4. The Prayer of Faith

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes, Prayer Meeting, Sermon Audio 2015, November 2015 Tagged with , , , ,

Hymns: RHC 100 He Lifted Me RHC 101 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms RHC 104 All That Thrills My Soul

 

Life of Elijah

– The Prayer of Faith

1 Kings 17:17-24

 

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

 

OUTLINE

  • The Distress/Heartbreak (v17-18)
  • The Deliverer/Helper (v19-21)
  • The Deliverance/ Help (v22-24)

 

INTRODUCTION

Ordinary lives in the hands of God become extraordinary lives. This is the testimony of Elijah. The man of God placed his life at the disposal of God. He sought not his own glory (John 8:50). His life is hidden in God. Even the words that he speaks is not of himself but from the Lord (John 14:10, 24). This was how our Lord Jesus lived.

 Andrew Murray observed well, “Christ found this life of entire self-renunciation, of absolute submission and dependence upon the Father’s will, to be one of perfect peace and joy. He lost nothing by giving everything to God. The Father honoured His trust and did all for Him, and then exalted Him to His own right hand in glory. And because Christ had thus humbled Himself before God, and God was ever before Him, He found it possible to humble Himself before men, too. He was able to be the Servant of all. His humility was simply the surrender of Himself to God, to allow the Father to do in Him what He pleased, no matter what men around might say of Him, or do to Him.”

Elijah was not perfect. He is a sinner like us. James 5:17a tells us that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. Like us, he faced trials and temptations. What distinguished Elijah was a man of God is that he lived a life of dependence upon God. This we see in the way he handled situations in life. He did not use his wisdom to solve problems but sought God in prayer.

It is that dependence that distinguished him as a man of God. He has been learning to live this life of dependence, of listening to the voice of God and obeying it moment by moment through life’s pathway.

Recall, in the beginning of our study, Elijah suddenly burst into the scene at the palace of Ahab, sixth monarch of the Northern Kingdom. Elijah delcared to King Ahab there would come a drought for years to come. This was a a direct challenge to the authority of Baal, the heathen god of prosperity that was brought into Israel by Jezebel, the queen of Israel.

God, thereafter, instructed him to hide in a brook called Cherith near the Jordan where he was nourished with fresh water daily and a catering food service supplied by ravens twice a day to provide for his physical nourishment.

 Then, he saw the brook dried up. He waited on God’s next instruction. God spoke. He instructed His prophet to make a 136 km journey westward to the coastal town of Zarephath in Phoenicia near Sidon. Elijah was to seek refuge with a certain widow.

 Elijah kept trusting God and obeyed God’s every instruction. He found the widow at the gate of the Zarephath. You recalled our 4 thoughts last week.

  • Keeping Faith in Adversity (v7)
  • Waiting Upon God to Show the Way (v8-9)
  • Walking upon God’s Directed Way (v10)
  • Experiencing God’s Faithful Care (v11-16)

 The widow provided shelter for God’s prophet. The widow’s limited resources were used to support the prophet. God saw to it that every need of Elijah and the widow and her son were taken care of. In fact, God wrought a miracle to multiply the oil and the meal all the days of the famine.

1 Kings 17:16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

Elijah experienced the divine goodness and faithfulness of God![1] When we surrender ourselves to God’s leading in our life, we see His good hand protecting and prospering our way. Was life very tough for God’s prophet? It was very tough. Did God not take care of him? God did each step of the way.

 Then, the unexpected happened. The widow’s son was taken ill and literally died! It a most helpless state, the widow came to Elijah and Elijah prayed to God for help.

  • The Distress/Heartbreak (v17-18)
  • The Deliverer/Helper (v19-21)
  • The Deliverance/ Help (v22-24)

 

(1) The Distress/Heartbreak (v17-18)

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

 The widow gave shelter to Elijah. Suddenly, tragedy struck the family. The son fell ill and he seemed to have died. She was in great distress. A widow is very helpless without care and protection with the passing of her husband. And a son would be her only hope for the future. When he grows up, he would take care of the mother. But we see here the son dying before the mother. Imagine the scene before us. The agony of the woman as she saw her son lay motionless before her. A most helpless situation. They were poor. How could they even afford to seek medical help? It was a desperate situation. It was a heart-breaking moment for the widow if her son would just depart suddenly.

She was perhaps much confused in her heart as she could not understand the grave situation that has befallen her. It must have caused some soul-searching in her heart. Could it be some past sin that caused this affliction that came upon her? She wondered in despair. She sought Elijah in that moment of distress and heartache.

Dear friends, what is your response to a crisis in life?

 For the child of God, we can seek the intercessory prayer of the church family. This was what the widow did. She sought Elijah’s help to intercede for her before God. It was a godly response.

 Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

 Although she was in a state of self-reproach checking her own life if there is something she had done that could have caused such grave judgement from God to befall her son. She confided in Elijah her predicament.

 

(2) Deliverer/Helper (v19-21)

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

 What could Elijah do? He indeed, humanly speaking, was helpless. It was a test for Elijah’s faith. He needed to trust God to work out all things. Our text in verse 20 tells us that Elijah pleaded to God in intercessory prayer.

 As the psalmist declared in Psalm 121:1-8 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

 God was in control. He was still in charge. Elijah was calm.

 A Christian worker related to me that many years ago, she received a phone call from the junior college that her son has fallen from the second floor whilst putting up decorations for moon cake festival. She was at home alone. She did not know what to do when she heard the bad news. She fell on her kneels and she prayed and committed her son to the LORD pleading for God’s mercy. By the grace and mercy of God, her son was spared without any injury. God was her helper in her distress.

There are many so-called dropouts in society because they have reached a high wall, cornered and do not know what to do. They break down. When you enter the mental institute at the main lobby, we see a statue with a man lending a helping hand to pull some one who is sinking into utter despair and hopelessness.

 The figure is entitled “Sayang”, the Malay word for “love, care and concern”. The message is clear. These men and women who are down and out in society need your help and my help. What is the best help?

 An elderly lady said to me, “I have lived for so many years now. There are so many times I was so angry with how others have treated me and there seemed to have no recourse. Since I became a Christian and have a personal relationship with Jesus, I learn to cast my care upon Him. I can sleep better, leaving the worries for my LORD to take care. She said to me, as Christians we must do that.”

We see so many housewives breakdown due to pressures that come from their own family, staying at home, taking care of family and the family taking them for granted. How many have gone a little mad?

 The psalmist affirms in his heart and confesses in his mouth in penning this psalm that his help cometh from God. This is his announcement in verse 1 which is also the theme of the psalm – the source of the psalmist’s help is his LORD.

 When he is distressed and troubled, he will pray and look to God. He would lift up his eyes heavenward to the hills and seek help from the LORD. The petitioner lifts up his eyes to the mountains, but above the mountains, enthroned in heaven is Jehovah (the LORD), who protects Israel. The mountain and hill are the symbol of stability, this imagery provides the picture that God is the most reliable helper. It was there at the mountaintop that the Temple stood in Jerusalem. These pilgrims as they made their journey were in contemplative mood concerning the problems in life that were bothering their heart. And they understood that God is able to help!

 Why is God a reliable helper? This psalm tells us the answer so that we may like the psalmist affirm our faith in God.

This was what Elijah did. He sought the Lord in prayer.

 Before Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion and death, He prepared the hearts of His disciples for the trial that would befall them when He shall be sent to the cross. They would be in utter sorrow and distress and helpless.

John 16:20-24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Jesus said to His disciples that when they are in trouble and needed help, do not hesitate to call to the Father in His (Jesus’s) name and be sure you will receive help and comfort that your sorrow may be turned to joy.

 The Apostle Paul advised believers to not forget to pray whenever they have needs rather than to be absorbed in our worry.

 Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 When we pray and give our petitions to God, the Holy Spirit gives us peace in our heart, a restfulness, a calmness, that God hears and He will certainly help.

 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

 When Elijah prayed, God heard. This is the power of prayer.[2] Elijah learned the power of prayer. He saw the power of God. He saw the power of intercessory prayer. It was not for himself that this child was saved for God’s glory and purpose to be fulfilled. Elijah submitted his reputation and trust to God.[3]

 The commentator Adam Clarke commented on the action of how Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times, when he said, “It is supposed that he did this in order to communicate some natural warmth to the body of the child, in order to dispose it to receive the departed spirit. Elisha, his disciple, did the same in order to restore the dead child of the Shunammite, 2 Kings 4:34. And St. Paul appears to have stretched himself on Eutychus in order to restore him to life, Acts 20:10.”

 

(3) The Deliverance/Help (v22-24)

22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

God will strengthen Elijah’s faith by this grand answer to Elijah’s prayer. The child was raised from death to life again. This was the first instance of a resurrected life in the Old Testament. notable miracle has taken place.

 God’s power flowed as Elijah prayed. He showed himself a man of God when he prayed. He depend upon God. It was a blessed testimony as all glory went to God when the child was revived again.

Does God always have to heal? This is a wrong question. It is God’s prerogative how He would answer a prayer. It is the prerogative of God’s children to commit their cares to God and let God’s will be done. This submission to God’s will is important.

 When Hannah committed her concern to have a child to God, she rose up and went home and did eat and her countenance was glad again. She had committed her distress to God and had faith to trust God to make out the outcome for her.

 

CONCLUSION

The Distress/Heartbreak (v17-18), the Deliverer/Helper (v19-21), the Deliverance/ Help (v22-24). Thank God for His children. We can safely trust Him throughout life’s pathway. Amen.

[1] F.W. Krummacher, Elijah the Tishbite, Baker Book House, 1977, 65.

[2] Gene A. Getz, Elijah – Remaining Steadfast Through Uncertainty, B&H Publishing, 1995, 50.

[3] Ibid., 61.