Simply Ask

O. T. #837 "Simply Ask"
Sept. 26, 2016
2 Kings 6-Part 3
Elisha prayed... (verse 17)
Elisha prayed...(verse 18)
Elisha prayed...(verse 20)

LET IT GLOW

When life beats me down, do I simply pray to the Lord?
When I have failed and fallen flat on my face, do I simply pray to King Jesus?
When I don't know which way to go, do I pray, simply pray, to the Creator of the Universe?

His love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me! On and on it goes... What a song of encouragement, friend. Elisha the prophet simply prayed; three times he prayed in our passage today. Recon what happened? Miracles, I'll say that much. Do our prayers result in miracles? If not, then why not?

The Syrian king sent bands of soldiers to raid Israel, but God kept revealing to Elisha  every movement of the enemy. The prophet informed the king of Israel, and the cities were prepared for any raid planned by Syria. The Syrian king suspected a hidden spy was among his soldiers, but one of his officers suspected Elisha as the informer. So troops were sent to capture Elisha, surrounding him. Elisha's servant became afraid when he saw the vast army. That is when Elisha asked God to open his eyes to see the hosts of angels ready to deliver Elisha. Truly there was more on their side that on the enemy's side. If God before us, who can be against us?

We pick up the story here. Using Elisha, God performed a dual miracle: He opened the eyes of his servant, but He blinded the eyes of the invaders. Yes, Elisha prayed again and this time God blinded eyes, instead of opening them. The Syrian raiders were blinded, all of them.

Listen to this: Elisha told them that this blinded army they had come to the wrong city, to follow him, and he would lead them to the man they were seeking. Oh, my goodness, isn't this something?
Elisha led the enemy army to Samaria, where he asked the Lord to open their eyes, and it was so. Without bloodshed, the Syrian army was miraculously delivered into Israel's hands.

What faith and trust Elisha had in his God!  I need only a mustard seed size of faith to move mountains. How big is our faith?

I saw a clip form the movie "War Room" last night on Facebook. Two of the women were praying for one's family and marriage to be restored. One developed her prayer closet and took back her home from the Devil. Now that is an illustration of faith.
How does our faith measure?

LET IT GROW

Three times we read here of the prophet praying and God opened his eyes, struck them with blindness, and opened their eyes.

When this happened, the King of Israel asked Elisha if he should kill the Syrian army. Get this. the answer was not a yes, but a question, "Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master."

So it was done. What resulted? The Syrian raiders stayed away from the land of Israel, sending no secret commando bands to raid the villages of Israel. Years may have passed before verse 24.

God had captured the enemy and He alone was to get the glory. Elisha defeated them with kindness. (See Rom. 12:20-22, Matt,. 5:43-45, Prov. 25:21-22.)  (Wiersbe)

Should God's people fear the enemy, if we are obeying His Word? Psalm 46 answers this question.

The king was not to take credit for what God alone had done. In setting food and water before them, he was heaping "burning coals" on their heads  (Prov. 25:21-22) Life Application Study Bible

LET IT GO

Ask and ye shall receive.
Seek and ye shall find.
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Pray.