God, I Need You To Do Something!
Text: 1 Kings 18:36-37 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
36 At the time for offering the [evening] sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back."
Introduction
We usually don’t think of God as demonstrating things, but He does.
This week we are looking at one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Elijah, to discover that God Demonstrates. God demonstrates His power. If you have ever felt the need for more of God’s power in your life, this message is for you! He wants to demonstrate His power through you!
By the time Elijah the Prophet came on the scene, the nation Israel had split into two countries, the Northern nation was Israel and the southern nation was Judah.
The northern nation, Israel, was trying to worship other gods, especially one called Baal, and God at the same time.
The King and Queen then, Ahab and Jezebel are remembered for their wickedness and idolatry.
1 Kings 16:30-33 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
30 But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD's sight more than all who were before him. 31 Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were a trivial matter, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah poleAhab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
God decided to demonstrate His power to Ahab and Jezebel, and the rebellious nation of Israel. He decided to demonstrate it through the prophet Elijah. God had warned Israel many times about turning away from the God of Israel to worship other Gods. He warned that there would be consequences.
Deuteronomy 11:16-17 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
16 Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods. 17 Then the LORD's anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the LORD is giving you.
So one day, God sent Elijah the Prophet to King Ahab to make an announcement. It was a demonstration of the Power of God working through Elijah.
1 Kings 17:1 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!"
Obviously Elijah was aware of the promise of draught if Israel worshipped other Gods. Based on these promises Elijah prayed.
James 5:17 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
Please note that Elijah was a human being just like us! There was nothing special about him except for His faith and his prayers. These are two things we can use as well so that God will demonstrate His power. After it was obvious there was a draught, that Ahab started looking for Elijah!
1 Kings 18:10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, 'He is not here,' he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
But God knew that Ahab would be looking for Elijah, so He hid him! First Elijah was instructed to hide by the book Cherith where he drank from the stream and Ravens brought him food. When the stream dried up he was kept in Zarephath by a widow. Her cruise of oil and barrel of meal did not run out until it rained.
Finally, after 3 ½ years it was time for God to demonstrate His power to Israel. 1 Kings 18:1
1 Kings 18:1 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
1 After a long time, the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year: "Go and present yourself to Ahab I will send rain on the surface of the land."
So Elijah did as he was told and appeared before Ahab.
1 Kings 18:17-29 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?"
18 He replied, "I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have abandoned the LORD's commandments and followed the Baals.19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him." But the people didn't answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God."
All the people answered, "That [sounds] good."
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don't light the fire."
26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "Baal, answer us!" But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they did their lame dance around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, "Shout loudly, for he's a god! Maybe he's thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he's on the road. Perhaps he's sleeping and will wake up!" 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed out on them. 29 All afternoon, they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Elijah called Ahab to gather the nation of Israel and the false prophets to Mount Carmel. This was a mountain near the Mediterranean Sea. God was going to demonstrate His power.
There are three things that I want us to examine in this passage this morning.
1. MOTIVES
In order for God to demonstrate His power through Elijah, Elijah had to have the right motives. In order for God to demonstrate His power through us, we have to have the right motives.
Vs. 36 – Elijah’s motives are displayed in this prayer.
1 Kings 18:36 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
36 At the time for offering the [evening] sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things.
· He wanted Israel to know who the true God was in Israel. Because there were false prophets, particularly the prophets of Baal who were being worshipped, Elijah wanted Israel to know the only true God!
· He also wanted to be known as the servant of God. If Elijah was going to be listened to, it needed to be clear that he was God’s servant.
· He also wanted it to be known that what he had done and was doing was through directions or word. He wanted it known that the proclamation of the draught, the hiding, the contest between him and the prophets of Baal, were all according to God’s will.
If we want to see God’s power working through us, we need to have the same motives.
i. Whatever we ask for should be because we want people to know the only true God. Whatever we ask God to do should be because we want Him glorified and not ourselves.
ii. Whatever we ask for should be because we want it known that we are God’s servants.
iii. Whatever we ask for should be because we want it known that our actions are according to the will of God.
If you want God to demonstrate His power, make sure that your motives are right!
MOTIVES
2. METHODS
What methods did Elijah use so God would answer His prayers?
· HE CONFRONTED.
20So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. KJV
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him." But the people didn't answer him a word. HCSV
Vss. 20-21 – The word halt means ‘to limp’ or ‘to totter’. The children of Israel were trying to serve God and Baal at the same time! They were wavering between two gods!
How many of us are just like that? We want all the pleasures that the world has to offer and to serve God at the same time. It doesn’t work! Matthew 6:24 There are times when for God to demonstrate his power we are going to have speak up!
We will have to say to others, “Don’t flip-flop between two opinions. If you are going to serve Christ, serve Him! If you are going to serve yourself, another person, money or any other God, serve Him! Decide! You can’t do both!”
· HE CHALLENGED
22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God."
Vss. 22-24 – Elijah proposed a contest. The prophets of Baal, who was the sun God and the God of fire, were to prepare a sacrifice but not to light it. Elijah would do the same. The God that sent fire from Heaven was God!
Sometimes we might have to challenge people to put God to the test as well. “Let’s compare what my God is doing with what your God is doing. The one, who is actually making a difference in our lives, let Him be the God!”
If you are truly dedicated to the Lord and the other person is honest, you will never lose that challenge.
· HE CONCEDED
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don't light the fire."
1 Kings 18:32-35 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, "Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "A second time!" and they did it a second time. And then he said, "A third time!" and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
Elijah gave every advantage to his foes. Vs. 25 – He let them go first and chose the sacrifice. He let them have the better part of the day. He didn’t start his sacrifice until 3:00 in the afternoon. We already said the contest involved their God of fire! Vss. 32-35 – When Elijah offered his sacrifice he had it doused it with water three times!
How do we make concessions? It will seem that God is giving every advantage to our foes sometimes the situations we are asking God to solve get worse before they get better. When this happens it means that God gets even more glory when He answers. And we should not get discouraged.
· HE CRIED
1 Kings 18:36-37 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
36 At the time for offering the [evening] sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back."
In this chapter there are two cases where Elijah cried to God. The first case is in this contest. Vss. 36-37
The second case was after the contest when he went further up the mountain and cast himself on the ground, scrunched himself up on the ground, and prayed for rain.
God wants us to cry to him in prayer! This is when he will demonstrate His power!
Jeremiah 33:3 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) 3 Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and wondrous things you do not know.
1 John 5:14-15 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
14 Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.
Mark 11:22-24 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
22 Jesus replied to them, "Have faith in God. 23 I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore, I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for —believe that you have received them, and you will have them.
God will demonstrate his power if we pray!
· HE CONTINUED
As we’ll see in a minute, God answered the prayer for fire from Heaven immediately with fire from Heaven.
1 Kings 18:44-45 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
44 On the seventh time, he reported, "There's a cloud as small as a man's hand coming from the sea."Then Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Get [your chariot] ready and go down so the rain doesn't stop you.' " 45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in [his chariot] and went to Jezreel.
Vss. 42-44 – When Elijah prayed for rain, he had to keep at until it happened! Some prayers God will answer quickly. Other prayers God will expect you to keep praying until He answers.
We must be stubborn in prayer! Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: [8] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
In the original language it means that we are to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. We are to be persistent in our prayers. Continue until God gives you an answer!
3. MIRACLES
· Vss. 38 – Fire came from Heaven
· Vs. 39 – The people acknowledged the Lord as God. That was the greatest miracle of the four here.
· Vs. 45 –It rained!
· Vs. 46 – Elijah outran Ahab a distance of about 17 miles.
Conclusion
MOTIVES
METHODS
MIRACLES
Categories: Sermon
Tags: situations hope
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