Prime Your Pump

The Widow at Zarephath 1 Kings 17:10-16 (NIV)

10 So he (Elijah) went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?"

11. As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."

12 "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

Elijah said to her, "Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

14 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ’The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’ "

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

Can you imagine that? Is extreme drought, famine, you are at the brink of starvation, and someone is coming to your house, knocking at your door and asking your food... Your last crumb of bread, insisting: "Give me first!"... And the poor widow didn’t call the Police, didn’t went inside to look for the shotgun… She just gave Elijah EVERYTHING she had: a handful of flour and a drop of oil, enough for a small pita bread… She was able to sacrifice herself and her son, because she understood by faith, to “prime the pump”…

Many-many years ago, when I was in my high school years, I went up in the mountains with three friends from church. Every summer vacation we did the same trip, a week or two carrying our tents, and wandering going around the Carpathian Mountains.

So we arrived at this farm. It was a hot August day and we were thirsty… We knocked at the door… nobody… The owner was not there, the door locked… and his dog just barking aloud…

Going around we discovered a pump like this one (actually showing a pump - $ 50 from LOWE’S - I remembered to this from a Zig Ziglar presentation). And one of my friends grabbed the handle and started to pump. How many of you ever used those kind of old fashion water pumps?... Rise your hands please…

(Pumping) OK, so this guy began to pump, and pump, and pump,… about three or four minutes… After that, exhausted, he said… “nope, no water here, probably this is just an work out device… for biceps.”…

But I noticed how the grass looked fresh green around the pump, and even the soil was kind of moist… so I told them… the pump is functional, look and compare… And they said, OK, it’s your turn to pump. And I did… I pumped, and I pumped, and I pumped several minutes, and the squeaking noise was just awful… But no water…

Well, the owner showed up, alarmed by the dog barks… and we asked him for some water. He showed us the pump… Oh, no, it’s not working…

(Pumping again) Yes, is working, but we needed to PRIME THE PUMP FIRST!... You know what I am talking about… to prime the pump, don’t you? Well, at that time I didn’t know… And he went inside and came with a jug with water…

He poured the water into the pump… while we stared at him not understand why he don’t give us the water instead… And he said: now you pump… No, no like this…. And he grabbed the handle and he went several times up and down sturdy! And the water came.

You know, you need to put something inside here, before you have something out there… You need to have some arrows, yes you, King Joash, to have some arrows first, in order to shut them out… You need to have something in your bank account in order to be approved for some credit… Isn’t something?…

ILL. After we came here in US, I discovered that everybody around me were using something named “credit card” to buy things… We said, oh good, let’s go to a bank and asked them for tis wonder card… ziiip and pay for your gas, and ziiip agin and buy a nice church suit.