Mensa Otabil - Proclaim Open Heavens (10/04/2025)
Welcome to day number 13 of our 40 days of power. Day by day, moment by moment, we’re making progress. Strength is being built. Strength is being renewed. This week, as you know, we are talking about taking authority, and we’re focusing on the Christian’s authority in Christ Jesus. We started talking about Elijah shutting the rain yesterday, and now we talk about Elijah today as well.
In First Kings, chapter 18, verses 44 and 45, it came to pass the seventh time that he said, «There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising out of the sea.» So he said, «Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'» Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.
So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Elijah had the power of God with him, and the power of God manifested in a very powerful way when he stopped the rain for over three years and then brought in the rain. That dare to speak the word of God to stop the rain was a direct confrontation against the gods that the Israelites had chosen to worship outside of Jehovah God. They were worshiping Baal, the god of rain and storm, and Elijah demonstrated that God had power over the rain. He can stop it, and He can release it.
So, before Elijah prayed for the rain to come, he had to deal with the source of the problem: Israel’s false worship. He called the priests of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel, and there, God showed Himself powerful, defeating the priests of Baal. From then on, Elijah started praying for rain because the priests of Baal had been defeated, and Israel knew that Jehovah God is the God to be worshipped. They proclaimed, «The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!» They bowed to the Lord.
So, Elijah now had to turn on the tap, so to speak, because there had been no rain for over three years. He went to the top of the same mountain, Mount Carmel, and he prayed. If you read the earlier verses, his prayer is very instructive. First, he went to the top of the mountain, which signifies the position of spiritual authority. Elijah stood on the same mountain where God had answered by fire and where the prophets of Baal had been defeated. When we start praying, we stand in the place of authority in God’s power and the victory that we have in Christ Jesus.
Secondly, he bowed to the ground while he was praying. That is a position of humility. Authority and humility go together. Elijah submitted to the Lord and to the power of God, acknowledging that whatever was about to happen was not his power. It was the power of God. Sometimes, when people stand in spiritual authority, they tend to think it is their power, but it’s not your power; it’s the power of God. Jesus makes it possible.
Thirdly, when he was praying, he put his face between his knees. That is a place of spiritual tenacity. Elijah was determined to stay before the Lord until rain came. If you look at the passage, he prayed seven times for rain. He said one time, «Let there be no rain,» but he prayed for rain seven times. This shows that sometimes you pray once and it happens, and then there are things you pray for many times before they happen. Whether you pray once and it happens or pray several times before it happens, you just stay in faith; you don’t give up.
Elijah was tenacious; his face was between his knees. In other words, he was saying, «I’m not rising from this place until I get an answer.» That should be our posture in prayer. We must stand in authority, in humility, submitting to the Lord, but we must also be tenacious in our prayer. We must be persistent in our prayer, and we must prevail in prayer.
After he prayed, his seventh time, he said, «I see the sign that something is coming,» and pretty soon, the rain that had been withheld came down. Elijah showed that God has more power over the one who claims to be the god of rain because God can shut the rain and God can open the rain. May the Lord answer you as He answered Elijah. May He answer you by fire, may He show His power in your life, and may the heavens be opened over your life.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are the God who answers by fire. Open the heavens over my life, and let Your rain fall on me. In Jesus' name, Amen.»
I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.