By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
Inscriptions on gravestones give a snapshot of a dead person’s life. Some warm the heart; others break it. A son about his father: “Always gone; still is.”
“Uncle Walter loved to spend. He had no money in the end. But with many a whiskey and many a wife, he really did enjoy his life.”
“To our mother: You spent your life expressing animosity for nearly every person you encountered, including your children. Within hours of his death, you even managed to declare your husband of 57 years unsuited to be either a spouse or a father. Hopefully, you are now insulated from all the dissatisfaction you found in human relationships.”
If someone condensed Elijah’s life into a tombstone-size recap, it would read something along this line: “He prayed and he obeyed.”
These two words describe Elijah’s life to a T, and they are the primary reasons God worked in the extraordinary ways he did in him and through him.
He prayed.
As you read the story of Elijah, you’ll see God do many miraculous things because he prayed. In six brief Bible chapters that record his life, you can find at least four miracles resulting from his prayers.
- He prayed to stop the rain, and it didn’t rain for three-and-one-half years (1 Kings 17.1).
- He asked God to bring the widow’s son back to life, and God did (I Kings 17.19-22).
- He prayed for fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel to burn up his sacrifice, and God sent it almost before Elijah finished praying (1 Kings 18.36-39).
- He prayed for God to send rain and end the drought, and the heavens opened and poured down rain (1 Kings 18.41-45).
When we read such dramatic answers to prayer, it’s easy to wish we could pray and have the same effect Elijah did. We can!
That’s one problem most Christians run into when they look at their prayer life and compare it to the prayer lives of the heroes of the faith. We jump to the conclusion that God won’t answer our prayers the way he did Elijah’s because he was special, someone a cut above us. But that’s a lie from Satan to discourage us from asking God to do extraordinary feats in our lives and in the lives of those we pray for.
“Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly it would not rain, and it did not… Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain,” (James 5.17-18).
Did you catch that? Elijah experienced the same struggles, problems, emotional roller coasters, and fears you do. So, pray and watch God answer in amazing ways. “The prayer of [any] righteous man [Christian] is powerful and effective,” (James. 5.16).
“Prayer turns ordinary mortals into people of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God,” (Samuel Chadwick).
He obeyed.
From the opening verses of Elijah’s story, we find a consistent pattern of obedience to God.
- God told Elijah to go to the Kerith Ravine… “So, he did what the Lord told him,”(1 Kings 17.2-5).
- God told him to go to Zarephath… “So he went,”(1 Kings 17.9-10).
- God sent him to Ahab… “So, Elijah went to present himself to Ahab,”(1 Kings 18.1-2).
- God told him to anoint three men he had chosen for important assignments… “So, Elijah went,”(1 Kings 19.15-19).
- God sent him to confront Ahab concerning his sin against Naboth and pronounce his punishment… and Elijah obeyed (1 Kings 21.17-22).
- God sent him to ask the messengers of King Ahaziah regarding a faith issue… “So, Elijah went,”(2 Kings 1.3-4).
- God told him to meet Ahaziah face-to-face… “So, Elijah got up and went,”(2 Kings 1.15).
Obedience is one of the common denominators in every great man and woman of God. Noah (Genesis 6.22; 7.50); Abraham (Genesis 12.1-4; 22.2-3); Peter (Luke 5.4-5); Ananias (Acts 9.10-18); Mary (Luke 2.1.30-38); the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17.13-15); every hero of the faith catalogued in Hebrews 11.
Can anything please God more than watching his children obey him, even when it’s terrifying and risky? Even when it makes no sense to us?
Since Elijah was exactly like us, and God never changes, he will do the same things in you and through you he did with Elijah… if “he/she prayed and obeyed” becomes the distinguishing characteristic of your life.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.