Had a special speaker in church this morning and I don't use 'special speaker' in an off-hand manner. Pete and Alice Brokopp, missionaries to Burkina Faso, are with us for about two weeks. Pete is an awesome speaker and really has a burden for the country of Burkina Faso and all of Africa. He spoke this morning about the power of prayer. Very moving.
He spoke out of 2 Kings chapter 6. The story goes like this...
Israel and the king of Aram (now Iraq) were at war with each other. The king of Aram, like all kings do, would hold war councils and conduct strategy meetings to determine how he could best Israel. However, every time he sent his armies to do battle or surprise Israel, he found the Israelites were always one step ahead of him. This, of course, enraged the king of Aram. Like any normal person, he immediately suspected that there was a spy in his ranks. He demanded for the spy to turn himself in!
One of his bolder officers enlightened the king, "Hey, we aren't spies. Israel has this prophet who goes by the name Elisha. He tells the king of Israel exactly what you are planning to do". The king of Aram immediately commanded his armies to capture Elisha, who was in the city of Dothan. His armies surrounded Dothan in the dark of the night.
When Elisha's servant decided the next morning to start his chores, he immediately notices the armies of Aram surrounding the city. Not a great way to start the day! Like any good servant, he immediately runs to and asks his master, "What are we going to do?". Elisha calmly states, "No fear! Those who are with us are more than those who are with them". Elisha then prays that the Lord would open the eyes of the servant, which the Lord does. What the servant sees is the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around the city.
The armies of Aram decide that it is time to break camp and attack the city, which they promptly do. Elisha prays again and asks the Lord to strike them with blindness. You can imagine how chaotic it became with a bunch of blind men wielding sharp objects running around!
Elisha, taking advantage of the confusion, offers to lead them to the proper city and takes them to Samaria, which is controlled at the time by Israel. Surrounded by the Israelite army, Elisha prays a third time to open the eyes of the Aram army, which the Lord does.
The question is...What would you now do in this situation?
To see what Elisha did, read 2 Kings 6:22. But only after you decide what your decision would have been. No cheating now!
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