Primary Pals: Lesson 10d – Elisha Works for God

Key Verse

And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.
— Luke 9:43

Elisha Works for God

2 Kings 4:1-7; 6:1-7

 

Do you believe that a tiny bit of oil could fill many, many jars? It did. Do you believe that a heavy piece of iron could float on water? It did. Those were two of the miracles that Elisha did through the power of God. The Bible tells us all about them.

One day a very sad widow came to Elisha. She said she owed a man some money. The man was going to take her two sons away from her and make them his slaves! If she wanted to keep her sons she had to pay back all the money she owed to the man. She didn’t want to lose her sons. But she had no money! She asked Elisha to please help her.

Elisha asked her, “What do you have in your house?”

She told him that she had nothing in her house except a little pot of oil.

“Tell your sons to go to all your neighbors and borrow as many empty pots as they can,” Elisha said. “Take them into your house. Then shut your door and use your little bit of oil to fill those pots with oil.”

She didn’t argue with Elisha. She did exactly what he had told her to do and God made something wonderful happen! She kept pouring and pouring, and her one little pot of oil filled all the pots that her sons had borrowed! That was a miracle!

As soon as she finished filling all the pots, Elisha told her to go and sell the oil. After that she was able to pay the man the money she owed him so he wouldn’t take her sons to be slaves. She even had money left over!

Another time there were some men who were called the sons of the prophets. The place where they lived was too small. They asked Elisha if they could build a bigger house.

When Elisha told them that they could, one of the men asked him to please go with them to Jordan.

When they reached Jordan they started to cut down trees. They would need a lot of them to build their house.

As one man was chopping down a tree, the heavy, sharp part of the axe flew off the handle and fell into the water. It sank to the bottom of the Jordan River! The man cried out to Elisha, “Oh, no! Master, that axe was borrowed!” He was very upset because he had lost something that belonged to another man. He didn’t know what he would do!

But Elisha knew that God could take care of the problem. He knew that God could work miracles. Elisha told the man to show him where the axe head had gone into the water. Then he cut off a stick and tossed it into the water. And the axe head floated to the top!

God has mighty power. He can do wonderful miracles. Elisha was a good helper for God.

PARENT’S CORNER

Use the memory verse to help your child focus on the mighty power of God.

Draw a garden hose on a strip of paper. Mark it off into twelve equal sections and in each section print a word of the memory verse.

Have your child cut out the hose and then cut it apart. As he puts it back together in the right order, explain to him that just as water flows through a hose, Elisha let God’s power flow through him to help others.