“…Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?’ Elisha said, ‘Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.'” 2 Kings 2:9
Just before Elijah was taken up into heaven, never to be seen by Elisha again, he asked Elisha basically to know the ONE THING that was needful that only God could give him, so that he could, and would be faithful in the discharge of his duties as the prophet who would succeed Elijah. What was it? He asked in essence that God in heaven, by the very word and prayer of His servant, Elijah, would give to Elisha not only the very Spirit of God to be operative in his life and ministry, but that he should be given this blessed gift in double measure. Why? And how could Elisha be so bold as to ask such a thing, and then believe without wavering that it would be given?
The day that Elijah returned from the wilderness, after God had told him to anoint Elisha in his place to be His prophet in Israel, he approached Elisha as he was in a field, plowing with oxen. It was then that he “threw his mantle (or cloak) upon him.” (1 Kings 19:19) That day was monumental, for from that moment Elisha followed Elijah, having become his servant. But there would come another day when the time would come for Elijah to be taken away to heaven by God, and the full effect of the calling of Elisha was accomplished. From one moment to another, as the two men walked and talked together, nothing changed until the question was asked: “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” At that precise moment, Elisha KNEW what he was to ask Elijah. Essentially, he was asking God. He knew something of the enormous responsibility before him, and his total incapacity to discharge that responsibility faithfully, and effectively. He also knew that God was giving him by the very words of Elijah an open door, an opportunity, to receive from the God of heaven, a full and complete strengthening, an anointing, a fullness of the Spirit of God, one that would be not only sufficient for the task, calling, and purpose of God, but even an abundant measure, one that was in scope double that possessed by Elijah. Is Elisha out of bounds in asking God for such blessing, power, by the enabling Spirit of God? No. Elisha had come to see the depth of his personal need of not only the Holy Spirit that enabled Elijah to accomplish the will of God in very difficult and impossible circumstances, but also, of the great manifestation of that power and authority needed in things great and small, so that Israel would know that he was now the Lord’s prophet, and that the word of the Lord was in his heart and mouth. Elisha, like the Apostle Paul many years later, came to see as all men and women of God discover, that without God they are nothing, and can do nothing. Hence, the prayer is immediately prayed, and God is believed to fulfill it. As Jacob, so long before, had made up his mind that he would not let go of the Angel of the Lord until the blessing he sought was given, so Elisha would not leave Elijah’s side, until the chariot of fire came down from heaven to removing him from earth, never to be seen by Elisha again. The great assurance that Elisha had with regard to his request came by the promise by Elijah, declaring that if Elisha was with him when he was taken away, then he would receive from heaven exactly what he asked for. This Elisha did, and this Elisha received.
What is that essential thing for which the believer is to pray if he is to be able to live for God, serve Christ, being faithful until the upward call? It is that blessed fulness in Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.