Answer me, O Lord, Answer me
I Kings 18.36-38a
May 15, 2005
Chester FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A A man is parachuting out of a plane, falls rapidly and totally forgets how to engage the parachute. On the way down, he sees a guy coming up. He shouts out, "Do you know how to use this parachute?" The man going up answers, "No. Do you know how to light a propane stove?"
Nobody knows how to light a fire like the prophet Elijah, which we’ll see in our passages today!
B The message, Answer me, O Lord, Answer me
• Ahab became King of Israel, his infamous wife was none other than Jezebel.
• Ahab was a terrible King. He led the people to worship Baal and Asherah, the gods of his wife Jezebel.
• "Ahab did more to provoke the Lord to anger than did all the Kings of Israel before him." 1 Kings 16:33
• Elijah, a prophet of God, cursed the land because of Ahab’s evil. 1 Kings 17:1
• For three years it did not rain and God again came to Elijah.
• God told Elijah to go to Ahab and confront him. He promised that if he did so, it would rain.
• When Elijah confronted Ahab, Ahab blamed Elijah for his troubles. 1 Kings 18:17
• Elijah explained to him where the real problem was. 1 Kings 18:18
• Elijah made Ahab a "proposition."
• Bring all the people to Mount Carmel along with the prophets of Baal & Asherah.
• When they were gathered, Elijah urged the people to make a commitment. 1 Kings 18:21
• Elijah challenged Baal himself. Have his prophets place a bull on the alter and let Baal set fire to it himself.
• The pagan prophets cried and cut themselves but there was no answer.
• Elijah made fun of them. "Maybe you should pray louder. Maybe he is busy or traveling or sleeping. Maybe praying louder will wake him.
• Nothing worked and now it was God’s turn.
• Elijah rebuilt God’s altar, dug a trench around it, prepared a bull and drenched all of it in water.
• Elijah then called on God to show His power.
Text: 1 Kings 18.36-38a
36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell . . ."1 Kings 18:36-38 (NASB)
C God rained down fire from heaven because of one man’s obedience. (ETS)
a God rains down on those whom come to Him with turned hearts. (ESS)
b I hope you’ll allow God to turn your heart back again to Him. (Objective)
c What are you praying for God do at First Baptist?
T.S.: Let’s look at two variables that must be present to pray a firefall prayer like Elijah did on Mt. Carmel.
I The first variable that was present in Elijah firefall was Elijah did was command of him. (V.36)
A Elijah’s life is a testimony of is desire to do God’s will.
a Elijah listened to the voice of God.
i 1 Kings 17.1 –Prophesied about the 3yr drought.
ii 1 Kings 18.1-2 –Went to Ahab and confronted the king’s sin.
iii Assembled the people, called for the contest, etc.
b Elijah did and said what was godly in spite of how unpopular his stance was perceived. (Divine approval/public applause: Pleasing God/Popularity)
He’s standing alone (18.22), but he’s loud.
He’s carrying out an all out attack against Satan on Mt. Carmel.
All Alone! "One plus God is a majority." -Martin Luther
c Elijah’s prayer was simply asking God for God’s will to be done.
B We need to be sure that what were dong is according to the will of God. (Many of us are obedient, just not to God.)
a Elijah’s prayer "I am thy servant . . . I have done these things at thy word."
Many times were not "thy" servants, but rather we’re servants of "my."
Don’t do something you want to do and then ask God to bless it.
b God’s not a florist/Domino’s Pizza
Elijah only prayed about a minute . . . but wow!
He lived his prayers obediently, asked God’s Word/Will
Pray according to His will. (God, do what you want to do!)
Ps. 115.3 "Our God is in heaven. He does what He pleases."
God always answers our prayers according to His will, not ours. Disciples bring their will under submission to God’s.
C D. L. Moody said, "I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled."
a Bible teacher F.B. Meyer once had a firewood factory that employed prisoners.
Meyer would give them a job to do, good wages, a place to live, and, when possible, spiritual
encouragement. In exchange, he expected them to render good employment. They didn’t, and he lost money. Finally he fired them all and purchased a circular saw powered by a gas engine.
In one hour, it turned out more work than the combined efforts of all the men covered in the course of a whole day. One day, Meyer had a little conversation with his saw.
"How can you turn out so much work?" he asked. "Are you sharper than the saws my men were using? No? Is your blade shinier? No? What then? Better oil or lubrication against the wood?"
The saw’s answer, could it speak, would have been, "I think there is a stronger driving power behind me. Something is working through me with a new force. It is not I, it is the power behind."
Meyer later observed that many Christians and many ministers are working in the power of the flesh, in the power of their intellect, their energy, their enthusiastic zeal, but with poor effect.
They need to become linked to the power of God through the Holy Ghost.
T.S.: Elijah lived under the command of God, but his prayers were for the nation of Israel to fall in love with God.
II The second variable that was present in Elijah’s Firefall prayer was Elijah requested for repentance. (v. 37)
A Elijah’s prayer was specific to a wayward generation’s return to the God of their fathers.
a "That this people may that thou, O Lord, art God . . ." v.37a
Let them confess you as Lord God of Israel.
Let them acknowledge you the way I do.
b "and that Thou has turned their heart back again."
Elijah wasn’t praying for Israel simply to come to a cognitive/intellectual realization of who God was, but rather he wanted them to have a life-changing relationship with God!
Turning=Repentance!!! (IL. U-turn sign on PowerPoint)
B Let’s pray that this generation in Chester would come to know the Lord as God.
a If they confess them as Lord, their admitting they’re not!
By the way, if you want to know what the will of God is for this generation in Chester look in 2 Peter 3.9
"9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." --2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)
b I’ve got go back in story to really get this application about "turning hearts back" across.
v.30, The alter that unified the people (belief/trust/faith) was destroyed.
Elijah rebuilds the alter and the people once again are a God fearing people. God has turned their hearts back again.
In America the cry from the White House to City hall is "Let’s get together." Nation divided, torn, split
C There was a time in America when there was measure of unity, a unity based on the fact that there is a living God (it’s in our nations Constitution) and we were responsible to Him.
a A time when we believed the Bible was an authority. (No praying in school/ Bible/ Mention God/ Jesus/ Sin)
b What has caused the division? We took the alter down!
D Let’s get together? On What?
a You can’t together on nothing! (Two men were passing each other and one asked the other, "Where you going?" Nowhere. Where you going? Nowhere. Let’s go together.)
b The nation can’t get together unless we’ve got something together around that will hold us together.
c Pray that God will turn hearts back to Him!!
Conclusion:
God rained down fire from heaven because of one man’s obedience. (ETS)God rains down on those whom come to Him with turned hearts. (ESS)
A We’ve looked at two variables that must be present to pray a firefall prayer like Elijah did on Mt. Carmel.
a Elijah did was demanded of him.
b Elijah requested for repentance.
B I hope you’ll allow God to turn your heart back again to Him. (Objective)
a Thy servant/Thy word (Serve something else. Matt. 6.24)
b Let’s get together on God. Repent/turn Remain/burn
C What are you praying for God do at First Baptist?
In May of 1996, the greatest disaster in mountain climbing occurred on Mount Everest. The climbers stayed too long at the summit. A storm began to blow in. As they made their way down to an intermediate camp, they were engulfed in a full scale blizzard. The wind exceeded 60 knots. The chill factor was more than 100 degrees below zero. With the supplemental oxygen tanks running out and their head lamp batteries running down, they found themselves in the struggle for their lives.
Fortunately, there two experienced guides with this party of eleven. Unfortuately, these two guides chose the wrong path back down the mountain. John Crackhour recently published a book entitled, Into Thin Air. He wrote: for the next two hours this group stagered blindly around in the storm, ever more exhausted and hyberthermic, hoping to blunder across the camp. One of the guides said that it was total chaos. People are wondering all over the place. I am yelling at everyone, trying to get them to follow a single leader. Finally, around 10:00 p.m., I walked over this little rise and I felt like I was standing on the edge of the earth. I could sense a huge void beyond. . . .The group had unwittingly strayed to the eastern most edge of the lip of a 7,000 foot drop, down the Cane Shung Face of Mount Everest.
The group decided to huttle up and wait for a break in the storm. They were without shelter and not much light and oxygen, and with confused leadership. Some of those climbers survived but others died. Yet, the tents of their camp were only 300 yards away from them. A distance they could have covered in less than 15 minutes. They had lost their way.
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
