1 Kings 18 (Part 3) Bible Study (Elijah Prays / The Lord Sends Rain) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Kings together. And as you turn there, place your finger at verse 41. We're gonna read the verses up to the closing of this chapter beginning in verse 41. And Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat, and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel.

And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing. And he said, go again seven times. And at the seventh time, he said, behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.

And he said, go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Father, we ask for your help.

We are forgetful creatures, and so we plead with you that you would bind these truths in our hearts, and that we would be able to recall these things in the days to come so that we can be more faithful, and we can remember your faithfulness. And so, Lord, we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit as we expound on these truths, trusting, oh God, that you have much to say to us personally. As believers, as a church, we anticipate the voice, your voice, through your word in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Who would have thought that such words would gush out of the hearts of a people who have been apostate for decades? And that is what we read last week. In one miraculous moment, you had a people who were experiencing a spiritual drought that cemented their devotion, and all of a sudden was cascaded by the mercy of God.

And as a result, you had worship springing out of unexpected wells. And that was the site that we beheld together in our last study. And as refreshing as that site might have been, I'm here to excite you and let you know that there's still more mercy to be seen and discovered. Because the spiritual drought that was taken care of will now be followed by physical provision for a dry land. This is what Elijah has come to pray for now.

We examined last week how this man of God got before the Lord and prayed that fire would be shot down from heaven, and it was answered. And now the same man of God on the same mountain will come before the Lord and ask for rain, and the rain will be provided. And you and I should expect that the Holy Spirit in this section will give us many things that will feed our faith. Listen, as we climb with Elijah back up on Mount Carmel, and as you and I look up to the heavens again with him, we should believe that God is gonna say something to our hearts. And so I know we read from verse 41, but I wanna scale back to verse 39.

Look at verse 39 quickly. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, the Lord he is God. The Lord he is God. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal and let not one of them escape. And they seized them.

And Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. We didn't touch on verse 40 last week. We mentioned it briefly as a cliffhanger, but we have to address this because this seems to be a disturbing verse in light of the grace of God that we enjoyed in verse 39. God sending fire, not on the people of Israel, but on a substitute, on a sacrifice, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we would think it would end there and we would transition from that point, but instead, we see Elijah commanding that these false prophets who failed to call upon Baal, and Baal failed to hear him because he is no god at all, now have a death sentence, and they were slaughtered.

How can this be? How can Elijah ask for such a thing? How can it be done? Did he overreact? Well, it's important to remember that in our three part series within this chapter alone, what have we realized?

What have we learned about Elijah? That he was completely in step with the will of God. And even in this showdown with these prophets of Baal, Elijah did not miss a beat. Everything that he did was completely ordained and revealed by God, and he satisfied the wishes of his master. And we should have no reason to believe otherwise concerning this command in verse 40.

Elijah is still in complete alignment to the will and the heart and the mind of God in commissioning the people of Israel to gather these false prophets and to have them killed. And this is why you're here on Fridays. I pray that you and I will continue to grow in the knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures so that you can grow in your knowledge of the character of God. Elijah here, actually, in asking for this, is encouraged by the law. What these false prophets experienced was to be expected because God already made a demand from his law before the people even entered into the promised land, and I want you to see it with your own eyes.

So it's in Deuteronomy chapter 13 beginning in verse one. Here's where Elijah is getting the license to do such a thing. This man's call for the slaying of these rebel priests was founded upon what God had asked of the people in Deuteronomy 13 verse one. Read it with me, please. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass pause.

Even if a miracle transpires, even if a wonder happens through the hands of a man who does not represent the true and living God, what are you to do? And if he says, let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or the dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. We touched on that in our study of Deuteronomy. Why is there all this heresy?

Why are there all these false religions? Why will there be so many in the name of Christ performing even signs and wonders, but don't preach a true and pure gospel? Let me give you one reason God's testing. Every generation, will you love me? How are you gonna show your love for God?

That despite the miracle, despite the sign, despite the wonder, despite the charisma, despite the programs, despite whatever, because it's contrary to God's word, you will cling to the word about whatever you see or feel or experience. So So God allows it to test our love and devotion to him. But that's not the main point. Scroll down to verse five. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery.

That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. That's exactly what Elijah is obeying here in first Kings 18 verse 40. This kind of crime is worthy of capital punishment. And it's not because you had a group of people within Israel believing differently.

No. This group of prophets were, again, enticing the people of God, the true people of God, from turning away from the true and living God. And mind you, please remember this. Put this filter every time you read something in in the scriptures, especially in the Hebrew scriptures that seems to be concerning in terms of what God demands concerning false religion or false prophets. The Messiah is on his way, and he's coming through this seed.

And what Satan has been doing for centuries throughout the Hebrew scriptures is try to corrupt that seed. There there's no playing around here. The salvation of the world is at stake and that attempt to corrupt the seed of humanity goes all the way back to Genesis chapter six. And it's happening throughout here in Israel's history. And so this demanded severe repercussions.

And so this is not that's a side point, but this is not just them believing differently. This is them trying to lure them away into self destructive false religion. And so it demanded severe confrontation. And that's exactly what Elijah is calling for. You know, it's even possible that these false prophets of Baal were the instruments that Jezebel used to kill the true prophets of the Lord.

And so we see that this man is obeying the word of God. And what you and I are gonna learn in this study and in the studies to come, that for such false prophets to remain in the land would prove to be an existential problem for the nation of Israel. And we're gonna see that because not all these false prophets in Elijah's day were present on Mount Carmel. What's our call in the new covenant concerning false religion, concerning those who would try to entice other believers away from the truth, those from from within or those who are outside? You and I have our marching orders plain and clear in the New Testament.

The domain of our judgment and the degree of our judgment has been spelled out clearly, and there should be no confusion about it. You have no right to hurt anybody because they believe differently or try to even convince you to believe differently. We're told there in first Corinthians five, and you don't have to turn there, but verse eleven and twelve is a reference that our call as the church is to deal with those within the church. We don't go chasing those outside of our church and conquest them and win people by the sword. We don't do that.

Our domain of judgment and chastisement and discipline as demanded by the Lord Jesus is within the church, and Paul declared that himself as an apostle. And the severest form of judgment that we can apply to somebody who is unrepentant morally or unrepentant doctrinally is that they must be removed from the fellowship of the believers because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And even in that severest form of discipline, what's the aim? Tell me. Restoration.

Good. Is that we would hope that they would see the error of their ways. They would see the privileges that they let go of. They would see that the church does not agree with what they believe in, and they prove it from scripture that they would turn back to the truth or turn to the truth, rather. And so this is a picture for us And when God calls us to even do something difficult, though our our our orders are different, we must do it nonetheless.

And there's another lesson. Look again at verse 40. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. Let no not one of them escape, and they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the Brookishon and slaughtered them there.

Who did he ask to seize these false prophets? Was it Israel? It was Israel. Elijah didn't arrest these men himself. He did kill them, but he did not arrest them.

He called the people of Israel to do so. Why is that important? Think of the larger context. You go back to verse 39 when God showed up with his power, his power but mercy, they confessed. The Lord, he is God.

The Lord, he is God. And we're blessed by that. But that's not where their faith stopped. That's where many people today, that's where their faith stops. Verbal confession of profession.

Yeah. Jesus Christ is God. Yeah. The gospel is true. Yeah.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. Israel didn't stop with professing it. They demonstrate that he was God. Because when a very difficult command was issued, they did not hesitate to obey. So I wanna say that the encouragement of the response of the nation of Israel is more encouraging than you might have thought, that they went beyond where most people go.

They didn't just say it. They said, okay. Now what does he want from me? If he is God, then let me show that he is God. And we would hope that this kind of frame of faith would last.

We're gonna find out that perhaps it doesn't. But for the time being, we can take a breath and rejoice in the fact that something happened in their hearts. Now we come to what we read. Verse 31 excuse me. 41.

And Elijah said to Ahab we didn't forget about Ahab, did we? So the people of Israel, what did they do? They repented. The prophets of Baal, what happened to them? They were killed.

What's now gonna happen to the king? What is gonna happen to the ruler? Here's what Elijah tells him to do. Go up, eat, and drink. Why?

That's a very strange command. Go up, eat, and drink. In other words, have lunch or have dinner because rain is coming, and you need to be energized for your journey. You know what my first question was? Why wasn't he lined up with the prophets of Baal and slain with them?

Don't you wonder the same? We're gonna touch on why he said go up, eat, and drink, but why wasn't he killed? Was he not equally guilty of being a rebel and leading the people of God astray? Here's the answer. It's a simple answer, but it's important because it's consistent with how God works in the world.

Every man's verdict concerning their sin that's unrepented is dealt with differently, case by case according to God's wisdom and his justice. Will Ahab completely escape God's discipline? No. It's just gonna happen at a different time and through a different way. Do you remember how Ahab will be chastised by the Lord?

Let me remind you in first Kings 22. Look at verse six with me in first Kings 22, and this is where it's going to happen for Ahab. This is when the king of Israel, Ahab, wanted to go to war against Ramoth Gilead, and he tried to recruit the king of Judah. And in first Kings twenty two six, we read, then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, shall I go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain? And they said, go up, for the lord will give it into the hand of the king.

Pause. Who are these 400 prophets? Does anybody remember? They're the 400 prophets who didn't show up at Mount Carmel. You had the prophets of Baal, 450, and then you had the prophets of Asherah, 400.

They were kept from going. We don't know how or who kept them, but we can be pretty confident that it was the leadership of Israel that said, no. No. No. We're not gonna send all our guys out there.

We don't know what Elijah's up to. So you have the same 400 now who are gathered into the courts of the king, and they begin prophesying with a consensus. You should go up against Ramoth Gilead, o Ahab. And I'm sure you've read this before. If not, it's a riveting chapter because a true prophet of the Lord arrives, and he gives the insight of what's taking place here.

And here's the summary of it. Look at verse 23 of first Kings 22. Now, therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets. Why? The Lord has declared disaster for you.

So God allowed a lying spirit to speak through all 400 of these false prophets. For what reason? So that Ahab would believe the lies and walk into his own demise. Why? Because God is gonna judge him in this way.

Do do you realize how heart wrenching this sentencing is? The very same 400 that Ahab tried to preserve and keep have now been the agency for his own death. You can't fool God. You can't run from God. You can't hide from God.

If you're going to remain in your own belief and your sin, judgment will come. And what a what a picture, another picture of so many examples in the bible that if you and I are not quick to kill our sin, it will find a way to kill you. Always. I've never seen anybody hold on to their sin and be successful in doing so. The very same prophets that he tried to keep to himself thinking that they would be to his benefit ended up turning on him, lying to him just like how your sin lies to you, and then end up destroying his life.

If Ahab had repented anytime before, we know that the Lord would have been extremely merciful, but this man kept going back to him himself, kept going back to his false beliefs and rebellion against the Lord. So now Elijah says, go up, eat, and drink. Thinking about this, why? Out of all the things that Elijah could have said to this man and I believe it's because Elijah discerned what kind of man he was dealing with. Ahab here at this moment is showing no remorse, is he?

He's showing no concern. There's no contrition. There's no admission of guilt. Perhaps the only thing that's going on with Ahab is that he is just standing there absolutely shocked as he's witnessing his false prophets being slain right before his eyes. But but there's no heart change.

There's no even inquiry. There's no even concern about what happened with his men. And I believe Elijah recognizes that. So what is he doing here by saying go up, eat, and drink? It's as though he's just dismissing him.

Like, just get out of here. Go go go eat and drink. Go have a meal. Because he realizes that this man is completely caught up in the flesh. Here's what Ahab teaches us at this point in our bible study, that a person can witness the miraculous, that a person can have his worldview overcome and dismantled by the truth, that an individual can even be defeated by his sin, all of that taking place, and still do what?

Remain in the flesh. Do you realize what Ahab witnessed? He witnessed a man praying to the true God, the God that he's been rebelling against. Fire came down from heaven. All his men, they they availed to nothing.

They died. And what's this man concerned with more than anything else? Eating and drinking. Why? Because when Ahab says go do it, he does it.

And you get frustrated when you witness to a sibling or a friend and they don't seem to get it. That's not new. Don't think it's because we live in a technological age and people are more distracted than ever. No. You have people who are concerned with eating and drinking even then.

And this is what we're supposed to see by looking at Ahab. That there are gonna be some that no matter what they see, what they learn, what they hear, what they experience, will be bound up and caught up by the temporal. Should it frustrate us? Yeah. It should frustrate us, but let it frustrate you to the prayer closet and not to give up.

You know, I'm reading in my own time. I'm in Ezra now, but this past week, I was reading through second Chronicles and looking at different kings from the Chronicles vantage point. And there was another king, and his name was Ahaz. Not Ahab, Ahaz. And he did a lot of wickedness.

The catalog of evil that he performed was severe in its own way. But then he experienced his discipline from the Lord, like, obvious discipline. What did Ahab experience here? Mercy. He wasn't consumed.

God demonstrated that he's the real and living God, and it still didn't move him. Ahaz, on the other hand, experienced severe chastisement, and there's this one verse, and I just I plucked that verse from the scriptures, and I've been just letting it sit on my heart all week. Listen to this. I'm just gonna read it to you. This is powerful.

In two Chronicles 28, listen to this verse in verse 22. In the time of his distress, he became yet more faithless to the Lord, the same king Ahaz. Isn't that amazing? It's as though the author, yes, inspired by the spirit. It's like, yes, the very same Ahaz that you've been reading about even with all the distress that he underwent, he still became more faithless.

What this flesh is capable of is astounding, and the scripture does not hold back in declaring the truth about it. Ahab is no different here. This man is stiff necked, But then you got guys like Elijah. Look what Elijah said back in verse 41 of our main text. And Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat, and drink.

Why? For there is a sound of the rushing of rain. I hear rain coming. How can he say that? When not drop one droplet of rain fell on that dry land.

How can he say that when not one crack of thunder or lightning has visited those skies in years. How can you say that with no sight of even a shadow from the heavens because no cloud has visited Israel in such a long time? I can tell you how. Look back at verse one of our main text. What do you read here in verse one?

That the Lord said, go show yourself to Ahab because rain is coming. So you know why Elijah could say this with a great confidence? Because God said something, and he believed it. God said something about a future event that did not yet take place, but listen to this. Elijah framed his life based on what God had said about the future.

And that is what faith is all about. You perceive it though you do not experience it. You believe it and you make your way and you order your life around it though you have not yet been visited by it. That's what faith looks like, and it's the opposite of the flesh. Look at verse 42.

So Ahab went up to eat and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. So these these men, you have a man a man who represents the flesh and a man who represents faith, and guess what? They go their separate ways. You know why? Because if you're a brother or a sister in this place and you are a person who truly believes God's word and live according to God's word, it will be very difficult for you to fellowship with those who are of the flesh.

Doesn't mean you're unloving. Doesn't mean you're self righteous, but it's very difficult because obviously here Ahab has no intention or zero appetite to do what Elijah is about to do on the top of Mount Carmel. What is Elijah about to do? Read the rest of the verse. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.

He went up to go pray. And what did Ahab do? He went up to go eat and drink. Is there anything wrong with eating and drinking? Absolutely not.

But there's a time and place for everything. And Elijah understood that in light of what God had just done here, this this profound, powerful display of his majesty. It was time to posture himself, to inquire of the Lord and seek the Lord for the next thing, the thing that was ultimately promised. And what does Ahab do? Again, he's unmoved, unfazed, and he just goes about like nothing had happened.

So now Elijah goes up to Mount Carmel. And this man who goes up here now seeks the Lord in a very humbling way. He get I'm not gonna demonstrate it for you, but let your imagination go there. He gets on his knees, and he puts his face between his knees. We're gonna touch on that in a moment here, but the careful reader will realize in our first initial reading that though there is a picture being painted of this man praying, it's not explicitly stated.

We're not being told here directly that Elijah prayed, but this is where the harmony of scripture comes to our aid. Go to James chapter five in verse seventeen and eighteen, and you get the commentary of this very same passage, and it's clarified of what Elijah is exactly doing here. James five seventeen to 18. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth.

That's what we covered earlier. But here what we see at the end of chapter 18 of first Kings is what we see in verse 18 of James chapter five. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. So when Elijah climbs back the mountain and puts his face between his knees, James tells us he went up there to go pray. He's praying.

And in what we're about to read in detail, you're gonna have the insights to strengthen your prayer life. Can I tell you something? When you read about Elijah praying and fire coming down and a miracle and revival breaking out, that that should excite your prayer life. But there's something in this part, in this section of his praying, that will resonate a lot more, I believe. So let's look at at a few components of what's happening here with his praying.

The first thing that you and I learned from verse 42 is that Elijah, after experiencing this wonderful, fruitful, successful feat, pulls himself away and he meets with God in private. Here's an important lesson about this man of God. No matter what kind of things he experienced publicly, he maintained and secured his private time with the Lord. Many people miss that. Many people miss that, especially when they're doing really well.

I believe why Elijah is doing this is because Elijah is disclosing the secret to the effectiveness of his ministry, communion with God. Staying on his knees before God. Sitting at the feet of God, pouring out his heart privately before God. And this man was willing to separate himself from the crowd, separate himself from the audience of the king, and he realized that the God who gave me success yesterday is the same God who must give me success today and must give me success for tomorrow. Yet many people over time in ministry and even in their Christian walk, They get very comfortable with the routine.

They realize that they have a gift. And so they serve, they sing, and they preach. And over time, that time with the Lord becomes thinner and thinner and thinner. But this man is not fooled. This man realizes that unless I meet with the Lord consistently, I will not know the fullest measure of his power, of his mercy, of his wisdom, of his protection.

Do you know the number one common denominator for backsliders? Maybe I'll get your attention now more than before. I've talked to many of them, and I know people who have talked to big ministers who have fallen from grace. Can I tell you? The number one common denominator, even from men who have preached the word of God faithfully, who had wonderful history and reputation, and for some reason fallen off, they all can confess with confidence.

We stop meeting with the Lord in private. We stop reading the Bible for ourselves. We stop spending time in prayer on a daily basis to commune with the Lord. Got busy, got confident, got caught up. And it's like, you hear that?

I I've heard that. I've seen it happen to people, and yet you can still feel the temptation to pull yourself away from exactly what Elijah is doing here. You can't afford to do it. People ask all the time, how do you discipline yourself to be able to seek the Lord every single day? How do you do it?

And I say, it's not a matter of what I what I want. It's a matter of survival. See, you don't see it that way. You just see it as a luxury. You see it as an optional thing.

But you have to come to the point and believe in your heart that this is not something that I can afford to miss out on if I want to know this thing for long term, if I wanna know longevity. And so let that little truth there just add a spark to the fire that you know that that might be getting weaker and it's not because you're necessarily sinning, you just fight for it if you have to. If days go by where it's not realized, get back to it. Don't get comfortable coasting away from that place. I love you too much to say otherwise.

And so this man does it. But notice the second thing, the humility of Elijah. He bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And this is something so significant for many reasons, and the main reason is because it happened after a great experience of ministry. This man saw a nation, not a couple people after a bible study or Sunday sermon.

You're talking about let just imagine the state of Illinois coming to one of your meetings, you preaching God backing up your message with power that's undeniable, and you see the state of Illinois getting on its knees saying, The Lord Jesus Christ is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. What do you think that would do to the common man? Wow. I'm a pretty good preacher, I think.

Wow. Surely, after this, I'm gonna get a lot of invitations to conferences. Now you know what you see this man doing? He goes up, and he humbles himself before God, and he gets low. So, yeah, he stood tall before kings, and he pointed his bony prophet finger before a nation.

But when he came to the presence of God, he humbled himself. He says, God, this is all about you. This couldn't have happened without you. And now for this next thing, I'm gonna need you. I can't produce this.

I can't cause anything to happen. It has to be your grace. And so a true servant of the Lord will never allow even the success of his spiritual journey cause him to waiver from acknowledging, praising, loving, worshiping, and attending to the presence of God. It will only reinforce and strengthen him in that place because he realizes what God allowed me to experience yesterday and what he did through me yesterday is by his grace, and anything I'm gonna know or do for him today or tomorrow is also gonna be by his grace. They never lose touch with that reality, and this man did not.

There's still more to learn. Remember, James said that this man is a model for prayer concerning the Christians. So look at verse 43. And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing.

And he said, go again seven times. This lesson is obvious, isn't it? It's a lesson on perseverance. Seven times. So he prays, tells the servant go.

Comes back, nothing. Prays, and he does that several times. And and we're all we're we're all very familiar about Jesus' teaching in the bible's examples of how to persevere in prayer, how to persevere, how to but this is what blesses me even more about Elijah's example. It stands in such contrast to his previous experience of prayer. So you read last week with me that the moment he comes down before the Lord as he stands before this altar and he asks for the fire of God to come and consume that sacrifice, the moment he said amen, so to speak, the fire came.

And then now you have this man, the same man on the same mountains praying to the same God, and he's asking for rain this time. And this account the first time, this account the second, this account the fifth time. Seven times. What are you supposed to take from that? You and I are supposed to learn that unless you're not careful, you will be weighed down in prayer.

There are times when God can answer in the very before you even say amen, he can answer. Even if your prayer is in thought form and you haven't even expressed it, he can answer it. And there are other times where you will pray and you will pray and you will pray and you will pray, and never mind hints, there will be nothing. Nothing. Expect both from God.

Expect both. Why do I say expect? Let me put it this way. Every time I pray, I pray and anticipate that God will do it. Every time I pray, I wanna see a miracle, but I'm also ready for it to come in a different way, which is really the next point.

Because look what happens. Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing. And he said, go again seven times. And at the seventh time, verse 44, he said, behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.

And he said, go up. Say to Ahab, prepare prepare your chariot and go down lest the rain stop you. And look at verse 45. And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain, and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. So, again, compare it to Elijah's experience for praying when he prayed for fire.

He prayed once fire came. Did the fire come, like, with a spark, and then he had to feed the fire, and then it grew up into a flame? Is that what happened? No. Look at verse 38.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. You know why I love that verse? Because all was needed for the challenge was the the sacrifice to be consumed. That's all that was needed to prove that this was the true and living God. You know what God does when he sends the fire?

He consumes more. You know what that's a picture of? You pray for something and God does more. But look at this. So he prays and fire comes right there and then.

Now he prays for rain. Right? Does he pray once? Seven times. And on the seventh time, do the clouds just suddenly appear and it just starts raining and pour is that what happens?

No. A little cloud like the size of a man's hand comes. And then verse 45, you read why, and in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind. It's not very dramatic, is it? It's it's those are not the kind of prayer testimonies you hear or ask to be shared at the prayer meeting.

It's the fire coming down right away. Wow. Is this any less of a testimony? So you know what God can do when you pray? God can heal your loved one instantly.

God can provide for your need with your next blink. God can put a stop to that trial with a breath. God can halt persecution right away. He can do all of that like he did with Elijah and the fire. But you know what else he might do?

You can pray for that loved one's healing, and you know how he's gonna do it? In stages. And you need some you need something. You need a financial breakthrough, so to speak. You need a job, whatever the case may be.

You need something to be taken care of. And how does God do it? Little by little. You need an opportunity, and God can swing wide open a door. A random guy calls you, doesn't even know you, and it's this opportunity of a lifetime.

He can do that, or it can be several calls and a few interviews. He can stop the persecution or he'll let it go for some time so he can purge you in a certain way. He can extinguish the fiery trial or he can extend it and manifest his presence within it. So don't get frustrated if it doesn't come right away and if it doesn't happen when you pray once. And if you feel discouraged, remember that some of God's greatest men are experiencing what you're experiencing.

Here's one of them Elijah. So I don't I try not to allow myself to go to a place where I think, what's going on here? Because I see a man who prayed seven times. So, okay. If you have to pray a week, pray a week.

If you have to pray a year, pray a year. If you have to pray years, pray for years. You're saying, well, when do I stop praying? I can't keep my head between my knees for too long, can I? Can I can I tell you when you stop praying?

When God makes it clear when to stop praying. Depends on the request, but I trust based on the testimony of the word of God, if you're persistent and God hears you and there's an answer coming in terms of when you should stop, he'll make it abundantly clear and you will know it as he did with David with his sick newborn. When he intercede on behalf of that little baby who was dying and he did not get up from the floor until his men said the baby is dead. He anointed his face, he washed himself, he worshiped the Lord, and he had his meal. He stopped praying.

What about Paul with a thorn in his flesh? He prayed, he prayed. The third time the Lord said, I'm not removing this. My grace is sufficient. So here's how I wanna translate.

I know it might sound difficult. I'm I I know it might might sound even daunting, but be encouraged to know that if you're praying for that backslidden child of yours, don't give up. Until God makes it clear when to give up. And if God needs to make it very, very clear, there are examples of prophets who are praying for a nation or praying for an individual, and God says, enough. It's time to move on.

I have a different program here. So don't lose heart. Don't lose focus. And remember this as a testimony to keep you in that place. So we see here that Elijah prays and he prays and he prays.

Now look at here verse 44. In a little while, while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind and there was there was a great rain, and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. So here, this this is so important because we could've ended here with the rain coming, but he instructs Ahab to do something else. He tells Ahab, I want you to get up. Take your car and drive up to Jezreel.

Why Jezreel? Go to first Kings 21. Look at verse one. And a certain excuse me. Now Naboth the the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.

So the capital was in Samaria, but Ahab had a palace in Jezreel, and that was probably his main place of abiding. And so he tells him, go to your home. And Ahab listens, but we're not done here with a miracle or the theme of miracles rather. Look at verse 46. And at the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

That's how the chapter ends. So Ahab says the rain is here or excuse me, tells Ahab, the rain is here. Get in your chariot and go to Jezreel. And then we're told the hand of the Lord comes upon the prophet, and he runs ahead, and he beats him to Jezreel. Can anybody explain the miracle behind this?

What's the miracle behind it? In one sentence, what's the miracle behind this? The rain didn't stop him. That's one. Yeah.

So this wonderful overflow of rain didn't hinder him? The Lord what? The Lord was on Elijah. The Lord was on Elijah. And what was he on him to do exactly?

To what? I feel like people are scared to answer. It's not teleportation. He ran before the chariot. Speed?

I think that's the general commentary of this. Right? That this man was able on foot to run ahead of a chariot and beat the chariot. That's pretty significant. And perhaps that's part of it because this man worked all day.

Did he not? He challenged false prophets. He didn't eat or drink himself at least yet. And with all that he spent, all that he gave out praying, seeking the Lord, interesting, praying is hard work too. He was able to be energized by divine power and make his way to Jezreel on foot.

Is that all though? I wonder if that's it. Can I ask you another question? Is this the only time where you see a man running before a chariot in the bible? I think people are scared to answer still.

Okay. Let me show you one example. Go to second Samuel with me in chapter 15. I won't just give you one man. Look at second Samuel chapter 15 in verse one.

After this, Absalom got himself a chariot and horses and 50 men to run before him. And I can show you other examples of others doing the same. So Elijah running before a chariot is often understood at being a miraculous enablement from heaven to outrun horses. But there are other places where men run before chariots. Now you can make the case that maybe it was at a different pace.

Elijah here is outrunning something that's full throttle, perhaps. But can I remind you of a command in our study of first Samuel? In first Samuel, when the prophet told the people what they should expect by having a human king, he warns them because God was their king, And God was gonna bring a tangible king at the right time. It was a premature request, and it was in the flesh. They didn't wanna be like God.

They didn't wanna be according to God's program. They wanted to be like the world. So Samuel tells him, you want it? Okay. Let me tell you what you're getting yourself into.

And here's one of the things that they should have expected. Look at first Samuel eight with me. It's worth it. First Samuel eight. Look at verse 10.

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, these will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to do what? And to run before his chariots. So one of the things that kings would demand following this is that they would have some of the men of Israel as an act of service and loyalty to the king, run before him as a way of displaying the majesty of that king.

Look at these men who are running before me. It's almost as though it's a parade. And these men in doing so were doing so in service in humility before this king. I believe Elijah is doing more than just trying to outrun Ahab. I mean think about it.

Why is Elijah not just telling Ahab to go, but meeting him there? What does that have to do with him? Here's a thought. That Elijah in commanding Ahab to go is also going to follow him but lead the way running before the chariot. Perhaps with the high hopes that this man would have some kind of change of heart, especially as he is experiencing this rain flowing over him.

And he's gonna now come to the palace and testify before Jezebel maybe with the hopes of a royal repentance. Perhaps. If that is not necessarily the desire of Elijah, what he is doing by running before him is pretty clear. Elijah up to this point has been very confrontational, very direct, bold. And by running before the chariot, what it would communicate to Ahab and even onlookers, when you connect it to first Samuel eight eleven, that this Elijah is not personally against Ahab.

That his rebuke, his challenge to the king is not to dishonor his authority or his position, but as a prophet to fulfill his role as a duty. And so by running ahead of this chariot, if first Samuel eight eleven means what it means that to run before his chariot is some kind of a demonstration of loyalty, then perhaps Ahab here is trying to communicate. I'm not against you, Ahab. I'm against your sin. I'm against your idolatry, and I wanna show the people here that I'm not trying to overthrow you.

I wanna see you saved. I wanna see you won over to the truth. And and with all that I have done, with all that I have performed, in the end, it's for you to come back to the Lord. And let me show it in this way. I'll I'll run before your chariot.

Let people see even up to your palace that I'm going to run before your chariot. If that is the case, then you have a great miracle at play here. One that is greater than somebody who is now working with superhuman strength and is running on his feet in a way that an older man shouldn't. You have the hand of the Lord who comes upon Elijah to do what? Perform a great act of humility.

To run before a chariot, not just any chariot, a chariot that is unworthy. A chariot with a man in it that has caused much trouble and dishonor to the Lord and his people. And yet still you have Elijah willing to, after great victory, after great showdown, to say, okay, Ahab, I'm gonna show you and others now that I want you to come to the truth. And so he does it. You know, there might be people in your life that you have great trouble honoring, great trouble respecting.

It could even be your husband. It could be a friend. It could be a sibling. It could be somebody from your I don't it doesn't matter who it is. It could be a Christian in the church.

It could even be elders. And you are gonna be called at times actually, we're called all the time to humble ourselves and to, with the wisdom of God, know how to navigate between challenging yet respecting, standing against yet showing that you're still for them and you want them to know the truth. And all the scenarios vary. The spectrum is very wide and long. You know what you're gonna need in order to do what Elijah did in this time?

What was on him to do this? The hand of the Lord. You can't do it without God's help. You you won't be able to submit without God's help. You won't be able to respect and be patient and gentle and kind without God's help.

You won't be able to endure patiently with other believers who in the flesh deserve this honor, disrespect. But in the spirit, you know you're called to hire you can't do it without the hand of the Lord. Elijah had the hand of the Lord upon him to run before this chariot. I could point to the other couple examples where men ran before chariots and they did not have the hand of the Lord upon them. There's something more significant here, more personal, more real, more relatable even to you and I.

But how do I get the hand of the Lord upon me to love and respect and honor and care and cherish and submit in some cases? Well, think about what Elijah did before this. What was he doing? He was on a mountaintop alone with God. And I believe that continuation is no accident.

There he is with the Lord, praying. And not only did God provide rain, he provided a power on him to do what we read here at the end of this chapter. You know how we're gonna end this Bible study? Not by saying a quick prayer, singing one song, and then leaving, But you're gonna ask for the Lord, I hope, for his hand to be upon you so that when you leave here, you're more energized to relate to other people in the way Jesus Christ asks of you. I can't do without the hand of the Lord, and I'm not gonna get the hand of the Lord unless I get on my knees before the Lord.

So maybe you came as pastor Mark opened up. Maybe you came in here, a little defeated, a little deflated. Maybe you argued with your wife or husband or your kids on your way here. Maybe you dishonored your father or your mother on your way here. Maybe you're struggling in doing what Elijah was able to do for a person that really didn't deserve it.

I invite you not just to take this truth and to treasure it in your heart, but to act upon and say, lord, I'm going back to an environment, tonight that is very difficult, and I need your hand on my life. I need your hand on my tongue. I need your hand on my temper. I need your hand on my reactions. People often want fire.

They want rain. They want miracles. That's all wonderful. But how often do we hear of this miracle in Elijah's life that he was able to run before Ahab's chariot with grace and humility? Lord, we ask you that you help us, please, to recognize our neediness.

Thank you that we can pray and you can place your hand on our lives. And not just in a general way, you can place your hand in an area in our life that requires your help, your power, your energy, your animation for it to be realized in a way that glorifies you and testifies before a watching world that we are servants of the living God. Lord, tonight we pray that you would bring things to mind that we would ask you for to help us do what may even be impossible. And, Lord, sometimes, oftentimes, what seems to be impossible are the relationships that we have to deal with. So, Lord, we pause now, and we wanna respond to this bible study.

We're truly seeking you. Help us not be like Ahab after hearing a study like this, be concerned with the flesh. Help us respond to these wonderful truths in the way that this man of God did. So, Lord, even in the silence of this moment, we seek your face, and we ask, oh, God, that your hand would be upon us. In Jesus' name, amen.

Why don't we do that? I'm gonna join you. I'm gonna join you in seeking the Lord and saying, Lord, I I want your hand on my life. Yes, to deal with maybe certain people, but also your hand on my life to administer more effectively, to endure more in prayer, to know how to protect and maintain that time alone with you. Let's just make this a time of responding to God's voice, his speaking in this past hour, shall we?

Don't rush out of here. Don't waste this moment. Just sit there and focus on the Lord and trust that he hears you even now, and he will honor your request before we close in prayer together. Shall we? Let's do that.

And as as the praise team comes and prepares to lead us in worship, we're not gonna sing right away, but just seek the Lord, and he will be found.