April 22nd, 2022
by Jon Cochran
by Jon Cochran
Good morning with a word for the day-
2 Kings 4:1-3 tells a story about a woman who lost everything; her hope, livelihood, and her companion. She did not know what to do, but she knew enough to seek prayer from the man of God, Elisha. We should not forget how important we are to God. At this time in her life she had nothing, all was gone, and her sons were about to be put into slavery. Elisha asked one simple question: ‘What shall I do for you?’ Elisha did not say I can fix your problem, or I will get what you need. All he asked was ‘What shall I do for you?’ Then, Elisha asked the greater question. ‘What do you have in your house?’ What the man of God did was make her look for what was available to be used to solve the problem. She was not as empty-handed as she thought. The oil she had represented the Holy Spirit. And it was only when she went out and got the empty vessels and poured out her single jar of oil into those multiple vessels that she was blessed above her means. We are never as empty-handed as we think, as long as we have the Spirit of God living inside us.
2 Kings 4:1-3 tells a story about a woman who lost everything; her hope, livelihood, and her companion. She did not know what to do, but she knew enough to seek prayer from the man of God, Elisha. We should not forget how important we are to God. At this time in her life she had nothing, all was gone, and her sons were about to be put into slavery. Elisha asked one simple question: ‘What shall I do for you?’ Elisha did not say I can fix your problem, or I will get what you need. All he asked was ‘What shall I do for you?’ Then, Elisha asked the greater question. ‘What do you have in your house?’ What the man of God did was make her look for what was available to be used to solve the problem. She was not as empty-handed as she thought. The oil she had represented the Holy Spirit. And it was only when she went out and got the empty vessels and poured out her single jar of oil into those multiple vessels that she was blessed above her means. We are never as empty-handed as we think, as long as we have the Spirit of God living inside us.
Our prayers are so important to God that He placed His own Spirit into the heart of every believer to be the watcher over our prayers. Romans 8:27 says, ‘Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ Our prayers, just like Elisha's prayers, are important to God. But notice, Elisha did not solve the widow’s problem, he just pointed her to what was available to solve her problem. She and her sons had to go out and get the vessels, then pour out what she had and set aside what had been filled to then pour even more into what was still empty. They had to use what was available to be used to get even more of what they needed. So many times we want God, or someone else to do all the work and then we want to reap the benefits thereof. Our prayers are important to God, but we forget that our prayers will point us to the solution instead of solving the problem itself.
Too many times we want God to solve the problem when God has already given us the things we need to solve the problem.
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