Biblical Hope in Times of Drought | Pastor J | Doran Wesleyan Church

Elijah shows up and prays for rain during a drought in the land.

God answers Elijah's prayer and rains down fire from heaven.

Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a prayer contest.

God's people must humble themselves and pray to see God's intervention in the world.

This is an interesting thing where we're at at this point. And what I'm going to do is I want to read where we're at, starting in verse 30, before we get to the real meat of the message. But there's something very interesting that's going on. The prophet Elijah is with his people. And in 1 Kings 18, starting in verse 30, it says, And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. I love that. You can't do nothing unless you do it in the name of the Lord. When we do that, then we got blessing. Then we got success. If we don't do something in the name of the Lord, it's bound to fail. I love this. And he made a trench about the altar. as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bullet into pieces and laid it onto the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And he said, do it a second time. and they did it a second time and he said do it a third time and they did it a third time and the water ran around about the altar and it filled the trench also with water 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 you are God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back again. And the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the birth sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, He is God. the Lord he is God hallelujah I love that the Lord he is God the Lord he is God beautiful beautiful words I love that and Elijah said unto them take the prophets of Baal and let not one of them escape and they took them and Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kizron and I love this, and salute them. Now it's interesting, this is where we're at at this point. There's been a drought in the world, in the land at this point. And there was a wicked king named Ahab. Of course, Ahab, we know Ahab, we know the story of Ahab. Ahab was a very, very wicked dude and kind of thought he had the world on a string sitting on a rainbow, as they used to say, right, according to the song. and he just felt he had everything at his own disposal. Everything's good. Everything's fine. This happens. You've got to understand, these are the prophets of Baal, Ahab's dudes, okay? That's what these people are. These are Ahab's people and they've just been destroyed through the power of God. The drought is going on in the land and Ahab is having a good time. That's usually what happens when there's trouble in the land. Leaders are out having a good time instead of trying to fix the problems, right? That's kind of what it usually happens. That's usually what happens. We're always out trying to do something else instead of trying to fix the problems. We're always trying to do something else and trying to make something good, right? And that's what was happening. The drought was going on and everything. And Ahab was down having a good time, having a party. Well, Elijah ain't about to do that. Because he knows something is about to happen. Because God has just done something on the mountainside there when he rained down fire from heaven. And he knew something else was going to happen. Because God showed up and showed off once and he was about to do it again. And I'm going to tell you something. I believe in my heart of hearts. God is about to show up and do something again. I don't know what it is. I don't know God's mind. I don't know God's heart. But I do know in the darkest of times, that's when God always shows up and shows off and does something. And I can't imagine a more dark time in our world than what we're seeing now. Because we're seeing so much strife and divisiveness and all this going on. And it is a hate-filled world. And God is about to show up and do something today. I'm telling you, it's going to happen. God is about to do something good. There's that beautiful chorus that says, I just feel like something good is about to happen. I just feel like something good is on its way. And I believe that with all my heart. See, Elijah decided, okay, it's time to wake up. Ahab. Sometimes we got to wake up the Ahabs of this world, right? Elijah said unto Ahab, get thee up, drink, for there is a sound of an abundance of rain. I love that. He basically said, get your party done and get yourself on the way because something is about to happen. God's about to show up. And I'm going to tell you something. It's time for the church to stop just going through the motions. It's time for the church to start showing up. It's time for the church to start getting prayed up. It's time for the church to start getting ready. Because God is about to show up and do something And we want to be a part of that We want to be a part of that I love that Eat drink for there is a sound of an abundance of rain And Ahab went up and eat and did drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. And he cast himself down upon the earth. And he put his face between his knees. What was he doing that for? He was getting alone with God. sometimes we got to get alone with God cut out all the distractions there used to be a thing that we used to say a long time ago was you may remember this get in your prayer closet you remember that? that was a big thing back in the day oh go get up in the prayer closet why was you having to get up in the prayer closet? so that you got away from the distractions and let me tell you you think there was distractions back in the day? there's much more distractions now in 2022 than there ever was back in the day I mean continuously all the time there's more distractions phones going off with notifications and with texts and with calls television going on and radio going on and everything going on that's why we got to get alone with God sometimes we got to cut out the distractions we got to get away from distractions distractions. We've got to get along with God and we've got to begin to pray. I love what it says. We shared it yesterday on our radio program and it is so true. That beautiful verse, if my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then and only then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land. And that is what we've got to do. We've got to humble ourselves and pray. What does it mean to humble yourselves and pray. And it means that you humble yourself is that you realize that there is no hope for this world but in Jesus. Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above him there is no other. Only Jesus is the way. And that's what we've got to realize. We've got to realize that he is the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes unto the Father but by Him. There is a sound of an abundance of rain. God's people are praying. God's people are seeking His face. And I'm going to tell you something. If His Word is true, and I believe it is, if His Word is true, God is about to show up and do something. Because I'm going to tell you something. God didn't put that Word in there. If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive the sins and heal the land. He didn't put that in the book just because there was a little extra space. Amen. God doesn't put something in the book because there's a little extra space. Everything that is in the book is inspired by God and is used for the edification of the saints. That's what the Bible is. God did not put anything in here that we cannot use and should not use see so I believe if God's people are praying if God's people are seeking God's face if we're turning from our wicked ways if we're seeking God God is going to show up show up and do something miraculous and that's exactly what was happening here the people of God were seeking God's face at this time because the drought had came and evil had come and all this was going on and the prophet Elijah said it's time for God to show up and that is why on the mount side he went up against the prophets of Baal and that's why he soaked up that wall, that altar and he said God show up and show up and show the prophets of Baal and show your people Israel that you are the one and only God. Hallelujah. I love that story because it's so fun. It is such a fun story because you see that Elijah loves having a little bit of fun, right? Because he let the prophets of Baal have their time and they couldn't get there or God, but God bailed to answer with fire. And he began to heckle. I love that. He's just having a little fun. Maybe your God's on vacation. Maybe he's indisposed. Maybe you better speak a little louder. Maybe he fell asleep on you. Elijah having a little bit of fun. Nothing wrong with having a little fun. Amen? That's the point. And so, but when it came down to brass tacks, when it came down to get serious, Elijah got serious. Elijah got along with God. Elijah began to pray to God because he knew God was the answer. God was going to answer by fire. God was going to do something. God was going to do something miraculous, and God did. But God wasn't done yet. God wasn't done yet. And Elijah knew that. God had answered by fire, and God was about to answer by rain. And in faith, I want you to understand this. When we read this account, you'll see this. Elijah in faith went down to Ahab and said, Eat, drink, get your business done and get back to Jezreel because we're about to have a flood. There was no signs of rain in the sky. Want proof of that? Let's read. Verse 42, or 43, pardon me. It says, and he said unto his servant, get up now, look towards the sea. And he went up and looked and he said, there is nothing. but Elijah just told Ahab that you better get up and get ready because there's a sound of an abundance of rain what was Elijah speaking of? Elijah was speaking words of what? Faith he knew in whom he hath believed and he was persuaded that he was able. And that's exactly what it was. Elijah said, get thee up and get ready and go. Then he sent his servant up to go look and there was nothing. So Elijah gave up. Is that what he did? No. No. No. He said go again seven times Kind of sound familiar Remember when the prophet said go dip into Jordan seven times Kind of sound familiar, right? The idea of seven is God's number of perfection. Sometimes we only do it once. We only pray once or twice or three times and then we get disgusted. because God has an answer. So if God has an answer and I prayed twice or three times then I might as well quit. What if the prophet would have said to his servant, go up once and he said, no, there's nothing. And he said, oh well, and I was wrong. Would the rain have came? No. Elijah. had to show his faith. He said, go up seven times. Go up seven times. Second time was nothing. Third time was nothing. Fourth, nothing. Fifth, nothing. Six, nothing. Seemed like a foregone conclusion. Except what it says in verse 44. It says, and it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea like the man's hand. And he said, Go up and say unto Ahab, Prepare your chariot and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. He's telling him, All right, you had your warning first. Now this is your two minute warning. Hallelujah. He sent his servant to say, this is your two-minute warning, Ahab. You better get in your chair. You better get running. Because I'm going to tell you something. If you don't start now, you ain't going to get home. Oh, wait a second. Wait a second. God just said something there. Think about what I just said. You better get going or you're not going to get home. The same thing works for the church. we better get ready. We better be getting prepared because if we don't get going we ain't getting home. Wow. We gotta prepare ourselves. There's an old thing that I remember a preacher saying I'm getting my bags all packed because I'm getting prepared so I'm getting ready to go. What was he talking about? Was he talking about preparing a pack of a suitcase getting ready to go to heaven? No, he wasn't. He was talking about I'm preparing my heart. I'm preparing my mind. I'm preparing my soul so that when the time comes, when God calls me, whether it be in the rapture or whether it be my time to go, whatever the case may be, I'm ready so that I can go at a moment's notice. And that's what we've got to do, church. We've got to be ready at a moment's notice. Because we never know. It could be our time today that our body just gives out. It could be today. Or it could be that Jesus comes back today. And says, it's time, church, come home. And we've got to be ready at a moment's notice. Because in an hour when we least think it, that's when the Son of God is going to come. And we've got to be prepared. Because we never know. We never know. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I love this I love this this is beautiful in verse 45 it says and it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens were black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel one time the wicked king listened to the prophet and rode home. But the story doesn't end there. The story doesn't end there. Absolutely not. There's one more verse. And what an interesting verse it is. It says, In the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his loins. Now what does it mean to gird up your loins? It means, you've got to understand that in Bible times, they wore long flowing garments, right? Long flowing garments, and so they would go clear to the ankle, right? And so what Elijah did was he girded his loins. He grabbed them and tied them up. Tied them up close around to his knees and all, so that they wouldn't get in his way. Because God was about to show up and show off in the prophet. So he tied up his loins, he tied up his garments, if you will. And what happens? He ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Oh, I love this. You've got to understand something. That Ahab, his chariot, his horses, was considered the greatest in all of the land. He had the best chariot money could buy and the fastest horses money could buy. No chariot, according to history, no chariot, no horses could beat. Could even come close to beating Ahab's chariot. Because they were the best in the land. the fastest, like grease lightning. And here's the old prophet of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord comes down on the prophet Elijah. He curbs up his loins and he says, God, you're going to show off today through your prophet. And he curbs up his loins and he began to run. He began to run. And I can imagine this. I can see it in my mind's eye. Here the rain is beginning to fall And the prophet is running. And here's Ahab saying, yeah, yeah, yeah. Trying to get his horses to run as fast as they can. And he's thinking, I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it. And here comes Elijah. Just running full on. I can see this. Because Elijah is this type of dude. We saw it in the previous chapter or previous part of this verse here. That he was making fun of the prophets of Baal. He was having fun with them. What makes us think that he didn't run up alongside Ahab and say, hey dude, you better get moving. I'm going to beat you. And he takes off and he runs and beats Ahab on foot to Jezreel. That is the power of God on people. That is what God can do with a willing servant. And I'm going to tell you something, people. This is true. If we believe that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask for faith then nothing let me say it again nothing is impossible to us Because God is able God is able What I saying today is this Get prepared. Get ready. Because there's a sound of abundance of rain. God is about to do something big. God is about to do something big. God is about to bring a revival. God is about to bring a revival of interest to the church. God is about to bring a revival of desire back to the church. God is about to do something to show this world that God's people are still, still chosen by God and are going to one day be out of this world. And all the ones that haven't followed him are going to stand back and go, what happened? Maybe, just maybe, they were right all along. Maybe, just maybe, they weren't as crazy as we thought they were. Maybe, just maybe, there was something to this religion, this Christianity, this God followership that the Christians have talked about all these years. Maybe there is something to this. God is about to show up. God is about to do something. There is a sound of abundance of rain. We can hear it in the distance. We can see the clouds begin to roll. We can feel the wind beginning to blow. And I'm telling you, God is about to do something. But it is up to us to have the faith like Elijah to say, I believe that something good is about to happen. And I just want to be a part of it. I just want to be a little part of it. Lord, just let me be just a little part of it. I want to be just a little part of this blessing that this world is going to see. I want to be a part of it I want you to gird up your loins like Elijah I want you to get ready to feel the hand of God down upon you and I want you to begin to run and get ready because God is going to show up and show up because there is a sound of an abundance of rain and it's about to fall and God's people are going to be blessed and I want you to be a part of it I want you to be a part of it I don't want any of us to be left out I don't want anybody that's watching the video today to be left out You want to be a part of it. Get involved. Get involved. Begin to pray. Begin to seek God's face. Turn from your wicked ways. Then and only then will God hear from heaven. Forgive the sins and heal the land. But it is up to us. We have got to have the faith. Do you have the faith today? Do you have the faith to believe today? Do you believe that there is a sound of abundance of rain? Do you believe that God is going to show up and show off? And if you do, then great. Let's join hands together. But maybe there is someone today that would say, maybe I don't have that kind of faith to believe, but I need it. We're going to pray for you today. And let's believe together as we bow our heads and close our eyes this morning. If you believe with me that God is about to show up and show off, and there is a sound of an abundance of rain, that God is about to do something miraculous, that God is about to show up and do something like we've never seen before. God is about to do something new. God is about to do something fresh. God is about to do something like we've never seen before in this world. If you believe that today, then praise the Lord. But maybe there is someone today that says, my faith is not as strong as that. And I want to have the strength of the faith that Elijah had. that maybe when I pray one time, I get discouraged. But I want to be like Elijah, that I sit there and say, well, go seven times, pray seven times, believe seven times, and I'll keep believing until I see it. Would there be someone honest to God, not to me today, but to God, and say, God, I want that kind of faith. I want that kind of strength in my faith. Will you pray for me today? Will you raise up the hand this morning? Hands going up today. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If you're watching a video this morning, this video, this message, and you're saying, I want that kind of faith, raise your hand where you're at and just praise the Lord there and say, Lord, give me that strength in my faith. Father God, today you saw these hands in this house, those maybe that are watching the video, saying, I want to strengthen my faith. I want my faith strengthened. Father God, I pray right now in Jesus' name that you will reach down upon those ones, that you will strengthen their faith. That, Father God, they will have new, new strong faith. That their faith will be stronger than ever before. That right now, Father God, they will feel the infestation, the impression, the infilling of the Spirit of God deep down into their soul. That it will feel them from their soles and their feet to the top of their head. they will feel the very presence of God building them up, filling them up, and strengthening them to new heights. That, Father God, their faith will be strengthened. Father God, I pray that right now in Jesus' name. I pray it right now in Jesus' name. Father God, for those that have that strong faith, I thank you for that. And I pray, Father God, it will continue. that it will not lessen, but even Father God, that their strength in their faith will even strengthen even more. And Father God, that all of us together, all believers around the world, will begin to strengthen our faith and begin to pray and seek God's face, just as what Chronicles says, Father God, and that we will have that strength of faith and that we will see the blessing of God. I pray right now in Jesus' name. I thank you Father God for it right now in Jesus name I thank you Father that something good is about to happen I thank you Father God that the sound of abundance of rain is beginning to fill we can feel it Father God we can hear it Father God we know Father God that it is happening and Father God right now I pray that we will see it soon and very very soon the miraculous showing up of the blessing of God I pray right now and I thank you for it in Jesus name thank you Father and now Father as we dismiss Father God I ask that you will not dismiss us but Father God I ask that you will go with us Father God keep us safe and then Father God bring us back safe into your house next time that we might be able to worship you Father for all that you are for all that you do we give you all the praise all the honor and all the glory for it all for you're truly worthy of our praise. And we thank you in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. you

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