1111. He Smote Three Times and Stayed

He Smote Three Times and Stayed

"And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said onto the King of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed" (2Ki_13:18).

Elisha told King Joash that he should smite upon the ground and he smote three times and stayed. Joash had already been told that those arrows were the arrows of the Lord's deliverance, therefore, when he smote but three times, the man of God was wroth with him and said, "Thou shouldst have smitten five or six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it."

In this failure of Joash to persevere, we have a picture of our failure in keeping the fires of our prayer life burning. So many of us begin to pray but we soon weary, the flesh becomes tired and we give it up.

The unjust judge who regarded neither God nor man heard the cry of the widow, because of her importunity. He gave her request lest she should weary him with her oft coming. The lesson is plain, it is not that we might weary God, but that He wants us to keep on praying.

Jacob clinging to the Angel of the Lord was far more powerful than Jacob wrestling with the Angel. We need that clinging, that holding on, that will not let God go.

Christ told the three disciples to watch and pray while He went apart in Gethsemane. When Christ returned and found them sleeping, He said, "What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?"

It is persevering prayer that brings the victory. David Brainerd used to pray kneeling in the snow, in behalf of the Indians, until his body was wet with perspiration. He persevered in prayer.

Thomas Nicholson, greatly troubled because of a careless church, spent a night in prayer. Within two weeks the whole community was swept with a mighty revival. He persevered in prayer.

The Word of God teaches us to pray without ceasing. Surely this is our privilege and our place of power.

Illustration: Chas M. Alexander tells the following story:

"I was standing at a Bank counter in Liverpool, waiting for a clerk to come; I picked up a pen and began to print on a blotter in large letters, two words, which had gripped me like a vice: 'PRAY THROUGH.' I kept talking to a friend and printing until I had the big blotter filled from top to bottom with a column. I transacted my business and went away. The next day my friend came to see me, and said he had a striking story to tell me. A business man came into the bank soon after we had gone. He had grown discouraged with business troubles. He started to transact some business with the same clerk over that blotter, when his eye caught the long column of TRAY THROUGH.' He asked who wrote these words, and when he was told exclaimed: 'That is the very message I needed. I will pray through. I have tried to worry through in my own strength, and have merely mentioned my troubles to God; now I am going to pray the situation through until I get light.' "

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR