“The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.” “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’ ” And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.” 2 Kings 2:19-22
Elisha the Prophet had just received the double portion of God’s power from Elijah and was asked by the men of Jericho to come and help them out of a predicament. They pointed out that their city was very pleasant to look at but the ground was barren. It had all the goods, the sunshine, the soil and the water, but no fruitfulness. Something was wrong, and Elisha was able to sort it out by the power of God.
There are many cities around us today that look good on the outside but when you scratch the surface you will find many problems. They are full of sin and sickness. There are also people like this too that have lots of money, fame and good looks but when you scratch the surface of their lives, you find a mess.
Jericho was called the place of palm trees, it was like an oasis in the desert and the name ‘Jericho’ means sweetness and fragrance but their name didn’t match the goods, for they were barren.
When we speak of barrenness today we immediately think of a barren woman who can’t have a child, but barrenness is more than that. In this case was a territorial barrenness, and can be a spiritual, physical, financial or material barrenness. In Jericho the land was good but it was affected by a spirit of barrenness. Barrenness is a curse and violates the first words of God over man in the book of Genesis.
“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” Genesis 1:28
God told man to go forth and multiply, and reproduce after their own kind. God wants us to multiply. He wants surge and not purge. He also said that seed time and harvest would not cease and yet with barrenness there is no harvest. God is into the multiplication business and not into subtraction. He wants us to be fruitful and barrenness only produces frustration. We get frustrated when we are meant to produce the goods but can’t. We get frustrated when we are meant to be in a certain place but just can’t get there. We spend many years in a spiritual place with no progress and no fruit.
To be barren also means to be bound and blocked. Barrenness is a binding of the womb for example. You can also have professional barrenness where you are never promoted while others get ahead of you. It is fruitless labour. Peter said to Jesus that they had fished all night and got nothing. Barrenness means to make no headway after lots of effort.
Look at this interesting couple in Luke 1:5-7. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were descendants of a line of priests and were righteous, keeping all the commandments of God and were blameless. They had a great CV, yet they were barren and unable to have children. Zechariah means “God has remembered,” and Elizabeth means “The oath of God”. Put these two meanings together and you have “God has remembered the oath of God”. But in real life it looked far from this and seemed like God had forgotten them. But He came through.
There are many Christians out there like this. They are barren in many ways and it seems like God has forgotten them.
Look at Sarah of old, she too was barren. Hannah the mother of Samuel was also barren, Samson’s mother was too and also Elizabeth. These women were all healed of their barrenness and look at the amazing supernatural blessing that came forth from their wombs. Sarah had the baby Isaac, the promised seed. Hannah gave birth to the most amazing Prophet Samuel whose words never fell to the ground. Samuel anointed two Kings of Israel in his ministry and formed a school of prophets. Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist whom Jesus said was the greatest of all the prophets. When God moved in and healed them of their barrenness something amazing happened. Be encouraged folks for God is no respecter of persons, and can end your barrenness today and bring forth something amazing and supernatural in your life.
Here are four keys that can break the barrenness over your life.
The first one is PRAYER.
In 1 Samuel we see Hannah was praying and crying out to God. “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.” 1 Samuel 1:10
She poured out her heart to God and He opened up the heavens and her womb. Every day she was being taunted by another woman who had children and this made things worse. We too can be praying to our God and the Devil is constantly saying to you. “Where is your God?”
The second key is PRAISE.
“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy,” Isaiah 54:1
Praise can help break the spirit of barrenness over your life. We are not to just sing and praise God once we have given birth but while we are barren – by faith. Sing when your heath is still poor and there is no fruit. In fact it says to ‘cry’ aloud. Not just praise in your head, but out loud. One translation says to shout oh barren and the end result will be multiplication.
“For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” Isaiah 54:3
The third key is to PROPHECY .
In the introduction verse in 2 Kings 2:19-22 we see Elisha speaking a word over the water of the city. He made a decree and spoke God’s word. “This is what the Lord says, - be healed.”
We have this authority too when mixed with faith. We can speak to the dry bones of our lives and also to the wind as we see in Ezekiel 37. It’s the authority given to all God’s children.
“You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you;” Job 22:28
We notice in the following chapter that Elisha went on to break biological barrenness in a woman’s life. Here we have a woman who is called ‘great,’ who had everything materially but she was barren. 2 Kings 4:8-10
“What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” 2 Kings 4:14,15-16.
The fourth thing is to PLANT A SEED.
To break biological barrenness you always need a seed (a sperm) otherwise there will be no child. There is also a tie up between sowing a financial seed and breaking barrenness. Look at Malachi. It was because Israel was robbing God of their tithes and offerings that their fruit was falling to the ground before the time. They were barren.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;” Malachi 3:8-11
If you give to God’s work, you are planting seed and have the authority to rebuke Satan. We need to cover ourselves with prayer, praise and prophecy and also plant seeds and this will break the poverty cycle over your life and end the famine. Here are the 4 keys for something amazing and supernatural to come forth in your life this year. These keys can end any form of barrenness. Speak over you home, your wallet, your business, ministry and your health and watch God multiply blessings unto you. Pray, Praise, Prophecy and Plant your way out of barreness.