1 Kings 18:24 ~ "Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
I have always like this story. Elijah put God to the test. The people said, "It is well spoken". Or as The Message translation said, "Good plan - Do it". I am sure that there were those that were curious to see who the "winner" would be in this contest. The prophets of Baal stepped up to call upon their god. The Word of God says, "and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying , O Baal, hear us." But they heard no voice and saw anything happen. Elijah then began to taunt them. Telling them to cry out louder for maybe he was talking...maybe he was on vacation...maybe he was even sleeping. Then the prophets of Baal began to cry out louder. The Word of God says, "and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them." Sounds kind of gross if you ask me, but still no answer came. Finally that afternoon Elijah said that it was time for him. And to make sure that there was no question about the answer, he put 12 barrels of water on the wood and sacrifice. It had so much water on it that it over flowed the altar and sacrifice and the trenches dug around the altar. It was soaked. Finally the time of the evening sacrifice came and all Elijah said was, "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again." And the Word of God says that the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. The people fell on their faces and said the Lord He is the God, He is the God.
We do not have to have a huge fanfare to get God's attention. We do not have to jump up and down, yell and use big fancy words for Him to take notice. Elijah said a simple prayer full of faith in what God could do and fire fell and consumed it all. He is faithful to answer our prayers. Isaiah 65:24 says, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call , I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking , I will hear." Even before Elijah prayed the prayer of faith, God already had the answer waiting. What a GREAT & MIGHTY God we serve!
I am thankful that no matter how small or big my situation may seem to be, He has the answer waiting for me. All I have to do is have faith when I call on His name. Who knows, may be God will rain fire upon my situation. However He answers, I know that it will be the perfect answer for my situation.
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