And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I
pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see…LORD, open the eyes of these men,
that they may see.
2 Kings 6:17, 20
How
wonderfully the prayer of Elisha for his servant was answered! The young man
saw the mountain full of chariots of fire and horsemen surrounding Elisha. The
heavenly host had been sent by God to protect the Lord’s servant.
Then
Elisha prayed a second time. The Syrian army had been stricken with blindness
and was led into Samaria. There, Elisha prayed for the opening of their eyes,
and they found themselves hopeless prisoners in the hand of the enemy.
We
ought to use these prayers in the spiritual sphere. First of all, we ought to
ask that our eyes may see the wonderful provision that God has made for His
church in the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (See Matthew 3:11.)
All the powers of the heavenly world are at our disposal in the service of the
heavenly kingdom. How little the children of God live in the faith of that
heavenly vision—the power of the Holy Spirit on them, with them, and in them,
for their own spiritual life and as their strength to joyfully witness for
their Lord and His work!
But we
will find that we need that second prayer, too, so that God may open the eyes
of those of His children who do not yet see the power that the world and sin
have upon His people. They are still unaware of the feebleness that marks the
church, making it powerless to do the work of winning souls for Christ and
building up believers for a life of holiness and fruitfulness. Let us pray
especially that God may open all eyes to see what the great and fundamental
need of the church is—to bring down His blessing in intercession, so that the
power of the Spirit may be known unceasingly in its divine effectiveness and
blessing.
Our
Father, who is in heaven, You who are so unspeakably willing to give us the
Holy Spirit in power, hear our humble prayer. Open our eyes so that we may
realize fully the low estate of Your church and that we may fully know what
treasures of grace and power You are willing to bestow in answer to the fervent
prayer of a united church. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment