I believe in the power of prayer. I believe when God’s people come before Him with needs and burdens, His heart is moved with compassion to help. I believe there is nothing too small to bring before Him. I believe there is no obstacle so large He can’t move it, move through it, move around it. I believe there is nothing God can’t do.
I also believe in the power of faith in prayer. Faith that brings a situation to God, lays it down and trusts Him to handle it. Faith that rests in the knowledge that the all-knowing God who inhabits eternity will work on behalf of His people. No matter how impossible the situation, how desperate the need, how short the timing. This faith doesn’t come to God with forceful suggestions, arrogant ideas, pressing plans. It is outrageous faith. Steady faith, even if you are shaking in your boots, confused by the conundrum, stymied by the situation. The kind of faith Jehoash needed but didn’t have. (Isaiah 64:4; Isaiah 57:15)
He wasn’t expecting to play archery games with a dying man when he set out to visit an elderly and ailing Elisha. The visit alone was unusual enough. Since when do kings take time to visit dying prophets? The fact that Jehoash was carrying his bow and arrows was likely more habit than necessity for this engagement. He’d heard Elisha was ill and soon to pass away. He had come to pay his respects and mourn the loss of God’s prophet from the land of Israel. He wasn’t headed out to fight a battle. He had no row with Elisha, no idea he’d be using his weapons that day. He was simply always prepared.
Elisha was likely not the first person Jehoash had seen or spoken with on their deathbed. In a day of such brutal and violent fighting, he’d probably seen more than he cared to remember. He’d probably heard many requests whispered from nearly lifeless lips. Regardless of what he had heard in the past, these commands from the lips of the dying prophet of God were likely the most outrageous requests Jehoash had ever heard. Who chooses to shoot arrows in their final moments on earth? Who gets to do so with a king? Who so desperately needs to use an object lesson to make one last point, one final prophecy before meeting their Maker? Apparently, Elisha. Although the fact he needed an object lesson to convey his message is a scathing indictment of his audience, at least Jehoash knew better than to defy the command.
Indeed, it is a point in Jehoash’s favor that he quietly did as Elisha asked. No questions. No arguments. No alleged concern for the physical limitation of the prophet. Surprised by the command or not, when Elisha tells him to take up his bow and arrows, open the east window, and shoot through it, Jehoash unquestioningly does so. Surely he wondered why. Surely his mind swirled with questions. Had the prophet finally gone round the bend? Was Elisha still in control of his faculties? Perhaps he thought simply to pacify a dying man. Whatever Jehoash was thinking, he set it aside and granted Elisha’s request.
Was he ever glad he did! That flying arrow was Elisha’s commissioning of him as the one to lead the troops to strike down and conquer Aram. God had spoken through the prophet. Victory would most assuredly be theirs! With his heart doing a bit of a victory jig, Jehoash thinks to put his weapons away. It would seem the oddity of the hour is over. But no. Elisha isn’t done. He has more deathbed instructions.
“Grab your arrows,” he commands, “Shoot some more.”
If Jehoash was waiting for specifics, he’d still be waiting. No exacting instructions were forthcoming. There was no explanation for letting more arrows fly. Elisha rested back, expecting complete obedience from the king. And it came. Jehoash nocked another arrow and let it fly through the window. Once. Twice. Three times. Apparently, he thought that should be enough to satisfy the prophet. He lowered his bow, content that Elisha’s wishes had been fulfilled. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
As he turns to Elisha with satisfaction, Jehoash is met with a stony expression of anger.
“Why did you stop? Why didn’t you let more arrows fly? You should have sent double that amount! Now you will only strike down Aram three times! If you hadn’t been so timid, you would be able to wipe them out completely!” (II Kings 13:14-20)
It is easy to imagine how deflated Jehoash felt. After hearing that he would defeat Aram, why didn’t he realize the shooting of more arrows dealt with the same? Proper defeat of the enemy had been within his grasp and he’d been too afraid to claim it. If only he’d had more faith. If he’d just kept shooting arrows out the window until Elisha spoke words of satisfaction. If he’d shot with wild abandon. If his heart hadn’t been too puny to believe in something his eyes couldn’t see. How different the outcome would be if only he’d have asked for the outrageous!
Most of us find it difficult to believe in the outrageous. We call ourselves realists. We believe in logic and reasoning. We trust what we can see, feel, and write down on paper. We pray the same way. Decide what, exactly, can be done about a situation, then ask for that to happen. Apparently, we aren’t brave enough to believe the infinite Creator can handle our cares without our finite human help. So rarely do we bring things to God and ask Him to handle them, trust Him to take care of them, without also giving Him a list of possible rectifying options.
Don’t trick yourself into believing this is faith. It isn’t. Faith does not tell God how to do His job, it simply trusts that He will. Faith does not require logic and reasoning, it knows our ways are not God’s nor His ours. Faith operates outside the realm of logic and reasoning. Faith operates in the unknown. Faith goes into action when we open the windows of our lives and hearts and repeatedly fire prayer arrows into our unknown, trusting God to make it known in His time. Prayer is the bridge that takes us from the stodgy logic of our humanity to the boundless broadness of God’s infinity. Faith in God and prayer to God make all things possible, even if we have no idea how they will come about. (Hebrews 11:1-40; Matthew 21:22; Matthew 17:20: Mark 10:27)
Admittedly, I frequently find myself attempting to help God answer my prayers. I often present Him with requests followed by possible options to acquire the desired outcome. I’m learning, though. Learning that God has better ideas than mine ever were. Learning that His timing is more perfect than mine ever could be. Learning that even when my puny heart is shaking, prayers of faith–for big things and small–reap outrageous results.
Recently, I found myself presenting a dire need to God, but being sorely out of ideas to remedy the situation. A personal acquaintance had been in a downward spiral for some time.
Skateboarding the rails of sin, leaving the shredded pieces of her life in ruins behind her, she desperately needed a meeting with Jesus. I’d prayed for her on several occasions, though probably not as often or fervently as I should have, possibly because I didn’t have any rectifying ideas to present with my prayers. I offer no excuses.
One morning, I couldn’t shake the burden of her calamitous circumstances. Deeply burdened, I felt encouraged to ask God to give her a Damascus road experience. Like Saul, she needed a head-on collision with Jesus Christ. A life-changing confrontation with God that would forever alter the course of her life. I remember praying these words, “Lord, I don’t know how You are going to do it. I don’t have any suggestions, but please give her a Damascus road experience.” (Acts 9:1-9)
Just a few days later, word came that she had been hospitalized. An innocuous accident had caused pain not in keeping with the event. A serious underlying condition was revealed. It took several days for her to be released, and then with cautions. The change has been remarkable. Not that there isn’t still work to do, but clearly, God is working. God is answering our prayers. And I’m still praying. Not because I have ideas, answers, remedies, or quick fixes, but because I know when we launch out in pure faith and let God do what He sees fit, outrageous, amazing, miraculous things happen.
I’d have never chosen or asked for God to plague our friend with illness. I wouldn’t have prayed for hospitalization or dire warnings of impending death if medical advice was ignored. No one prays that way. Nor am I encouraging you to start. I’m simply saying that when we cast aside our preconceived notions and arrogant directives and come to God in blind faith, we can trust Him to do His job.
At a time when there are so many things to pray about and for and over, I hope you pray outrageous, courageous prayers. I hope you ask God for things you can’t imagine, things you can’t make happen, things you have no idea how to enact. I hope you pray over the unknown. I hope you keep praying. I hope that, when you are tempted to pray once and quit, you’ll keep praying anyway. When you feel like God isn’t answering because too much time has elapsed, don’t give up. When your faith shakes and shudders and weakens beneath the force of your human desire to know and do and rationalize, I hope you gather up the vestiges of your puny heart, boldly pray outrageous prayers, then sit back and watch God work. (Lamentations 3:25-26; I Thessalonians 5:16-18)
And He will work. He always does. So keep shooting arrows. Keep praying outrageous prayers, even when your faith is timid and puny. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Keep watching. You don’t want to miss it when God’s outrageous answer comes. (Matthew 7:7-8; Jeremiah 29:13; I John 5:14; Ephesians 4:20)
Oh my friend, I say a million and more AMENS to that. I have prayed over things that if I told someone my prayer they would laugh or scoff or say “what in the world would you pray for that?” But our LORD tells us we can ask for the smallest things. How I like that phrase you used “ A Damascus”
experience. I will remember that.
Once again you have encouraged me through your message. Thank you a million times and more!!❤️🤗
How blessed we are to have a God who hears and answers our prayers!!
I know, I said it before but this reflection is beyond excellent. The Holy Spirit has worked in you and will work through you. May God continue to inspire you and work in your heart. May He continue to give you insight into His word and even if your reflection reaches only one person, and I’m certain it has and more, you will have accomplished much.
Thank you for your kind words. As my Dad would say, “The Lord sure does help us!” I am so thankful for the lessons God teaches me and the words He gives to share them with others. All the praise belongs to Him!