Day 19, January 23, 2020
Prayer Focus: Investing in Young Leaders
2 Kings 4:1-6 (NIV)
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
Sometimes to pay debts, if you did not have cash, you used commodities. Oil is a commodity and in the Bible it also often used as a type of the Holy Spirit (the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit).
The prophet tells the woman to get vessels and to fill the vessels with oil.
So she poured oil and kept pouring until there were no more jars. Then the sad words, “the oil stopped flowing.”
No more vessels, but there is always more oil with God. God does not have a shortage of oil.
The issue is having available vessels.
We are like vessels that need the filling and anointing of God. We need to raise up more and more vessels. God has plenty of oil.
Can God find vessels here to be used by Him?
Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Jesus looked at the crowds. He had compassion upon them. He said “the harvest is plentiful but the workers (vessels) are few.”
Jesus then sends out 72 disciples. Jesus appoints and He anoints. He wants to do this in your life.
Jesus rarely tells people what to pray for, but here He says pray to the Lord of the harvest.
We need to ask the Lord of the Harvest to:
Raise up leaders
However there are two things that you need to know:
To be a vessel used by God you need to be clean and you need to be empty.
So pray with me today that God will raise up leaders, vessels to be filled by God and used greatly by Him. In Jesus name!
