Day 7: Open My Eyes - Praying & Going

“Then Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!’ The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” (2 Kings 6:17)

The young man in this passage is Elisha’s servant. The King of Aram, the enemy of Elisha. Aram sent his army of chariots and soldiers to seize Elisha. When the servant saw the enemy forces, he was filled with fear.

Elisha prayed that God would show him the “real world,” including all the angelic forces and chariots of fire, forces that far outnumbered the army of Aram. Elisha wanted the servant to have a glimpse of God’s protection and perspective.

How incredible would it be if we could occasionally get glimpses of the world from God’s perspective! Sometimes we need to see the world from the perspective of the power and protection of God, just like the servant did. Sometimes we need to see the perspective of answered prayers, answers that we might forget or never know.

And sometimes we need to ask God to open our eyes to see people who need help. God might put in our paths persons we could encourage or provide physical or financial assistance. God can also put in our paths people who would rejoice if we simply offered to pray with them.

My somewhat regular prayer is for God to put in my path those who need to know Jesus. I have prayed that he would open my eyes so I could see their spiritual need, and so I could share the gospel with them. That prayer should be my consistent prayer, but I admit that I can be inconsistent. But when I am faithful and pray that prayer, I am often amazed at the opportunities God gives me.

By the way, I was led to Christ by someone who asked God to open his eyes. He was my high school football coach, Joe Hendrickson. God opened Coach Joe’s eyes to my spiritual lostness. My coach actually called me into his office and asked if he could tell me about Jesus.

I really don’t remember all of the specifics of that conversation, but I know God used Coach Joe to share the gospel with me. And I know I asked Christ to be my Lord and Savior later that night.

I often wonder what would have happened to my life if Coach Joe had not prayed for God to open his eyes. I do know this one reality. I don’t have to worry about “what if.” I know God sent my high school football coach to tell me about Jesus. I know that I became a follower of Jesus. And I know that it started, at least from a human perspective, when one person asked for God to open his eyes.

Take the challenge. Pray that God would open your eyes to see the great needs around you. Pray that God would show you people who are ready to have a gospel conversation.

Yes, see what God will do when we ask him to open our eyes.