God Who Answers Our Prayer
(1 Kings 18: 30~46)
The last sermon shows us that we can win our battle of Mount Carmel only through the Lord who responds to our prayer. May Jehovah the God of covenants and Elohim the Lord almighty respond to our prayer! Lets see what we need to do to our Lords response.
1. Repair the altar in ruins. Baal didnt answer his prophets prayer. Elijah told his people to come near to him. All measures dont work till it is Gods time. All we need to do is just come forward to God. Elijah didnt judge the people who came forward to him. Nor deliver a speech to them. He showed Gods love for them and helped them rebuild the broken altar. Even though their kingdom is divided, they are still one people tied by Gods covenant. Elijah built an altar with the twelve stones which stood for their tribes and urged his people to repent and return to God under the name of Israel, the new name of Jacob. Likewise, we need to gather up the scattered members of our community. The community of Gods covenant is made of our holistic faith in God. Thats why we need to stay in the structure of holistic worship. Did anyone of your household or your neighbor fall to ruin? What do you do? Judge the person? Deliver a sermon? Keep quiet? What about inviting the person to church, knowing that its time to rebuild their altar?
2. Take the hard way that restores our worship. After Baals prophets failure to invoke their god, everyone paid attention to Elijah. The main issue was the fire descending from heaven. Yet Elijah dug a ditch around the altar, relying on the name of the Lord. The best preparation for a miracle is building an altar through our meditation and application of carrying our cross instead of praying a reckless prayer. After preparing the wood and cutting up the bull, Elijah filled up the ditch with twelve jars of water and even drenched the bull. He deliberately made the toughest conditions for a fire even from lightening to ignite in order to glorify God. This is how God makes us believe in Jesus. We Christians need to take a tough and narrow way for salvation under all circumstances. We also need to know Gods will through our meditation so that we can pray according to the Word and testify to God in our life. Without a hard application, we cant overcome our pride and famine. We dont read the Bible and share the gospel with others because we are not interested in their salvation. What is the tough way that you need to take in order to demonstrate Gods power? What are you going to lay down? Is it your pride, sitting in your comfortable zone, living an easy life, your reputation, your car?
3. Pray the prayer that leads to repentance through the Word. The three facts that Elijah had focused on after declaring the famine were that the God is the God of Israel, Elijah is the servant of God, and Elijah had done everything according to the Word. His main concern was turning his peoples attention to the fact that God is their Lord and his prayers for Gods people instead of asking God to bless him. The greatest power on earth comes from knowing Jehovah, the Lord of covenants. Compared to the Baal prophets frantic prayers, Elijahs prayer was simple but whole-hearted and invoked Gods response. He prayed that God would turn their hearts from Baal to their true God. Finally God sent his fire to the altar and let the Israelites repent on seeing it because they were too depraved to return to God without the miracle. Thus praying according to the Word leads to repentance and Gods response. We can discern whether our prayer requests are sinful or not by laying them before God and sharing them in our community. The moment when we are sick is the best time for our repentance and salvation. Despite the Israelites wavering between God and Baal, God didnt chastise them. Instead he gave them an opportunity to return to Him by repenting over their weak faith. What is the most urgent issue in your spiritual war? Is it solution or interpretation or repentance?
4. Notice that God shows who he is by fire. By his fire, God demonstrated that he is the Lord of heaven and earth. On seeing the miracle of almighty God, the Israelites confessed 'The LORD, he is God!' Likewise, at first we look for our almighty God ready to resolve our problems, but later we long for his Word through our incidents till we are aware of Jehovah, God of covenants, the Lord of 'I am who I am.' Gods kingdom lies in his power, not in our words. In order to validate our statement, we need to prove clearly how right our argument is rather than how wrong our opponents opinion is. Through the fire on the sacrifice, Elijah proved how right God is as well as how fabricated Baal was. Thus God showed who he is. When we discover our sins, we need to eradicate them boldly. On seeing this decisiveness, people may think that God is cruel. However, it was to show how dreadful it is to stand against God. By passing through his humble life supported by the widow of Zarephath, Elijah was able to win his spiritual war and kill 850 false prophets of Baal. The Israelites confessed their faith after watching the responsive fire of God. So we need to get peoples agreement about the Lord and his power, who responds to their prayer. Have you ever testified to God through his power instead of your speech? Was it from your repentance or sharing, through your humbling or delivering Gods message?
5. Notice that God answers our prayer by a heavy rain. After Baal was disclosed as a false god, people accepted that God was their Lord and Elijah was their caretaker, not a troubler. God responded to his seven thousand people who didnt kneel before Baal. Both Elijah and Ahab went up. However, Elijah went up to pray while Ahab went to eat and drink. Thus the direction of their life was different. Despite the miracles of fire and rain that Elijah showed, Ahab failed to interpret the miracles and famine and didnt meet God. Therefore, the blessing of rainfall, without being interpreted by the Word, is a curse. If our trial is resolved before we interpret it in the light of the Word, its not a blessing. Trial is Gods gift for us, which we need to interpret as a channel of meeting Him. Elijahs servant, who thoroughly obeyed Elijah is the model God expects us to be as his people. The servant obeyed his lords command despite the cloudless weather and the six failures in finding a cloud. Notice that Gods miracle occurred through the faithful servant who revered God as his true Lord. In response to Elijahs prayer, God sent a cloud as small as a mans hand and a heavy rain soon followed. It was the result of Elijahs three and a half years patience, which drove him to run to Jezreel, Jezebels hometown. Elijah armed himself by tucking his cloak into his belt in to keep up his war against Ahab. Whether under a trial or a blessing, we need to live on the Word, our supreme daily bread. Notice that Elijah tucked up his cloak after experiencing a great miracle. On top of this visible miracle, Elijah showed another one by running ahead of Ahabs chariot. Relying on the Word, he prophesied a heavy rain from a small cloud. I pray that we will experience Gods power that enables us to win our 850 to 1 battle through our daily QT. Even though Elijah didnt change Ahab and Jezebel during his lifetime, he has changed countless souls for thousands of years. Do you hear the sound of a heavy rain in your Carmel match? We need to restore our worship in order to experience our responsive God. In accordance with the Word, we need to repent and take the hard way. May God respond to our prayer by his fire and heavy rain! May God be our Lord!
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. (1Kgs 18: 38)
