- I love the true story of a small town in Kentucky which had two churches and a bar owned by a devout and well known atheist. It seems that one night the people from the two churches called a special prayer meeting and spent the whole night praying that the bar would close down. Well, lo and behold, that very night, around midnight a storm blew in, and lightning struck the bar and burnt it down to the ground. Well the churches were elated; but, obviously the atheist who owned the bar wasn’t. And to make matters worst, the insurance company told him they wouldn’t cover the damages because it was "an act of God" not covered by the company. So the owner took the two churches to court to sue them for damages, which they claimed they weren’t responsible for.
- The presiding judge said and I quote "This is the most perplexing case I have ever sat on because on one hand I have an atheist who claims to believe in the power of prayer and on the other hand I have two churches that deny it"
- Well, I wonder sometimes if I were on trial. If my belief in the power of prayer were on trial, would I be guilty or not guilty. Really, we claim to believe that prayer works, that prayer changes things, that prayer has power.... but do we really, truly believe what we say, what we claim. Do we really believe in the power of prayer? I’m not so sure sometimes.
- I think that we unfortunately have a faulty view of prayer. And the faulty view is this... we often view prayer as the Last Resort. The last option among many options. And so we say things like this...
"Well poor Aunt Susie has really been suffering lately. She’s tried everything to get better, she’s gone to the doctors, she’s taken pill after pill, she’s even tried strapping on magnets, but nothing seems to be working. So I guess all we can do now is pray for her."
- Or we here that someone’s going through a tough time, and we ask if there is anything we can do for them. And they say, "No there’s really nothing you can do. Thanks any way." And then we say, "Well, I guess I can at least pray for you." At least, is that the least we can do for them. Or is that the most we can do for them.
- You see, so often prayer is a last resort, a last option. It’s something we hope can bail us out of tough times when nothing else seems to be working. But prayer is intended to be much more than that.
- As we continue to look at Elijah’s life, a life that has learned to trust in a God who is worthy of our trust. We now turn to I Kings 1 where I think we will see ourselves for a moment. Now that King Ahab is out of the picture, remember he suffered an arrow and the dogs licked up his blood. Now that he is out of the picture, in steps King Ahaziah, King Ahab’s son. And in I Kings 22:51, we read that the acorn does not fall far from the tree. Or as they say, "Like father like son." Read vss 51ff
- Only 2 years he reigned, not much time to do much of anything. But we do read about the end of his reign in chapter 1. And in chapter 1 verse 2, we read that King Ahaziah had an unfortunate accident. Read verse 2. Not much detail, but however it happened, and whatever the results may have been, the accident was so serious and caused so much damage that King Ahaziah was fearful for his life. He was afraid he might die as a result of this fall. And it is this fear, that prompts Ahaziah to do something that would really be the end for him.
- What does Ahaziah do? Well the rest of verse 2 tells us that... read verse 2
- Ekron was a major city of the Philistines, the country along the Great Sea coast. And this god, Baal-Zebub, which literally means "Lord of the Flies" was obviously known for its power to tell the future. To foresee things to come. And so Ahaziah falls into the trap of fortune-telling. If he were alive today, then he would be picking up his phone and dialing, "1-900-???-????" Or if he were alive today, he would be having a candle-lit seiance and asking the Ouija board to answer the one burning question... "Will I live or will I die?"
- It was a deadly decision he makes, to consult this false god of Ekron. A god whose name over time would eventually be associated with Satan himself. In fact, in the NT, in places like Matthew 12, the Pharisees and Jewish leaders accuse Jesus of being possessed by "Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons." What we have to remember, is God despised such acts of witchcraft and sorcery. It was all too common in the land of Israel. And that’s why God gives such stern warnings to his people, like in...
Leviticus 19:31 "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God."
Lev 20:6 "I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people."
- And yet King Ahaziah, the King of Israel, ignores these warnings and sends a messenger to consult with one of these false gods. And when the Lord saw that this ruler of the land is about to blatantly defy his warnings, then the Lord sends Elijah to... read vs 3-8
- King Ahaziah quickly realized that it was Elijah who was giving this deadly message. And of course this upset him greatly. To hear that his life was about to be over. Which is sort of ironic. The reason he sent the messenger to Ekron was to find out what his future would hold for him. And that is in fact what Elijah gave him the answer to. Elijah let him know what he wanted to know, it just wasn’t the answer he was hoping or expecting. And so in anger, hoping to intimidate Elijah, King Ahaziah deploys 50 of his fighting men and listen to what happened...
read vs 9-12
- And can you imagine what was going through the 3rd captains mind when he is asked to go and bring Elijah back. But, the difference with him is he humbled himself before Elijah and recognized that Elijah was not going to be intimidated. And because of this the Lord tells Elijah that he is to "Go down with him" and "to not be afraid of him." So we read what Elijah told the King of Israel, read vss 16-17
- Did you catch the recurring question that runs throughout this story? It’s an important question. It is asked by the Lord initially in verse 3, and then a messenger repeats it to Ahaziah in verse 4, and then Elijahs asks in person to Ahaziah in verse 16... "Is is because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?"
- You know I wonder if God asks the same question of us. I wonder if God looks at me and asks me that question, "Damien, is it because there is no God in your life that you have to turn to every thing else before you turn to me?" Does God have reason to ask that question of you. "Is it because there is no God in your life, that you turn to everything else before you turn to me?"
- Husbands, wives... is he asking that question of you. You’re tired of arguing, you’re tired of fighting, you’re tired of feeling alone and depressed, you know that something has to be done if your marriage is going to survive. And so you turn to self-help books, to counselors, to videos and seminars and conferences, retreats and on and on the list goes, and the whole time, God is saying... "Is there no God in your marriage that you have to turn to all of these other things before you turn to me in prayer?"
- Highschooler, junior high students... is he asking that question of you. You’re having a tough time in school, with your grades, with your friends, you work hard on the ball field, in the classroom, in your relationships, but it seems like nothing ever works for you. And so you turn to your friends for help, you turn to your teachers, your parents, you begin blaming other people for your problems, and on and on, and the whole time, God is asking... "Is there no God in your life that you have to turn to all of these other things before you turn to me in prayer?"
- Leaders, elders, deacons, minister... is he asking us that question. We make important decisions as to the direction and vision of this church. We decide how to spend the money, what to allow and disallow, we are called upon to be examples of faith, to shepherd and lead God’s people. And so we turn to our business manuals, our financial reports, our own experiences, and the whole time, God is asking us... "Is there no God in your church that you have to turn to all of these other things before you turn to me in prayer?"
- And I could go on and on with all of us. When we struggle to overcome a sin in our life, when we have loved ones who are sick and hurting, when we are sick and hurting. When we have financial hardships, when we have struggles and battles to face at work, at home, in our family. And so often we turn to every one else, and to every thing else before we turn to God in prayer... And God asks all of us, "Is it because there is no God in your life that you will not turn to me in prayer first?"
- It’s not to say that some of those other things are bad. Counselors, books, other Christians, those are good things to turn to certainly. But what God is saying to King Ahaziah, and to all of us... is he wants to be our first option. Before we turn any where else, before we go any where else, God wants us to turn to him in prayer and ask for his strength, his guidance, his protection in all things.
- But so often we are like a soldier who goes into battle. He is loaded down with weapons to fight the enemy. He has hand grenades, machine guns, knives... but he is not satisfied with all of those things. He complains that he needs more, that he is not fully loaded down with enough to take out the enemy. Yet, the whole time, sitting right beside him is a nuclear warhead. A weapon that could take out the enemy with one blow.
- And so we stand there as that soldier, we stand there as King Ahaziah, turning and trusting in all of these lesser things, when the whole while we have in our grasp, in our reach, the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen. We have access to the creator of the universe. We have access to the great God who was and is and is to come, the one who has seen the past, knows the present and can see the future. And despite having access to such a great and loving God, who cared about us so much he sent his one and only son, we would rather turn everywhere else but up.
- Perhaps the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln should be our wisdom as well. He once said,
"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day."
- And even greater words of wisdom are given to us by Jesus, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
- And Paul tells us, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
- Whenever Stacey, and Lily and myself sit down at the dinner table, or for any meal, we always begin our meal by praying. Well, little kids don’t miss anything. After a year and a half of watching us do this, our daughter, Lily, has learned how to go through the motions. And so when we all sit down at the table, and as soon as I say, "Let’s pray," she will automatically bow her head and after the prayer is finished, she will say, "Amen." And if she is really hungry, then she will say "Amen" before we are finished praying hoping to speed things along.
- And of course, Mom and Dad get the biggest kick out of seeing her do this. But, you know, I was thinkink just a few weeks ago. As cute as that is, I hope our daughter doesn’t see prayer as something we only do at the dinner table. I hope she doesn’t gain such a limited view of prayer. I hope that she comes to see that prayer is not something we pull out of a box only at the dinner table, or only when we have turned everywhere else, or only when we are really desperate. I hope she understands that prayer is something God wants us to do continually. And I think God, I know God wants all of us to understand that he wants us to turn to him with the small things, and with the big things, with the large and the little. In all things, and in all situations of life, God wants us to turn to him before we turn anywhere else.
- In fact, you know what I would love God to say to me. Instead of asking me, that condemning question, "Is there no God in your life that you have to turn to every thing else before you turn to me?" Instead of asking me that question, I would rather hear God say to me at the end of my life, "Damien you were a man, a husband, a father, a minister who turned to me before he turned anywhere else." I hope that becomes true in my life, and I hope it becomes true in yours.
