The Dynamic Duo

Elijah and Elisha, baby! Does anyone else ever get these two mega prophets mixed up? I mean, I know Elijah tended to go after the big guys and the big issues while Elisha tended towards more of the common everyday kinda guy.

I was wondering, though, why I can't ever keep their miracles straight and I realized that I don't have to in many cases! Oftentimes, they performed either the same miracle or one eerily similar. Elisha was trained under Elijah for about 10 years, but never performed a miracle until his mentor died, or rather, was taken up in a fire ball of horses and chariots. What a way to go!

So, I kept thinking about why on earth they performed similar miracles and God showed me! It was all in the request of Elisha when he knows that his time with Elijah is about up. He asks him, "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit." The message says, "Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man just like you." (2 Kings 2:9)

Well. There you have it, folks. It was all in the asking.

Crazy how there are about double the number of miracles recorded in the life of Elisha as opposed to Elijah. Crazy how some of those miracles seemed to be repeated. (All in the asking.)

Two such cases really stand out to me. Both prophets give two women a blessing over the little bit of oil that they have. One lady is able to pay off her debts with the surplus of oil and the other is able to feed her family until the drought is lifted.

Another case is when the same two women's sons die! In the first instance, Elijah "stretched himself out on the boy" and the boy's life returned to him. In the second instance, Elisha "stretched himself out upon him" and he came back to life.

There are even other very similar miraculous stories.

I think Elisha must have had such faith to even think of a request! Remember, he had never even performed a miracle when he made his desire known. He wasn't encumbered by his inability or lack, but simply knew his God was able, so why not ask.

Jesus says that when we ask for things that line up with his heart, then we will receive! What is it that we should be asking for? Lord, give us faith to believe that you are able.