If You Had Struck Twice More

1 Kings 13:14-19

14Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
15And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.” 18Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. 19And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

Recently, I came across this story in my Bible reading. It was very impactful, and I began to think of it in a new light. Here is a poem I wrote about this passage.

If You Had Struck Twice More

Arrows in Joash’s hand,

Ready to be struck.

Elisha’s dying bed,

The aged man looks up.

A prophecy arising;

A symbolic act.

“Shoot the arrow toward the ground!”
Said Elisha; “Here’s the fact:

This is the arrow of deliverance

Against the Syrian foe.

So take heart, and shoot!

Strike Syria with mighty blows!”

Joash pulled his arrow,

Stretched it through the bow,

Evaluated the distance,

Shot toward the ground below.

Shot one times, two times, three!

Then he stopped and turned around

Glancing again toward his arrows

Embedded in the ground.

“You should have shot it five times

For Syria’s destruction to be complete!

Now you’ll only strike it three times,

Again, I will repeat!

You should have struck it five times

For victory to be sure;

You would have triumphed utterly

If you had struck twice more.”

When you come before the Lord

In supplication and prayer,

Make sure to strike continually,

As you bring Him your cares.

What a terror, to hear the words,

“You came this close to prayer answered,

Heaven was ready to move,

Your desire was about to be granted,

And you hadn’t a clue.

But you gave up and stopped praying,

Of this you can be sure,

You would have obtained your answer

If you had prayed twice more.”

Make sure to strike continually;

Let your arrows hit the ground;

Pray without ceasing always;

Let your prayers forever abound.

Never cease striking,

Lest you give up when you’re not sure,

And miss out on the victory you could have obtained

If you had struck twice more.

Luke 18:1 (NKJV)
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.