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Priests, Prophets & Kings
Bible Brainiac
Prophets Week 3-Elijah and Elisha
Leaders’ Preparation
Read 2 Kings 2:1-18
Know what: Elijah ends his ministry and God takes him into heaven, but as he goes, the power of God that rested on him is passed to his successor, Elisha.
So what: All power and anointing comes from God, not from the person and as such, it remains the same throughout all time.
Now what: Because God’s power never changes, we have the ability to do great things through Him.
Memory verse: For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1 v 7. NET
One of the difficulties with reading about the great people of God in the Bible is that we can often compare ourselves to them and feel that we are lacking. This story in the Bible reminds us that all the gifts and abilities that Elijah had were not his own, but given to him by God. Elisha knew this and asked that he be blessed with the same gifts and God agreed. These were ordinary men in the physical sense, but they were extraordinary in their faith and reliance of God. We have just finished two weeks where we have heard how Elijah prevailed during a time of extreme persecution. It was now Elisha’s turn to, literally and figuratively, pick up the mantle. Elisha was still living in a time of persecution, but he had the experience and teaching of Elijah to build on. He continued, with the power of God, to not only carry on the work of Elijah but to surpass it in many ways. He took the inheritance and legacy passed to him and achieved incredible things.
We can tell the children we teach as many stories as we want about the power and miracles of God, but we need to teach them to believe this power and these miracles are still possible today. Even more so, we need them to believe that God can use them to use His power and do His miracles. But we can only do this if we believe it ourselves, and there, unfortunately, is where the problem usually lies. We pray, asking for a miracle, but maybe not expecting it to happen. We receive words of knowledge for people but are too scared to share it for fear of being wrong. God gives us a dream but we fail to take the first step just in case we fail. We know all the great and incredible things that happened in the Bible, but all of that happened thousands of years ago.
The character and nature of God NEVER changes; we say it and teach it, now we need to believe it. We believe that God can do the small things, but the big things, not so much. For God, from whom all power comes, the big things and the small things are the same and are of equal value. God chooses how and when to use His power, but we need to be open to being used by Him and to not fear failure or embarrassment. After all, who do we need to please, God or man?
If, however, God has used you in miracles or you have had prayers answered, if you have experienced the incredible power of God, tell the children about it. Show them that God’s power is as present and evident today as it was in the time of Elijah and Elisha.
By Admin / ??/??/12
