there is a cloud - pray for rain
1 Kings 18:43 - “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
Everyone here has experienced or is experiencing a desert situation. If you haven’t, you must be very Holy. John 16:33 tells us that in this world, we will have troubles, we have not been promised an easy road. But, if we don’t experience these deserts, how will we explore the seeds of faith that are planted there?
You might think it’s hard to have hope in this season, what do you do when life looks so dry, when it seems so hopeless? I remember being so over my life when I was in Wolverhampton, I was just over it! Everything, life, friends, everything! My life seemed so hopeless, I literally felt like I was walking in this desert with no destination. But I want you to remember something, God provides when we pray for rain. Philippians 4:19 says “and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I want to remind you that when you ask, God will respond, God will send rain. I asked for God to intervene and he intervened.
Whatever drought you’re in right now, the children of Israel felt your pain, they lived through an actual drought for three years and I’m sure they experienced mental, spiritual and physical hardship. If we go back a chapter, 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah announced that there was going to be no dew or rain in the next few years except by his word. Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
The only hope they had was that the flood gates of heaven would open, and the mercy of God would pour down on the land. And I know you need the flood gates of heaven to open up in your situation. But here’s something interesting I want you to look at, instead of turning to God, they turned to Baal. 1 Kings 18: 26, “So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.”
These prophets of Baal had a devoted prayer life, they prayed long and hard for Baal to listen and with great passion. But their passion was directed toward the wrong God, their prayers meant nothing. There was no response; no one answered.
The prophets of Baal had energetic prayers, they danced around the alter they had made, their worship was with such enthusiasm yet, because it was all directed to a false God, their prayers meant nothing.
False gods give false hope.
Baal was a non-entity; Baal was nothing and nothing can do nothing. Nothing can’t answer you when you call out. But Elijah knew the power of the one true God. He had confidence that HE would answer, he would turn nothing into something.
Elijah did something that we all should be doing when we experience a drought. Verse 42-43 “So, Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
How many of us, when faced with a difficult situation, go to the world to find help, we turn to other things to quench our thirst, when we should be looking at Christ. We should be on our knees in prayer like Elijah, even when we don’t see anything happen, we stay put because we know God will answer. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go Back.’
Elijah had faith that God was going to make something out of nothing, even if he couldn’t see it yet, he knew God was on the move, he knew God was doing something, and God is about to do something in your life too, you just have to believe and have faith.
Lord, I can’t see it yet, but I believe it’s coming, breakthrough is coming, freedom is coming, a cloud is coming.
I did that, I prayed with faith! I prayed like I had never prayed before! I told God that I would not move until he intervened, I would not stop knocking and seeking until he came through for me. Guys, I waited for 3 years for this prayer to be answered, I was so close to giving up because I just couldn’t see anything, no answered prayers, no nothing! I SAW NOTHING! I HEARD NOTHING! But I had faith, even when things seemed impossible, I had faith, even when I cried myself to sleep, when I struggled with suicidal thoughts, when I felt like I was just falling in this black hole, I still had faith, I knew God was going to turn my nothing into something. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Even if you don’t see it, if God says it, it will come to pass.
So go back and pray
Even if the situation seems impossible,
Go back and pray
Elijah told his servant to go back 7 times, this was a persistent prayer. Have you prayed so much for the same prayer and not heard anything? Elijah didn’t take no for an answer! he had confidence that God’s will was to send rain! Look at this faith! He saw a drought, but he KNEW God would send rain! He knew that God was a way maker, miracle worker, and a promise keeper! DO YOU BELIEVE THAT? Because I certainly do, my testimony is evidence and proof of how God has made it rain in my life.
But, I wonder how many of us have that same confidence! How many of us are willing to be stubbornly persistent with our prayers because we are confident that God will come through. Faith starts in your spirit before it happens in your life. Faith is needed to keep going when what God has said, isn’t what we see. Elijah saw drought, but what did he hear? Rain. When we pray, God hears, James 5:16 says, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
I heard a saying once, “bold prayers honour God, and God honours bold prayers.” So, let me challenge you, pray bold and impossible prayers. Pray for rain like Elijah. If you feel like you’re in a drought, pray for rain, see how God will move in your life. 1 John 5:14-15 says, this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Impossible prayers are possible for God.
3 years the children of God did not see rain, but Elijah prayed the impossible prayer. He prayed for rain! If you don’t believe that God is for you, I’m sorry to say but you will pray timid prayers. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” This spirit of timidity will cause you to shrink in the daily difficulties which we all face. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” If you have a spirit of timidity, how will you pray? Where will you find your help?
But, if you know God is for you, those prayers will be bold and persistent, you will pray impossible prayers because of the confidence you have that God will make it possible. Jeremiah 17:7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord whose confidence is in him.
Psalm 27:3 “Though an army besiege me my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.” Elijah did not move until God intervened. Don’t give up.
Do you remember this parable in Luke 18:1-8, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time, he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Unless we know who, God is, and unless we are people who pray without ceasing, pray without losing heart, then we don’t have the kind of faith Jesus will look for when He returns. Elijah was persistent, he had confidence, he had faith that God would make it rain. He positioned himself to receive those showers of blessings. Have you positioned yourself to receive from God? Do you pray without ceasing even if all you see is a drought?
Luke 11:9-10, “So, I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
With Love,
Faith / Author (Upfront Faith / I Can't Embrace the Wilderness )
