Are you bold enough to ask God for a double portion of His power in your life?  Why do you or I neglect to say as Isaiah did, “Send me!” or like Elisha, “Please give me a double portion, Lord!” Is it out of a false sense of humility, fear, or something else?

Today’s Readings:

2 Kings 1 & 2
Psalm 71.9-16
Proverbs 18.6-8
John 16.1-33

Are You Bold Enough to Ask God for a Double Portion?

2 Kings 1 & 2:

A Double Portion!

In 2 Kings 2, Elijah’s ministry is coming to an end and his disciple Elisha will soon become his successor. But first God will take Elijah home in a most spectacular way!

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven (v. 11).

But I love Elisha’s request before it happened:

⁵ Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?”

So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

Probably Elisha’s way of saying God had already revealed this to him.

⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.”

But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. ⁷ And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

¹⁰ So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

In biblical times, the firstborn son received a double portion and the right to succeed his father. According to John MacArthur:

“A double portion of your spirit” was not merely Elisha’s request to succeed Elijah in his prophetic ministry, since the Lord had already revealed this succession in 1 Kings 19.16-21. Nor was it Elisha’s desire for ministry superior to Elijah’s, though Elisha did, in fact, do twice as many recorded miracles as Elijah. Apparently, Elisha was asking to succeed Elijah in the prophetic office, as God had promised, with spiritual power beyond his own capabilities to meet the responsibilities of his position as Elijah’s successor. He desired that Elijah’s mighty power might continue to live through him.¹

I wonder how much more we could do for the Lord if we just ASKED Him to do something through us! It made me think of Isaiah when He really saw God for Who He was:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’

Why Not Us?

Ungodly men and women don’t ask because they refuse to see their need for God or to submit to His authority in their lives. But why do we as followers of Christ fail to ask Him to do more in and through us?

Why do we fail to say “Send me!” or “Please give me a double portion, Lord!” Do we look at ourselves and think, I could never do something great for God?

Yet, James said about Elijah:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit (Jas. 5.17-18).

Perhaps we have failed to fully understand that God is the one who works. We are only His vessels. But He loves to show Himself strong when we recognize our own weaknesses. Remember Paul’s revelation in 2 Corinthians:

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12.9-10).

And in 1 Corinthians 3:

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹ For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building (1 Cor. 3.5-9).

Or do we fail to ask because of fear? If so, we should remember Paul’s words to the young pastor Timothy:

⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (2 Tim. 1.6-9).

We do need to be careful not to ask God for His power and help for our own glory. And all that we ask should be submitted to Him and His will (Matt. 6.10; Lk. 22.42). But let’s step out in faith, pray, and expect God to do great things. This world needs what only God can give.

Today’s Other Readings:

Psalm 71.9-16:

When Suffering

When others attack you, instead of defending yourself, keep your eyes on Him. Verses 14-16:

14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

The Apostle Peter says it this way:

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (2 Pet. 2.21-23).

Proverbs 18.6-8:

The Power of the Tongue

Oh, the power of the tongue to do good or evil! Over and over, the Scriptures, especially the book of Proverbs, speak of the tongue, the lips, and the words of our mouths. Here in verses 6-7, we are told our mouths bring contention, blows, and destruction. What a powerful weapon we wield. We need to learn to use it sparingly and wisely!

John 16.1-33:

Be of Good Cheer in Trials

Chapter 16.20-22:

Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

We, too, need to keep an eternal perspective. While we will encounter tests and trials, and even suffer at times, we can “be of good cheer” knowing that He has “overcome the world” (Jn. 16.33). Or as James puts it, we can count it all joy when we encounter various trials knowing that it is in the trials God is doing His greatest work! (Jas. 1.2-4).

What About You? Questions to Ponder or Journal:

Have you ever asked God to use your life? Have you ever invited Him to “send you”?

Where have you failed to “count it all joy” or “be of good cheer” in trials?

And, finally, how are you doing with “the tongue”? It’s a constant battle, isn’t it? At least it is for me.

Coming Up:

In the coming days, we’ll talk about the importance of godly friends, see what the Bible says about self-esteem, and look at the importance of habits, the cost of laziness, and living based on the hope that is within us.

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Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.