42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” (Read I Kings 18:41-46)
Our world is in desperate need of a mighty move of God. America is in a crisis of belief; so much confusion. The evil one is using thousands of American citizens of influence: government leaders, media, and entertainment industries, to propagate his hellish lies and hate. His purpose is to totally destroy this nation; even those he is using will be destroyed in his purpose. The only hope we have is God. And, the right approach to God’s help in this crisis is the persistence of prayer and repentance.
Recently on Face Book, I was promoting the fact that October is Pastor Appreciation month. I mentioned one of the greatest ways to show appreciation for your pastor is to pray for him often; tell him you pray for him often, and then pray for him in his presence . . . often. Then to further illustrate this I shared that a number of years ago, I had a music director who, on his own, prayed for me just before I began to share God’s Word. I stated that was the greatest gift anyone has ever given to me.
Now, about this time you may be wondering how this fits the direction of the article. Let me share a blessing that came after this post in Face Book. Shortly after this post, that former music director made this following comment to my surprise and joy:
“Brother Jerry, I have never stopped praying for you daily. You helped me to understand the importance of prayer and I felt closer to you than many other pastors before or since our blessed time together.” (Randy Bryant)
Did you catch that first sentence? “I have never stopped praying for you daily.” Friends, Brother Randy and I have not seen one another since the late ‘90’s. There it is; persistence in prayer! I have no doubt Randy has prayed for me every day. That is persistence! That determination; that doggedness, pushiness in repentant prayer for the church and nation is what is needful!
Elijah’s Background:
King Ahab ruled over Israel—and he did more to provoke the LORD than all the other kings! Married to Jezebel, under Ahab’s lead and her influence, Israel served Baal.
In I Kings 17:1, Elijah speaks to King Ahab, and he makes a very bold statement that there will no longer be rain, or even dew, in the land until he says so. This threat did not make him Ahab’s best bud! It was not long before he basically had a price on his head.
God hid Elijah, and cared for him, providing food and water, even using ravens to bring food to him. I love the way God used nature in this way. This is why I get so much enjoyment feeding ravens in my vast yard; often having 50 to 100 coming in from the valley.
After 3 yrs, God sends Elijah back to Ahab, which was not an easy thing to do considering Ahab desired to take his life.
In I Kings 18:17-24, Elijah met with Ahab which resulted in a major challenge between the Priests of Baal and the Prophet of God — “The God that sends fire upon the sacrifice, He is LORD!”
Confident that you will read all of chapter 18, I will cut to the chase: Elijah wins – God sends fire—consumes sacrifice, water, even stones! The people acknowledge God and slay all the priests of Baal!
Now back to I Kings 18:41-46 — The Prayer that Brought Rain!
I want to share a few simple statements about how Elijah carried out his God-given responsibility, that being to pray for rain. First of all, Elijah boldly presented himself before God, alone (Vs. 41-42). Oh, the privilege and power of secret prayer! One thing that needs to be brought up here is that when God told Elijah to go back and stand before King Ahab, He also told Elijah that He would send rain. God had conceived His plan and purpose to Elijah. Now, Elijah’s purpose to God was to birth God’s revealed purpose. He needed to pray God’s will into reality.
That leads to Elijah’s assumed prayer, which was definite and to the point. “Send rain!”
Would you now notice Elijah Had Faith! He said to his servant, “Go look!” At first, the servant saw nothing. So, Elijah Persevered! He continued to push for the birthing of what was conceived in him by God. “Send rain!” he cried.
Elijah spoke again to his servant for a total of 7 times. “Go Look again!”
Elijah held on until the answer came! And it came in great power!
Beloved, we need rain! We need the rain of God’s revival to fall on God’s Church and on America!
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (II Chron. 7:14)
This is God’s recipe for revival and spiritual awakening. I have been praying for this since 1992, and as bad as things look in our nation, I sense a mighty work of God in the mix. Beloved, I believe I see . . . a little cloud out of the sea . . . about the size of a man’s hand! Beloved, I am praying and believing that revival is coming!
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (See Ezekiel 36:25-26)
My fellow believers, what are you praying for? Don’t give up! Pray On!