God Hears Us 2

1 Kings 18:36-38

The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal continues with Elijah’s opportunity to demonstrate God’s power. The prophets of Baal had failed to get any response from their false god, so Elijah had the people repair the altar to the Lord. He assembled a stone altar and dug a trench around it. On the altar he arranged wood and the sacrificed bull.

But he didn’t stop there. He had the people fill four large jars with water and pour the water on the altar. Then he had them repeat this three more times, dumping so much water that the altar and sacrifice was drenched and even the trench was filled with water.

What did Elijah do? What does he request? Why does he ask for this? What is the response from God?

It wasn’t enough that Elijah had an altar with a sacrifice on it. He added to the challenge by having a huge amount of water dumped on the altar. And yet, God heard Elijah’s prayer and responded. Fire came down from heaven and consumed not just the wood and the flesh, but the stones, the dirt, and even the water. God had demonstrated His authority and His very existence in a powerful way.

Elijah proved to the people and the prophets of Baal that the Lord hears us when we pray. God exists, and He is attentive to us in our times of trials.

What we see in this story is not just the contrast between a deity that is real and one that is not. We see a contrast in the behavior and attitude of the believers.

The prophets of Baal made a desperate and showy attempt to get a result. Elijah, on the other hand, came to the Lord humbly in his prayer. He also offered up his prayers not just for himself but for the benefit of others.

We don’t need to work to make the troubles in life heap up higher and higher. But we can take comfort in knowing that no matter how much our problems increase, God hears us in our prayers and can consume all the trials we face.

If we desire God to hear us we much approach Him in humility. We must ask God to help us, not with the desire that we benefit, but that His kingdom is glorified.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is your attitude when praying to God?