Delayed gratification
This struggle is present in every aspect of our lives
- Money
- Dating
- Diet
- With Kids
Delayed gratification has a second step
- The compound effect
- Small increments applied over time leading to a big result
Today we are going to learn how this applies to prayer
1 Kings 18
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up 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. 46 The power of the Lord was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Sum up the story – How did we get here:
Israelite King named Ahab had married a woman named Jezebel
She introduced and pushed worship of a pagan god named Ba’al.
- Ba’al was the God of rain and harvest.
- Many Israelite people had begun to worship this pagan God
God has a prophet in the land named Elijah
God told Elijah to proclaim that there would be NO RAIN
There there was no rain
God went to the heart of the people’s false worship
He does the same for us
We put idols in our life all the time
Fast forward – 3 years later – The famine was INTENSE
Elijah challenges Ahab and his prophets of Ba’al to a contest
Whichever God answered the prayers of his prophets would be the true God of Israel
Team Ba’al goes first
They pray, shout, dance, etc… for hours
Elijah even taunts them (maybe his is in the bathroom)
Finally Elijah’s turn
Before he prays, he builds an altar
digs a ditch around it
The drenches it with water. filled up the ditch
Then he prays…
1 Kings 18
36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the 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, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”
Let’s talk about droughts for a second
They are seasons of lack
Have you ever had a season for drought in your prayers?
In that season, you want God to answer the pray like he just did for Elijah
To show up in spectacular fashion
This is how most of us want God to show up anytime we pray
Especially when it is something very important to us
For our health
For our Marriage
Kids
Finances
We read stories like this in the bible that seems to justify this idea, that if God is going to answer us, it is going to be big, or at least we hope so
Back to Elijah:
Elijah’s God won the battle
But this isn’t just about the sacrifice, it’s about the drought
Which God is TRULY over the rain. TRULY over creation
Elijah tells Ahab to go and get something to eat because…
THERE IS THE SOUND OF A RAINSTORM
1 Kings 18
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Wait… Nothing?
But I prayed the same prayer that I did last time
This nothing can change everything
It has changed everything for some of you
You asked God for something…. And all you heard was nothing
How can my prayers make a difference when all I get from God is NOTHING!!?
What do you do when you get nothing?
1 Kings 18
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
<Possible Illustration>
Someone from crowd walking to back of the room
Here is the secret to PRAYER THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Keep going back
Even when you are tired
Even when it doesn’t look like something is happening
Even when others are telling you bad news
I wonder if Elijah didn’t go because he knew he needed to be in a place of prayer
Others wont always see when God is birthing in you though prayer
Don’t get discourage when they bring back news that nothing is happening
44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.” Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’”
Do you remember that Nothing from earlier?
What seemed like nothing was actually God working
- Building the cloud
- Causing the water to condensate and collect for the purpose of Answering Elijah’s prayer
What seemed like nothing, was really a big something
Don’t discount small beginnings
It is easy in our lives to judge someone else’s fire from heaven to our “cloud the size of a man’s hand”
Social media
hearing their stories
Some of God’s biggest miracles start with someone small and insignificant
A baby in a manger
3 loaves and 2 fish
12 ordinary people
Don’t despise or get disappointed with the small beginning – Celebrate them
Let them be seeds of faith planted in your heart.
What do we take from all of this?
1. There is no one way God answers prayers
- Why doesn’t he always answer as he did with the fire?
- Because it wouldn’t take any faith. It wouldn’t mature us
“Without God, we cannot, and without us, He will not.” ~ Augustine
2. If God always answered us as he did with the fire, then we would think that we didn’t’ really need him
- God is not a “call a miracle” service
- The more we are in his presence, the more we are changed for the better
If you are praying about something God has placed in you, don’t stop till you see it
- You may be praying g for something big like rain in a drought, and God may bring it about like the fire, but it may also be like a cloud on the horizon
- Doing quit. Go back for a second, 3rd, 4th time…