Prevailing Prayer

Read: 2 Kings 6:8-23

2 Kings 6:8–23 KJV 1900

8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 13 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. 20 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? 22 And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

Power of Perspective:

What we think, feel, experience, hear and see has a profound impact on what we believe and how we act

This servant of a prophet who had witnessed many answers to the prayers of Elisha was still convinced that they were in serious trouble when he stepped out early one morning and saw that “an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots.”

Now we conclude that the servant was pretty distraught because the prophet has to calm him down, “Fear not...”

Elisha, however, had already obviously been in a discussion with the Lord because he makes an astounding declaration.

“They that be with us are more than they that be with them.”

Now Elisha doesn’t seem to be surprised at seeing the Lord’s army he just seems to know they would be and were there

He simply prayed, “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.”

Now the servant could see the enemy but he couldn’t see the Lord

I don’t want to be so overcome by the forces of evil that I fail to acknowledge the working of God

I don’t want to fail to see God - I want the Lord to open my eyes as well.

The story was shared about Mary White a Methodist missionary to China. She was called by some a “female Muller”

Back in 1937 Mary was on a hillside praying. While WW2 was yet a couple of years away, it was still a dangerous time in that area.

As I said, Mary was on a hillside praying and word came that 16,000 enemy militia were encroaching on that very mountain.

Terrified Chinese friends of Mary raced to the mission compound, frantically screaming to her Bishop that “Miss Mary is surrounded by thousands of Japanese! What are we going to do.”

The Bishop knowing Mary and her faith and many miraculous answers to prayer with a wink coolly said, “These soldiers got themselves into this mess, and they’ll just have to figure their own way out!”

While we tend to be enamored with such a prayer life, I am more interested in the vision, the faith, the fact that God is greater than anything we face

Do we really believe that?

Evil seems to be in control in so many places

That does not limit God’s sovereignty or might one little bit

We sometimes feel like the servant - We are surrounded what do we do master?

Lord give us some sense to pray and ask for our spiritual eyes to be opened

I think this is really what is happening.

Now the Bible doesn’t tell us this - but I infer that Elisha’s eyes had already been opened in answer to prayer

as soon as the servant’s eyes were opened his entire perspective changed

He suddenly felt that everything was going to be ok - no matter how it turned out

They were going to be victorious

Lord open our eyes help us to know the importance of seeing with spiritual vision.