GLEANINGS FROM OBTAINING STRENGTH FOR PRODUCTIVE LIVING

“Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; AND SHE POURED OUT.
And it came to pass, WHEN THE VESSELS WERE FULL, SHE SAID UNTO HER SON, BRING ME YET A VESSEL. And he said unto her, THERE IS NOT A VESSEL MORE. And the oil stayed.” 2 Kings 4:3-6 (KJV) [Emphasis mine]

We cannot over-emphasise the promptness of this widow in carrying out the instruction of Elisha, the man of God. She moved so fast, to go and borrow the empty vessels, as commanded by the man of God, so much so that her speed was too much for the camera of the Bible to capture! We suddenly saw her in her room already pouring the unhurt oil into the empty vessels she had collected from her neighbours.

Thank God this widow had good relationship with her neighbours, despite the death of her husband! It is needless to have good relationship with your pastor, without you having such with your neighbours. The man of God may not give you all that you need, part of what you need may be in the hands of your neighbours; be good to them. If you are good in the church, then be good also at home and in the neighbourhood!

However, there are two major issues of concern in the passage above, which we need to attend to, in our prayer. The first one shall be dealt with here and now, while the second one shall come later:

THE NEED TO INTERCEED FOR OTHERS:

Those who do not know how to recognise ’empty vessels’ in others, and pour out into such ’empty vessels’, (in secret), are not qualified to display oil-filled vessels in the public!

If you check well, you will see lives that need the pouring of your gifts, kindness, prayers etc! Check around you, you will see many “empty vessels” that you can engage and pour your prayers into! Don’t say you also need something, everybody does! The widow in question also needed something, but the way to get out of her quagmire was to pour out, first!

Why don’t you pour what is in your hand into the available ’empty vessels’, and see what will happen? Those ’empty vessels’ were not ingrates; they gave back to the woman, as much as she poured out into them! In fact, they emptied themselves for the one who poured her fulness into their emptiness! They did not forget when they were empty; therefore, they were more than willing to be empty again, because of the generosity of this widow towards them! Try it!

Truth is, the solution you are looking for could be in the hand of the person you refused to intercede/pray for! All what s/he is waiting for, is for you to configure him with your prayer, and he will be in the right position to give you what you are looking for.

Please note that the widow did not put few drops of oil into the vessels; she poured out! Interceding for others will not bring true solution if it is done half-heartedly, with no passion. Pray as if everything depends on your intercession.

It is challenging that we prefer to gossip (passionately) about the obvious issues/needs in the lives of our neighbours, to praying about/for them. Can we go back to bearing ourselves up in prayer, as brethren?

We found intercession as the strength of the believers in those days. Mobilise yourself to pray for that brother/sister/family, and see how your own needs would be met, even through it. Not praying for others is spraying your path with stagnation!

Pray:

1. That God will make you see the need in others, more than you see your need.

2. That God should spur your heart to truly intercede for others, as if your case is no more important.

3. That God will restore the grace of intercession in us, so that we can pray for one another, until there will be no more ’empty vessels’ around us.

4. That the vessels that are filled (with our oil) will not become ingrates, after being filled!

5. That the filled-vessels will also be willing to pour out and pour back to you. (No one wants to labour in vain)

6. That you will obtain strength to do this sincerely, for this is strength for productive living!

Do you notice the excitement with which the widow asked for more vessel? That will form the second part of this gleaning, which should hit your device, by the grace of God, tomorrow.

Shalom!