¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. -2 Kings 19:14-16

King Hezekiah faced the most difficult moment of his life. His enemies sent a letter declaring their intent to destroy his city. What could he do? He did not have the military might to confront his opponents, leaving him no hope for success. No hope but God.

He prayed before the Lord and begged him to respond. Did God hear? Yes. Did he reply? In power. At the end of the chapter we are told this about Hezekiah’s enemies:

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

³⁷ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

God intervened powerfully and clearly. He still does today. When we face impossible situations, he is there. Our challenge is to cry out to him, and him alone, for the strength to endure and to thrive through all of life’s challenges.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” -2 Kings 3:11

Elisha was known in 2 Kings 3 for one main thing–being a prophet of God. He was not known for his creativity, innovation, or celebrity status. He had nothing to offer except the One he served.

Despite only being know for following God, he was the one guy who had a voice before the kings of his time and was able to accurately advise them regarding the future.

Sound familiar?

God often uses those who follow him to influence national leaders. Joseph, Daniel, Elisha…what about you? The hardest part is the first step–being known for following God.

The rest is simply continuing to walk in this reality.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” -2 Kings 2:9-10

When Elijah was ready to leave this world, he asked his protege Elisha what he could do for him. Elisha’s answer? To receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

What did Elisha mean? He simply wanted to have double the spiritual blessing upon his life that Elijah had. This answer must have please the Lord, for it came true shortly afterwards.

Interestingly, there is both one encouragement and one warning for believers today regarding this concept of a double portions. First, a warning. When a person comes to faith in Jesus, he or she receives all of God they need. There is no need to seek for “more” of God. Jesus is already with you.

Second, however, there is an encouragement for us today. The New Testament teaches that when we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. When God uses a person in your life to help you grow spiritually, you are also growing closer to God and God draws near to you. In this sense, surrounding ourselves with godly people provides significant blessings. We are called to reach the unreached, yet we are also called to live in community with other believers and under the influence of those who can help us develop a deeper spiritual life. We don’t need a double portion of some other Christian leader, but we can all benefit from the spiritual wisdom of other believers who can shape our lives here and now.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.