The God Who Answers

(Part 1)

“Answer me, O Lord; answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. 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. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord- He is God! The Lord-He is God!”

                                                                                                1 Kings 18:37-39

Over the last several weeks we have learned a lot about the prophet Elijah. One thing we have learned is that he was an ordinary man, just like us, with an extraordinary prayer life. One reason for this was Elijah believed he served a God who hears. Isaiah 59:1 states:

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”

However, we also learned that we can sabotage our own prayer life by living in sin:

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.”

                                                                                                      Isaiah 59:2

It isn’t a lack of faith or doubt that hinders God hearing us, it is sin. Sin silences our petitions. Today we want to learn another truth from Elijah’s powerful prayer life. Elijah believed he served a God who answers! In 1 Kings 18:16-24, Elijah is speaking with King Ahab. In obedience to God, Elijah prayed and there has been no rain in Israel for months. Israel had become steeped in Baal worship. Prior to the drought, they had been attributing the rain and abundant crops to Baal, so God sent a prophet to confront their idolatry.  Israel, God’s chosen people, was wavering between two opinions and an epic showdown was about to unfold on Mt. Carmel. Elijah calls for the 450 prophets of Baal to join him. Two choice bulls are chosen. They are each cut to pieces and placed on a pile of wood- one for Elijah and one for the prophets of Baal. Elijah declared:

 “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire- he is God.”

                                                                                                1 Kings 18:24

Although severely outnumbered, Elijah never wavered. He wasn’t looking for answers from anything or anyone else, but the Lord his God. Regardless of what the majority believed, he knew that his God was about to answer!

 

Pastor Scott Burr

http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/