Faith & Doubt

Your Last Paycheck Already Cleared?

1 Kings 17:16

This describes the widow of Zarephath, who fed the prophet Elijah from her last flour and oil during the drought, as the LORD had promised (1 Kings 17:8-16).

Lord, the last of it has gone out and nothing is coming in behind it. I keep counting what is left and the number only goes down. You told a woman with one handful of flour to pour it out first, and the jar was not spent and the jug did not run dry, not for one single day. I do not know where next month comes from. You have never once needed me to know. Give me today's bread and steady my hands to keep working while I wait on You. Amen.

Prayer points from 1 Kings 17:16

Thank God for every day the jar has not run empty, even when it never looked full.

Name the shortfall you are facing, the bill or the balance you keep counting.

Confess the fear that comes from counting what is left, and give the counting to Him.

Ask for today's portion, and for steady hands to keep working while you wait on Him.

Ask for the kind of trust the widow showed when she did as Elijah said with her last handful of flour.

Pray by name for someone who has lost their income, that God would provide for them day by day.

About this verse

Elijah had announced a drought to King Ahab, and the drought did not spare the prophet. The brook that fed him dried up, and God sent him to Zarephath, a town in Sidon, outside Israel, to be fed by a widow. He found her gathering sticks to cook a last meal for herself and her son, with only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Elijah asked her to make him a small cake first, on the strength of a promise that the jar would hold out until the LORD sent rain. What happened next is easy to misremember. The jar never filled up. It simply never ran out: "The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry." She was given enough for each day, every day, for as long as the drought lasted. Jesus later pointed to this same widow in His hometown synagogue. If you are watching a balance go down with nothing coming in, this is the kind of provision being promised: not a windfall, but today's handful.

When to pray this prayer

When your savings are almost gone and no income is coming in

When you've been laid off and don't know how you'll pay next month's rent

When you have to give generously out of very little and it frightens you

When you lie awake doing the same budget math over and over

When you're raising children alone and the groceries are running low

After a disaster or a long dry season has wiped out your livelihood

Your Last Paycheck Already Cleared?

The Scripture

Prayer points from 1 Kings 17:16

About this verse

When to pray this prayer

More prayers for faith & doubt

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