Elijah on Mount Carmel shows that prayer proves we depend on God. According to Pastor Chris, Elijah acted at God's command, rebuilt the altar, prayed, and let the Lord get the glory. When the fire fell, the people saw who God is. God chooses to work through the prayers of his people.
What happened on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18?
Picture noon on Mount Carmel. The 450 prophets of Baal have been shouting since morning, and nothing has happened. Elijah, standing alone, starts to tease them.
That's the scene most of us picture when we think of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Pastor Chris started earlier, though. After three years of drought, the word of the Lord came to Elijah and sent him back to King Ahab (1 Kings 18:1-2). Pastor Chris put it this way: "It's time to get down to business."
On the road he ran into Obadiah, a devout servant of God who also served the king. Pastor Chris said Obadiah was hiding and providing for 100 of God's prophets at the risk of his own life, because Queen Jezebel was slaughtering prophets. Obadiah was afraid that if Elijah disappeared, he and those hundred would die. Elijah assured him he would stay put.
Then came Ahab's greeting (1 Kings 18:16). Pastor Chris said the Hebrew word translated trouble actually means snake. Elijah's answer, in effect, was that the trouble belonged to Ahab and his father's family, who had abandoned the Lord's commands.
Here's the point for us. Elijah wasn't freelancing. Before there was a showdown, there was a word from God. Pastor Chris said it plainly: "God was in charge of this operation from beginning to end."
What does it mean to waver between two opinions?
Pastor Chris stopped to ask who Baal and Asherah were. Baal, he said, means lord, master, owner, or even husband. He was the main god of the Canaanites and the storm god. The people believed he sent the rain and made the land, the crops, and the animals fertile. Pastor Chris pointed out that nobody seemed bothered that no rain was falling.
Asherah is less clear. According to Pastor Chris, scholars aren't sure whether she was a goddess, possibly Baal's wife, or whether the word means the Asherah pole, a cultic symbol of trees and groves. He leans toward the pole. Either way, Elijah's sights were trained on Baal and his prophets.
The people were the real question. Pastor Chris said some worshiped Baal, and some worshiped both Baal and the Lord. They were hedging their bets, hoping one or both would end the drought. In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah in effect asked how long they'd keep wavering between two opinions, and told them to follow whoever is God. The people said nothing. Pastor Chris said they just hung their heads in shame.
Hedging is an old habit. Where are you quietly keeping a backup plan? That's the question Elijah's question leaves on the table.
Why did Elijah taunt the prophets of Baal?
The contest was simple. Each side would prepare a bull on the wood without lighting a fire, and the God who answers by fire is God (1 Kings 18:22). The people said it sounded good. Elijah invited the prophets of Baal to go first (1 Kings 18:25).
They called out from morning until noon, and nobody answered. Then Elijah began to taunt them. Pastor Chris said he wasn't chiding them for believing in a god who doesn't exist. He focused on their failure to get Baal's attention. Maybe Baal was deep in thought, or traveling, or asleep and needed waking. They just weren't trying hard enough.
So they tried harder. They shouted louder, and Pastor Chris said they cut themselves until the blood flowed, hoping that would get Baal's attention. It went on until the time of the evening sacrifice. According to Pastor Chris, it proved Elijah's point: no one was there to listen.
Notice what the prophets had left when nothing happened. More noise. More effort. Hold that picture, because Elijah is about to do the opposite.
Why did Elijah pray before the fire fell?
Elijah called the people close and repaired the Lord's altar, which had been torn down. He took 12 stones, one for each tribe (1 Kings 18:30). Pastor Chris said he was doing it by the book, according to the law of Moses. Then he had four large jars of water poured over the offering and the wood. Three times. The water filled the trench.
Then he prayed (1 Kings 18:36). In effect, Elijah asked that it be known the Lord is God in Israel, that Elijah was his servant, and that he had done all this at God's command. Pastor Chris summed up the prayer as a request that the people look at God and not at Elijah.
Pastor Chris said, "Elijah wasn't winging it." He heard from God and did what God said, with "confident dependence upon God." He never got ahead of God, and he never stole God's glory. Then came the line our church wants you to keep: "Prayer proves dependence." Prayer admits the job is bigger than we are and our own powers can't pull it off.
When the fire fell, it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and even the water. Pastor Chris called the fire a byproduct. God proved himself by answering prayer. The people fell on their faces, no longer wavering between two opinions.
Does God still answer prayer like he did for Elijah?
The fire had fallen, and God had promised rain. Elijah could have gone home. Instead he told Ahab to go eat and drink because heavy rain was coming (1 Kings 18:41), and then he climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down with his face between his knees, and prayed. Pastor Chris called it the ultimate display of humility. His servant looked toward the sea and saw nothing. Seven times Elijah sent him back. On the seventh, a cloud as small as a man's hand was rising.
Pastor Chris asked why Elijah stayed. Wouldn't God keep his word simply because he gave it, or did it require Elijah praying? Maybe yes to both, he said, but here's what we learn: "Mysteriously, God chooses to work through the prayers of his servants."
Maybe that's just for mighty prophets. Pastor Chris named that temptation, and then went to James 5:17. In effect, James is saying that Elijah was a human being just like us, and that he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it didn't for three and a half years. Pastor Chris put it plainly: "He's just like us." The prayer of a righteous man or woman is effective, he said, and we're made righteous through faith in the one who died for us. "It just has to be offered," and God responds by revealing himself.
So here's one thing for your week. Pick the one thing you're carrying that's bigger than you are. Choose a time each day, and pray about it for seven days, the way Elijah kept sending his servant back to look. Tell God plainly that it's beyond you, and ask him to be seen in it.
Key takeaways
- Elijah went to Ahab and Mount Carmel because God sent him, not because he came up with a plan.
- The people were hedging their bets between Baal and the Lord, and Elijah asked how long they would waver.
- According to Pastor Chris, prayer proves dependence. It admits the job is bigger than we are.
- Elijah stayed on Carmel and prayed until a small cloud appeared over the sea.
- James 5:17 says Elijah was a human being just like us, so we pray too.
Scripture in this message
- 1 Kings 18:1-2 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:16 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:22 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:25 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:30 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:36 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:40 (NIV)
- 1 Kings 18:41 (NIV)
- James 5:17 (NIV)
Frequently asked questions
What happened on Mount Carmel with Elijah?
After three years of drought, God sent Elijah back to King Ahab. Elijah gathered the people and 450 prophets of Baal and called for a contest. The prophets shouted and cut themselves from morning until evening with no answer. Elijah rebuilt the Lord's altar, soaked it with water, and prayed, and the fire of the Lord fell.
Who were Baal and Asherah in the Bible?
Pastor Chris explained that Baal was the main god of the Canaanites, a storm god people believed sent rain and made the land fertile. Asherah is less clear. Scholars aren't sure whether she was a goddess or an Asherah pole, a symbol of trees and groves. Pastor Chris leans toward the pole.
Why did Elijah pray before the fire fell?
Pastor Chris said Elijah wasn't winging it. He acted at God's command, with confident dependence on him, and never stole God's glory. Prayer proves dependence, Pastor Chris said, because it admits the job is bigger than we are and our own powers can't pull it off.
Why did Elijah keep praying for rain after the fire fell?
After the fire fell, Elijah stayed on Carmel with his face between his knees and prayed while his servant looked toward the sea. On the seventh look, a small cloud appeared. Pastor Chris said that mysteriously, God chooses to work through the prayers of his servants.
Is Elijah different from us when it comes to prayer?
James 5:17 describes Elijah as a human being just like us. Pastor Chris said the prayer of a righteous man or woman is effective, and we're made righteous through faith in the one who died for us. It just has to be offered, and God responds by revealing himself.