Sermon nuggets Week of March 1 1 Kings 18:40-46
Sermon Nuggets Mon March 1 –
Theme- Prayer
Verses 1 Kings 18:40-46
Prayer
One minister who came to a country pastorate from the city was approached by farmers asking him to pray for rain. They held a church meeting and insisted he pray. That night it rained and hailed, and blew down trees, and caused more crop damage than before. The next Sunday one elderly lady commented that it serves them right. That’s what they get for asking a preacher to pray who is not accustomed with agriculture.
I think more often than not we have agriculturalists not accustomed to prayer. Or any field for that matter. Pray is a topic that is like maturity- we never arrive just grow in our understanding by experience. The more we pray and desire to know God and commune with Him the more we understand about prayer. It is a heart relationship that falls more in love, more in fear, more in need, more in devotion as we engage more.
The passage this week deals with one who is acquainted with agriculture but more than that, he is acquainted with God who keeps His promises. Elijah was told to go to the King Ahab and pronounce the warning that it would not rain until Elijah would pray for rain.
Now 3 ½ years passed as judgment on the nation of Israel for their idolatry. God would have no other gods before Him. They were not to worship idols. There was only one God and none like Him. He was going to show them His power again.
We talked last week about the tremendous contest between the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah verses one lone prophet of Jehovah. “The Lord he is God and there is no other” was the theme of the contest. Elijah asked for fire to come down from heaven to consume the sacrifice and it came thundering down in power. The people in fear fell on their faces and cried, “The Lord, he is God, the Lord, He is God.”
What do you think of a man like Elijah that has such power in his prayers? We recognize that he does not have the power, but the power comes from the Lord. He has the ear of the Lord, however. God heard his prayers. When He prayed about the weather it didn’t rain for 3 ½ years. When he prayed about a boy coming to life again, God answered. He prayed for the fire to descend from above and it came as prove of Gods’ power. Now he prays for rain. The storm clouds start to form.
We remind ourselves again what James 5:17-18 says, “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.”
The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective. We will continue to learn more about prayer by the example of Elijah’s praying for rain. It begins with God, then continues to evaluate our own hearts and life. Could it be said of you and me, “that is a righteous person?” What is it that stands out in such a man or woman?
Pastor Dale
Sermon nuggets Tues- March 2, 2010
Verses- I Kings18:39-46 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-- he is God! The LORD-- he is God!
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
"41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. (NIV)
The Preparation
We have talked before why some prayers so unanswered. Although we need to understand by God’s sovereignty He does what He wills. So part of pray is the preparation of our own hearts to receive His truth, love and understand more fully to the best of our abilities His purposes. God delights in His glory more than in our temporary comfort.
I believe powerful prayer must have a preparation of the heart. We realize that Elijah was spending those 3 years hiding really in preparation for the conflict on the Mount Carmel. He had to learn to trust God completely in normal experience of life and in supernatural experience. He needed to learn and act on the knowledge that God is faithful as he was obedient. The heart that obedient is open to the will of God. Such a person more readily finds power and peace that allows them to face even the most difficult of circumstances. As we have been studying Elijah went through the experience of the ravens and the brook as a means of getting his daily food supplied. He found the faithfulness of God through the generosity of a poor widow and son and saw how God provided flour and oil, just a little bit day by day. He knew the reassurance of the Almighty when he prayed and the widow’s son came back to life. He proved the power of prayer as the fire consumed and devoured the bull, the wood, the water, the stones. But the promise of rain didn’t come until after the sacrifice. Until the sin was paid, until it was first acknowledged, and then confessed by the people there was no power.
I am aware how God is ready to forgive, but obstructed by our lack of desire to be forgiven. He desires to free us, but we love our sin too much. There is more involved that just admitted we fall short of God’s glory, it comes with a desire to change and draw upon His strength to do so. Learning to obey without a reason will help him to trust God later when the Holy Spirit directs him to do things he cannot understand. When the people so acknowledged the Lord as God they gave up their idol worship. They didn’t just add Him to their life and continue in their former ways.
The false prophets were put to death according to the law in the theocracy of Israel.
Deut 17:2-5 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.”
Preparation to prayer is not only the sacrifice for sin, but the confession of sin and the repentance of sin. Turn from it. Purge it from your life. The prophets of Baal must be slain as a punishment of God for their apostasy and for turning the people away into that pagan worship. So likewise, the NT tells us having nothing to do with fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery , enmity, strife, jealousy, wrath, factions, division, heresies, envying, drunkenness, raveling and the like.
Prov 28:9 “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the Law even his prayers are detestable.” Does that verse surprise you? We like to think on the popular song, “God hears everything prayer.” Yes, he knows all things, but he doesn’t “listen”. Ps 66:18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart the Lord would not have listened.”
The wonderful news of grace is God is like the father of the prodigal son, watching, waiting and running toward us when we come to Him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds March 3, 2010
Verses- I King 18:42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees
Posture
When I was a child in Sunday school we were taught to pray by closing our eyes and folding our hands.
Before I went to bed it was the custom to say evening prayers by additionally kneeling beside the bed with closed hands. My mother would tell me that we close our eyes so we would not be distracted by looking at things around the house. We were told to fold our hands so we would play with things or do other activities while prayer was going on. The reason for kneeling was to develop a sense of humility before God Sometimes in the evening when my dad had devotions we would go into the living room, listen to him read the Bible and kneel at our furniture with eyes closed. I peeked only to see my brother with his eyes wide open playing with someone. Being a typical younger sibling I would stop whatever conversation mom or dad had going with God to bring out the unrighteous character of my brother by yelling, “Roger has his eyes open and is playing.” Thinking I had accomplished some good deed similar to the arrest of the bad guys on the Lone Ranger, I was also rebuked for having my eyes opened to see his eyes open. I tried to justify my actions by the amount of time each had his eyes open because I wasn’t as bad as he was.
The posture of our bodies became more important that talking with God. Although there may be good reasons to close eyes, the position of prayer does not refer the posture of our bodies when we pray. It is humbling to get on our knees before God but far more is the attitude.
Theodore Roosevelt said, “A man is always taller when he is on his knees”. The point of course is that the wisdom of man is greatest when he realizes God the source of all wisdom. We sense our need when we humble ourselves.
The custom of praying in my youth was also punctuated with King James version language including the Thees and Thous. Many didn’t pray because they couldn’t get that formal phraseology down. But in Matthew 6 Jesus talks about the pride of the Pharisees that dressed a certain way, used certain phrases and would compare themselves with the among of words they used. They were not praying. “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” is one of the shortest and most profound prayers in the Bible. Real prayer isn’t the words that we say as the heart and the attitude that we have in our conversations with God. God is looking at our heart, our honesty before Him and the humbleness of our souls.
When Elijah observed the fire burning the sacrifice the people fell on their faces before a Holy God. When we see Christ on the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords every knee shall bow and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord. This posture is one of humility and homage before an Almighty and Righteous God.
Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman once wrote to a friend, telling of Praying Hyde's influence on him. He had been holding meetings in England, but the attendance had been disappointingly small. Then he received word that Praying Hyde was going to pray down God's blessing upon him and his work. As a result of Hyde's powerful praying, the tide soon turned and the meeting hall became packed with people. At Chapman's first public invitation, fifty men received Christ as their Savior.
Chapman said: “As we were leaving I said, ‘Mr. Hyde, I want you to pray for me.’ He came to my room, turned the key in the door, and dropped to his knees, and waited five minutes without a single syllable coming from him lips. I could hear my own heart thumping, and his beating. I felt hot tears running down my face. I knew I was with God. Then with upturned face, down which the tears were streaming, he said, "O God." Then for five minutes at least he was still again; and then, when he knew that he was talking with God, there came from the depths of his heart such petitions for me as I had never heard before. I rose from my knees to know what real prayer was."
Elijah bowed and knelt, and with a humble heart and face not worthy to look upon the power of God, got into the right posture- one of humility and expectation of his heart.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thur March 4, 2010
Verses- I King 18:42-44
42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"
Perseverance
Friendships develop with time. The more time you spend with someone the better you know them. It is the same with the Lord. The more time you spend with the Lord in prayer and His word the closer you become in your love. I read a slogan “If God seems far away, who moved?”.
In our study on Elijah we have seen he was a man of prayer. He prayed on three occasions before the Lord brought the son back to life again. In this passage we read he prayed and then sent the messenger servant out to see if he could see any signs of rain. When he returned and there was no change in the sky. I think it is implied that Elijah prayed again and send the messenger out again. He kept this up 7 times until he saw the answer to the prayer.
There may be things in that story that I do not understanding. I know that 7 is a perfect number in the Bible, Maybe that has some significance. But what I do understand is that Elijah was persistent. He didn’t pray and sit back and said, “O why didn’t the Lord answer? I guess it didn’t work.”
Don’t give up in your praying when you know you are praying according the will of the Lord. Keep on keeping on.
We are such an impatient people. Yet time means little to the Lord, for whom one day is as a 1,000 years and a 1,000 years as a day. We have a God who is eternal and our standards are set to the minute. His timing is right and good. We need to be patient and persistent. Daniel followed the practice of faithful praying to the Lord 3 times a day- morning, noon, and night by his window. Then of course, small prayers are uttered during the day.
Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. How does one become versed in that? All around us is the answer.
A musician learns from a master and spend hours practicing and perfecting his skill. An art student studies under a great artist and tries and tries again copying his methods until he branches out on his own new discoveries. An athlete, like in the Olympics, has a coach who instructs and sees ways to improve his or her performance. They practice and persist.
We begin to learn about prayer from others also. As we grow from simple childhood prayers we see something in the depth of love from men and women who pray fervently.
It is told of George Mueller about a man who came to him and said, “I was an intensely worldly man, yet I never found satisfaction. When my father passed away, who was a delightful Christian, I looked over his papers and saw he had given large sums of money to Mueller’s orphanages. I said, “I am sure my father would like me to help that work.
I went there while a revival was being held for boys and girls so I listened to the message. God saved me.
Mueller responded, “I am not surprised for at this home for 38 years your father and I never ceased to pray for you.”
By the authority of Scriptures, as a child of God and in faith keep praying. Be persistent. Persevere. And then let God be God and marvel in what He chooses to do.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri March 5, 2010
Verses- I Kings 18:42-46 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.o and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.
The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Power
Elijah was interceding for the nation of Israel. He wasn’t asking personally for a bigger, better house, or fancy clothes, or annual income because he’s been good. He is praying for rain so people will know that he is the servant to Almighty God. The sound of rain was salvation to them. As sign of the grace of God and of spiritual blessing, the servant looks up and reports that the cloud is developing. The blackness is coming. The people needed the rain to save their crops and lives. Literally hundreds and thousands have died and hundreds and thousands more were about to. They needed water and the grace of God is seen even in the formations of clouds in the heavens. Elijah knows it is time and with the supernatural power begins his run.
Isa 55:10-12 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
The water that is purifying refreshes vitalizes, and sets forth energy. The renewal and restoration reminds us that God is still on his throne and we are his people. Revival comes.
Notice the concluding verse of this chapter. “The power of the Lord came upon Elijah and tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.” That is a 17 mile distance. I wish I knew how old he was then, but the power of God and Spirit of God within him gave him further strength to run and run and run ahead of Ahab for all that distanced, as the skies blackened with the promises of God.
While sitting at Bethel Seminary coffee chop one day a pastor was talking to a student who attended his church. The student was bemoaning various things going wrong in his life and didn’t feel God was answering his prayers. The response of the pastor surprised him and me too. “What have you done for the Lord to receive any of His blessings? Why in the world should he give you the answer to your prayers?”
The expression the students face changed and said “I haven’t done anything for God recently”, and he was silent.
Grace is receiving undeserved gifts, but too often we think the power from God is a right we all should have and deserve. None one of our prayers deserves to be answered. All of us want rain for our crops. We want blessing in our lives. We think sometimes flippantly that we just sent in our request and if there aren’t too many ahead of us we will get an answer.
“God is in his Holy Temple let all the earth keep silence before him” He wants our worship and our availability. He found one who was willing to obey and follow him even if it meant death. That one was willing to sacrifice and give himself that the blessings and power from God might again fall on the nation for no goodness or reasons of his own.
Why do you and I receive blessing so undeserved? It is because of a servant named Jesus Christ who was not concerned about his own desires, but willing to pray and to put himself as our sacrifice and to die unjustly and to rise up again to reign with the father and to continue to pray on our behalf. May we as Christians never take the privilege of prayer lightly.
Pastor Dale
