"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)
Everything Elijah was doing was at the command of God. He had been told what to do, by the Lord, and he wanted everyone to know it. He was making sure all the glory would go to God. In preparing the sacrifice, Elijah had poured large amounts of water over it three times. When the fire from heaven fell on this sacrifice and burned it, he wanted there to be no question that this miracle would be accredited to God, and God alone. Obedience to God is the third point of Elijah's prayer. Once God has given a word of instruction to us, we must be willing to carry it out all the way.
Sometimes the small details of God's plans give us the biggest problem. In Acts 5, the story is shared of Ananias and Sapphira. This couple sold a piece of property and kept back a portion of the money. They put the rest at the feet of the apostle's as an offering for the church. Their sin was not in keeping a portion of the money, but in telling the church they had given all of it. Ananias and Sapphira both died as a result of their deception in this one small detail.
Lessons in complete obedience are often hard to learn. My daughter has a friend who lives across the street from our house, and she often goes over to visit. This friend's father is the pastor of a church, located almost directly behind our house, and sometimes they go to the church to play. She is always supposed to tell me when they plan to go to the church. I know you can perceive how this scene plays out, sometimes she forgets to tell me all of their plans and her partial obedience results in punishment. This example is not as severe as the disobedience of Ananias and Sapphira, but it is a small lesson in complete obedience and responsibility for one's actions.
Elijah acted in direct obedience to the specific command of God. He left nothing out God had commanded him to do (read the complete story in 1 Kings 18). His obedience and faithfulness were rewarded in God accepting the sacrifice, and as a result, God revealed Himself in such a way that the hearts of the Israelites were turned back to God, the fourth point of Elijah's prayer.
Join me again tomorrow, to look at the result of Elijah's prayer.