Pastor Jeff Anders continues Elijah — God’s Praying Prophet on Sunday evening. Building on the morning message from 1 Kings 18:41–46 — where Elijah bowed on top of Mount Carmel and prayed seven times until a little cloud like a man’s hand became a great rain — this message asks what happens if we don’t keep on praying. After reviewing four things we miss when we quit (joy, peace, power, and good gifts), Pastor Anders adds two more: our fellowship with God will suffer (Psalm 145:18; Revelation 3:14–22), and the enemy might win a victory (Ephesians 6:10–20). Spiritual warfare, he says, is won or lost in the prayer closet.
From the Series: Things Are Looking Up in Israel
In the days of King Ahab, his wife Jezebel, and the spread of Baal worship, God raised up a praying prophet to confront the king and the prophets of Baal and to turn Israel’s heart back to God, at least for a while. James holds Elijah up as an example for us (James 5:16–18), and he is remembered among the faithful in Hebrews 11. When Elijah prayed, things started looking up:
- The rain dried up — for three and a half years, showing that Baal the “storm god” was no god at all, and that Elijah’s God controls the weather (1 Kings 17:1). If you ever grasp that God really is God, you are almost ready to surrender everything to Him.
- The provision showed up — water and ravens at the brook Cherith, then a poor widow in Zarephath who poured out her last meal and oil and found God giving her a little more, again and again (1 Kings 17:2–16).
- The dead rose up — the widow’s son, raised after Elijah prayed over him about three times (1 Kings 17:17–24).
- The sacrifice burned up — on Mount Carmel the prophets of Baal prayed and prayed with no answer, but after one simple prayer from Elijah the fire of God consumed the sacrifice, wood, stones, and the water in the trench (1 Kings 18:20–40).
- The clouds opened up — the subject of the morning message (1 Kings 18:41–46).
When the Clouds Opened Up: Elijah Kept On Praying (1 Kings 18:41–46)
Listening by Faith
Elijah told Ahab to eat and drink because he heard the sound of rain — though there was no thunder yet. He was listening by faith, with his ear set not toward the sky but toward heaven. When we walk with God in prayer, the Holy Spirit reveals His will, and we learn how to pray in faith, according to that will.
Six Times Nothing, the Seventh Time a Cloud
On top of Carmel, face between his knees, Elijah prayed and sent his servant to look toward the sea: nothing. A second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time: still not a cloud. He kept on praying, and the seventh time the servant saw a little cloud like a man’s hand. For Elijah that was enough. The sky turned black, a torrential rain ended the drought, and the hand of the Lord carried Elijah on foot ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel.
Why Did God Make Him Wait?
God likely heard Elijah the first time — Elijah was praying for rain because God had already determined it was time to send it. Unlike Baal, our God is not hard of hearing. So why wait until the seventh time? Sometimes God simply wants us to keep on praying, to wait before Him, because waiting on God in prayer grows us into who He wants us to be. God is not a vending machine; He is our Lord, and more than anything He wants us to get to know Him. The church is told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
What We Miss When We Stop Praying
Pastor Anders briefly reviewed the four points from the morning service:
- The joy we might miss — ask, that your joy may be full (John 16:24). Joy lives within every believer in the person of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and prayer stirs it up; in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).
- The peace that may be absent — we have a choice between anxiety and prayer; bring everything to God with thanksgiving, and His peace will guard heart and mind (Philippians 4:6–7).
- The power we may never experience — the early church prayed and kept on praying until the place was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the Word with boldness (Acts 4:31).
- The gifts we may not receive — keep on asking, seeking, and knocking; your Father in heaven loves to give good gifts to those who ask (Matthew 7:7–11).
Then he added two more.
Our Fellowship with God Will Suffer
The Lord Is Near to Those Who Call on Him (Psalm 145:18)
God wants to have fellowship with you. He wants you to draw near to Him, and He wants to draw near to you. Who is God near to? Those who call upon Him in truth. If you want to know God’s fellowship, you have to pray.
Christ Knocking at the Door (Revelation 3:14–22)
Jesus’ message to the church at Laodicea was not about losing salvation, and “hot” and “cold” are not about being for God or against Him. It is about a sense of need: when you are hot you turn on the fan, and when you are cold you turn on the heater, but when you are lukewarm you don’t feel you need anything. Laodicea claimed to be rich and in need of nothing (Revelation 3:17), while Christ saw them as poor, blind, and naked, and called them to come to Him for true riches, clothing, and sight. Because He loves them, He rebukes and chastens and calls them to repent (Revelation 3:19). Then to believers He says He stands at the door and knocks, wanting to come in and sup with them (Revelation 3:20). Prayer opens the door to fellowship with God.
Stir Up Your Appetite for God
If you want to meet with God at church, meet with Him before you get there. The task of the pastor and the song leader is not to entertain, but to help you fellowship with and worship God. If you are “not getting fed,” you may simply not be hungry — like kids who can’t eat supper after raiding the pastor’s candy pocket, we lose our appetite by snacking on other things. Stop feeding on everything else, get alone with God, and you will find yourself hungry for Him. The more you taste of the Lord’s goodness, the more you will want to come back to Him again and again (Psalm 34:8).
The Enemy Might Win
We Have a Real Enemy
The enemy is the one who hates our Lord, the gospel, the church, and God’s people — the one who lied to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3) and walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He is out to deceive and destroy. The devil and his demons are liars; if there is any truth in what they whisper, it is always laced with a deadly lie, like poison hidden in food that looks and tastes good. Once that lie is planted, it works on us until the enemy has a stronghold in our thinking and emotions.
The Whole Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–17)
Believers are called to put on the whole armor of God to stand — to keep on standing — against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11), because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). God has provided the armor for us in Christ, and we must appropriate it by knowing it, believing it, and trusting it: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith — resting in the person and work of Christ — the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:13–17).
A Run-On Sentence into a Prayer Meeting (Ephesians 6:18–20)
With some humor about Paul’s long, “divinely inspired run-on sentences,” Pastor Anders pointed out that the armor passage doesn’t stop at verse 17 — it runs right into a prayer meeting, calling believers to pray at all times in the Spirit, staying alert and persevering on behalf of all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). Three emphases stood out:
- Praying always — not a little prayer once in a while, but keep on praying, like Elijah.
- Watching — stay awake and alert in prayer. Our bodies need sleep (as 1 Kings 19 will show), but praying is more important than sleeping, and God gives extra strength and grace to those who spend time alone with Him.
- With all perseverance — pressing on, not stopping, praying until God hears and answers.
Spiritual warfare is won or lost in the prayer closet. Paul, in chains, asked the saints to pray that he would be given utterance to open his mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19–20). The devil’s ultimate goal is to shut down the gospel — its preaching, teaching, singing, and fellowship — and to silence and intimidate God’s people.
Lies Through Well-Meaning Voices (Matthew 16:21–23)
When Jesus said He must go to Jerusalem to die and rise again, Peter pulled Him aside and rebuked Him, insisting it would never happen. Peter meant well and loved the Lord, yet the enemy was using him, and Jesus turned and rebuked Satan behind Peter’s words, because Peter savored the things of men rather than the things of God. Sometimes the enemy plants his lies through well-meaning people who care about us, through the general voice of the world, or through our own fallen flesh and overthinking. How will you know the difference? By walking with God in prayer.
Peter Learned to Discern (Acts 5:1–11)
The same Peter who once stumbled later walked with the Lord and prayed with the church in Acts. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about their gift out of greed and covetousness, Peter recognized that Satan had filled their hearts. Walking with God made him keenly aware of the enemy’s work. Pastor Anders shared that he fights these battles by walking the sanctuary and praying against the enemy’s lies — for himself and for his people by name — and urged everyone to do the same.
Prayer, Fasting, and Staying Awake (Matthew 17:14–21; Matthew 26:36–41)
After the Mount of Transfiguration — where Elijah himself appeared with Moses and the Lord — the disciples could not cast a demon out of a tormented boy. Jesus did, and He told them some battles are won only by faith and by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:14–21). In Gethsemane, praying with such intensity that His sweat was as great drops of blood, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to watch with Him; He found them sleeping and called them to watch and pray so they would not enter into temptation, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:36–41). There is spiritual warfare we will not win if we don’t stay awake and keep on praying.
Number Seven Might Be Right Around the Corner
You prayed once — pray a second time. Twice — go a third. Three times, four, five, six — the answer hasn’t come yet, so keep on praying, because number seven might be right around the corner, and who knows what clouds God might open up and what blessings He might pour out.
The closing prayer asked God to correct, grow, and teach His people to pray, seek, knock, and ask as they ought; to set free those who carry strongholds in their thinking and emotions from listening to wrong influences; and to weigh on the hearts of any who are lost, giving them a deep sense of their need for Christ — His death on the cross and His resurrection the third day — that they would trust Christ and be saved by His grace.
Take-Homes
- God is not a vending machine; sometimes He has us wait in prayer so we grow and get to know Him (1 Kings 18:43–44; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
- Prayer opens the door to fellowship with God — He is near to all who call on Him in truth, and Christ stands at the door and knocks (Psalm 145:18; Revelation 3:20).
- Lukewarmness is losing our sense of need; meet with God before you come to church, and develop a hunger for the Lord’s goodness (Revelation 3:17; Psalm 34:8).
- We have a real enemy whose lies are always laced with poison; stand in the armor God has provided in Christ (Ephesians 6:10–17; 1 Peter 5:8).
- Spiritual warfare is won or lost in the prayer closet — pray always, watch, and persevere for all the saints and for the gospel to go out boldly (Ephesians 6:18–20).
- Even well-meaning voices can carry the enemy’s lies; walking with God in prayer gives discernment (Matthew 16:21–23; Acts 5:1–11).
- Stay awake and keep praying — a willing spirit is no match for weak flesh without prayer, and some battles are won only through prayer and fasting (Matthew 26:41; Matthew 17:21).
- If you have never trusted Christ, rest in Jesus — His death on the cross and resurrection on the third day are God’s answer to your deepest need.
- Don’t stop at six — keep on praying; the seventh time may be right around the corner.