America.."You Better Start Praying"

America.."You Better Start Praying"

1kings 18:1-2 MSG

18 1-2 A long time passed. Then God’s word came to Elijah. The drought was now in its third year. The message: “Go and present yourself to Ahab; I’m about to make it rain on the country.” Elijah set out to present himself to Ahab. The drought in Samaria at the time was most severe.

1 Kings 18:8-12 NKJ

8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”

9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here”’! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.

Illus.

Billy Graham used to tell a story of a professing Christian who got a job in a lumber camp that had the reputation of being very ungodly. When a friend heard that he had been hired, he said to him, “If those lumberjacks ever find out you’re a Christian, your going to be in for a very hard time!” The man responded, “I know it, but I really need the job.” After he had been working at the camp for a year, he met the friend who had predicted the ridicule and persecution he would receive from the other lumberjacks. “Well, how did it go?” he asked the friend. “Did they give you a hard time?” “Oh no, not at all,” the man replied. “They didn’t give me a bit of trouble---they never found out that I was a Christian!”

That's what's wrong with America, or should I say the church nowadays!

It seems as though..we've all forgotten the little song

We all learned so long ago in vacation bible school..

Does anyone remember it? It goes like this..

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.

It was written by Harry Dixon Loes around 1920..

What we learned in bible school was of course the children's version..

Here's one of the verses from the original song as written..

Monday gave me the gift of love,

Tuesday peace came from above,

Wednesday told me to have more faith,

Thursday gave me a little more grace,

Friday told me to watch and pray,

Saturday told me just what to say,

Sunday gave me the power divine,

Just to let my little light shine.

It's amazing what god can do in your life all through the week

When your not afraid to let your little light shine..amen?

1 Kings 18:17-24 MSG

17-19 The moment Ahab saw Elijah he said, “So it’s you, old troublemaker!”

“It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government—

(Kind of reminds us of what we've seen on the news from Texas..

About the mayor and the 5 preachers sermons that were trying to be censored)

It certainly makes you wonder what you're going to see next on the news?

“It’s not I who has caused trouble in Israel,” said Elijah, “but you and your government- you’ve dumped God’s ways and commands and run off after the local gods, the Baals. Here’s what I want you to do: Assemble everyone in Israel at Mount Carmel. And make sure that the special pets of Jezebel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of the local gods, the Baals, and the four hundred prophets of the whore goddess Asherah, are there.”

20 So Ahab summoned everyone in Israel, particularly the prophets, to Mount Carmel.

21 Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!”

Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.

(Sometimes it seems as though..that's where we're at in America right now)

22-24 Then Elijah said, “I’m the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don’t ignite it. I’ll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I’ll pray to God. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God.”