can mercy open doors that effort alone cannot? [15:03]
The man at Bethesda had access to the pool but still said, “I have no man.” What does that suggest about the role of God-ordained relationships in a person’s progress? [16:31]
Mary asked, “How shall these things be?” and the answer was, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” What does that teach about how God brings impossible callings, assignments, or promises into reality? [47:52]

Application questions

Where in life does there seem to be a wall, a limit, or a troop in front of you right now? What would it look like to stop treating that battle as something to face only by natural strength? [03:25]
Mercy is a spiritual advantage, not a cry of weakness. In this season, what would it mean to ask God for mercy with clarity and faith rather than only asking for outcomes? [14:57]
Some people have mercy near them but still lack the help of men. Is there any area where isolation, pride, hurt, or distrust has made it hard to receive the right people God may be sending into your life? [16:53]
The Spirit guides step by step, not just destination by destination. Where is there a need not only for a big answer about the future, but for guidance in the next few steps this week? [34:01]
The Spirit helps human weakness. In what area do you most honestly feel your limitation right now—prayer, discipline, courage, clarity, endurance, or something else—and how can the group stand with you in faith? [25:07]
Jesus Himself did not minister publicly until the Spirit came upon Him. How might that correct any habit of depending mainly on gifting, experience, planning, or intelligence? [52:33]
Genesis shows the Spirit hovering over what was dark, void, and formless. What part of life presently feels chaotic or unfinished, and how can that situation be brought before God with fresh expectation instead of quiet resignation? [01:00:06]

Sermon Clips

54s

#DirectionVsGuidance

“To direct means to show you the path that leads to your destination. To guide means to show you the steps that leads to your destination. So if I'm to direct you out of this auditorium, I will say, go. There is a door there. If I see well, there is another door there. Go and turn left. That is direction, not guidance. If I'm guiding you, I will let you know that there is a depression here you may fall even though looking at the right direction. So the assignment of guidance is to pride the understanding for the steps to take. While direction forces on the destination, Guidance focuses on the process, and the holy spirit both directs and guides.”

51s

#MercyIsFirst

“This is an orientation you must have tonight that for your destiny to ever be actualized, if you must rise to a place where your life becomes an effulgence of God's glory, you cannot ignore the help of God. And that the first way God helps men is by showing them mercy. Someone say mercy. Mercy. Say it with understanding. call for mercy is not for weak people. The call for mercy is for wise people. Men who understand that outside of the assistance of heaven, there is a limitation. We have a system of advantage programmed in our work with god. The first of them is the mercy of god.”

62s

#EmpowermentBySpirit

“That is a very, very arrogant statement. How does a man stand to say I can do all things? Do you know how many things there are to be done in your lifetime? And yet he says, I can do all things. But he says, through Christ, through Christ that strengthens me, through Christ that strengthens me. There is an enabling grace. Thrice, Paul besought the lord over the thorn in his flesh, and god's reply to it was my grace is sufficient. Are we together? So you do a doing, but the empowerment comes from the spirit. Extraordinary manifestations by the power of the holy spirit. How does a man use the jawbone of a donkey and would single handedly slay 3,000 philistines? He did the fighting, but the empowerment was of the spirit. Is someone learning now?”

41s

#WithoutGodYouFail

“Listen, there are times where everything is right, but minus god, you will still fail. Look at Peter at sea. Remember, he returned back in anger to fish. The boat was there. The skill was there. The net was there. The sea was there. Even the fish was there, but he could not catch it. There are times that every parameter is right. Your skill is there. The boat is there. The net is there. The experience, the fish he was looking for was there, but he could not catch it.”

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