"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again,'" (1 Kings 18:3637)
Elijah was offering this prayer as a request for the Lord to make Himself known as the Lord of Israel. The prophets of the false god, Baal, had already called on their god to make himself known. Their loud crying, leaping, dancing and hysterics had produced no results. Nothing happened and their sacrifice was still on the altar, untouched. Elijah's prayer was answered when fire from heaven fell and consumed the sacrifice that he offered. The true and living God responded to the prayer of a man who believed in the power of God.
Elijah's prayer contains four points which we can apply to the situations we face in our own prayer lives. The first thing we should do is acknowledge God as Lord and ask Him to make Himself known as Lord. He called on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, men to whom God had proven Himself faithful over and over. Elijah was depending on a God who had answered prayers before, and it was with confidence in God's faithfulness that he was calling on Him to answer this prayer. The history of Israel is full of examples of the answered prayers of faithful men. What about your history? Can't you look back into the history of your family and friends and recall answered prayers which remind you of God's faithfulness? I love to remember the prayer that God answered when I was a teenager, the prayer that my father would stop smoking. I am constantly reminded of this answered prayer when I hear of men whose health is failing as a result of years of smoking.
As you pray, remember to acknowledge Him as Lord, and thank Him for the answers of the past and the future. He is in control and He welcomes the opportunity to prove this in your life.
"As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'" (2 Corinthians 6:16)
Tomorrow we will look at the second point of Elijah's prayer which
deals with our acknowledging who we are.