November 19, 2023 - Prayer As A Means
Notes
Transcript
There have been several occasions over the years where we’ve - DOVE DEEPLY into - Prayer.
Today we come to a man of God - that I’m sure we’ve all heard of...
Elijah
As is with most all of the prophets in Scripture…little to nothing is known of Elijah’s former life...
Prior to his prophetic activities....
But today - we’ll see the first of I think - a 3 week MINI-SERIES on the man - Elijah
As you can see by the title - today - Elijah - was a man of - PRAYER.
Today we’ll be in chapter 17 of 1 Kings -
Instead of reading the entire chapter to start - Let’s hit the text AS WE GO…and pull what we can from it.
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
We stop here - because there is actually a powerful truth within this text.
Here we see Elijah… a prophet of God...
Come and speak to Ahab...
NOW - who is Ahab?
It’s gonna help us to KNOW who Ahab is.
Let’s go back a bit in this book to find out...
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
Ok, so Ahab was a King of Israel..
NOW - anything else we can find about him?
next 2 verses...
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.
It says - Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord, MORE THAN ALL who were before him.
Ahab was the Worst of the Worst!!
AND YET - what did Elijah do?
He came and SPOKE God’s wisdom - TO him.
Elijah - was constantly in communion with God…And because of that, we should know this...
SLIDE: Prayer: Connects Us to God’s Posture in the World
Prayer
Prayer
if you had to describe God’s POSTURE - in the world...
What would you say?
Is He like - Superman?
Flexing everywhere?
Or is He more like - Clark Kent?
Unassuming… shy?
How does the Bible describe Him?
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
A short verse, but you can HEAR the authority in this verse!
God does ALL that He pleases!
Ultimate authority belongs to Him!
And a PART of that authority includes Him accomplishing His purposes in the world!
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
And this includes those in authority in our world… at EVERY point in history...
21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
Kings...
Presidents… REIGN - because God determined that they would reign!
NOTHING falls outside of God’s control...
Which MEANS - in relation to our text today...
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
King Ahab - was a bad dude!
AND YET - Elijah - through a constant prayer life...
was CONNECTED to God’s posture in the world!
Would Jesus have been intimidated by King Ahab?
That’s laughable right?
a BAND of Roman soldiers come to take Jesus (arrest him)...
What happened?
3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”
A BAND of soldiers - would have been 300-600 soldiers.
And Jesus = STEPS FORWARD…and says “I am He”
They ALL hit the ground!!
Intimidated? - No - the opposite!
Through his prayer life with God - Elijah HAD THIS posture!
Coming to King Ahab - and speaking God’s truth to him!
It’s knowing that God REIGNS over ALL people...
even kings...
even those in authority
And ALL people - even now - fall under God’s RULE!
And it’s the same POSTURE we saw with others in Scripture…with the apostles!
Moses and Pharaoh
David and Goliath
Daniel and King Darius
Elijah and Ahab
Paul and Judaizers
We see this posture in ALL of these men...
KNOWING that they STAND on the authority of God/Christ!
And PRAYER is a means by which we can BE ASSURED of that authority...
Listen to the apostle Paul = from prison...
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Can you HEAR the posture of Paul here?
Prayer is used by God - as a MEANS to connect us to His posture in the WORLD!
But that’s not all...
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
2 And the word of the Lord came to him:
3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Pretty crazy no?
God here - telling Elijah - to head into the elements…OUTSIDE..
And EXPECT the ravens to feed you.
SLIDE: Prayer: Connects us to God’s Providence
Prayer
Prayer
Now -
- What is Providence?
PROVIDENCE is the “protective care of God in His dealings with man”
What do we see here with Elijah?
God tells him to GO - to LEAVE where he was…and...
4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
God here - IN HIS AUTHORITY - commands the birds to FEED Elijah...
And so they do!
But it’s in this LIFESTYLE of prayer - that Elijah is connected with God’s providence!
Think of how many people walk through their lives - NEVER communicating with God...
NEVER seeking God’s will...
Prayer is a means by which God will GUIDE us...
NOW _ we often think of prayer as only a 1-way street - US speaking to God...
But how often have you realized that it was when you began SPEAKING to God - that He actually spoke back?
Not audibly...
But Spiritually…?
As i mentioned last week - Sitting at planet fitness..
Speaking to God about life -
And He responded - in a big way.
And i felt in that moment - His providence over me.
His care for me.
And it made realize that all my PRAYERS BEFORE that day… regarding this...
Were answered by Him - “Wait. Not yet”
For whatever reason - I’ll probably never know - Prior to that day - I wasn’t ready for what He gave to me that day at Planet Fitness.
Elijah here - was connected to God’s providence...
And it was in a VERY miraculous way!
BIRDS were feeding him…keeping him alive.
And as we keep reading in the text - we realize that God was preparing Elijah for something!
Through THESE prayers - this communication with God - Elijah was able to EXPERIENCE this - Unbelievable providence....
And it paved the way for THE NEXT step!
It BUILT up trust IN Elijah - FOR God...
Would it have been easy to TRUST God through this phase?
When your meals were being PROVIDED by the Ravens...
Would that have been easy…?
Probably not…?
BUT - We should know this...
SLIDE:
Our present troubles can become our future strength
And this is TRUE - we’ll be able to BETTER see this - If we are constantly communicating with God.
If God would PROVIDE for Elijah - by using BIRDS...
He surely could do what happens next...
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him,
9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
First it was God having the BIRDS provide for Elijah...
NOW - He has a widow PROVIDE for him.
What I want us to focus in on here though - is this...
SLIDE: Prayer: Connects Us to God’s Preparation
Prayer
Prayer
The implication here is that if we’re living out a lifestyle of PRAYER...
We - will be MORE apt to keep step with the Spirit...
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
How does the Holy Spirit correlate with our prayer life?
In Romans chapter 7 - Paul explains to us the TENSION of the Christian life...
That while SAVED… Christians will still experience the TUG of SIN on our lives...
Paul says - I do the very things I hate!
He then gets into chapter 8 - where he talks about life in the Spirit!
So that in the MIDST of the TENSION of the Christian life...
Paul says this...
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
A lifestyle of Prayer will keep us more closely tied to the Will of God for our lives...
AND IN DOING SO -
More closely tied to - God’s Preparation! His work in the world.
Back to our text...
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
So Elijah finds the widow...
And asks her to feed him
Listen to what she says in response...
12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
She says - As the Lord - YOUR God...
Your God… not - MY God...
Your God.
This woman was a Gentile… And she spoke that way...
She wasn’t a JEW - YET - what happens?
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
What do we see here?
We see - a Gentile - show a great amount of faith in what she was being told.
REMEMBER - this food she’s making = is assumed by HER - to be her last meal.
Remember what Elijah had said to AHAB...
There was going to be a famine...
And so everyone was - FEELING the effects of that famine.
So this woman thought this would be her last meal - YET - Elijah tells her of God’s promise to her!
[read v14]
DO THIS - and your food supplies will not run out!
What does she do?
15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.
16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Not surprising - God’s promise came to pass!
God REWARDED her faith - YET - He was preparing her for something else...
AND - using Elijah to do it.
But this is how God WORKS!!
He uses US - believers - AS HIS INSTRUMENTS...
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
You can HEAR all of the INSTRUMENTS here...
Those who send...
Those who go
Those who Preach
ALL USED by God - to spread the message of the Gospel - the message of Christ.
And if I want to be a PART of God’s preparation in the world...
Then that’s going to REQUIRE a PRAYER LIFE!
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
To be steadfast in prayer - is to stay in TUNE to what God is doing in and around you.
And so PRAYER is a means to stay connected to God’s preparation around us… in this world!
But that’s not all!
Elijah had come to the widow and she had prepared a meal for him - in faith...
And God rewarded her - with CONTINUED food
Now...
Back to our text..the story continues.
17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”
Ok, so what happens?
The son of this WIDOW - gets sick - and dies!
She then BLAMES Elijah...
AND blames God for his passing.
So clearly - this is a very HARD situation!
A very TRYING situation… that Elijah finds himself in.
But what’s been our theme today?
PRAYER…let’s see what happens...
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.
20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?”
21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”
What does Elijah do here?
He goes to GOD!
And here’s the thing - - DO WE BLAME HIM?
What had God DONE up to this point…FOR Elijah??
At first - God had the birds FEED him!
He then tells Elijah that a WIDOW - in the midst of a famine that clearly impacted more than just Israel…would feed him.
Elijah was a MAN of GOD!
His name means - Yahweh is my God
And his purpose in life - was to PROCLAIM the message of God...
SO THAT OTHERS would come to say - Yahweh is my God!
But it wasn’t looking good at this point...
The kid had died...
And Elijah prays to the Lord!
What happens?
22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
What we see here is this...
SLIDE: Prayer: Connects Us to God’s Power
Prayer
Prayer
If we think about this, we’re called to operate in PRAYER - in a certain way...
What way?
17 pray without ceasing,
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
We’re called to ALWAYS be in prayer...
ALWAYS communing with God...
Think about this story we’ve walked thru today - WITHOUT prayer.
If Elijah would NOT have been in communion with God...
SEEKING God’s will...
Would he have ever come to this Widow?
NO -
Would he had been there to SAVE the boy?
NO!
Would the Widow have EVER said this?
24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
This Widow went from saying - YOUR God...
to - THE Lord!
AND declaring that this God - is TRUE!!
HOW??
(1) - thru Elijah’s prayers and obedience
(2) - Ultimately - through the POWER of God
Without prayer - Elijah would have never been READY to go!
But he WAS READY!
He was in CONSTANT communication with God...
Constantly SEEKING the will of God!
And because he was RESOLUTE in this...
He was CONNECTED to God’s power…!
Let’s go back to the apostle Paul again...
Think about his Wiley Coyote life...
ALWAYS pursuing God’s glory… even at great RISK to himself...
Let’s look at the list of Gospel Sufferings in Paul’s life...
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
OK - pretty crazy LIFE right?
All of these things - CHOSEN by Paul- He WALKED toward these things!
He didn’t AVOID them!
He knew his mission - he was resolute IN IT...
BUT - what could have helped strengthen him?
30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,
1 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
We can HEAR it here...
Paul’s view of the POWER of PRAYER...
How was Paul able to ENDURE the litany of Suffering throughout his ministry?
PRAYER
The prayers of OTHERS!
It connects us to God’s POWER...
His SUSTAINING power!
May we BELIEVE that!
SUMMARY:
Prayer Connects Us To:
God’s Posture in the World
God’s Providence
God’s Preparation
God’s Power
And so - just to close - let’s look at a quick example in Scripture- of a guy who DIDN’T have a prayer life.
he DIDN’T seek to commune with God...
And therefore - We’ll see that he wasn’t connected to ANY of these things!
This has to do with King Nebuchadnezzar...
29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,
30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you,
32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”
This man - was just LIVIN LIFE - the HIGH LIFE…!
NO thought as to how God fit into anything.
AND it caused this man -
To view all that he had - as having come from HIS OWN power...
His OWN decisions
HIS own intuition
HIS own STRENGTH
No prayer = No proper perspective
What does it say?
God says - “Until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men…and gives it to whom He will!”
What happens?
He loses the kingdom…but then God’s power is displayed!
34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
The call today is that we be a PEOPLE of prayer!
God KNOWS what’s best!
He- HONORS those who SEEK Him!
Let’s - PRAY