This sermon on 1 Kings 18:41-46 was given at Kew Baptist Church, London.
Where’s Wally? That is of course the name of a long running series of British puzzle books, they are called ‘Where’s Waldo’ in America. Each book is filled with page after page of thematic pictures, packed full of people, whether at the beach, an important historical site or a planet in space. The game on each page is to pick out, somewhere in that crowd, where the main character, a man called Wally in a red and white striped jumper and hat, is hiding. Unfortunately, when I looked up the various versions of these much-loved puzzle books online, I was not able to find a Bible edition. However, if somebody was to make a Where’s Wally Bible book, the scene that we had last week would have been perfect. The whole of the nation of Israel crowded onto the slopes of Mount Carmel. 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah around two alters. In fact, there is no need to insert Wally into this scene for readers to have somebody hard to find. For instead of playing Where’s Wally, we could play Where’s King Ahab. I’m not sure if you noticed this last week, but Ahab is alarmingly absent from verses 21-40. Yes, Elijah confronts him in verses 17-19. And it is Ahab who assembles all the people and prophets on Mount Carmel in verse 20. But from that moment, Ahab seems to disappear into the crowd. For though we heard of the people and the prophets last week, the King was nowhere to be seen. That is until verse 41, when Elijah, who appears to know exactly where Ahab is, turns and speaks to him. Having dealt with the prophets of Baal, Elijah must now address Ahab. After Overcoming the Prophets (v20-40), we now see him Outrunning the King (v41-46). Last week as Elijah overcame the prophets, we were reminded of The Real Power of God. Through the fire from heaven, we seen that the LORD is the only true God. Unlike the false god Baal, the LORD’s power is real. He cannot only really hear our prayers, he really can answer them. This week, our passage reminds us of The Restoring Power of God. We see this in two parts: Firstly, in the Return of the Rain (18:41-45a) and then in the Restoration of a Relationship (18:45b-46).
A. Return of the Rain (18:41-45a)
It was not the present that Jim had been hoping for. He had been hinting to his parents for months. All of his friends had bicycles, how great it would be for him to have one as well. And so on the morning of his 11th birthday, Jim rushed down stairs, into the dining room to find, sitting waiting for him, not a bicycle, but a second-hand typewriter. Jim stood staring at it in surprise. This was not the gift he had been expecting. He could neither ride it to school or around the neighbourhood with his friends. And yet, as he slowly worked out how to use it over the coming days, he started to see his parent’s wisdom in giving him this gift. It came to be the best present he had ever received, a treasured possession of his childhood. Through it he fell even more in love with writing, and he continued to use a typewriter until the end of his life. He wrote hundreds of books, essays, articles and pamphlets on his typewriters. Including his best-selling book, Knowing God. One of his biographers, reflecting on this 11th birthday of that boy called Jim, who would grow up to be better known as James Innell Packer, concludes ‘It was not what Packer had asked for; nevertheless, it proved to be what he needed.’
Last week Israel received something they did not ask for, but which proved to be what they needed. After three years of scorching sun, fire was the last thing they wanted. Everybody knew they needed rain. Rain so the ground would soften up, the wells would fill up and their crops would grow up. However, instead of water, it was fire that came down. What use was that to them? Well, as we seen last week, though it might not have been what they wanted, it was what they needed. They needed to have their hearts turned back. They needed to know that the LORD was God. They needed to see that because of their sin, a sacrifice had to be consumed on their behalf. Like J I Packer’s parents, God knew better than the nation what they needed most. However, now that that fiery judgement had fallen. The old problem still remained. The fire had done nothing to resurrect the land of Israel from its deadened droughted state. They needed the rain to return.
From James 5 we see the return of the rain teaches us much about the power of prayer. When James wrote, ‘The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working’, I can imagine him stopping and thinking what example he could use to illustrate the power of prayer. He could have chosen any number of stories in the Old Testament, but we see it is to Elijah that his mind turns. And no wonder, for Elijah could well be known as the Prophet of Prayer! In these chapters we see Elijah pray for all manner of things. In 1 Kings 17, we see Elijah praying for life. In 1 Kings 19, for death. Earlier in 1 Kings 18, he prays for fire, now it is for water. Not only is the range of Elijah’s prayers extraordinary, their power is plain: he can raise a boy from the dead, draw fire down from heaven and both withhold and call forth rain at his word. James is surely right: the prayers of this person had power as they were worked out! However, James tells us this not to emphasise the power of a prolific prophet, but to encourage us all to pray powerfully like this prophet. He tells us powerful prayer is not limited to prophets like Elijah, for he was a man with a nature as ours. He says this kind of prayer is available for all who have been made righteous by Christ. Christian, do you desire to have a more productive, profitable, powerful prayer life? Come and learn now by looking with me at the Prophet of Prayer. Let us investigate: where is it that Elijah gets this power from? How is it that we can pray like him? I want us to learn two things from this Prophet of Prayer.
I. Power in prayer is drawn from God’s promises
It is plain that Elijah is powerful in prayer, but there is one occasion this isn’t the case. In 1 Kings 19:4 he prays God would take away his life. It is a powerless prayer, his only prayer that is not performed. Why? What makes it different to the others? Why was power missing from this prayer? Well when you look closer, you see this is the only prayer that is not prompted by a promise from God. In 1 Kings 17, Elijah’s prayer for resurrection follows God’s promise to save the widow’s family in the famine. It is the same on Mount Carmel. The prayer for fire is preceded by Elijah referring to God’s promises. In fixing the alter the author tells us ‘Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, "Israel shall be your name,"’ (18:31). In the alter, Elijah reminded the nation of their name, which meant and promised ‘God contends/fights/prevails’. Also, in prayer itself Elijah addressed the ‘LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel…’ (18:36). When wanting God to bless the nation in the present, he approaches the one who promised to do so to the patriarchs. Why are Elijah’s prayers so powerful? Could it be because he prays for, bases his prayers on, aligns them with, the very things that God has promised he will do? When Elijah looks for God to act in the present, he looks to what God said in the past. Power in prayer is drawn from God’s promises.
We see this so clearly in our passage today. I’m not sure how Ahab or the people reacted when Elijah turned to the King and said: ‘Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.’ (18:41) However, I can imagine they looked back at Elijah in surprise, perhaps they shot nervous glances at each other. What did Elijah say he could hear? The rushing of rain? Are you sure? The sky looks clear to me. We have all been listening for the sound of rain for three years. I think we would know if we could hear it. And why is he telling us, ‘Go up, eat and drink’? Doesn’t he know there is a drought? That we are in the middle of a famine? Water can’t be wasted. Food must be rationed! Elijah what are you talking about?
The answer is of course that Elijah was trusting in God’s promise. Back in 18:1, we are told ‘the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth."’ Elijah had heard that word of the LORD, that promise of rain. Not only did he know of that promise, but perhaps he also had in mind the prayer of Solomon in 1 Kings 8:35-36: ‘When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin…then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants…and grant rain upon your land…’ Elijah was confident that if the nation returned to the LORD, the rain would return to the land. He was so certain of God keeping his promise of rain, that he told Ahab he could start the celebration feast early. He was so sure that God would do what he said, that Elijah was already hearing the rushing of the rain in his ears. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ Elijah had a conviction of things that could not be seen. He could hear rain before he seen it on the horizon, for he was listening with the ears of faith. He was like Abraham, who we are told in Romans 4:21, despite his age and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb, was ‘fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.’ Even before Elijah knelt in prayer, he was fully convinced God was able to do what he had promised. That rain would return just as he said.
Christian, is there any connection between what God promises he will do and what you pray for him to do? After you cast your cares on the LORD, pour your heart out before him, and you start asking him to act in a certain way, where are those requests coming from? What reasons do you give for them? Are they simply based on what you think it is best for God to do? Or what the all-wise and all-knowing God has said it is best for him to do? Could it be that our lack of conviction in prayer is because we are unclear that we are asking for the right things? We worry we are like 11-year-old Jim, we ask for a bicycle, but we actually need something different. Is our lack of confidence in asking because we are uncertain why God would answer? We fail to see what reason he might have to respond like that? We have not drawn any connection between his purposes and our prayer. What if I told you drawing that line is like plugging an electric line into the wall? That praying with your prayer list in one hand, and God’s Word in the other, allows you to confidently ask for his aid? What else does Jesus mean when he said, ‘If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.’ (John 14:14) Or John himself, ‘this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.’ (1 John 5:14)
Elijah shows us that power in prayer is drawn from God’s promises. If you think about it, this is entirely unsurprising. Where else could power come from? James says there is nothing special about the prophet. And it is not like prayer is some kind of magic spell that produces its own spiritual force. No, for our prayers to accomplish anything, God must act and answer them. Is it surprising that he answers in ways that align with what he has promised or planed? In his powerful prayers, Elijah is more like a soldier following orders in an army, than the general coming up with the overall plan. "General, you have told me to take this enemy position, will you send me the equipment I need to achieve your aim? Will you arrange for a missile strike to clear the way?" It is only when Elijah takes command completely into his own hands in 19:4, forgets about God’s purposes and promises and comes up with his own plan, that he loses all his power in prayer.
II. Persistence in prayer is dependent on God’s promises
Even before Elijah gets down on his knees to pray, we see he is confident that God will answer his request for rain. In some ways, Elijah is different to us. Elijah is far more confident in prayer than we can usually be, because the promise Elijah has is far more specific that those we have. "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." That is the kind of specific promise that we generally don’t get given to us in Scripture. We can of course pray for rain like Elijah, requesting that God send it to show his universal grace, for Jesus tells us that the Father ‘makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’ (Matthew 5:45) But that general purpose of God in sending rain, is not a specific promise to do so at a certain time like Elijah has. Elijah is as confident as it is possible to be about God sending rain. And yet, despite this, we see him persisting in prayer until it comes to pass.
It the question that is often asked: ‘If I am certain God will act a certain way, before I pray, then why do I need to pray at all? Elijah could have asked that question. As confident as one can be that God would do what he promised, he could have just joined King Ahab eating and drinking, celebrating the rain that he was sure would soon appear. And yet he doesn’t do that. Instead we are told that ‘Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.’ (18:42) Yes, Elijah was sure that God had determined the end of the story, but he realised that often the means God uses to achieve his end is responding to the prayers of his people. Of course, God doesn’t need us. But he delights in using us as agents to accomplish his work in this world. At the start of the chapter the LORD comes to Elijah and promises rain. And at the end of the chapter, Elijah comes to the LORD and asks him to do what he has promised. This picture of prayer is drastically different from that which is portrayed in our culture, even in our churches. We slip into thinking that prayer is primarily about asking God to come through on what we are requesting him to do. And yet, that is not how the Bible talks about prayer. Gary Millar concludes that 'Prayer throughout the Bible…is to be primarily understood as asking God to come through on what he has already promised.' (Millar) It is commonly said that prayer is less about you asking God to do what you want, and more about you asking to do what he wants. Prayer is less about changing God’s plan to match your desires, and more about changing your desires to match God’s plan. Thomas Manton, a Presbyterian pastor near Covenant Garden in the 1650s, talked of this when he told his congregation, ‘You must plead God’s promises…You must come and throw him his handwriting, show him his promises; as Tamar dealt with Judah, when she showed him the ring and staff—‘Whose are these?’ Gen. 38:25.’ If I was to sit in on your private prayer times this week: would I find you showing God his own handwriting? Or something you have written yourself? When Elijah knelt down on that mountain, I believed that he showed God his own handwriting, pleaded for him to come through on that promise he made. Father you have promised that you will send rain. Please send it now.
May I suggest to you, that far from persistence in prayer being discouraged by the certainty of God’s promises, persistence in prayer is dependent on the certainty of God’s promises. Pleading God’s promises is the only way we can be confident enough to continue in prayer. What is it you think sustained Elijah on that mountain? As he sent his servant back and forth to the top of Carmel to see if he could catch a sight of a cloud on the horizon? Eight times he tells the servant to go and look toward the sea. Seven times he came back with nothing to report, what do you think gave Elijah the confidence to keep his face to the ground in prayer on those occasions? Was it not that he knew God was going to send the rain? Elijah had already heard in rushing in his ears, so what if it remained out of sight a little longer. He knew this wasn’t just some good idea he had come up with, but a promised made by God in accordance with the plan of God. Because Elijah was convinced God would answer, he was confident enough to keep praying. Elijah’s confidence didn’t result in cold complacency, it resulted in continued calling upon God. Persistence in prayer is dependent on God’s promises.
Friends, this week as you take time to pray, why not practice these lessons taught to us by the Prophet of Prayer. This afternoon, why don’t you take 20 minutes to sit down with a prayer list in one hand and Bible in the other. Take 2 or 3 of the things you want to pray for during this week and search the Scriptures to find some certainty regarding your requests. Allow God’s purposes to shape and change what you will ask for, align yourself with what he promises to do. Last Sunday night, a number of members mentioned they needed to pray and read more regularly. If that is the case, why not each day this week persistently pray for help to do this? Take up a verse like John 17:3 and plead it to God. ‘And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ Are you worried or anxious about something? Why not come before God every day this week and show him Philippians 4:6-7, ‘do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ Do you have a decision to make this week and you have no idea what to do? Take up James 1:5, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.’ How better to ask in faith with no doubt (James 1:6)? Persistently pray God’s promises and, like Elijah, you will see your prayers working with great power.
B. Restoration of a Relationship (18:45b-46)
Not only could you play Where’s Ahab in our passage last week. But you could also play it in my sermon so far. I mentioned him at the start, but he has somewhat disappeared off stage. In my defence, this reflects what happens in our passage. For as the prophet is on his knees in prayer, the King is enjoying a feast instead. However, at the end of the scene Ahab steps back onto centre stage to resume his role in our closing scene. As soon as the rain is seen on the horizon, Elijah tells his servant, "Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’" (18:44) This instruction proves to be the starting gun on what may at first glance seem like a race between the King and the prophet.
This is how verse 46 is often preached. I can see why, it is an exciting end to an action-packed chapter. Ahab crouched over his chariot, willing his horses on but ultimately failing to overtake Elijah, who manages to sustain his pounding pace right up to the gates of Jezreel. Just as he had overcome the prophets, Elijah now outruns the King. The lesson seems clear: a spirit-filled servant of the Lord is able to outstrip even a King’s chariot. That lesson is of course true: David rejoices in Psalm 18:29, ‘by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.’ But is this what the author is announcing? More than the running of a race, I think the author is telling us of the restoration of a relationship.
You see, by this stage in the narrative, I see the King less running against Elijah, and more running with Elijah. Of course the two began the chapter as enemies. Ahab had been hunting for Elijah for years. When they eventually meet, Ahab isn’t exactly pleasant, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’ (18:17). You might think that Ahab obeys Elijah in calling the nation and the prophets to Mount Carmel, but when you read Elijah’s instruction in 18:19 and then what Ahab does in 18:20, you realise that while he sends for the nation, he doesn’t go to the bother of actually gathering them (i.e. making sure they came). And while he gathers the prophets of Baal, he leaves his wives ‘Asherahian’ prophets where they are. His obedience is only half-hearted, probably just done in hope that Elijah will make the rain return. As we have said, at this point Ahab exits centre stage. Or perhaps more accurately, disappears among the crowd. For we see that by his presence in verse 41, Ahab is not absent from what happens. He seems to have been there to witness the failure of the false prophets and fire falling from heaven. He even seems to have accompanied Elijah down to Kishon to see the false prophets slaughtered for their sins. We find ourselves asking: is it possible that the heart of the King has been turned back, just like the hearts of the people? In both verses 42 and 44, wee now find Ahab doing exactly what Elijah tells him to do. He celebrates the victory of the LORD on Mount Carmel with a feast as commanded. He doesn’t ride away in an attempt to escape, he leaves at the instruction of Elijah. The story ends not with the King running against the prophet but after him.
Carmel is of course not the only mountain Elijah appears on. In Matthew 17, both Elijah and Moses are present at the mount of transfiguration. Just as at Carmel, where the LORD revealed himself to be God. At the transfiguration, Jesus revealed himself to be God. On the way down from that experience, Elijah’s appearance seems to have stuck in the disciple’s minds, for they ask Jesus ‘"…why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" [Jesus] answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things." (17:10) I think that reference to the result of Elijah’s ministry brilliantly captures what we see here. For a moment, all things have been restored, put back to the way they should be. The King of Israel, along with the rest of the nation, returning to God and obediently following after his prophet. Not only does Jesus point to this, but so does James. What is James encouraging us to pray for before giving Elijah as an example? It is for healing and forgiveness of sin (5:15-16). That powerful prayer of Elijah was not only for rain, it was ultimately for restoration. We see this too in Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8, for there rain is only granted for land after forgiveness has been given for sin. The rain was a sign of their sins having been forgiven, of God’s blessings returning to his land and people. Friends, see here the restoring power of God. The forgiving, healing, heart turning work that God does in this world. What a change this restoring power has worked in the life of King Ahab. He left Jezreel under the judgement of God, an enemy of his prophet, leading his cattle to desperately find some water in the middle of a drought. Now he returns in the pouring rain, under the blessing of God, with the prophet of the LORD at his head. What a difference God makes in our life, when we confess our sin and turn back to him. ‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; to his feet your tribute bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore his praises sing.’
As we close, I don’t want you to focus on the prophet outrunning the king. I don’t even want you to focus on the king running after the prophet. No, focus instead on the fact that the prophet is running before the king. That is not only how 1 Kings 18 ends, but how the whole Old Testament concludes. The last two verses of Malachi record: ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers….’ (4:5–6) Picking up on this promise and those verses in Isaiah 40 telling of a voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, Luke begins his gospel by telling of that angel coming to Zechariah and speaking of a son who ‘will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’ (1:16–17) And yet, as Jesus went on to explain to his disciples as they descended the mount of transfiguration, ‘"Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.’ (Matthew 17:10-13). In the story of the New Testament, John the Baptist comes as that promised Elijah, running before that coming King, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He was the promised prophet, and they did not recognise him. But even worse, they did not recognise the one he came to prepare the way before. For not only does John suffer at the hands of the nation, but so does the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. Crucified on a cross. But even in the midst of that mess, we see the restoring power of God. For ‘he was pierced for our transgressions…crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:5) That healing and forgiveness James prompts us to pray for, that was purchased in the death of Christ. The blessings of God represented by the rain, they are all bought by his blood. By the king before whom the fulfilment of Elijah ran. The one who came to rescue his people. To turn their hearts back. To reconcile them to each other and to their God. To restore all things in heaven and on earth.
ALEXANDER ARRELL