II Kings 1:13

"And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight."

The king of Israel took too much upon him to go and fetch the man of God. He sent after the prophet to have him brought before him to hear what the word of the Lord is. The word had been spoken by Elijah and that was enough. But pride and arrogance took over and he thought by force to bring him. But as the two groups of fifty mena nd their captain approached unto the prophet, they ordered him to come down and report to the king. Upon which, when elijah heard their words, he said, "If I be a man of God, then let fire come down and consume you and your fifty men." And presently fire came down and consumed them. OUr verse shows the third captain did not come as the other ones. and he sent again a captain fo the third fifty with his fifty - word study, sent; 'He', is referring to the king of Israel. The foolish king did not get it, and would have continued to send men to die for him. For the anger of the Lord was against the king of Israel, for he was Ahab's son, and was determined to die. And the third captain of fity went up - word study, went; This was a captain and he was to obey the word of the king. He followed after the other captains just as they had done. and came and fell on his knees before elijah - word study, to come; He followed after the others, but his approach unto the man of God was quite different. What captain would come on his knees before one aged man? A wise man. Having known of the fate of the other men, he chose to humble himself and come asking not demanding. And besought him - this is a pleading word; We don't use this word any more, but I love the use of it. 'We beseech the Lord'; 'I besought Him'. Part of the problem today, is that men do not beseech the Lord. And there is a wholesome fragance about this word left out when we say, 'I asked the Lord'. Beseeching is earnest pleading, far deeper and richer in prayer than simply asking or 'saying prayers'. O man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious is in thy sight - the prayer of earnestness for his very life, and not only his, but those he was resposnbile for; do you plead with God for the souls of men? Is God's anger not put forth against us for our iniquities? WE should learn from this captain of how to approach God. For appraoched the man of God, becuase the man of God had demonstrated the power of God coming down in fire to consume them. We know that we deserved God's wrath to be destroyed but His grace and mercy saved us rather than destroying us. WE came beseeching and pleading for mercy, 'destroy me not in the fire of hell' was the decision of many. And now, being delivered we view the lost world, those entrusted to us and see their plight and we ask for their lives to be spared as well.
When I first composed my list of lost souls to pray for, I counted them up and had close to 50. this verse became my prayer for them. These 50 to be saved and won. The number has increased since then, but the plea is still the same for God, Who is mighty to save, to save to the uttermost.