Bring the Rain
“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. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.”—James 5:17-18
Drought. No rain, no chance for the crops to grow, starvation was waiting in the shadows with death quickly to follow. In the agrarian culture in which the Jews lived, drought was the worst possible thing that could happen. War? One could escape from that, or become a prisoner, or a slave, but drought? There was no escaping it. It would engulf every single individual—men, women and children would all starve and then die slow, painful, agonizing deaths. Riverbeds would dry up, and streams that gave life and blessing to many would become hollow trails of dust and stone, a horrible reminder of life and pleasure once there, now gone. The ground would become dry, then hard, and then cracked from all of the time in the sun with no moisture whatsoever.
The prophet Elijah lived at a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The kingdom was divided into north and south, and he was living in the north under a king who perpetually gave himself over to evil and unrighteousness, leading his people to do the same. Elijah prayed that it would not rain for three-and–a-half years, and God answered that prayer. The earth had become dry, food was scarce, and the smell of death was in the land. At that moment, when it seemed no one could go on, God spoke to Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth”—1 Kings 18:1 (ESV).
Elijah confronted Ahab and rebuked him for leading the Israelites into sin and forsaking God’s commandments. He set up a challenge to be carried out on Mt. Carmel between the priests of the false god Baal and himself, a prophet of Almighty God. The challenge was simple. Prepare your sacrifice and call out to your god. The God who answers by fire, He is GOD. The priests of Baal prepared the sacrifice and then called out to Baal. They called out loudly and for hours on end, going so far as to cut and beat themselves in order to get Baal’s attention, but nothing happened. Then Elijah called the people to himself. He rebuilt God’s altar that had been destroyed, prepared the sacrifice, and called on the Lord. But before he did so, he did one more thing. He had the sacrificial offering drenched in precious water. Water was scarce, but he wanted to demonstrate to the people that when the fire came and the sacrifice was burned up, it couldn’t be anyone other than God. He had the sacrifice so drenched in water that it flowed down from the altar, filling a small trench that had been dug around it. And then he prayed. God answered his prayer by sending fire to consume the sacrifice and even lick up all of the water! It was then that the people turned back to the Lord and the pagan priests were put to death.
Though the battle was won, there was still no water. Elijah made his way to the top of Mt. Carmel and got down on his knees and prayed. He told his servant to get up and look toward the sea, which the servant did, but saw nothing. He asked him to do this seven times, and nothing happened for six of them. It was not until the seventh time that the servant came back and said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea”—1 Kings 18:44 (ESV). Rain was coming and it was coming quickly. The text says that the “heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain”—1 Kings 18:45 (ESV).
God answered Elijah’s prayer. Elijah was a great prophet of God, but lest we think that he is greater than we are, the scripture says that he was a “man with a nature like ours”—James 5:17 (ESV). He was just like us. You and me. He prayed and God answered. God used Elijah’s prayer to bring the rain that brought life. And He will use our prayers to transform hearts and lives. In our world there are men and women whose hearts are hardened because of sin and unbelief. They have turned a deaf ear to God, resulting in their hearts being hard like the ground when it has seen no rain in three years. It’s cracked and hard. How is it made soft again? Only by being drenched, flooded with water, does the ground become soft and useable. When we pray, we pray like Elijah, focused, attentive, and expecting God to be God, to do what He does best—transform and minds by flooding them with the water of His grace and Spirit. God works when we pray. He has promised to do so. We simply need to get on our knees in prayer and then wait confidently for the floods to come. Amen.
Drought. No rain, no chance for the crops to grow, starvation was waiting in the shadows with death quickly to follow. In the agrarian culture in which the Jews lived, drought was the worst possible thing that could happen. War? One could escape from that, or become a prisoner, or a slave, but drought? There was no escaping it. It would engulf every single individual—men, women and children would all starve and then die slow, painful, agonizing deaths. Riverbeds would dry up, and streams that gave life and blessing to many would become hollow trails of dust and stone, a horrible reminder of life and pleasure once there, now gone. The ground would become dry, then hard, and then cracked from all of the time in the sun with no moisture whatsoever.
The prophet Elijah lived at a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The kingdom was divided into north and south, and he was living in the north under a king who perpetually gave himself over to evil and unrighteousness, leading his people to do the same. Elijah prayed that it would not rain for three-and–a-half years, and God answered that prayer. The earth had become dry, food was scarce, and the smell of death was in the land. At that moment, when it seemed no one could go on, God spoke to Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth”—1 Kings 18:1 (ESV).
Elijah confronted Ahab and rebuked him for leading the Israelites into sin and forsaking God’s commandments. He set up a challenge to be carried out on Mt. Carmel between the priests of the false god Baal and himself, a prophet of Almighty God. The challenge was simple. Prepare your sacrifice and call out to your god. The God who answers by fire, He is GOD. The priests of Baal prepared the sacrifice and then called out to Baal. They called out loudly and for hours on end, going so far as to cut and beat themselves in order to get Baal’s attention, but nothing happened. Then Elijah called the people to himself. He rebuilt God’s altar that had been destroyed, prepared the sacrifice, and called on the Lord. But before he did so, he did one more thing. He had the sacrificial offering drenched in precious water. Water was scarce, but he wanted to demonstrate to the people that when the fire came and the sacrifice was burned up, it couldn’t be anyone other than God. He had the sacrifice so drenched in water that it flowed down from the altar, filling a small trench that had been dug around it. And then he prayed. God answered his prayer by sending fire to consume the sacrifice and even lick up all of the water! It was then that the people turned back to the Lord and the pagan priests were put to death.
Though the battle was won, there was still no water. Elijah made his way to the top of Mt. Carmel and got down on his knees and prayed. He told his servant to get up and look toward the sea, which the servant did, but saw nothing. He asked him to do this seven times, and nothing happened for six of them. It was not until the seventh time that the servant came back and said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea”—1 Kings 18:44 (ESV). Rain was coming and it was coming quickly. The text says that the “heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain”—1 Kings 18:45 (ESV).
God answered Elijah’s prayer. Elijah was a great prophet of God, but lest we think that he is greater than we are, the scripture says that he was a “man with a nature like ours”—James 5:17 (ESV). He was just like us. You and me. He prayed and God answered. God used Elijah’s prayer to bring the rain that brought life. And He will use our prayers to transform hearts and lives. In our world there are men and women whose hearts are hardened because of sin and unbelief. They have turned a deaf ear to God, resulting in their hearts being hard like the ground when it has seen no rain in three years. It’s cracked and hard. How is it made soft again? Only by being drenched, flooded with water, does the ground become soft and useable. When we pray, we pray like Elijah, focused, attentive, and expecting God to be God, to do what He does best—transform and minds by flooding them with the water of His grace and Spirit. God works when we pray. He has promised to do so. We simply need to get on our knees in prayer and then wait confidently for the floods to come. Amen.
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