A. INTRODUCTION: 1 KINGS 19:8-17
1. Prepare physically. “Then he lay down and slept” (v 5). There … was some bread … a jar of water! So he ate and drank” (v. 6). Preparation is physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
2. Recognize and face your limitations. “The journey ahead will be too much for you” (v. 7).
a. Admit you cannot do it alone.
b. Let others help you.
3. Revisit the place where God revealed Himself in the past, and gave spiritual victories. “He … traveled forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God” (v. 8).
a. Revisit it actually. This means going back to locations of past spiritual victories.
b. Revisit symbolically by memory and re-commitment, i.e., go back to revive a former work of God in your life.
4. Fast to hear and understand the Word of the Lord. “The word of the Lord came to him (v. 9, NKJV).
a. Study to know what the Bible says, not what you think it says. Depressed people believe the credibility of their memory. They need to look outside themselves to see what God said.
b. Depressed people need a positive external influence from outside their thinking, to break their thought patterns.
5. Let the Word of God examine you to reveal your weakness. “He (Lord) said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (v. 9, NKJV). Questions are mirrors to make us view ourselves from outside our inner compulsiveness.
6. Look in God’s Word for a quiet understanding about your problem. God does not give external power to overcome habits. Habits are broken the way they are formed … inwardly … gradually … one act at a time … by repetition. “And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces … but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the
earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NKJV).
7. See the positive through God’s eyes. Don’t focus on breaking habits, but on “seeing” God’s positive. Elijah thought he was the only one. God said, “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal” (v. 18).
8. Lay out a set of positive actions. Habits are broken by following positive actions, rather than zeroing in on the negative. Notice God does not tell Elijah to “quit being depressed” or to “stop grumbling.” God gave the depressed prophet positive actions. “Go … anoint Hazael” (v. 15). “Also you shall anoint Jehu” (v. 16).
You cannot achieve what you cannot conceive. Don’t focus only on breaking a wrong habit. Focus on positive actions that will establish good habits.
9. See yourself succeeding. People break bad habits when they perceive themselves doing good things. God instructed Elijah, “You shall anoint … Elisha … as prophet in your place” (v. 16).
B. TEN APPLICATIONS FOR YOUR LIFE
1. The cause of your spiritual problems may have a correlation to your physical problems. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).
2. Sometimes God will deal with your physical problems before encountering you. “An angel … said unto him, Arise and eat … and, behold, there was a cake” (1 Kings 19:5-6, KJV).
3. Sometimes when people run away from their problems, God encounters them to send them back to deal with them. “Go, return on your way” (v. 15).
4. There are some locations where God chooses to encounter His servants. “The journey is too great for you … he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God” (vv. 7-8).
5. Fasting is a discipline that some must follow to prepare themselves for an encounter with God. “Is this not the fast that I have chosen … that you break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).
6. Fasting is a time of self-examination that prepares a person for an encounter with God. “Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning’” (Joel 2:12).
7. An encounter with God does not always involve loud voices of extreme physical manifestations. “But the Lord was not in the wind … nor in the earthquake ... nor in the fire, but … a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12).
8. When you encounter someone who lowers their voice, you must become still and quiet to hear and understand. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
9. The content of God’s message in an encounter is more important than the method He uses to talk to you. “Go, return on your way … anoint Hazael … anoint Jehu … anoint Elisha” (1 Kings 19:15-16).
10. God solves emotional depression by giving people hope, focusing them on the future and putting them to work. “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal” (v. 18).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
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