At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the 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. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
New International Version (NIV)
Talking about prayer and praying are not the same. In this passage we see that Elijah prayed. At a time of desperate spiritual need in Israel, he had the audacity to storm the gates of heaven and seek relief. After the prophets of Baal failed to invoke the presence of their non-god, then Elijah rebuilt the altar and called his people to join him. There he prayed until all heaven broke loose on the mountain as fire fell consuming the sacrifice and all the wet wood around it.
Elijah’s urgent goal informs our prayer. He cried out to the Lord and asked him to answer by turning the hearts of the Israelites back to God. This is still our urgent need in prayer. As I think about churches I know and love including ours, the answer is not greater methods or marketing. What we need is a change in the direction of our hearts, back to God.
It is good to have others pray for us. Better still, we pray. Emilie Griffin captures this in her book Clinging, “There is a moment between intending to pray and actually praying that is as stark and silent as any moment in our lives. It is the split second between thinking about prayer and really praying. For some of us, the split second may last for decades.” Don’t let it. Ask and you will receive. What will we receive? God. The fire will fall when we actually pray.
Pray with me:
Lord, you are God in heaven above and on earth below. We are your servants. Answer us, Lord, answer us so that we will know that you Lord are God and that you are turning our hearts back again. Let the fire fall. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. With references to Tallowood's Read Through the Bible in 2018 daily reading plan, let's focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he lead. He will not fail. Neither will we! Joyfully, Duane
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