Bible Study 28 from the Book of 1 Kings
Just for your thoughts:
Bible Study 28
from the Book of 1 Kings.
Immediate and Delayed Responses to Elijah's Prayers in 1 Kings Chapters 17 and 18.
Elijah the prophet is one of the most important prophets in the Old Testament. In chapter 17 of this book, he appears suddenly, astonishing the people of Israel. Boldly, he approaches King Ahab and says, “There will be neither dew nor rain in the coming years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). And indeed, no rain fell according to his word.
While staying in the house of a widow, her son fell ill and died. Elijah stretched himself out on the child three times and cried out, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived (1 Kings 17:22). Here we see that God responded immediately to Elijah’s prayer.
On Mount Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal danced around the altar they had built from morning till evening, but they could not call down fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice. However, when Elijah prayed, “Answer me, Lord, answer me,” the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench (1 Kings 18:38).
In all these events, we see God responding immediately to Elijah’s petitions.
However, after several years, God told Elijah, “I will send rain.” Elijah conveyed this to King Ahab. Yet, the rain did not come immediately.
Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground, put his face between his knees, and prayed. He told his servant to go and look toward the sea to see if there was any sign of rain. Six times the servant saw nothing. Still, Elijah did not give up. Since God had already spoken, “I will send rain,” Elijah did not remain idle. He kept praying until the promise was fulfilled. The seventh time, the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” Elijah had been in continual prayer until then.
Lessons we can learn from this:
We should not expect that every prayer we offer will receive an immediate answer.
Sometimes, answers are delayed.
Even when God gives us promises about certain things, we should not remain idle. Instead, we must keep praying until those promises are fulfilled.
This principle applies to all believers, including the most gifted servants of God. In our lives too, we must persevere in prayer until the promises God has given us are fulfilled. This is God’s desire, and we see this clearly in the life of Elijah