Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
1 Kings 18:43-46
And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
After the famous showdown on Mt. Carmel where the Lord sent down fire from Heaven to prove He is God and Baal is not, Elijah now hits his knees on Mt. Carmel to pray for rain. It hasn’t rained in over three years because of Elijah’s fervent prayer request earlier and the sovereign hand of God. While on his knees with his face in the soil of that mountain Elijah calls upon the name of the Lord. Our God has already told him that rain was coming, but He presses in to see the answer. By faith, he then sends his servant to look for the rain 6 times with no result, but on the 7th time the servant comes back with a report that there is “a little cloud like a man’s hand” that was “rising from the sea”. Empowered by the Spirit, Elijah then outruns Ahab’s horse drawn chariot all the way to Jezreel, which some commentators say was a distance of almost 20 miles!
Rain can be symbolic of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said from our hearts would flow rivers of living water speaking of the Holy Spirit. The point here is that we should lean into prayer looking for an outpouring of the Spirit, and when we see even the smallest sign of God’s work we should chase after it with all we are! It’s been said that if we expect nothing from God we will seldom be disappointed. What about you today? Are you praying with expectation? Are you pursuing God with all your heart? Do you really believe the Lord can bring breakthrough in your life and the lives of others around you or are you just going through the religious motions? Effective prayer is expectant prayer, so today let’s pray with eyes open looking for God to send a flood of His Spirit!