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Elijah #4

 [Elijah] PREVAILING PRAYER_ 

1 Kings 18: 41-46_ 

 
As English people, we’re traditionally supposed to love a good queue... but I hate queues! They always seem to happen when I’m in a rush. 
Whether it’s driving, at the shops, in the bank... 
I’m impatient when I pray too. I want God’s response to be positive, painless and immediate. 
God, on the other hand, has other plans when it comes to prayer. It’s not about us getting what we want! 
When we keep on coming to God and keep on asking from God we learn to draw near to God. Over time, our desires conform to God’s desires. 

 
[Group discussion] How do you respond when it seems to take a long time for God to answer your prayer? 

 

We have already heard Elijah pray in several different situations... for God to withhold the rain, for a dead child to be restored to life, for God to send fire from heaven. 
Now Elijah prays again... 

 

[Read 1 Kings 18: 41-46] 

 

In verse 41, Elijah told Ahab that he heard the sound of heavy rain (even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky!). How might the prophet have “heard” the rain approaching? 

 

 

What does Elijah’s posture, in verse 42, communicate to God? 

What does your own posture during prayer communicate? 

 

 

Back in Deuteronomy 11:13-14, God had promised Israel that if they would return to Him he would “send rain on your land”. 
Do you think that God would’ve sent rain even if Elijah hadn’t prayed? 
Why or why not? 

 

 

If you had been in Elijah’s sandals (or in the sandals of his servant) when would you have been tempted to give up? 

How can you be more watchful in your praying? 

 

 

What do you learn from Elijah’s story about why God might wait to respond to your prayer? 

 

 

In verse 44, what do the servant’s words, after his seventh trip, indicate about his faith? 

 

Likewise, in verse 45, what does Elijah’s response show us about his faith? 

 

Elijah ran in front of Ahab’s chariot for more than 20 miles to Jezreel. 
How does the passage explain this amazing feat? 

 

What kind of spiritual results do you think that this experience, with the power of prayer, produced in Elijah? 

 

 

What can you begin to pray about (or keep praying about) in your life that will bring glory to God? 

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