Spiritual Discernment (2 Kings 6:17)

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
– 2 Kings 6:17

This verse is part of one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. So here’s the picture. The army of Syria is surrounding Elisha at this point, and Elisha’s servant is panicked. The verse right before this says an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant is saying, “What do we do?” And Elisha says, “Don’t be afraid. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” So Elisha says, “There’s more of us than them.”

2 Kings 6:17 teaches us to pray for insight beyond the visible.

But think about it. So there’s two guys in the house where Elisha and his servant are. Just the two of those guys. And there’s a host of horses and chariots out there. So if you’re Elisha’s servant, you’re thinking, “The old guy has lost his mind. He may be a prophet, but he’s no mathematician. There’s two of us, and there’s a ton of them.” But then, Elisha prays what I just read. “Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”

In other words, Elisha prays that God would open his servant’s eyes to see the spiritual army full of horses and chariots of fire that are surrounding them. And in that moment, the servant sees, and beholds, gets a glimpse of the spiritual world that totally changes his perspective. He realizes that the army of Syria is indeed outnumbered, not physically, but spiritually. And in that moment, the invisible became visible, and everything changed.

And you read the rest of the story. God provides in a miraculous way to, not only protect Elisha and his servant, but to carry out his purposes. The reason I want to lead us to pray according to this verse is because, we need to see, we need God to open our eyes to see. There is a spiritual world around us that we cannot see, that is just as real as the physical visible world, and yet it is far more powerful. Like the Bible teaches, there are vast numbers of angels, both good and bad, spirits that exist all around us. Like right now, there are glorious beings that would take our breath away if we saw them, and evil beings that would horrify us if we could see them.

2 Kings 6:17 reveals the unseen reality of spiritual warfare.

And to most of our minds, that sounds crazy. That sounds fanciful, almost like make-believe. In our worldvie.w, if you can’t see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, hear it, it doesn’t exist. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. You look at Ephesians 6, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms all around us, and we wrestle with them. That’s what Ephesians 6 says. Which means, well, how do you fight spiritual battle? You fight spiritual battle with spiritual weapons. And what are the weapons we have? Well, you see a whole picture of the armor of God in Ephesians 6, but it all culminates in the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and in prayer. And this is where I just want to encourage you, prayer matters. And specifically prayer matters in light of the spiritual world around us.

Part of me wants to go to Daniel right now and just see how Daniel’s praying was bringing about victory in spiritual battle, in the heavenly realms, as he was praying. So, all right. Let me just dive in. God, we pray that you would help us to see and behold, like Elisha’s servant saw and beheld the reality of the spiritual world around us, the reality that we are in a spiritual war. Right now, that there is an adversary, the devil, demons who are working right now for our destruction, in our lives, in our purity and our holiness, working to destroy our relationships, our marriages, our homes, working to destroy your church, working to destroy the people around us who don’t know you.

This verse pictures divine protection in the face of spiritual warfare.

There’s an adversary who wants them to spend everlasting suffering in hell with him. So God, we pray, help us to fight the spiritual battle today, in prayer, continually, with your Word, just like Jesus, you showed us how to do in your battles with temptation. And we pray that you would help us by the power of your Spirit in us, to fight the good fight, to war against temptation and sin in our own hearts, and to share your truth, and your grace, and the gospel with other people today, that they might be saved from everlasting suffering.

God, we pray that you’d help us to not sit back in this spiritual battle, as if we’re on the sidelines. God, help us in an Ephesians 6 kind of way to stand firm, to withstand all the schemes of the evil one in our lives, and to press in and pray for others around us in Christ to stand, and to press forward with your Word, sharing it and living it out in this world. Until all the nations of the world.

Prayer for the Rongmahbrogpa Amdo People

God, as we pray for unreached people today, we pray for the Rongmahbrogpa Amdo people of China. For nearly 200,000 of them who have been, for years, generations, been kept in the dark by the adversary, from the light of your glory in the face of Jesus. God, we pray. Right now, we intercede for them. For the Rongmahbrogpa Amdo people, that they would be reached with the good news of your grace and your love in Jesus.

God, please hear our prayers right now and respond, act, work among the Rongmahbrogpa Amdo people, that they might be reached with the good news of your grace and your love, that they might be saved. God, we pray, help us to see the spiritual world around us and engage in spiritual warfare with your Word, your Spirit in prayer, with supreme love for you, trust in you, and selfless love for others, laying down our lives to love others and point them to you. We pray all this in light of your Word in 2 Kings 6. In Jesus’ name. Amen.