Pastor Jeff Anders opens a new series on Elijah — God’s Praying Prophet. This first message stays in 1 Kings 17:1–16, read through James 5:15–18, with a major supporting word from Deuteronomy 11:13–17. The heart of the sermon is simple and searching: when Elijah prayed, the rain dried up — and when Elijah prayed, the provision showed up. It closes with a call to emptiness before God: the road to fullness is emptiness.
Who Elijah Is
Elijah stands out among Old Testament prophets for miracles and for how other prophets are measured against him. The New Testament keeps bringing him up. John the Baptist is an Elijah-like prophet — rugged dress, strange food, and a partial fulfillment of the promise of Elijah in the last days. When Jesus asked who men said He was, some answered “Elijah.” On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus about His coming death (Matthew 16:13–14; Matthew 17).
Elijah appears during the reign of Ahab in the northern kingdom. Ahab’s Phoenician wife Jezebel brings Baal worship into Israel, promotes it militantly, persecutes the prophets of Jehovah, and aims to turn the nation from the living God to Baal. Into that idolatry God raises Elijah to confront Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal — to expose idolatry, destroy Baal’s prophets, and call Israel to repent.
Hebrews’ faith chapter also touches this story: faith that saw women receive their dead raised again (Hebrews 11:35) points ahead to Elijah raising a dead boy — material for a later message. The series title lands here: Elijah accomplished what he did by praying. He is God’s praying prophet.
James 5: The Key to the Series
The theological hinge is James 5:15–18. James urges confession, mutual prayer, and healing, then states that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. His example is Elijah: a man of like passions as we are, who prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not for three years and six months; who prayed again, and heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth fruit.
Elijah felt what we feel — encouragement and bravery, but also fear, intimidation, and depression. He was not a different species of believer. Yet when a person right with God prays effectually and fervently — “red-hot” praying — great things start happening. If God used a man like us that way then, why not still today?
Two headings structure 1 Kings 17:
- When Elijah prayed, the rain dried up.
- When Elijah prayed, the provision showed up.
I. When Elijah Prayed, the Rain Dried Up (1 Kings 17:1)
1 Kings 17:1 — Elijah the Tishbite stands before Ahab: as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. “Before whom I stand” means he knows God, walks with God, and (per James) has been in prayer. The drought will be so severe there will not even be dew — and it will not lift until God’s man gives the word (until he prays again).
Why the Drought Strikes at Baal
Jezebel’s Baal is the storm / rain god — the one credited with early rains (fall) and latter rains (spring). In Baal mythology, Baal “dies” in dry seasons and “rises” to bring rain again. Elijah’s announcement is therefore not only a word to Ahab; it is God exposing the culture’s lie. Talk to Baal all you want — there will be no rain. The God before whom Elijah stands is drying the heavens, and Baal can do nothing.
Spiritual Warfare and the World’s System
The devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). He lied to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3). He lies through Jezebel and through demons behind Baal worship, trying to destroy the people of God, the gospel, and confidence in God’s Word. The world’s system still propagates lies about how to be blessed. Behind the lure is covetousness — desire for what God may not will (cf. James 1:14). The lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life show up in Eve’s temptation (1 John 2:16; Genesis 3:6) the way ads still promise that one more purchase or lifestyle will transform you forever.
Ahab and Jezebel believed the lie: if you want full barns and satisfied bodies, Baal is the answer — while keeping Jehovah “on the hook” just in case. Jezebel is the tip of the worldly spear controlling the narrative; the people believe the demonic lie.
Mercy Instead of Abandonment (Romans 1)
God could have pulled His hand back and let the nation destroy itself. Romans 1 describes God giving societies over that reject the Creator and worship the creation. That has happened in history and may be happening in our country without revival. But God had a plan for Israel — the Messiah through Israel, promises still in effect — so instead of abandoning them He sent a prophet who would speak truth they did not want to hear: Baal is not your guy; the God before whom I stand is God.
Deception, Confrontation, Repent or Rebel
A terrible feature of deception is that when you are deceived, you do not know it. How do the deceived find out? It begins with the Word of God — a man of God with a word from God. Confrontation hurts. Usually people either repent (turn the other direction) or rebel. Ahab will call Elijah a troublemaker; Jezebel will want him dead. When rain fails, Ahab’s mind keeps hearing Elijah’s voice.
Deuteronomy 11: Moses Already Said This
Someone who knew the Torah might have remembered Deuteronomy 11:13–17: if Israel loves and serves the Lord with all the heart, God gives rain in due season. But if the heart is deceived and turns to other gods, the Lord shuts the heavens, there is no rain, the land yields no fruit, and they perish quickly from the good land. Idolatry triggers drought. Elijah’s prayer aligns with that covenant warning. No rain long enough means no crops, no grazing, and eventually no food on the shelf.
II. When Elijah Prayed, the Provision Showed Up (1 Kings 17:2–16)
Hide by Cherith — Drink and Ravens (1 Kings 17:2–6)
The word of the Lord comes: hide by the brook Cherith before Jordan (1 Kings 17:2–3) — near the Israel/Phoenicia border. Drink of the brook; God has commanded the ravens to feed him there (1 Kings 17:4). Elijah went and did according to the word of the Lord (1 Kings 17:5). He leaves home, income, and familiarity to sit by a creek and wait on unclean birds.
Ravens are unclean birds that eat unclean things. God using them (and later a Gentile widow) signals that God has the Gentiles in view even while judging Israel. Provision arrives: bread and flesh morning and evening; he drank of the brook (1 Kings 17:6). Like manna (Exodus 16) — the same food again and again — but no recorded complaining from Elijah. God’s provision is not always what we had in mind; His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8–9).
The Brook Dried Up on Purpose (1 Kings 17:7)
After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain (1 Kings 17:7). God did not have to let it dry. He allowed it because He was about to provide another way. Every time God shuts one door of provision He opens another. The next assignment will position Elijah to see a dead boy raised — but first the brook must dry so he will move.
Zarephath — Enemy Territory and a Destitute Widow (1 Kings 17:8–16)
Arise, go to Zarephath of Zidon; dwell there; God has commanded a widow to sustain him (1 Kings 17:8–9). That is Gentile/Phoenician territory — the heartland of the Baal system — and the poorest possible host: a widow. Elijah arises and goes (1 Kings 17:10). At the gate she is gathering sticks. He asks for water, then bread. She answers: only a handful of meal and a little oil; she is preparing a final meal for herself and her son, that they may eat it and die (1 Kings 17:10–12).
Elijah: fear not; make him a little cake first, then for herself and her son. The Lord God of Israel’s word: the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither the cruse of oil fail, until the Lord sends rain on the earth (1 Kings 17:13–14). She does according to Elijah’s saying; they eat many days; the barrel and cruse do not fail according to the word of the Lord by Elijah (1 Kings 17:15–16).
The application is pressed hard: put God first; empty the barrel and the cruse in obedience; see what God can do with emptiness.
The Road to Fullness Is Emptiness
It is incredible what God can do with an empty barrel and an empty cruse. Go ahead and empty it out — obey to the point of emptiness. When the Word of God speaks and the people of God step up willing to obey even if it means emptying everything they have been clinging to, God supplies again and again. Every time she went back, meal and oil were there. Others may starve; her house eats — because she was willing to be emptied so she might be supplied.
If you want to experience God’s provision, let Him empty you so He can provide for you. The road to fullness is emptiness.
Has God been dealing with something you cling to? This may be the time to pour it out. The closing prayer called the lost to brokenness and abandonment to Christ and the cross, and believers to empty what has no place, surrender, and become the people God saved them to be.
Take-Homes
- Effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much; Elijah was a man of like passions, yet God used his praying (James 5:16–18).
- The living God — not Baal, not the world’s blessing system — shuts and opens the heavens (1 Kings 17:1; Deuteronomy 11:13–17).
- The devil’s method is still the garden’s: lie against God’s Word, lure through desire and the world’s system (Genesis 3; John 8:44; James 1:14; 1 John 2:16).
- God may give a rejecting society over (Romans 1), or in mercy send a truth-telling prophet. When truth confronts deception, repent or rebel.
- Faith obeys God’s strange provision — Cherith, ravens, Zarephath, a widow’s last meal (1 Kings 17:2–16). His ways are not ours (Isaiah 55:8–9).
- Fullness comes through emptiness: put God first, empty what you cling to, trust Him to refill (1 Kings 17:13–16).