Are we the prophets of Baal?

“Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!”  they shouted.  But there was no response; no one answered.  And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them.  “Shout louder!” he said.  “Surely he is a god!  Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling.  Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”  So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.  Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.  But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”  1 Kings 18:26-29

When the thought ran through my head that President Trump might lose, this section of Scripture came to mind.

Many believers are convinced that God wouldn’t allow Trump to lose.

They’ve prayed.  They’ve donated.  They’ve assured themselves that God is on their side.  He’ll make a Trump win possible……and it may yet happen.

But if it doesn’t.  What then?

Is it inconceivable that the godless will become the “Elijah’s” of the Scripture above?

Would it be surprising if they taunted believers?

“Maybe you didn’t pray enough.”

“Maybe God was out of town and missed your request.”

“Maybe He was tired.”

“Maybe the god you think exists, doesn’t exist.”

It could be tough to listen to.

Will we respond angrily?

God is all-powerful.  We know that He can turn an election one way or another.

It is not our task to tell God what He should or should not do.  Our task is to align ourselves so closely to Him that we will do/say what He wants in all circumstances.

The name of the President shouldn’t change our relationship to God.  God knows his name and will use him, as He did Pharaoh & Nebuchadnezzar, any way He chooses.

We must seek God’s will and follow it.  He is capable of handling the details beyond that.

 

Does your prayer life have life?

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being, even as we are.  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.”  James 5:16-18.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Kings 18-19, 2 Chronicles 32, and James 5.

James makes a statement and then provides a confirming story.

God knows all about us.  He knows where we’re coming from when we pray.

If I am carrying known sin, then I have some broken relationships to deal with.  The people involved and God must be dealt with first before praying.

Once I’m clean my prayers are at the best level.  This does NOT mean that I’ll now get anything I ask for.  God will always be the final judge.  Answered prayers are the ones I offer that are in synch with His will.

I am now flashing back to a prayer that God was pleased with.  It was Solomon’s after God told him to ask for whatever he wanted.  This was Solomon’s request: “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”  –  1 Kings 3:9.

How do I know that God was pleased with that prayer?  1 Kings 3:10.  Check it out for yourself.

I have thought often of how I could offer a prayer similar to Solomon’s.  What I’ve come up with goes something like this: “Lord, give me, your servant, a discerning heart so that I can manage my life in a way that pleases You.  Enable me to get right and wrong right as I go through today.”

Elijah proved to be a great prayer role model.  There is nothing beyond God’s reach.  No person He can’t overtake.  No situation He can’t change.  Elijah prayed with conviction.  Will you and I?

“Father, You are above all.  Forgive me for minimizing Your influence.  You are a great God.  Cleanse me of sin so that my prayers will increase in effectiveness.  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.”

How could your prayer life improve?  I think we need to start with where we are in our relationship to God and others.

+11 Sliding north

Will you do what God wants?

“So he did what the Lord had told him.”  1 Kings 17:5.

“She went away and did as Elijah had told her.” 1 Kings 17:15.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 17-19, and Colossians 2.

Obedience.

Obedience can be easy.  It can be difficult.

By any standards, the obedience displayed in today’s two selected verses was very difficult.

In the first, Elijah agrees to go into hiding and have food delivered by ravens.

In the second, a widow, at the end of her food supplies, agrees to give a quantity of what she had left to a stranger named Elijah.

I think it is safe to say that God’s ways do not always make sense to us.  And that is the way it should be because we have almost no vision of the Big Picture.

How desperate do we have to be to believe in God?  We face trouble and instantly we call out to Him for help.

In both cases, in today’s verses, those involved are desperate.  Elijah is accused of starting the severe drought that is going on.  The widow, on the other hand, is down to the end of her food supply.

I cannot ever choose to be out of touch with God.  He needs to be in my heart/head in all of life’s situations.

The ways in which the desperate twosome were taken care of was truly amazing.  Trying to imagine birds supplying food to a human on a regular basis or food/oil being replenished without shopping for it is not easy.  God is the Master of the inconceivable!

He is worthy of my complete trust.

“Lord, thank You for today’s remarkable stories.  You are amazing.  Forgive me for ever being self-sufficient in my thinking and actions.  Forgive me for ever putting my trust in other gods including myself. I must know better.  Guide me, Father.  Thank You for the new life You gave me.  Help me to live accordingly.”

Are you really willing to do whatever God wants you to do?  See how Elijah handled the hard-to-figure requests he received.

+9 stuck

 

 

Maybe your god is on vacation

“’Shout louder!’ he said. ‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’” 1 Kings 18:27

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – 1 Kings 17-19 & Colossians 2)

Didn’t Elijah have fun!

He absolutely ridicules the prophets of Baal. You couldn’t mock them any worse than he did.

But here we are these days strongly attached to gods other than God. We cling to them and expect them to function as a real God. But they can’t and if only someone would mock them, as Elijah did, maybe we would see them for what they really are.

Where is my trust? When the going gets tough, where am I going?

I need to completely depend on God in all situations. He is the God over everything. He wants me to love Him enough to trust Him with all my life.

There should not be some sort of line that I cross in which now I will bring God into something. He needs to be with me full-time. Will I totally commit to Him?

I believe that God is well aware of my part-time allegiance to Him. He knows when I choose to go it alone. When my confidence is in me……..not Him. Why would I ever knowingly put myself in that position?

“Lord, You are my one and only God. All the counterfeit gods that I give footholds to need to be mocked out of existence. They need to be consumed as the sacrifices on Elijah’s altar were. Open my eyes and ears to You and You only. I love You, Father.”