*Elijah and the Widow*

*1 Kings 17:8-15* - Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

 

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ” So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.”

 

*Wisdom nuggets*:

1. Prophet Elijah’s ‘foolishness’ to obey God’s directive to be fed by a widow.

2. The widow’s ‘foolishness’ to obey the directive of Elijah as given by God.

3. You may not have bread, but do you have a ‘seed’?

4. Obedience will transform what you consider ‘minimal’ to ‘manifold.’

5. How many times have you missed being the recipient of a miracle or a demonstration of God’s greatness because you thought “God, that’s a joke. Right?” or “That does not even make sense!”

Father, I obtain the grace to align myself with Your leadership. Strengthen me, by Your Spirit, to bring my carnal mind under Your Lordship.

 

*Elisha and the Widow’s Oil*

*2 Kings 4:1-7* - A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbours—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

 

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

 

*Wisdom nuggets*:

1. You can serve and fear the Lord passionately and still be financially broke.

2. There is no mention of the fact that this widow was a pentecostal believer full of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in the tongues. What was it that she had that made her to ‘foolishly’ obey the directive of Prophet Elisha?

3. A prophet giving financial advice to a widow who is at risk of losing her two sons to the creditor. The advice? “Go and borrow vessels from everywhere, and do not gather a few.”

 

*Prayer Point 2*

Father, help me to receive and act on the specific word for me in my challenging situation. Amplify my faith in You and the sent or revealed word to me.

 

*Feeding The Five Thousand*

*John 6:1-14* - Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” 

 

Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

 

*Wisdom nuggets*:

1. Do allow your situation to overwhelm, losing your peace. Learn to sit down and find your rest in God.

2. The multiplication started in the hands of Jesus and continued in the hands of the disciples as the ‘foolishly’ obeyed Jesus’ directive. 

3. In all the three accounts, the protagonists were left with exceedingly abundantly above their expectation.

4. All protagonists responded to prophetic directive. The underscores the assignment of the prophetic office or gift in the New Testament Church.

 

*Prayer Point 3*

Father, help me to understand the wisdom of giving you thanks in advance in order to unleash the mystery of multiplication. Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth, and teach me: For You are the God of my salvation.

 

*Philemon 1:21* - “Having *confidence in your obedience*, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.”