Lets take a look at what God taught Elijah about prayer and listening.
1 Kings chapter 18. We will start in verse 41 and will work our way through chapter 19 verse 18.
Because God sent fire from heaven and licked up the bull, the altar, the water, and the soil the people of Israel saw that the drought wasn’t an accident. They realized it was a disciplinary measure that was provided by God through his prophet Elijah. (Isn’t it awesome that we serve a God that loves us enough to discipline us, and teach us while we are living, so we can turn to him and won’t spend eternity in Hell!)
Lets look at what happens after God sent fire from heaven and the false prophets were slaughtered.
1 Kings 18:41-42Elijah tells Ahab to “Go and celebrate. Look what God has done by bringing fire! Now the rain is coming, God is truly the One True God!” This is Elijah giving Ahab one more chance to turn back to God. We see Ahab ride off to party, but Elijah climbs on top of the mountain to pray for rain. The posture that he prayed in shows his intensity to see God’s glory through the rain.
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
1 Kings 18:43-45Elijah said that rain was coming, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. So Elijah sent his servant to look toward the sea, and he began to pray persistently. Elijah understood the power of persistent intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is pleading the case for others through prayer. Elijah stood in between the people of Israel and God so that God’s glory and power would be revealed. Due to Elijah’s persistent prayer when the 7th report came there was a cloud in the sky the size of a mans hand. It quickly grew and became a storm. (Think about how awesome and powerful our God is that he can control the weather). When the rain starts we see Ahab riding off towards Jezreel, and we see Elijah turn Super human.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:46God turned Elijah into the Flash. Instead of a science lab explosion, it was the Holy Spirit that caused him to become super human. Ahab was riding in a chariot. History tells us that kings typically rode in chariots with 2 horses. Basically what I’m trying to get across is that Ahab was going fast. He was going fast to out run the flood. When there is a long drought and it starts raining again there are flash floods, because the ground can’t soak up the water fast enough. All though Ahab was riding in a chariot going as fast as he could to out run the flood, Elijah still was able to run ahead of him and beat Ahab to the city of Jezreel. God gave Elijah super human speed.
The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
In chapter 19 verses 1-5, we see that Ahab tell’s Jezebel everything that Elijah did. This makes Jezebel extremely mad and now she want’s Elijah’s head. So Elijah becomes afraid for his life, and runs to the desert. Elijah came up on a tree and sat down under it. “I’ve had enough!” He told God. “Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors.” He said.
Elijah said that because he is exhausted, discouraged, and was grieving. The rain storm was a huge victory for Elijah, but he felt like a failure because there were some people (Ahab, Jezebel, and a few others) who didn’t turn back to God. He felt like he stood alone, because he thought that he was the only one of God’s prophets left. And, he was physically exhausted from the journey. Elijah asked God to set him free from the weight and pressures of his life. Then Elijah falls asleep under the tree.
Then an angel came and told him to eat. Elijah wakes up looks around and nobody is there, but there is a loaf of bread cooking on some coal and a bottle of water. So Elijah ate the bread and drank the water and fell back to sleep. Then the same thing happened again. The food gave him enough strength that he was able to travel for 40 days and nights to go to Horeb, which is known as God’s Mountain.
This is the same mountain that God talked to Moses on. Its on this mountain that God begins to help, teach, and encourage Elijah.
1 Kings 19:9bGod asks that because He didn’t send Elijah there. Elijah went there because he was afraid. After hearing the question that God asked him, Elijah tells God everything.
And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:10There are times when people need to talk to someone to get things off their chest. This was one of those times for Elijah. Elijah was exhausted, discouraged, and grieving about what happened. He needed someone to talk to, and when God asked the question Elijah let it all spill out. Elijah didn’t need anyone to talk to because he was able to tell God all about is problems and issues.
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Now we are going to see God teach and comfort Elijah.
1 Kings 19:11-13While Elijah is standing on top of the mountain, there were tornado sized winds, a earthquake, and a fire but God wasn’t in those things. Instead God came to Elijah through a gentle whisper, breaking the silence. Elijah found himself in a desperate situation and was looking for God to show up through extraordinary means. What ended up happening is that Elijah got alone with God, quieted himself, and took his mind off of lives distractions. That is when God spoke to him.
The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Verse 13 is finished by God asking Elijah the same thing for a second time.
“What are you doing here?”
We see in verse 14 that Elijah gives the same answer that he did before, but this time God was able to respond. God was able to respond because Elijah wasn’t distracted by lives problems and because he set in silence anticipating that God was going to speak. At this point God knew Elijah was truly listening for Him, so He spoke.
1 Kings 19:15b-18While Elijah was listening, God was able to comfort him and tell him what his plans were. God wasn’t finished with Elijah, He had more work for him to do. God told Elijah that there were 7000 more believers in Israel that had never bowed to Baal, so Elijah knew that he wasn’t alone. And, now God is going to have Elijah train his successor… Elisha.
“Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.”
There are a few things we need to take note about from Elijah’s life. Elijah understood the power of complete and persistent prayer. He pleaded the case for other people which is called intercessory prayer. We can see this from 3 different accounts: ). Elijah prayed to restore the altar and honor of God. 2) He prayed and engaged the false prophets in spiritual war fare to prove who’s god is real. 3) And to night we say how Elijah prayed for rain to come and refresh the drought-plagued land.
There are 3 kinds of intercessory prayer. The first is for God’s honor and glory to be revealed and restored among God’s people (this is Spiritual Revival). Second, is prayer during times of spiritual warfare against demonic powers and strongholds. The third is the praying for the outpouring of God’s Spirit through spiritual awakening (this is for an individual person or group of people).
Elijah’s prayers accomplished a lot of stuff. Why is that? When Elijah prayed, he knew that he was a man with human limitations. His faith in God was so great that he prayed and anticipated that God was going to do something. Elijah lived a righteous life, that is that he lived according to God’s standards, and this made God take notice of him. And Elijah also waited and listened for God.
Thank about the prayers that you pray. Do they accomplish anything? Most of the time you pray for things like a new TV, camera, car, to do good on a test, or what ever. Those kind of prayers really don’t matter in the long run, because 5 years down the line you’ll want a new TV, camera, car, etc.
Other times you pray for things that are important. Things like a sick family member who is in the hospital, that one of your friends will come to know Jesus like you do, that you will become a better person, that God will show himself in your life, or what ever the prayer. Sometime you are praying for something that will accomplish many things, like Elijah did, but God doesn’t answer it. Why is that? Well compare your life with Elijah’s…
- Elijah knew that he had human limitations, and knew that God was the one who had to do things. Have you come to that realization that you are nothing without God, and its God who answers prayer and not yourself?
- Elijah had faith in God to where he anticipated that God was going to move. When you pray, do you have the faith that God is going to move, or do you doubt that God is going to do anything?
- Elijah lived a righteous life. Are you living a righteous live and doing your best to live according to God’s word?
- Elijah got by himself in silence to wait and listen for God. Are you getting by yourself to pray and read God’s word, and are you turning off the TV, radio, or what ever noise that can be distracting so you can wait and listen for God?
Prayer is necessary for us to know and understand God’s plans, receiving his blessings, and experiencing his power and purposes. Matthew 9:38 leads us to believe that God releases his power to accomplish many of his purposes only when people sincerely pray for those things to happen.
From Elijah’s story, we can see that there are some Requirements for Effective Prayer.
- We must have true and sincere faith that God hears our prayers, that he has the ability to accomplish what is needed, and that he will do what he knows best in the situation.
- Prayer should be made in Jesus’ name. Elijah prayed things using “O Lord” which acknowledge God power. We need to acknowledge Gods power today through praying in Jesus name. This helps to make us aware of Jesus’ power, compassion, and desire to respond to our needs and requests. This gives Jesus control if our prayers are made in harmony with His will.
- Prayer ultimately is effective when its in line with God’s perfect will. God told Elijah about the rain, and wanted to show the people of Israel who the true god is. 1 John 5:14 says “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” We know God’s will because he has revealed it to us through the Bible. (That’s why its so important that we read the Bible everyday.)
- We must be living in God’s will if we expect Him to respond positively to our prayers. God gives us things we ask for only if our desires are in line with his (Matthew 6:33). Elijah was a righteous man, he lived according to God’s word. And that is how we need to be as well. We need to strive to live according to God’s Word which will set our desires on the things that God desires.
- If our prayers are going to be effective we must be persistent. Praying persistently means that we won’t worry about the situation because we take it to God and acknowledge that he is in control and will do what is best.
- If we are going to pray, we need to listen. When we take the time to listen we will hear God, and no matter what the outcome is we will be OK with it because its God who made the decision.
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