The God Who Answers Mightily, He Is God
Elijah prayed, “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. 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.” 1 Kings 18:37
We need to have a right vision of God. We need to see him not only as the promise-making God but also as the promise-keeping God: personal, trustworthy, and mighty. We also need people who’ll pray boldly, who know God, trust him, and ask him to do mighty things.
Elijah knew God, trusted him, and asked him to do mighty things. Elijah responded to the idol worship in Israel, supported by the evil King Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel, by proclaiming a drought, “no dew or rain except at my word (1 Kings 17:1).
Three years after the drought began, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown. He told Ahab to gather all four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel. Two bulls would be sacrificed, but no fire would be started under them. “The God who answers by fire, He is God,” Elijah said (1 Kings 18:24).
The prophets of Baal fervently prayed, called out, leapt in the air, cut themselves until blood gushed out, and prophesied all day, but there was no answer.
Then at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord that had been broken down. He took twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. He made a trench around the altar and had water poured on the sacrifice and into the trenches three times.
He prayed. Not only did he ask the Lord to answer, but he also asked him to change the hearts of the people. The God who answers by fire, sent fire and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and licked up water in the trenches. “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!’” (1 Kings 18:38-39).
Elijah commanded that the prophets of Baal be seized and brought down to the Kishon Valley where they were slaughtered (1 Kings 18:40).
Some say, “As long as you have some kind of religion, it’s okay.” But whom you pray to does matter. Do you pray to the promise-keeping God who is personal, trustworthy, and mighty? Do you pray boldly and ask him to do mighty things?
Dig Deeper
Read 1 Kings 16:29-33 and 18:17. What did Ahab call Elijah? How were Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, the ones who deserved that name?
How did Elijah know God would send fire to consume the sacrifice if he prayed for it? Read Judges 6:20-21 and 2 Chronicles 7:1-7.
How did Elijah obey the commands in Deuteronomy 13:5, 13-18; 17:2-5, and 18:9-22?
Nancy J. Baker
This devotion is part of our series on Elijah and Elisha: Empowered by the Holy Spirit.