PRAYER UPDATE

This coming Sunday August 26th, will be our 10 message and our 9th sermon (I preached two Sundays on “GIVE ME A SIGN!”

Sunday’s Message,

Bible Prayers Sermon Series Effective Prayers of People in the Bible
 

“ANSWER ME!”

 
Text 1 Kings 18:37
INTRODUCTION: Many are the times in our life that we need an answer to prayer.
Over the past 10 weeks you have patiently and intently listened to these messages on

Many are the times in our life that we need an answer to prayer.Over the past 10 weeks you have patiently and intently listened to these messages on prayer. During this time we have seen first hand how God has and still does answer

 prayers.
This morning at this time I would like for you to hear from one of our own who has had a prayer answered recently. (show video of Tammy Garcia)
In the message today we will discover that Elijah needed a MIRACLE.
He did not need a nice, run of the mill, easily explainable answer to prayer.
The situation demanded an outright, jaw-dropping, undeniable,

 superceding the laws-of-nature, impressive, verifiable MIRACLE!
Without it Elijah would be killed and God’s chosen people would drift into pagan oblivion.
I believe Charles Dickens would say, “it’s the worst of times.”
Let me set the stage for you on the theater of your mind today.
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had steered the nation of Israel down a road leading

them away from the God of Israel. The one true God! Known in the Hebrew tongue as Yahweh!
Then they stepped on the accelerator. Yahweh had never been formally rejected as Israel’s God.
This was the first challenge.
King Ahab was a man whose wickedness was exceeded only by his wife Jezebel.
Everything about that woman dripped iniquity and emanated evil.
Together, thy publicly promoted the worship of the pagan god Baal.
Baal was the name of the chief storm god of Canaan.
In order to shock the nation back from it’s dangerous path, the Lord sent a drought.
 This was not just a seasonal sign but a heaven sent plague that lasted for three long years.
The lack of rain was obviously a slap in the face to Baal, the god of the rain.
After three years without rain, the people stood with one foot on either side, partly following Baal, and then partly following God.
That is not a good place.
Into this boiling pot of chaos, God sent His Man, Elijah, that rough-hewn prophet.
He was a wild eccentric, bold messenger of the Almighty God.
Risking death, Elijah faced King Ahab and challenged him to gather the people for a power duel of deities.
When the day of decision dawned, Elijah stood alone on Mt. Carmel facing 450 prophets of  Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah before the nation of Israel. The odds where 950 to 1.
It looked like a mismatch. As it turned out it was.
Israel had become so spiritually bankrupt that they could not or would not even verbalize the obvious choice.
One of the most heartbreaking experiences for a Christian is to see a person that needs the Lord confronted with the obviously right time to make a spiritual move, and to watch that person sit stone silent, unable or unwilling to accept what God was ready to do for them.
In the message this morning let’s see how God performed a miracle for this Prophet that simply looked up to God and asked, “ANSWER ME!”
Consider with me the following:
  
1.- FIRST OF ALL, CONSIDER THE DELEMMA OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
Their Waywardness
Look at the first part of verse 21.
“And Elijah came unto all the people and said,                                                                                                                                                                                                         How long halt ye between two opinions?”
Sidestepping political correctness, Elijah confronted the people with a challenge.
Elijah appealed to them to make a choice between (Yahweh) God and Baal.
The Children of Israel had simply wanted to worship Baal also. While Baal could tolerate such an arrangement, God would not.
Elijah went on to compare the situation to being crippled. The general idea of what Elijah intended is clear, but the exact reason he chose the word “limped,” is debated.
It is the same word that was used to describe the ritual dance of the prophets of Baal in verse 26.
 
Elijah confronted the people with a challenge.
“Quit sitting on the fence!                              If the Lord is the real God, follow Him.          If Baal is the one, follow him.”
The question may be, “how long will you limp along doing the Baal dance? When will you choose the obviously correct choice, God?”
Another interpretation is that Israel was hobbling along trying to use two canes - both God and Baal - to walk.
After the three years of drought in which God had shown His superiority to Baal, Israel would now be forced to acknowledge and choose the true God. They would be forced to throw away one cane and only rely on God.
The tragedy of verse 21 is that the people of Israel were challenged to make a choice about whom they will follow, but the people did not answer him a word.
These people had fallen a long way from the nation that had entered and conquered Canaan hundreds of years before. Now they are a politically divided and apostate nation.
Can I be honest and say that the same is true for the church at the end of the 20^th century?
Whether we like to admit it or not, the visible church is in the midst of apostasy and waywardness.
When we see denominations and churches grapple with issues like abortion and homosexuality.
When we see these kinds of things beginning to take place, isn’t it plain to see that we are living in an age of apostasy?
I think it is. Some, sadly, refuse to see the truth though it stares them right in the eye.
Their Warning
Elijah’s admonition is direct and to the point.
He tells them that they have to make a choice!
Elijah sees their compromise as an offence to God.
He is telling them that they must choose which side they will be one, since they cannot genuinely have 2 gods.
The hundreds of years that have elapsed since Elijah faced the Baal prophets on Carmel, many things have changed.
Culture is vastly different now than it was then, religious practice has changed. The world itself is nothing like it was back then.
However, one thing remains the same, God!
If a man is going to be right with God, then he must take his stand apart from the world.
No one can have both. It is either God or it is the world. There can be no compromise.
We need the same spiritual fortitude that Joshua displayed when he made his great declaration in Joshua 24:15. It is either God, or the world. It can never be both!
Notice their response silence!
Many think by being quiet about something and maintaining a low-profile, that it will just go away.
If you feel this way, then I must tell you that you are deceiving yourself, and anyone who may decide to follow you!

Their Willingness
Elijah describes the terms of the challenge and the people accept.
I find it interesting that this people had the audacity to expect God to prove Himself to them.
After all, look at all the God-sized things He had done for them over the years and they still are willing to give Baal a chance to compete with God.
We should give them points for being willing to play along with Elijah, but they need to find themselves humbled before a holy God, instead of trying to find a way around His will for their lives!
So we see,
The Dilemma Of The People Of God.
 
2.- SECOND, CONSIDER THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE POWER OF GOD
The Futility Of Following Baal
The contest. All day long the prophets of Baal prayed and cried out to their god.
Yet, they received not so much as “small still voice.”
Elijah saw the folly of what they were doing and mocked them in verse 27.
“And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.”
In other words he was saying,
Maybe your god can’t here you; he’s busy, not at home or just plain sleeping.
This sent them into a frenzy.
 
 
But, when the smoke had cleared and the dust of their activity had settled, Baal was still as dead as he had ever been and they stood humiliated and defeated before the lone prophet of God.
This will be the experience of every person who attempts to follow the false gods of religion and of this world.
They are all dead and can do nothing for those who cry out to them.
I am sure that many who are caught in this trap feel that they are right and that men who cry out for change and separation are fanatics and are people to be pitied.
However, I would like to remind anyone who feels that they can hook up God with worldliness that they are doomed to failure, no matter how right they think they are.
When this thing is over and the dust of this life has settled outside the memory of eternity, God will still be God and His way and His Word will still be right and everything else will still be wrong! It is futile to follow the course of this world!
 
 
The Faith Of The Prophet
After the prophets of Baal had finished with their shenanigans, Elijah stepped forward.
Looking at what he did is very interesting.
First, he repaired the altar of God, v. 30.
Then, he chose 12 stones to remind Israel that they were one nation in the eyes of God.
Then he had 12 barrels of water poured over the sacrifice and the wood and the altar.
He did this final thing to remove all doubts as to who was to get the glory for that which was about to happen.
Then, He stepped forth and prayed a simple 63 word prayer and the fire of God fell from Heaven and consumed every part of the sacrifice, the altar, the water in the trench and even the dust round about.
In verse 37 he ends his prayer with two words,
ANSWER ME!
And God answered in a spectacular display of power in response to the faith of His servant.
 
Folks, it takes faith to be an Elijah!
This man had honed his faith on the grindstone of affliction.
He had already see God do the miraculous,           no rain.
food supplied by ravens.
an endless supply of meal and oil.
and the resurrection of the widow’s son.
Elijah knew that this little thing was nothing for the Lord.
He was willing to put his life on the line because he believed that he served a God who moves in response to His people’s prayers.
We need that same faith this morning if we are to do what He leads us to do.
We need to exercise faith in the Lord God of Heaven!
Some might say, “Well Preacher Mike, if I had seen God do all those things, I might be able to have that kind of faith also.”
What, do you need a miracle to spur you to faith in God?
Then, I got one for you!
How about the day Jesus Christ responded to your cry of faith and saved you soul?
That is about the greatest miracle that I know anything about and if He can do that, then helping you and me to stand for Him in truth and righteousness is mere child’s play.
The Faithfulness Of The Lord
God responded to the cry of His servant and gave Elijah just what he asked God to do.
The liberal crowd can attribute this event to anything they would like.
When all is said and done, the fact the God honored faith that honored Him is the only explanation!
Elijah stepped forward on a dark stage and threw the spotlight on God and said,
“My God can!”
God always responds to that kind of faith!
All I am saying this morning is that when you and I decide that we will exercise our faith in God and take our stand we will see God come through for us.
The reason we don’t see this kind of miraculous display of the power of God can be attributed to two great failures on the part of God’s people.
Many fail to separate themselves from the world and from the apostasy that surrounds them and God cannot bless!
Many refuse to exercise their faith in God and God doesn’t move in response to doubt!
I want you to know this morning that when you as an individual and we as a church body reach the place where we are willing to stand for the Lord alone and we are willing to exercise our faith in Him, then God will not leave hanging out there to flap in the wind.
When we take our stand for Him, He will take His stand with us! If you don’t believe me, just try it and see!
The Dilemma Of The People Of God
The Demonstration Of The Power Of God
 
3.- LAST OF ALL, CONSIDER THE DECISION BY THE PEOPLE
 
We will have to give these people credit.
 
They said they would honor the God who answered by fire and when He did, they did!
 
These people made a decision on Mount Carmel.
They Had Experienced God In Power
He had answered the prophet by fire in their very presence.
There was no denying the reality of what they had seen.
After this moment, it wasn’t just some stories about God told by gray-haired old men, it was reality. They had seen it and they responded to it.
There is no other way to know God than to experience Him in a personal way.
I am convinced that this is the root of all apostasy. When men meet the Lord they are changed.
When they just go about some religious form they are led and motivated by the flesh.
Perhaps this explains why there is a cry from the heart of every saved soul to be free from the bondage of religion without God, to be free from the form of godliness without God that dominates the world, and to be free from worldliness in every form that it takes in the world around.
Meeting God will change you forever!
I’ll go so far as to say that being saved will unfit you from what is happening in the religious world around you. You will be different and the Lord will bless the difference!
They Extolled God In Prostration
When the people see the Lord move in such a miraculous manner, they fall on their faces before Him in genuine humility.
This desire on their part to worship and honor the Lord God of Heaven.
This is the greatest indicator of change. They are singling God out as the sole object of their worship.
 
When we come to the place where we are willing to separate ourselves from all the other gods that compete for our attention and yield to the God of Heaven, then we will find ourselves drawn to Him in true, heart worship.
Nothing in this world is more precious than a heart that is aflame with love for the Lord and a heart that burns with a desire to see God glorified, whatever the cost.
Does that describe you? Does that describe our church?
They Exalted God In Praise
The last sound the Baal prophets and priests heard as they were being led away to their deaths, v. 40, was the sound of the people of God shouting praises to their Lord.
What a sight and sound that must have been!
Nothing in this world is quiet so liberating as finding yourself focused on God and on Him alone!
When He has your attention, your affection and your allegiance, He will be satisfied and so will you!
 
Nothing liberates the saint more than knowing you are in a place in your walk with the Lord that pleases Him.
To know there is nothing between you and God.
To know that all sin, all worldliness and all sinful associations have been put away.
When you get there, God can and will bless you with gladness of heart and joy of soul.
And then you can pray like Elijah ANSWER ME!
And God will part the waters, move mountains, and cause the sea to lay down.
And that, my friends, is worth any price that must be paid!
Remember, Jesus came to make us free!
As far as I know, everything I have said this morning has been truth and the truth is what will make us free.
 
CONCLUSION: Are there areas of your life this morning that, if you were honest, you would have to say were worldly and abhorrent to God?
 
Maybe you would like to come to this altar and confess those things and experience God’s power in forgiveness.
 
Are you able to see to apostasy that abounds all around us? If so, maybe you would like to come and pray for churches, and pray for this church that we will ever be quick to recognize apostasy and that we will take our stand for Jesus.
 
Maybe you have never been saved and you would like to meet this all-powerful, all-loving God.
 
If you will come to Him, He will receive you and He will save you soul if you will ask Him to.
 
Whatever the need of your heart and life this morning, please bring it to the Lord.
 
Will you do that right now?