First Kings 18. Verse 36. And it came to pass at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet
came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,
let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that
I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy
word. 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. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in. Thy son's name. That you. Would turn our heart. To thee. Lord, we confess that
apart from your turning race. Will turn away from thee. We
confess that we pray for forgiveness, we pray for deliverance. And
Lord, by your invincible, irresistible grace, we ask that we all may
be turned by you toward thee. We confess our sins, we pray
for forgiveness and cleansing, and we pray for your grace to
be upon us. How we thank you for the Lord
Jesus and the complete salvation that's in him. We pray that we
might be enabled to hear your gospel for Christ's sake. Be
with all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. Now I just read the prayer of
Elijah. Now, how would prayer be defined? Prayer is asking God to do what
you cannot do. And when you pray about something,
you're asking God to do for you what you cannot do. Now, God is called the God that
heareth and the God that answers prayer. What a name for our God. Now, the sovereign, and I would
like to be able to define all these terms. That means his will
is always done. The sovereign, independent, he
doesn't have any needs. The all-powerful, the omniscient,
the eternal, the immutable God does what he does through the
prayers of his people. Whatever God's gonna do for you,
you are going to ask him to do it. Turn with me to Ezekiel 36
for just a moment. Now in this chapter, God says
all of these things he's going to do. Verse 26, a new heart
also will I give you. Verse 27, I'll put my spirit
within you. You could go on reading, but
he's talking about all these things that he will do. And then
he says in verse 37, thus sayeth the Lord God, I will yet for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. I'm gonna give you a new heart.
I'm gonna put my spirit within you. You know what you're gonna
do? You're gonna ask me to do that for you. God does what he
does. This is amazing. Think about
this. God, the living God, the infinite
God, the eternal God, the all-powerful God, the immutable God, does
what he does through the prayers of his people. And whatever you're
going to have of God, you're going to ask him to do it for
you. Now, in this passage of scripture,
we have Elijah's prayer before God. It's only 63 words, brief,
yet how powerful. And before the fire of God would
fall down, Before the people would fall in worship, before
the false prophets would fall, before the rain would fall, we
have this prayer of Elijah, asking him to do what he could not do. Now, before we look specifically
at the prayer, would you turn with me to James chapter five,
because James uses Elijah as an example of prayer. James chapter
five. Verse 16, confess your faults one to another
and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah was
a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly
that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the
space of three years and six months. He prayed for this to
take place. God purposed it, and what did God move Elijah
to do? He moved Elijah to pray for it.
Elijah prayed for it, and it did not rain for the space of
three years and six months. Verse 18, and he prayed again,
and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Now let's consider these verses
for just a moment. He begins with confess your faults
one to another. Question, does that mean confess
your sins one to another? We need to be accountable to
each other and we need to confess our sins to each other and let
everybody know what we're thinking? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But he is saying this, confess
what you are to one another. Don't try to pretend to be what
you're really not. Don't try to put on some kind
of pious airs. Confess your faults one to another.
I'm a faulty individual. I'm a sinful individual. I'm
not gonna confess my personal sins to you, and I don't want
you confessing your personal sins to me. That's just wrong.
There's nothing right about that. Confess your faults one to another
and pray one for another. You know if you love somebody,
you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna pray for them. That's part of loving
somebody. You pray for them. You pray for
the Lord's blessing upon them that you may be healed. Now look
at this next statement. The effectual, fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. The effectual, It means it works,
fervent, it's from the heart, it's zealous. The effectual fervent
prayer, and what is prayer? It's asking God to do what we
cannot do. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. Now it's interesting. I don't
know why I do it, but I've looked at some commentaries on this
passage of scripture, and the first commentary I read said
there's no answered prayer without righteous living. The effectual, fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much. There's no answered prayer without
righteous living. There ought to be righteous living.
I'm not saying anything against that, but that's ridiculous. What you're saying when you say
that is you're excluding the intercession of Christ. It's
your righteous living that causes your prayer to be answered. That's
folly. That's foolishness. It's wrong. The only reason my prayer is
answered before God, first, the only reason I pray is he put
it in my heart to pray. And the only reason that my prayer is
answered is because of the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. You go back to that water fountain.
Water's good, isn't it? It's acceptable. It quenches
your thirst. What did that water have to go
through before it became that way? What was it like in the
treatment plant? It was undrinkable, wasn't it?
It wasn't any good at all. It was filthy. But through the
treatment plant, it's acceptable. Oh, how acceptable Christ makes
our prayers when they come through him. In and of themselves, they're
no good. They're filthy. They came from
me. But through the intercession of Christ, that is why prayer
is heard. Now, the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man. Who is this righteous man? Every
believer. Every believer. It's not talking
about one who lives more righteously than another. Every believer
is righteous. How so? Because I'm united to
Christ. Because I'm one with him. And
if he is righteous, I am righteous. His righteousness, his law keeping,
his perfect obedience is my obedience before God. It's my righteousness. Righteous by, I'm united to him. Just as truly as he took my sins
and they became his sins, and he became guilty of the commission
of those sins. That's why he died. because my
sin became his sin. He became guilty of that commission. Somebody says, how could that
be? I don't know, but it is. It's the gospel. It's God taking
my sin and giving it to his son, his son owning it as his own,
but just as truly as my sin became his sin, his righteousness becomes
my personal righteousness before God. Now, the effectual, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much. God uses the prayers of
his people. He inspires them. I love it where
David said in Psalm 27, when thou saidest, seek ye my face,
my heart said, thy face, O Lord, will I seek. He inspires the
prayer. He answers it for Christ's sake.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
And then he uses the example of Elijah. Elijah was a man subject
to like passions as we are. Now what are passions? Sinfulness. He had the same sinful nature
that you and I do. He had the same struggle with
his sin, with his sinful nature. He had the same passions. You
think of your wicked passions that rise up in your heart. You
think, how can I be that way? Because you're a sinner, that's
how. But think of those. Elijah dealt with the same things
you and I do. We try to make these guys into
super saints. They're like us. Moses, Abraham, name them, they're
like us. Elijah, the greatest of the prophets,
he had the same passion as you do. He was a man subject to like
passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain,
and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and
six months, and he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and
the earth brought forth her fruit. Now James uses Elijah as an example
of prayer. And here we have recorded Elijah's
prayer. Now let's go back to our text
in 1 Kings 18. Now first, the sacrifice was
doused with water. That was to let us know clearly
that there's no trickery involved here. He's calling for fire to
come down from heaven. And the sacrifice was doused
with water to make sure there wasn't any trickery or deceit. This is God's work. And that's
when he begins to pray, verse 36. And it came to pass at the
time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. There was a morning sacrifice,
and there was an evening sacrifice. I love thinking about this. Our
day begins with the sacrifice of Christ being all. Amen? And how's our day end? With the
sacrifice of Christ being all. Oh, how we love the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the morning and the evening sacrifice. Now, the prophets of Baal had
been praying and nothing happened. It came to pass at the time of
the offerings of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet
came near and said, Lord God, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Israel. Now, he begins with the covenant
God. That's where he begins this prayer. And it's at the time of the evening
sacrifice, he understands that the only reason his prayer will
be answered is because of the sacrifice of Christ. That's not
just filler space, that's very important. You can never separate
anything from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
begins his prayer with the covenant God, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Israel. Now he was their God
by covenant. He made himself known to Abraham. He said, I called Abraham alone.
He entered into covenant with Abraham. Isaac, what do you think
of when you think of Isaac? Well, you think of the sacrifice,
don't you? He represented the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel, Jacob's
name is changed to Israel, a prince with God. He goes from being
a heel, a deceiver, to a prince with God. That's the work of
God the Holy Spirit in giving life. That's the covenant God,
the God of Abraham, God chose Isaac, Christ died. Jacob becoming
Israel, the new man, he approaches God as the covenant God. And that's the only way we can
approach him, the covenant. I love what David said, have
respect to the covenant. When I pray, I'm only hoping
in the covenant. the covenant God made with Christ
and me being included there. I love what David said, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, insure, and this is all my salvation
and all my desire. So when you pray, it is to the
covenant God. Now what did he ask him to do? Let it be known this day that
thou art God in Israel. Now, you remember what was happening.
The people were halting between two opinions. And he said, if
Baal's God, serve him. If Jehovah's God, serve him. They had been halting between
two opinions. And he says, let it be known
that thou art God in Israel. Salvation is knowing God. Salvation is knowing who He is
and it's knowing Him. So that you actually recognize
Him. So that you know when it's Him or it's a false God being
preached. You know because you know Him, the living God. Thou art God, the God of the
scriptures, the God of sovereignty, the God of holiness, the God
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the covenant. Let it be
known. And the only way it will be known
is if he makes it known. Revelation. The only way I'm
going to know God and the only way you're going to know God
is if he is pleased to make himself known. Remember what the Lord
said to Simon? Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah.
Flesh and blood hadn't revealed this to thee, who I am, the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. Now, if you
know God, it's because he himself has made himself known to you. And look what he says next. He
says, let it be known that I am thy servant, and that I have
done all these things at thy word. Let it be known that I
am thy servant. Now, I want it to be known that
I've only done what you told me to do. When I prayed that
it might not rain for three and a half years, there's one reason
I prayed that prayer. You told me to do it. When I
prayed that fire might come down from heaven, and I set this thing
up between the prophets of Baal and myself, it's because you
told me to do it. Let it be known that I am thy
servant. Now, the only way you will listen
to me is if you really believe that I am God's servant. Now, I'm not talking about clergy
laity, but you really believe that God has called me to preach
the gospel, and you really believe that I'm speaking his word. And
if you don't believe that, you won't be able to listen to me.
You'll listen with a critical ear, with a judgmental ear, finding
fault. And listen, if you want to find
fault with me, it's not hard. It's not hard. Go for it. I mean,
I realize that. But you can find fault with anybody,
can't you? Any human being there is, you find fault with. The only way I can listen to
a man is if I really believe he's the servant of the Lord
and that he's bringing the Lord's message. And that is exactly
what Elijah wants. He said, I want them to know
that I am your servant and that I'm speaking these things because
you've told me to. And that's so very important.
Now look in verse 37, look at the vehemence, in which he speaks,
hear me, oh Lord, hear me. Here's what he desired, that
this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou has turned their
hearts back again. Now here's the two things that
he wanted them to know. Number one, that you are the
Lord God. I want myself to know and I want
you to know him. He is the Lord God. He is the
only God. Look down in verse 38 and 39. Then the fire of the Lord fell
and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and
the dust, licked up the water and was to the trench. And when
all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said,
the Lord, he is not a God. He is the God. the only God. Baal is now excluded. He's not believed at all. He
is the God. One of the things that occurred
to me while I was thinking about the definite article, the, nobody
has any problem with a God. This is true. What they have
problems with is the God that excludes everything contrary
to him. The God. You can preach sovereign
grace as long as it's not the truth. It may be a higher view
of the truth. It may be more accurate. But when you preach it as the
truth that excludes all other truths, that's when people get
upset. Now, the people are made to see,
and this is what he's praying. And you're only gonna see this
when you see the accepted sacrifice, the fire coming down from heaven.
That's what this represents, God's acceptance of the sacrifice
of Christ. And this is everything. I am
trusting God's acceptance of what Christ did as my acceptance
before God. And when you see the acceptance,
the perfection of his sacrifice, how he actually put away sin,
you're going to say, the Lord, he is the God that excludes all
other gods. That's where you're going to
be coming from. Now look, look what he prays
and look at the vimence. Hear me, oh Lord, hear me. that
the people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou
hast turned their heart back again. Now that says these people had
turned away. They had turned away. And what
else does it say? The Lord turned their heart back
again. In Jonah 2.9, we read salvation
is of the Lord, and included in that is turning is of the
Lord. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts. Cause thy face to shine, and
we shall be saved. Turn thou unto me. Turn to me
and turn me to you. Turn me and I'll be turned. I'm
quoting scripture. And this is the heart attitude
of every single believer. Lord, turn to me. Don't turn
away from me. I know that's what I deserve,
but don't turn away from me. For Christ's sake, turn toward
me. And turn me to yourself. Now, if God turns you, I know
this. You will know it's He that did
it. And that's what He's praying for. He says, I want them to
know that you have turned their heart back. And what is a turned
heart? It's someone who looks to Christ,
Jesus the Lord only. Now if you do that, you know
what? God has turned your heart. That's the only reason you do
it. God has turned your heart. and you cry continually, Lord,
turn me, turn us again, cause thy face to shine, and we will
be saved. Now here is his desire, that
they might know him. 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. You're the one who did
it. Salvation is of Now, in that beautiful prayer, 63 words, I
love the brevity of it. You know, there's something about
brevity that's very powerful. I hope I learn that even in preaching,
and I hope every preacher would learn that. There's something
in prayer, brevity. Brevity, not thinking you're
heard for your much speaking, but brevity, 63 words. We have
one of the most glorious prayers in all the Bible. And God moved
him to pray this. And God answered his prayer. And here's what I desire for
myself and for you, that the Lord would move us to pray. Cause us to pray. Ask him for
all the things that we cannot do. Oh, there's so much that
without me, you can do nothing. So that's how much I can do is
nothing. And oh, that the Lord would cause us to be a praying
people, just like Elijah was. God is sovereign. Everything
that happens, happens because he purposed for it to happen
before time began. And everything he does, he's
gonna move his people to pray for. And anything that you get
from God, it's gonna be because he moved you to ask, you're gonna
ask, and he's gonna give it to you. May the Lord impress this
upon our hearts. Amen.