Empty Vessels!

Empty vessels!

2 King 4:3”Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors,

empty vessels and not too few.4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and

your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside."

When you shut the door behind yourself for an intimate meeting with God, I assure you

“the windows of heaven will open for you and God would pour down for you a blessing

until there is no more need.”(Malachi 3:10)Isn’t that exciting?

Jesus clearly points out the benefits we receive when we shut the door for prayer:

Mathew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your

Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Have you ever been in a situation which looked absolutely hopeless? Situations in your

life look so grim that you feel that there is no way out, are you there? I want to tell you

today that God would make a way for you! Amen. The above passage tells of Elisha’s

instructions to the widow of a prophet who comes crying to him, because her late

husband had left behind huge debts and the creditors were claiming for her two children

in exchange for the money. Elisha looked at her and said, "How can I help you? Tell me,

what do you have in your house?" The widow replied that she has nothing except a jar of

oil. Elisha gave her a set of instructions for the grieving lady and nothing else.

Elisha told her: a) go outside b) borrow vessels from all the neighbors (not just a few)

c)empty vessels and d) then shut the door along with her two sons e) pour the oil into

the vessels. Well, the most outstanding instruction was “shut the door behind yourself

and the two sons!” They had suffered much and had been humiliated much, now it was

God’s time to bless them much! Most of us want miracles to happen in our life but we

never want to shut ourselves with God. Are you listening?

When Pastor Paul Yonggi Cho was a young minister with several thousand members in

his church, he felt greatly blessed and actually drifted into complacency in his ministry.

Then God allowed the perplexity of physical weakness in his body. He developed a case

of nervous exhaustion and some problems with his heart, he had difficulty to simply

carry out even his daily tasks. During that period, God drew him close to Him and

showed many changes that needed to take place in his life. (From Pastor Paul Yonggi

Cho’s book “Solving Life’s Problems”) Sometimes through sickness God shuts the door

to be close with Him.

Elisha did not say, let me see how much money I have in my bank account, instead he

gives her instructions to use ‘her own resources’. This was no spectacular modus

operandi for a super flow miracle. It was the most weird plan. The widow takes a

remarkable step which was the reason for the whole miracle! Verse 5 says, “So she

went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they

brought the vessels to her.” That’s fantastic faith! The important key to blessings is

obedience! She did not linger behind to question the authenticity of the instructions, ‘she

just obeyed.’ When she shut the door with a giant faith with her two sons to pour the oil

into the empty cans, God stepped in to fill the cans. Hallelujah! In fact, both her sons

were involved in carrying the jars. The empty jars filled up, but the jar she was pouring

from did not run dry. She kept pouring and pouring! Amazing! Many times we pray for

the situation to change. We desperately want God to deliver us from the situation but we

are not willing to do as God says. Through the Word, we receive certain instructions -

some things we need to do or change, but we are unwilling to obey and therefore fail to

experience the miracle that God has planned for us. Are you listening?

The boys had the tough task of visiting all the neighbors and asking them for empty

vessels. They did not ridicule Elisha for this absurd instruction because they believed the

word of the prophet. From where did the oil come? From heaven! Can we give a shout of

praise! If you really want God’s miracles then you must get alone with God. Shut the

door! The boys must have been awed when they saw the oil flowing into the empty

vessels. God did not say go borrow money, rice or dhal but he said, ‘just go get the