August 2020

Lesson: “Elijah’s Prayer”.

Objective:  When we Pray, God listens.

Scripture: 1Kings 17&18

This story is about a prophet named Elijah.  Elijah was a regular man who made mistakes, who was afraid sometimes, yet when it really mattered he trusted God.  Elijah did amazing things with God's help and God did amazing things for Elijah.

Every time Elijah prayed God listened, it doesn’t mean he’ll always answer the way we want but He always listens to us.

Memory Verse: " And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God."  I Kings 18:39

There was a king named Ahab who believed in a god named Baal (the weather god).   He and most of the people worshipped this god and did many things that the Bible says we shouldn't do. King Ahab also had a wife named Jezebel.  The king and his wife both came from very evil families.  Together they helped make Israel a place that God did not like.  That's why God sent Elijah, he would show the people that God was more powerful and the one they should be worshipping instead. It all started when Elijah was told by God to deliver a message to King Ahab.  Elijah went to Ahab and told him, "My God has told me that there will be no rain or even dew in the next three years until I tell it to."  I'm going to guess that Ahab didn't believe this would happen because he worshipped Baal who was the lord of the weather and he should've been able to give rain whenever the people prayed for it.

 

After Elijah told King Ahab what would happen the Lord told Elijah to go and hide.  And while there would be no rain and not much food in the land, God made sure Elijah had what he needed.  He stayed by a brook where there was water for him to drink and a type of bird called the raven, brought him bread and meat for breakfast and supper every day.  After some time passed, the brook that Elijah was drinking from dried up and there was no more water to drink.  So God told Elijah to go to a place called Zarephath, there he would find a lady who would give him food and water to drink. So Elijah trusted God and did just what he said.  When Elijah got to the entrance of the town he saw a woman there gathering wood.  He asked her, "Would you please bring me a little water in a cup so I can drink and a small piece of bread? “She replied, "I believe in God as you do, but I don't have any bread to eat, just a small amount of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.  I was just going to go home and make the rest of the food for me and my son and then we will probably die because we will have no food left. “Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid!  Go home and make the food for you and your son, but first make a small loaf of bread for me, and bring it to me.  The Lord has told me that if you do this your jar of flour will never go empty and the jug of oil will not go dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. “Everything was going fine until the woman's son got sick and died.  She went to Elijah for help.  So Elijah rushed over to her house and said, "Give me your son."  He took the boy in his arms to the room upstairs where he was staying.  Then he cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, please let this boy live again! “Elijah spread his hands over the boy and cried out to God like this three times.  The Lord heard his cry and the boy began to breath.  Elijah picked up the boy and took him back downstairs to his mother and said, "Look, God answered my prayer, your son is alive! “Over three years had gone by without a drop of water from the sky.  Animals were starting to die because they had no water or food. God spoke to Elijah and told him, "Go to Ahab and I will send rain."  So Elijah went to find Ahab.  When Ahab was told that Elijah wanted to see him he said in an angry voice, "Is that you Elijah? “Elijah quickly replied, you have disobeyed God over and over again.  You stopped following his commandments and have followed Baal.  Now send for all the people of Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.  Bring all the prophets of Baal and the false prophets of Jezebel."

 

Elijah stood before the people and said, if the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." The people just stood there and said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, Get two bulls, cut it up and place it on wood, but do not start the wood on fire. I will do the same. Then you call out to Baal and I will call out to the Lord. The god who listens and starts the fire is the real God. “All the people nodded and agreed.  So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Get a head start and get your bull ready first.  Call on Baal, but do not start the fire yourself. Then they began calling on Baal to start the fire. They shouted and shouted from morning till noon with no answer. Around noon Elijah was getting bored but he said to the prophets of Baal, "Maybe you're not shouting loud enough.  Maybe your god is busy or sleeping and he can't hear you, you better shout louder."

 

Finally, Elijah called the people over to his altar.  He began to make his altar.  He took some stones and put them around his altar.  Then he built a trench around his altar to hold about a bath tub full of water.  Then Elijah did something very strange.  He asked the people to pour water over his bull, the wood and enough water to fill the trenches below the altar.  The people started to giggle and thought for sure that Elijah's God would never be able to start a fire now. After the entire altar was completely soaked Elijah stepped forward and simply prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, show us today that you are the real God of Israel and that all I have done is obeyed you.  Answer me Lord, so that these people can believe in you once again. “Just as Elijah finished his prayer and everyone stood silently watching, fire burst out of the altar and everything was covered in flames.  Every single thing was burnt down to nothing, and all the water was gone. As the people watched completely amazed they began to fall on their knees and cry out, "The Lord, he is God!  The Lord, he is the real God!"

 

Then Elijah went back to Mount Carmel and prayed to God that the curse would be over and that rain would come.  While he was praying he asked his servant to go look towards the sea for a rain cloud.  The servant came back and said, "There is nothing in the sky Elijah.

 

"Elijah asked him seven times to keep looking, and the seventh time the servant came back and said, "This time when I went to look there was a very small cloud, as small as a man's fist coming this way. “Elijah said to the servant, "Run to Ahab and tell him if he wants to get to his palace in Jezreel he'll have to leave now, the rain is coming."

Meanwhile, the little cloud grew bigger and bigger and the sky got darker and darker.  The wind started to blow and it began to pour and pour and pour... and the drought was over.