Mensa Otabil - The Heavens are Opened
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Welcome to day number 13 of our 40 days of power. First Kings chapter 18, verses 44 and 45. Then 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. To 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 he had power, or God had power over the rain. He could stop it, and he could 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 and defeated the priests of Baal. From then on, Elijah started praying for rain because now the priests of Baal had been defeated. Israel knew that Jehovah God is the God to be worshiped. 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, turn on the forces, so to speak, because for over three years there had been no rain. He went to the top of this same mountain, Mount Carmel, and he prayed.
And if you read 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 the same mountain 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 when he was praying. He bowed to the ground. That’s a position of humility -authority and humility going together. Elijah submitted to the Lord and to the power of God. He acknowledged that whatever was about to happen was not his power; it was the power of God. Because sometimes, when people stand in spiritual authority, they tend to think it’s their power. It’s not your power. It’s not your power. It’s the power of God. Jesus makes it possible. And 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 had said one time to let there be no rain, but for the rain, he prayed seven times. That shows you that sometimes you pray for things 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 you pray several times before it happens, you just stay in faith. You don’t give up faith. So Elijah was tenacious. His face was between his knees. In other words, I’m not rising from this place until I get an answer. That should be our posture in prayer.
We must stand in authority. We must stand in humility, submitting to the Lord, but we must be tenacious in our prayer. We must be persistent in our prayer. We must prevail in prayer. After he prayed, his servant 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 a 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.