2 Kings 4:1-7 – 1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.” 2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied. 3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.” 5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.” (New Living Translation)

Principles to Break Out of Debt

1. Evaluate the need

Proverbs 22:7 – Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. (New Living Translation)

Romans 3:23 – For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (New Living Translation)

Proverbs 22:27 – If you cannot pay the loan, your own bed may be taken right out from under you. (New Century Version)

2. Seek __________________________________

Hebrews 4:13 – Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived. (New Century Version)

Proverbs 29:1 – Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery. (New Living Translation)

Proverbs 19:20 – Take good counsel and accept correction – that's the way to live wisely and well. (The Message)

3. Take advantage of ______________________________

Proverbs 12:14 – . . . the work of a man's hands will reward him. (Christian Standard Bible)

Proverbs 4:23 – Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. (Good News Translation)

4. ______________________________________________

2 Thessalonians 3:10 – We also gave you the rule that if you don’t work, you don’t eat. (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 37:21 – Evil men borrow and “cannot pay it back”! But the good man returns what he owes with some extra besides. (The Living Bible)

Habakkuk 3:17-19 – 17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (New Living Translation)