Elijah: A Man Just Like Us - Part 2

1 Kings 17v1

We read last week:

James 5v17-18
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Being just like us, Elijah must have had the same doubts, insecurities, shyness, social awkwardness, illness, complicated, dysfunctional relationships, as you and me. And yet he prayed this astonishing prayer, and God answered him.

Why did he pray such a prayer? Because God inspired him to do so.

Why did God answer him? Because God wanted there to be no rain for three and a half years.

And, since Elijah was just like us, we too can pray great, nation-changing prayers, and God will hear us. But only if we let God show us what to pray for.

We also read:

1 Kings 17v1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

You may wonder whether Elijah prayed the prayer before or after he gave the prophesy. I'm sure that the answer to that question is "both". You don't bring a prophesy like that to a man like King Ahab without praying that God will do as you're about to say. And you don't bring a prophesy like that and then forget about it. You pray for the fulfillment of God's word.

But the question this week is this:

How did Elijah summon the courage to prophesy bad news to King Ahab?

Elijah was just like us. And I wouldn't want to prophesy to the Queen or the Prime Minister. And, unlike Ahab, they're not likely to execute someone who does.

God must have done something within Elijah to give him this amazing courage.

God doesn't just tell us what to do, He both encourages us to obey and prods us not to disobey, to help us to do what He wants. Firstly, God can give us a gift of faith that enables us to trust Him in the most extreme circumstances. And secondly, when God gives us a prophesy, sometimes the inner urge to give that prophesy can be very strong. As Jeremiah said:

Jeremiah 20v9
But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

And Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 9v16
... when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

God doesn't expect us to obey Him without help. He's at work in us. And since God is at work in us, there's nothing He can't enable us to do. Paul also says:

Philippians 2v12-13
... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

And Paul continues:

Philippians 2v14-16
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life...

So not only can you and I pray in accordance with God's leading and see amazing results, we can also speak His word - whatever His word is - to whomsoever He wants us to speak it.

The key is - as always - the will of God. If we obey God in our prayers, He will enable us to obey Him in our actions. Our part is to genuinely and earnestly desire God's will.

God is able to equip us with the ability and the courage to do whatever He wants us to do.