Introduction:
Drought and its effect is an unpleasant period of dryness and unfruitfulness which we all loth, while abundance - a period of plentifulness and fruitfulness is what we all desire.
Drought in a person’s life can manifest as sickness, disease, lack of fruit of the womb in a marital life, unemployment, etc. Abundance manifests as contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, etc.
In the passage before us, we see God once again demonstrating His loving kindness and mercy upon a people that went to contrary to His will. As He uses one hand to punish, He uses the other to bring repentance. He used His prophet Elijah to punish and bring them to repentance.
For anybody in a state of drought to be able to transit from drought to abundance, such has to:
1. Examine yourself to know the cause of your drought ,
Ahab married Jezebel – who brought Baal and his worship to his kingdom. He built a temple and set up an altar of Baal. He also allowed and patronized Baal prophets.
1 Kings 18: 18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals.
1 Kings 16: 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
1 Kings 17: 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
1 Kings 17: 7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
1 Kings 18: 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria,
Like Ahab and his subject many people today, including believers are in a state of drought as a result of what someone did on their behalf or what they did themselves. Directly or indirectly they worship and patronize idols of shoe, clothes, jewelries, latest attires, etc, They thereby incur the anger of the Almighty and experiencing droughts in some areas of their lives.
What are the Baals and its prophets in your life that are responsible for your drought? Rather than accusing someone else as being responsible for your problem, why not examine yourself and find out how you have gone contrary to God’s will. Ahab was busy accusing Elijah for being responsible for problem he brought to himself and his kingdom.
2. Decide whether you want the drought to continue or not
1 Kings 18: 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
Duet 5: 6 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.7 "You shall have no other gods before me. 8 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Acts 17: 24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' 29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill.30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Exo 23:25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,
Baal is a Sidonian god of fertility and lord of rain clouds, yet it could not provide rain neither could it deliver the Israelite from the drought or the consequence of lack of rain.
Like the Israelite some of us need to make a decision of what God we want to serve – the gods of our fathers that keep enslaving us or the Lord of lords and God of gods.
3. If and when you decide to follow the Lord, repair and rebuild His Altar
1 Kings18: 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel."32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." 34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.37 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." 38 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. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"
How do we repair/rebuild the altar?
• Repent your sins
• Turn away from following Baal and turn your heart back to the true God
• Wash away everything that represents sins and traces of Baal in your life
• Confess the Lord as your God
• Destroy every trace of Baal in your life, his temple, altar and prophets,
1 Kings 18: 40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
Destroy all the emblems, instruments, identity of the temple, altar and prophets of Baal in your life so that the Lord will be merciful unto you.
4. Go before the Lord God in prayer and persist until He removes the drought and rains His abundance on you,
Elijah prayed seven times until abundance of rain came. Why 7 times? It is in order to break the curse upon the land. It is always difficult to break a curse.
Because of the sin of idolatry, Elijah prayed or cursed once and there was drought, but for him to break the curse, he had to pray seven times. It is not a good thing to curse! Reversing a curse is not always easy.
1 Kings 8: 35 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. 37 "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel--each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple-- 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
2 Chro 7: 13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will 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. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
Conclusion:
Pray, Pray, Pray…7 times until your drought give way to abundance. Then go, eat, drink and start ENJOYING!
Prayer Points:
Ask Him to remove your drought and rain abundance on you.
Elijah prayed 7 times, what was he praying about, asking for God’s mercy, forgiveness, favor, healing, deliverance of the land that has been polluted.
We can also pray like Elijah for god to heal us and our land of idolatry, disobedience.
Every temple and altar our leaders erected in our country as a result of which we are suffering today, Lord we ask that you destroy them with your fire. We also ask that you forgive and deliver us from every drought in our lives and land.
Lord you sent your servant Elijah to come and deliver your people Israel from the power of drought in their life and their land, Lord today send forth your servant to come and deliver us and our land from every drought in our life and in our land.
