Today’s Bible Verse

Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”

1 Kings 18:41

Persistent Prayer

We can learn a lot about persistence in prayer from Elijah.  He prayed with persistence and determination, unwilling to give up until he received an answer.  He didn’t give up on what he heard.  He heard the sound of the abundance of rain. 

Sometimes as believers, we approach prayer as a last resort and give in too quickly.  As we read the next verses, we see that not only was Elijah persistent, but he learned to visualize:

And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.”  And seven times he said, “Go again.”  (1Kings 18:42, 43)

Bowing down and putting his head between his knees put Elijah in a posture to begin to visualize the heavy rain that was to come.  What he saw with his eyes closed was more important than what he saw with them open. 

After the fourth or fifth or sixth time, how many of us would have given up when the servant said there is nothing?

Elijah paid more attention to what he heard with the inner ear than with the outer ear.  The inner ear heard the sound of abundance of rain, but the outer ear heard, “There is nothing.”  Having a promise from God doesn’t mean we stop praying for its fulfillment. 

As we read further in verses 44 and 45 it says: 

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.”   

Can we see the importance of persistence in prayer?  We understand the necessity of faith as we pray by realizing that Elijah believed his prayer was answered even before the answer came.  That’s why he kept telling the servant to go again.  While visualizing, what he saw on the inside was more real to him than the report he was getting from the outside. (Pastor Henry Acevedo)

Change My Story

In James, it says, “Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual]” (James‬ 5:17-18‬ AMPC).‬‬

As believers, we can pray as Elijah prayed.  He had the same nature as ours, so we can get the same results he got.  Acts 10:34 says, “Perceive and understand that God shows no partiality and is no respecter of persons” (AMPC).  And so, we can learn to pray with great confidence that God will hear our prayers as we pray with faith and persistence.

Today’s Declaration

This is the confidence that I have in Him, that if I ask anything according to His will, He hears me, and if I know that He hears me, whatever I ask, I know that I have the petitions that I have asked of Him.

Today’s Bible Reading

• Old Testament: Esther 2; Proverbs 15:18-33
• New Testament: Luke 19:28-38; Titus 2:11-15