The Battles Won by Prayer

We're going to read this morning about the day one man took on an entire army and won. Let's turn to Second Kings chapter six. Second Kings chapter six, and we're going to read from verse eight. Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he counselled with his servants saying, at such and such a place shall be my camp. But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel.

So the man of God here is Elisha. Sent word to the king of Israel, beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there. And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing.

And he called his servants and said to them, will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak even in your bedroom. And he said, go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. It was told him, behold, he is in Dothan. So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army.

And they came by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, alas, my master, what shall we do? And he said, do not be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

And Elisha prayed and said, oh 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. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, please strike this people with blindness. So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, this is not the way, and this is not the city.

Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria. As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, oh Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, my father, shall I strike them down?

Shall I strike them down? And he answered, you shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master. So he prepared for them a great feast.

Feast. And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the lands of Israel. So far the reading. What would you say to this statement?

The battle against the enemy of God's people is a battle surrounding vision. It's a battle centred on what people are able, or perhaps willing, to see. The thing is, in this recorded event in the history of Israel and the life of this man named Elisha, we can get easily swept up into the fascinating political situation that's going on here. We've got two armies.

We've got two cities. We've got two kings. And sort of the arm wrestle going on here that's centred around a single solitary man. And we get swept up in that idea.

We see heavenly spiritual armies of fire, and we can get lost in that sort of detail. But if you read closely, these are all sort of incidental details to a far more significant point being made, which is on the power of prayer, the power of speaking and tapping into God. If you look closely, you see how the whole story itself is actually framed around prayers, three transitions of prayer that sort of guides the story. So starting at the start, we see the king who is a very angry, frustrated king, the king of an empire called Assyria, which, if you're into history, you will know Assyria is probably one of the great mega powers of the, I guess, the civilised world.

It is sort of like, you know, Britain was a hundred years ago. They were just absolutely everywhere. Assyria was the first superpower of the world, and they were following, and they were sort of, yeah, was this this major superpower. And so the king is actually now, and they were dominating the whole Middle East.

So they were starting to push into the nation, or the lands, of Israel. And so they were having these sort of skirmishes by the looks of it. And yet something is happening because the king is setting up these ambush battles. He's wanting to sort of cleverly trap the Israelite armies, and yet every time he's foiled somehow. And he says to his advisers, is there a spy amongst us that would be giving them this sort of information? And one of these advisers says to him, no.

There's this man called Elisha. And he's a seer. The Old Testament called it seer, which is another term for a prophet. He sees things that we don't see normally. And so we find this frustrated king, this powerful emperor, he sends a whole army to a city called Dothan with chariots and armed soldiers to capture one man, Elisha.

And again, chariots in those days is the equivalent of our modern day tanks. I mean, that's how scary and terrifying and powerful they were. He sends tanks to capture one man. And so here we find Elisha waking up to seeing himself surrounded by a whole army. But God loves to humble the proud.

The Bible, again and again throughout the whole story, without all of scripture, talks about this. We see it time and again. God vindicates the humble, and he brings down the proud and the powerful. And how does God do this here? Well, we see that he does it through three prayers.

That's as simple as it is. Three prayers. It's not so much the showing of miracles. It's not God bending the laws of physics. Three prayers simply for people to see regarding sight.

So let's have a look. The first prayer is that Elisha's servant, first prayer is that Elisha prays that his servant may see the army of God. We see the servant in verse 15 waking up early in the morning. He's probably going out to get some water or whatever. He gets out of the house.

And like I've seen, almost from, like, Looney Tunes cartoons, he sees this giant army out there. You know, like how Bugs Bunny, sort of, or Wile E. Coyote, opens the door and there's like a bear behind the door and is about to eat him. Then he sort of closes the door and he hopes that he didn't see that and opens it again. That's the image that I get.

There is a whole army surrounding the city. And he goes to his master, Elisha, and he says, master, do you see what I see? We're surrounded. There's no hope of escape. But Elisha says, don't be afraid.

Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And that is a powerful statement of trust and faith. Elisha is saying to the boy, it's not a question of do I see what you're seeing, it's a question of what do you see? What I see? And so he says, verse 17, our Lord, he prays, verse 17, please open his eyes that he may see. And the servant's eyes are opened, and he does see what Elisha sees, and he sees it's an army of fire.

As many tanks and chariots as there are for the Assyrians, there's double that surrounding those Assyrians. God is working behind the scenes, as though a curtain has been lifted, and we start seeing into the realm of God, where He is busy working out all things to the good of those who love Him. We look beyond the realm of the physical into the metaphysical, beyond the natural into the supernatural. But now we start getting an indication that the real issue here is not so much about the armies. The problem is with the shortsightedness of this young man.

The fear is because he can't see, that he doesn't know what the reality is. It's an issue of perspective, of someone who needs to know who God is and what He is like. The problem is that the servant can't see spiritually. But Elisha prays that he may see truly, and this is what the man does indeed see. But I want to suggest that this is what we, as human beings, also need to experience.

What this young man must know is what every Christian believer comes to know, that it's not the armies of man that are big. They are actually very, very small. It's the Lord's army that is big. The power of the Syrians, in fact, is very small. The power of the Lord is very great.

Skipping ahead to the New Testament, the apostle Paul, Saint Paul, he says that in Second Corinthians four, doesn't he? We jump forward, and he gives an explanation of his life, what he has done for the sake of the message of Jesus Christ, the gospel. And in there, he says, I've gone through so much persecution. I've been shipwrecked. I've been flogged.

I've been stoned to the point of death. And the question is, Paul, how can you endure all these things? How can you put up with all that stuff? How can you keep going in this ministry, Paul? And his answer in Second Corinthians four is, because I've learned to see the visible in light of the invisible.

I've come to see the temporary in light of the eternal. This is what he says: I've come to see my present sufferings as short and bearable in light of the enormous weight of glory that God has given me in the person of Jesus Christ. And friends, because of Jesus Christ, we are in exactly the same position. If we're honest with ourselves, we'd probably say, I think I see pretty clearly. To use sort of a modern expression, I think I'm pretty woke.

I'm clued up. I know what's going on. I see. I read all the blogs. I read all the newspapers, the left wing and the right wing newspapers, and I put them together, and I have a pretty good idea of what's going on.

I eat certain foods because they're healthier. I educate my children a certain way because I think that's healthier. I follow the right social media influences, the ones that swim against the stream. Some of us might even be sceptical about faith and religion because we think we've done the research. We assume that we are clear eyed men and women, but when we read the enormity of scriptures like this, we can find ourselves saying, I've lived my whole life as a one eyed, short sighted, cataract influenced and affected man or woman.

I think I'm woke, but in fact I judge everything by only what I see and what I have personally experienced. But there is so much more to existence. We know that as well. We know that in some part, there's more to existence than what happens to me. There's stuff that happens behind that veil that is of spiritual, metaphysical and eternal significance.

And I think I'm very insightful, but I always look at the horizontal. I always look at what's happening around me, and I miss the vertical. And God help me if I still got to learn the lesson that every true believer sees, not through their eyes. Every believer sees through their heart and their mind. We don't see through our eyes, but through the vision of faith, of God's revelation of Himself through His word confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit.

There is a power and a plan, and we should never realise, and we may never realise that, unless the Holy Spirit, God's power, enables us to see. And so the little servant boy, he sees one thing, but Elisha prays that his servant may see what is really there, and that changes his perspective on everything. All of a sudden, the anxiety, the fear is gone. That's the first prayer. Then Elisha prays a second prayer.

He prays that the Syrian army won't see. They start marching down towards Dothan. They're ready to sort of, you know, bust through the doors and take this one man captive. And Elisha prays in verse 18, please strike the people with blindness. And God makes the army blind.

And then Elisha engages in a little bit of tour guide conversation. He tells them in two different ways what they're looking for. Firstly, he says to them, I will take you to the man you seek. Immediately we think, well, they're seeking Elisha. No. They're seeking the king of Israel.

They're wanting to destroy the king of Israel. So Elisha is saying, I'll take you to the guys you really are looking for. And so he says, I'll take you into Samaria. And the question is, why does God blind the army? Well, it's actually, again, quite characteristic of how God does it. He shows His power in the most unexpected ways.

This is the Creator of everything that exists around us, right? The Creator of the universe. And we think He has control over everything that He has created. Why does He not just send fire down on these guys, just consume them?

Why does He not sort of destroy them by this incredible spiritual, obviously terrifying army around them? No. Instead, God doesn't use the artillery we expect Him to use. He does something far more gentle, or far, far more surprising. But this is, again, so characteristic of God.

In the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, earlier on in the history of the Old Testament, God uses pots and pans to scare an army away. Remember that? In the middle of the night, Israel, I'm just banging together stuff, and everyone flees. They think there's a hoard coming down on them. I was David and Goliath.

We dealt with that a few weeks ago. He uses a sling and a tiny pebble to bring down a giant in full armour. And here again, God intervenes the most unusual of ways. He could have called down lightning and fire, but God uses blindness instead. Now I don't know exactly what this blindness was.

We're not told that it was a physical blindness that they were stumbling around, or whatever. Somehow they would manage to get to Samaria, this other city. It may be that God just made them not understand or recognise what was going on. Maybe they didn't know that this is the man Elisha that they're looking for. We know that from the New Testament where those two disciples on the road to Emmaus see the resurrected Christ.

Something in them is saying, wow, this man is saying some incredible things. His teaching is wonderful, but they don't know. They don't recognise Christ until Jesus prays. God has the ability to hide that sort of understanding. Whatever type of blindness it was, that is not really the point.

What matters is seeing that God's weaponry is often surprising, but is spiritual. And again, there's an important lesson for us to learn here. How often, and I'm speaking here to the Christians, do we use weaponry of the same like, the same sort as being used against us? When we try and talk to someone about Jesus, how often do we try and out prove them with rationalistic sort of debates or arguments? Supposedly scientific expressions or reasoning.

How often do we try to out politicise our politicians? Think of all the evangelical Christians in America. How often do we hear about how angry and combative they become against the non Christians? How often is their anger just a push, a retaliation against what they believe they have experienced, and it's only fair that they hit back in the same sort of way? Don't we realise this is engaging with them in physical weapons?

And God wins spiritual battles with spiritual things. So we find here with Elisha, what is his weapon? It's just prayer. If we had to combat our enemies along spiritual lines, and we know deep down these are spiritual battles, really. The battle for the heart and the mind is not something that is won physically, is it? Is it our clever reasoning or our political wrangling?

I think the weapon we find most difficult to use, and some of us never use, is prayer. It's an interesting situation in the New Testament. In the book of Acts, once again, we find a historical account of the early church. And they were starting to experience the very first inklings of real persecution. People were being put to death for being Christian.

People were losing their jobs. People were being thrown out of families, thrown out of towns. And at one point, the apostles, the leaders of the church, say, we have to get our priorities straight here, guys. We're starting to lose the battle here. What do they suggest is the solution?

The Bible says they gave themselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer. It's just, again, so unusual. You think, oh, go to the courts. Get some protection, some rights. You know, appeal to some political powers.

They dedicate themselves to prayer. No wonder we lose so many battles, friends. If our own souls are withered and dry, our witness is dry and impoverished. If our church is without prayer, our church will make little impact.

Prayerlessness is a form of atheism. It sounds harsh to put it that way, but why don't we pray? Because we don't think it works, or it won't work in this situation. This situation is way too hard.

But Elisha believes, and he prays, and God averts a terrible disaster. He saves his, well, I think his two children at least, and Elisha and his servant. But that whole town is saved. And he doesn't destroy these enemies. He makes them blind for a moment with a greater purpose in mind for them, something far more magnificent for them, which leads us to the third point, the third prayer. Elisha prays for God to open the eyes of the Syrians.

Now this third and final prayer is really interesting, and it leads to a really fascinating situation. It takes place when Elisha says, I'll lead to this person and this place that you're looking for. And Elisha leads these people to another city, Samaria, which is the capital of the Israelite nation, of the northern tribes. He leads them, in essence, into the open jaws of a lion. I mean, all the king's palace guards, their best soldiers, will be in the city.

And then after Elisha leads them in there, he prays that their eyes may be opened. Now think about this. If Elisha or God wanted these people destroyed, why pray for eyes to be opened before the mouth clamps shut on them? Before the armies battle out? Why not keep these guys blinded, and whatever that is, so that they don't have a chance to resist?

Elisha prays for their eyes to be opened so that they may see something important. They need to see the predicament that they are in. They need to see that in this predicament, there is no chance of escape. They are so lost. They are so helpless.

The only thing that is going to save them from this situation is mercy, is forgiveness, is grace. And friends, if there is ever a picture in the Old Testament of someone discovering what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ, this is that situation. What we see are men who are blinded and held captive. They don't even know it. Like all of us, Christians, before we put our faith in Jesus, we were like these men.

Captive without any hope in our brokenness, in our sinfulness. But at one time, this is what we are so thankful about. Perhaps even through the prayer of someone who loved us, our eyes were opened to God's power and then to His grace. And the Syrian army, their eyes, at this stage, probably bulging out of their heads when they realise they are the captives. They've come to capture one man, but they are the captives here.

And they are in the mouth of the lion. And there is nothing they can do about it. But listen to what happens. Elisha, the man who prayed for their eyes to be opened so that they may see the terrifying reality that they're in, he's also the man who commands that a feast be set out for them.

Bring them water. Bring them bread. The king of Israel says to Elisha, my lord, what shall I do? Shall I strike? Elisha says, no.

Feed them. Give them water and send them away. And then the Bible actually says the king gives them a feast. So it's not just these basics. It's a feast.

It's lavish. It's a banquet. And then they're sent home. But this is the picture of God's good news, of His grace. Perhaps it's been your experience.

As people prayed for us, the gospel first had to become bad news to us. We had to hear it first that we are doomed to an eternity away from God, which is called hell. Away from all that is good. Away from all that is God. We've lived our lives as though we have never wanted to follow God, never wanted to know God, and then one day God says, this is exactly what I'll give you.

That's what you wanted. I will give you that. But we don't know what we have really asked for. And our eyes will one day be opened, and perhaps for us we have already seen that the reality and the full weight of the horror of that moment. But then as our eyes were opened, we could hardly believe it, but the One who should have slayed us for our sin extends instead His grace.

And this is the surprising upside down power of God's love. We read it this morning. While we were enemies of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died in our place. In other words, we were in the mouth of the lion. And God's justice demands that those jaws slam shut.

But Jesus comes, and He steps in our place. He removes us from that position. He exchanges us for Himself, and He experiences that punishment on the cross. He goes through hell, literally, in our place. And then instead of us, you know, just saying, well, wow, that was great, we barely escaped, and, you know, we won't do that again.

God then welcomes us as His sons and His daughters into His family. The Bible says He prepares a feast for us, a table for us. And so our comfort this morning is even now that His grace is more than we deserve. It's true we don't pray enough. It's true that we haven't prayed for our lost loved ones enough.

We haven't battled those serious, deep spiritual battles in that realm enough. And yet this is what we see about God. He wins those spiritual battles. God wins the victory over His enemy, Satan, through the most unusual and surprising ways, through forgiveness and grace. And we see this in that final scene, and it's almost comical when the Syrian army is sent back to the king.

They come cap in hand, you know, looking probably very, very ashamed and very sort of humble, and they, they, you can imagine that the general comes to the king, and the king says, well, where is Elisha? You know, what's happened? And the general, he doesn't know where to begin explaining this story. He says, well, your majesty, you see, you see, there was this, and then Samaria, and we brought you back some cake. I think it's such a wonderful picture of the fury and the frustration that Satan experiences in his war against God.

He isn't foiled by the heavy artillery. God could click His fingers, and Satan would be gone. His armies aren't overwhelmed by God's sheer force. Satan is foiled by the extending of grace and forgiveness. The Syrian army receives grace.

They're sent home. What is the result? Verse 23, and the Syrians did not come in on raids into the land of Israel again. They know forgiven, set free. They don't return to that anymore.

Christians, our war is not against flesh and blood. Let's keep our perspective. Let's pray for godly vision, and let's pray for God's grace through us to win that war. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this truth that we may receive, Lord.

We thank you for Your Holy Spirit that is confirming it in our hearts even as we speak. We pray, Lord, for our friends that we really care about. We pray, Lord, that they may come to know You as well. We pray, Lord, for our nation that is just more and more walking away from this truth. And we ask, God, that You will also raise people like these men, these men of God that You have raised from time to time over the years, to speak a true word to bring people back.

God, we are so desperate for Your intervention in our lives. We need You more than we realise. And so we just pray humbly that You will be powerful in our lives. We pray, Lord, for the right vision to see our need and the needs of those around us truly. We pray for patience and love and grace to fight these battles, not against people and systems, not to get angry and even at times violent.

But Lord, to do this with the assurance and the knowledge that that heavenly vision that those who are with us is way more than those who are with them. The power that is on our side will win. So Lord, we entrust our lives to You. We take that peace and that courage into our week again. And we pray, Lord, that You will do what You need to do through this truth to us this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen.