Prayer 2

Prayer 2

Ahab prepared a feast. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and fell to the ground and prayed.

1 Kings 18:42

There was a battle going on here, but it wasn’t really between Elijah and Ahab. Ahab had declared war on God. After a three-and-a-half-year drought, God had instructed Elijah to tell Ahab that God would provide rain. When Elijah delivered the message, he challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel, where each side would offer a sacrifice to their God without building a fire. The true God would reveal himself by igniting the fire. All the pagan prophets’ praying to Baal failed, but when Elijah prayed to the Lord (even after water had been poured over his offering), God sent fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. The people of Israel praised God, and the prophets of Baal were destroyed.

But the rain still hadn’t come. While Ahab went off to eat and drink, Elijah got alone to pray, bending down to the ground with his face between his knees.

Elijah knew that when God asks his people to do something, he doesn’t leave them without the resources to carry out the task. We sometimes forget that prayer is our biggest and most powerful resource. Elijah’s prayers were rewarded, and the rain came.

What task do you have in front of you today? Paying the bills? Dealing with a child who has a chronic problem? Whether we need wisdom with finances, insight for raising children, help in forgiving another, or strength to make obedient choices, we are wise to get on our knees and passionately ask for God’s help.

God of Elijah,

Please be our helper today in the challenges set before us. May we run to you in prayer, realizing that you are our most powerful helper. Amen.