THE ELIJAH CHURCH A PRAYING CHURCH
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
1 Kings 18:41-46 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
ELIJAH’S TIME
1 Kings 16:29-34 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.
Ahab was 7th in line from King David’s day – however he ruled over a split nation - after Solomon’s death the Northern Kingdom Israel consisting of ten tribes and the Southern Kingdom Judah consisting of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin split. Ahab was a “false King”. His line was full of corruption:
First two Kings of Israel did not serve God and were alcoholics, the third was a murderer, and the fourth also a murderer, the fifth was accused of spiritual treason and the sixth was described as worse than those who had gone before. Ahab married Jezebel – a marriage of political convenience and spiritual consequences – he introduced Baal and Asherah worship he executed, persecuted and imprisoned the prophets of God.
Baal and Asherah were male and female false gods:
a. God’s that could be bribed – give the right offering and all will be well
b. God’s that invoked fertility and barrenness
c. God’s that required child sacrifices
In Ahab’s time Jericho was rebuilt – so we see a people that had been infiltrated with idolatry, immorality and irreverence.
ELIJAH’S SUDDEN APPEARANCE AND DECLARATION
“As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
God was dramatically challenging Baalism, or the belief of the people in Baal, on the very thing they worshipped Baal for--RAIN! On the one side there was Ahab the King, the ruthless and notorious Jezebel, the impotent and false god Baal, and the Baal priests and priestesses. On the other side was Yahweh and a single servant, the prophet Elijah, a man of faith, deeply committed to God. It was a question of authenticity.
THREE KEYS THAT ELIJAH KNEW THAT MADE HIM A CONFIDENT AND FAITHFUL PRAYER WARRIOR:
KEY 1 HE KNEW THE LIVING GOD
“As the Lord, the God of Israel lives,” show us Elijah was convinced and confident in God’s person. “Living” is the first word in the statement of Elijah in the Hebrew text. It is emphatic by its position and stresses his faith in the fact of the reality of God. In the Hebrew text, the words “living” and “LORD” (Yahweh) are bound together rather than separated as in the English Bible. This combination was a device for introducing an oath or a solemn statement of fact. We are to translate it like the NASB with the word “as.” Literally, it is “As living is Yahweh”
Let’s focus in on the name, Yahweh. Yahweh means “I Am that I Am.” It is derived from the Hebrew verb hayah, meaning “to be, exist.” This name itself stresses God’s aliveness, His dynamic and active self-existence. It is the name by which God revealed Himself to Israel as their redeemer as seen in Exodus 3. It reminds us that He is the God of special revelation and redemptive love.
God was not just a theological idea to Elijah, but a living, and personal God. He did not just know about God, but he knew God in such a personal way that it transformed his life. Dan. 11:32 “but the people who know God will display strength and take action”.
Knowing and believing this was the secret of Elijah’s boldness, his presence before King, Ahab, Elijah was convinced God was not only alive, but immanent--personally and actively involved in the affairs of both Israel and the nations. Elijah acted on God’s promises. He prayed and proclaimed his message to King Ahab. Elijah was declaring it was not just any man’s ideas about God that counted, but the revelation of the God of the Bible--he alone is the true God. Likewise, our responsibility is to know God intimately, and then to proclaim the Christ of the Bible as the true Savior and God.
KEY 2 BEFORE WHOM I STAND
The words, reveal two things about Elijah: He was aware of God’s presence and committed as God’s representative. “Before whom I stand” showed Elijah’s awareness that God was with him, God had sent him. He was under God’s watchful eye, protection, supply, enablement, and orders. Elijah’s faith was anchored in at least three biblical concepts that were on his mind and in his consciousness, and that motivated and controlled his life. These were:
(1) God’s Person: Elijah knew that there was no place where he would be absent from the caring and watchful eye of God
(2) God’s Plan: Elijah knew he was a personal representative of the living God
(3) God’s Power and Provision: With God’s presence and orders, also came God’s power, protection and provision to do what he was called to do.
Elijah was living in the light of God’s omnipresence and was practicing the presence of God. Our need is to flee to the Lord, to draw near to Him and know His presence, rather than to flee to our strategies for handling life. Elijah understood as a believer, he was not on earth merely to have a good time or seek his own satisfaction and comfort. He knew he was there to represent the Lord boldly and courageously in the battle with satanic forces for the souls of men and for the glory of God. Elijah lived in a time when many believers were hiding in caves, afraid to speak.
KEY 3 BELIEVING THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD
The words, “Surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word,” show he was confident in God’s promises. Elijah stood before King Ahab and made this statement because he was confident in the principles, promises and warnings of God’s Word, and confident of answered prayer when it is based on God’s Word and concerned for God’s glory. God was challenging the belief of the people in Baal, on the very thing they worshipped Baal for--RAIN!
Elijah’s prayer for no rain was not just something out of his own imagination or because he was angry at Jezebel. He was acting on the truth of the Word. He was standing firmly on the promises. Elijah was relying on the principles of Deut. 11, the prophets of Baal claimed Baal-Melqart was the god of thunder, rain, and good crops. Elijah’s declaration in 1 Kings 17:1 strongly challenged the reality of their god and their faith. It showed Baal was false and impotent and that the prophets of Baal were liars. It also showed truth and salvation could only be found in the prophets of Yahweh who alone spoke for God.
So let us pray with confidence and know God will respond to praying people.
