Experiencing God's Presence #73

Experiencing God's Presence #73

“Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.”

2 Kings 13:18-19

Elisha foretold victory over Israel’s enemy and instructed the king to perform a prophetic act. The king did so, striking his arrows against the ground three times. But the paltry effort angered Elisha. Why not five or six? Perhaps more? The king had been too tentative in his assumptions about God’s promise. He didn’t understand how thoroughly God wanted to intervene.

Scripture urges us to be unassuming and modest in our relationships with others, but God invites us to be bold and assertive in our requests of Him. That’s because He is able to do abundantly beyond what we can ask or think, and He wants to. He draws us into a relationship of extravagance—the kind that says, like Jacob, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26). Those who come to God with childlike faith must believe that He doesn’t give reluctantly or offer just barely enough, but that He is a wealth of resources waiting to pour out Himself and His blessings on those who ask. He always has more than we need.

This ought to encourage us. We come tentatively with small prayers, when really we are invited to pray bigger. We have to push past appearances—not only outward appearances but even our subtle assumptions and negative experiences in the spiritual realm—and be bold at His throne. We need to pray Kingdom prayers with an awareness of the vastness of the vision of His Kingdom. The size of our prayers will determine the size of our victories.

Lord, give me big visions and then boldness to pray for them in faith. May I never settle for small victories when I could have asked for bigger ones.