Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-049 (Sermon)

THE KIND OF PRAYER THAT GOD ANSWERS (expository)

by Rod Benson

1 Kings 17:1-24

A couple of years ago, in an article on mobile phones, I read in The Australian Magazine, “The only thing that separates mobile phone users from the certifiably insane is the assumption someone is listening.” Some would say the same about people who pray. But God is listening. He’s never too tired or too busy to listen to our prayers.

Elijah knew this reality. Apart from Moses, Elijah is Israel’s most famous prophet. He is best known for his defeat of hundreds of false prophets on the summit of Mt Carmel (1 Kg 18:16-40), and for his ascent into heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kg 2:1-12).

Elijah lived in the ninth century BC – a period of crisis in the life of the northern kingdom of Israel. King Ahab’s father Omri had sought to amalgamate Israelite religion with the Canaanite religion that flourished in the region.

Ahab carried these policies further, establishing Baal worship in his capital city of Samaria (1 Kg 16:32f). In doing so, Ahab knew he was on to a winner with the people. Baal offered them something tangible to worship.

But of greater concern was the fact that Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility and lord of the vine, and Baalism taught sexual immorality and heavy drinking as religious duties promising better crops and richer harvests. Elijah’s ministry was God’s response to this spiritual and social crisis in Israel’s national life.

MOMENTOUS TIMES

As well as the events mentioned earlier, Elijah is remembered as the chief character involved in four substantial miracles recorded in 1 Kings 17. First, he predicted a three-year drought (v 1; cf 18:2b).

Second, through part of this drought, which resulted in widespread famine, Elijah was fed by ravens with bread and meat, and his thirst was satisfied by a fresh-running creek provided by God (vv 2- 6).

Third, he stayed at a house where a jar of flour and a jug of olive oil never ran out (vv 12-16). Fourth, Elijah is instrumental in rai sing a young man who has died to life (vv 17-24).

How are these narratives an example of the kind of prayer that God answers? There is a deliberate twist to the title of my message: I want to talk about a certain kind of prayer, and a certain kind of pray-er to whom God responds. Elijah demonstrates five principles that will help you pray more effectively.

COMMITMENT

First, Elijah was committed to God (v 1). The man was gifted and courageous: he could have had a far more illustrious career, and less emotional stress, at least from a human point of view, if he had converted to Baalism and joined the crowd.

But Elijah remained absolutely committed to God through thick and thin. He loyally served the God of Israel, and was not afraid to proclaim this publicly, along with the oracles God gave him for Ahab.

There was never a time when Elijah considered converting to pagan faith: he would rather die. His name reflects this strong character trait: it means “The Lord is my God.” Elijah was committed to God.

COMMUNICATION

Second, Elijah was a man who communicated with God (vv 2-4). God spoke to him, and he spoke to God. There was good communication, the kind that enriches and deepens a vital relationship.

When it comes to prayer, and spiritual commitment, this is an important quality. As US theologian Carl Henry has said, “Whoever only speaks of God, but never or seldom to God, easily leases body and soul to idols.”1

Elijah is almost as frequently portrayed praying to God as he is described preaching for God. He was a man of prayer, possibly drawing on an ascetic background.

We know virtually nothing about him, but it is possible that he spent time in the desert alone with God, as Moses and others did. Such people, while they remain close to God, God uses powerfully.

OBEDIENCE

Third, Elijah was obedient to God (vv 2, 5, 8-10). In verse 2 God sends Elijah to a remote place east of the Jordan River. Ironically, in the midst of widespread drought and famine, it is outside the borders of Israel that Elijah’s hunger and thirst are relieved, and his faith sustained.

Miraculously, ravens meet him every morning and every evening, carrying enough bread and meat to satisfy him, and a stream beside his resting place runs with good, drinkable water.

Then the water dries up! And God sends Elijah to an even more ironic place: the village of Zarephath, in Phoenicia – the homeland of Jezebel (King Ahab’s pagan wife), and the centre of Baal worship. Elijah marches alone right into the heart of enemy territory.

A further irony is that God has withdrawn his blessings from Israel because the leaders have devoted themselves and their nation to Baal worship, but God’s blessings are bestowed on this household in Baal’s own land because a poor widow believes his word through the faithful prophet.

Elijah’s obedience to God not only blessed him but transformed that woman’s spiritual and economic life, and restored her son’s physical life.

CONFIDENCE

Fourth, Elijah was confident in God (vv 14-15, 17-19). We know nothing of Elijah’s life before the events of this chapter other than his hometown. But the biblical narratives of Elijah’s life probably occurred in his mature adulthood.

I suspect Elijah had proved God trustworthy and reliable many times before, in events and circumstances unrecorded by Scripture. His faith had been tried and tested, and his confidence in God was deep. He knew experientially that the living God heard and answered his prayers.

PRECISION

Fifth, Elijah was specific in prayer (vv 20-21). We also see this later (18:36-38; 2 Kg 1:10, 12). Here, Elijah observes that the widow’s son has stopped breathing, and recognises something of the personal and economic tragedy that this represents for her. His heart breaks for her; he intercedes in prayer with a specific request, and applies some kind of resuscitation technique, and God responds with a great miracle. The boy lives, his mother is overjoyed, and Elijah’s teaching is confirmed as truthful.

There is a place for general prayer. There is a place for contemplative prayer. There is a place for elaborate prayers of adoration and thanksgiving. But let these not be at the expense of prayers of confession and petition: specific and precise. God does not delight in our verbiage but in our service.

VITAL AND EFFECTIVE PRAYER

A city man once bought a dairy farm, and not long after he walked into the general store, complaining that his best cow had gone dry.

“Aren’t you feeding her right?” the store owner asked.

“No, I’m doing it by the book,” he replied.

“Are you milking her every day?” queried the proprietor.

“Just about,” he answered. “If I need a litre of milk, I go out and get it. If I don’t need any, I let her save it up.” The store owner explained that it doesn’t work like that: you take all that’s there, or you eventually have nothing.

The practice of prayer is similar: God counsels his children to engage in constant and habitual and specific prayer, so that when a crisis hits, we can be on our knees interceding for those in need, communicating with one to whom we are known intimately, and in whom we have every confidence.

Practise these five principles for prayer and you will begin to pray more effectively, and with greater vitality. The final word on Elijah’s amazing ministry is given in the New Testament, in James 5:17-18:

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops.

If a man just like you exercised a ministry of powerful, prevailing prayer, you can too. An authentic life, commitment to God, experience of God in your life, and a deep love for truth and for people are what it takes.

God needs such people today more than ever. I pray that more men and women like Elijah will respond to the challenges of our time and, like Elijah, serve God without reservation, and cry out to God on their knees in prayer. And God will surely hear and answer.

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E018 Copyright (c) 2001 Rod Benson. <> All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

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