The Courage To Conquer

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. -Psalm 27:13

The story is told in the Bible (2 Kings 6: 8-23) of the Prophet Elisha how he through the spiritual gift called the word of knowledge, revealed to the king of Israel the plans of the enemy- King of Syria. This brought deliverance to God’s people many times until the enemy became infuriated thinking somebody in his government was spying for Israel. In the same manner, how much more would the nations benefit today if the political leaders will acknowledge the essence of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth. The Church is not a liability to be tolerated but with the potency of power of intercession and supplications to bring about positive changes in the nation.

Many wonder why God has to wait for the prayers of the saints before He will intervene in the affairs of a nation. They thought that God in His sovereignty should be able to move at will and do anything without the permission of man. Look, God does not behave like the devil who takes control without invitation. God gave the control of the earth to the first Adam, but he sold it to the devil the enemy of God in his high treason. Since then, Satan has become the god of this world’s system (Ephesians 2: 2, 2 Corinthians 4: 3-4).

So Satan is responsible for the spiritual blindness and that is the reason we have to stand in the gap for our nations and intercede for ignorant men in authority (1 Timothy. 2: 1-5).

Prophet Elisha prayed for his nation and so the enemy targeted him for arrest. We all hate and run from trouble, but trouble makes all of us. Troubles are not what God created, they come as we stand for what is right. But why didn’t God reveal it to Elisha? We do not know as we don’t control the Spirit. God is not answerable to man. However, instead of complaining and engaging in arguments, we should be like Elisha by facing the challenges with ease. He showed no sign of fear like His servant as to doubt God’s power to put him over tough times.

When the servant saw what Elisha saw (after Elisha’s prayer), he took courage though the circumstance has not changed. Whenever we see with the eye of faith, we receive great calmness and boldness to dare it. This is the reason for Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians Christians that God should open their eyes of understanding (Eph. 1:15-23). We all need to pray this prayer as it will.

1. Change our lives by changing our attitudes to our challenges
2. Help us develop a robust faith in God and limit what we pray about. The enemies do not need to die for us to live and enjoy our lives (Psalms. 23:5)