Elijah’s Prayer in First Kings 18

First Kings 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Now, art, thou, troubling Israel?   18 And he said–I have not troubled Israel, but, thou and the house of thy father,–in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and followed Baal.   19 Now, therefore, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel,–and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Sacred Stem, four hundred, who do eat at the table of Jezebel.   20 So Ahab sent among all the sons of Israel,–and gathered the prophets unto Mount Carmel.   21 And Elijah drew near unto all the people, and said–How long are ye limping on the two divided opinions? If, Yahweh, be GOD, follow, him, but, if, Baal, follow, him. But the people answered him, not a word.   22 Then said Elijah unto the people–I, am left, Yahweh’s, only, prophet,–but, the prophets of Baal, are four hundred and fifty men.   23 Let there be given us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose for themselves one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon the wood, but, fire, shall they not put,–then, I, will make ready the other bullock, and place upon the wood, but, fire, will I not put.   24 Then shall ye call on the name of your god, and, I, will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be, the God that respondeth by fire, he, is GOD. And all the people responded–Well spoken!   25 Then said Elijah to the prophets of Baal–Choose for yourselves one bullock, and make ye ready, first, for, ye, are many,–and call ye on the name of your god, but, fire, shall ye not put.   26 So they took the bullock which was given them, and made ready, and called on the name of Baal–from the morning even until the noon, saying–O Baal! answer us. But them was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about by the altar which had been made.  27 And it came to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said–Cry with a loud voice, for, a god, he is, either he hath, a meditation, or an occasion to retire, or he hath, a journey,–peradventure, he, sleepeth, and must be awaked.   28 And they cried, with a loud voice, and cut themselves, after their custom, with swords, and with lances,–until the blood gushed out upon them.   29And so it was, when noon was passed, that although they prophesied until the offering up of the evening gift, yet was there no voice nor any that answered, nor any that hearkened.   30 Then said Elijah unto all the people: Draw near unto, me. And all the people drew near unto, him. Then repaired he the broken-down altar of Yahweh; yea Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,–   31 unto whom the word of Yahweh came, saying–Israel, shall be thy name;   32 and built, with the stones, an altar, in the name of Yahweh,–and he made a trench, as large as would contain two measures of seed, round about the altar;   33 and he put in order the wood,–and cut in pieces the bullock, and laid upon the wood. Then said he–Fill four pitchers with water, and pour out upon the ascending-sacrifice, and upon the wood. And they did so.   34 And he said–Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said–Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.   35 And the water ran round about the altar,–moreover also, the trench, filled he with water.   36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the gift, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! To-day, let it be known–That, thou, art God in Israel, and that, I, am thy servant,–and that, by thy word, have I done all these things.   37 Answer me, O Yahweh! answer me, That this people may know, that, thou–Yahweh, art GOD,–so shalt, thou thyself, have turned their heart back again. 38 Then fell fire from Yahweh, and consumed the ascending-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,–even the water that was in the trench, it licked up.   39 And, when all the people saw it, they fell upon their faces,–and said, Yahweh, he, is GOD, Yahweh, he, is GOD.

Pay close attention to all the portions of this passage on on Elijah’s prayer.

Thy Words Were Heard – Answered Prayer

Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard: and I am come for thy words’ sake. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Look at answered prayer here, a humble prayer from Daniel yields results from God in spite of opposition from the enemy.   The enemy may slow prayer, but he cannot stop the answers.  God is God, He created the earth and the universe, eventually He will in every place in the universe be the LORD.  So don’t worry about a tiny little spot in the universe called earth where the enemy appears to have some temporary victory, eventually God will win.  At the end of the Bible God is on the throne and fully rulling in the universe and on this tiny earth.

Don’t ever forget in Psalms 24:1 The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.   2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.

Prayer is blessing

The chief and most blessed part of my work is to ask and receive from my Father what I can bring to others.

A life abiding in Christ and filled with the Spirit, a life entirely given up as a branch for the work of the vine, has the power to claim these promises and to pray “effective prayer that availeth much”  Lord teach us to pray.

from The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer by Andrew Murray.

 

Prayer in Daniel, just the verses

Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:13 “”As [it is] written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth
Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
Daniel 9:21 yes, while I [was] speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

Its great to just look at the verses related to prayer in the Old testament book of Daniel.

Wonderful Fellowship in the Word

As we come to read the Bible, which is God’s Word, allow our spirit, our human spirit join with God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit in wonderful fellowship.

John 4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.   24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

The New Covenant Encourages Prayer

Here we have one of five passages in the Bible on the new covenant.

Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Notice the phrase “cause you to walk in My statutes” Surely God wants us to pray, and here God helps us to pray.

Prayer is Faith and Speaking

Matthew 21:21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” 23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

Again the Lord Jesus emphasis is on speaking (say to this mountain, ask in prayer) and faith (believing).   Notice the action verbs “say”, “ask”, and “believing”.  There is always action in prayer, but not some outward doing, but just faith and speaking.

My House is a House of Prayer

Matthew 21:13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ “ What a contrast we see here, we need some business to make money, but this place, God’s house, is for prayer and touching God.