GLEANINGS FROM THE LIFE
OF ELIJAH (BIBLE STUDY COLLECTIONS)
·
It
is not the prayer that shut the Heavens that will open the Heaven…Ask Elijah!
Every new dimension in life comes via a new dimension of prayer. Elijah shut Heaven
with prayers and when he needed the Heaven to open, he did not depend on the
prayers he prayed three and half years ago; the Bible says “And (Elijah) prayed
AGAIN and the Heaven gave rain” (James 5:18). This is what it means to pray
without ceasing.
·
This
thing about Christians saying God will do everything for them isn’t
spirituality at all, but perhaps ignorance. They simply say that since God has
said it, whether or not they do anything about it, it shall come to pass.
Sounds “spiritual” but indeed, it’s error. So, God will pray for you, fast for
you, help you study the Bible to locate God’s promises, believe them for you,
etc. Hmmm. This is not faith. God has said many things about you, but you have
to establish them through prayers and faith. Every word of promise and prophecy
would remain hanging until the prayer of faith is released. This is the law of
divine establishment of God’s promises. Look at this: God told Elijah that He
(God) will send rain upon the earth after three and half years (1 Kings 18:1).
That was an assurance enough for anointed Elijah to perhaps go and sleep
expecting the rain to come. But he did not…He knew that as much as God’s words
are forever settled in Heaven, yet for there to be earthly manifestation there
must be prayer connection. So, after he (Elijah) had declared to Ahab
(according to God’s word) that rain was coming, Elijah went up and “cast
himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees…and he prayed
AGAIN, and the Heaven gave rain” (1 kings 18:41-42; James 5:18). The covenant
of God to send rain was converted from its raw spiritual form into a visible
earthly manifestation by the tool of prayer. Stop believing God to pray for you
or do your responsibility; stop running from one prayer/spiritual house to
another searching for who will pray to God for you…who says God cannot hear
your voice? It takes the prayer (of faith) to establish your blessing. Pray!
You are blessed.
·
Still
on Elijah and manifestations of God’s promise to send rain. God promised to
send rain, Elijah started praying, and then he sent his servant to go and see
if there was any cloud symbolic that rain was coming. The servant went the
first time and came back to say there was nothing. Someone would say, ‘but God
promised me, but nothing is happening yet and whereas I am praying’. But Elijah
did not stop praying. As much as he understood, once God had said it, and there
is prayer connection, it was just a matter of time. Then he sent the servant
the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth times, and the young man came back with
the same report that there was nothing…but Elijah did not give up; he clung to
God’s word, he hung unto prayers and faith. This is what it means to pray in
faith and pray without ceasing. However, this is the moment many people give up
and throw in the towel…they feel god is either unfaithful, too slow or doesn’t
answer prayers. And then Elijah sent the seventh time, and this time there was
a sign of manifestation, and then rain came. Let me explain something here; the
time between spiritual ordination and physical manifestation is called WAITING.
You wait in prayers, you wait in faith…God never lies.
It is not unlikely that there are some promises that
God made to you at the beginning of this year that are yet to be manifested
physically and you are already thinking perhaps God has forgotten. Friend, God
never forgets. It is possible for a breastfeeding mother to forget the sucking
child, but God says He never forgets you. Keep trusting Him, never give up…God
is too faithful to fail. He has never failed, and you cannot be His first
failure. God bless.
·
I
feel God is trying to pass a message across to somebody about WAITING ON GOD’S
PROMISES. Many know the story of Nehemiah, how he prayed to obtain favour
before the king and how the king granted him his desires. It appears so
serially that we usually think it this way; Nehemiah prayed and fasted
yesterday, and God gave him favour before the king today. But, let us see more
critically (but briefly). Nehemiah 1:1, he got the news in the month Chisleu.
Nehemiah 2:1, and it came to pass in the month Nisan that the king favoured
him. The month Chisleu is November in Greek, while the month Nisan is April in
Greek. So, it is obvious that Nehemiah prayed in November…then December passed
and that year ended yet nothing happened in the physical. Then January came and
passed; February passed; March passed and still nothing happened. Then one day
in April, the king was moved and favoured him…after 4 months. The big question
is; when Nehemiah first prayed, did God hear? YES! But why did the answer seem
to delay until 4 months later? This is what is called waiting period.
Friend, from the day you lifted up your voice to
pray, God heard you and something took place in the spiritual realm, but the
physical manifestation is based on God’s perfect timing…but it will surely come
to pass. God is always on time; keep the faith! Anything that delays is coming
big. God bless you.
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