Review of “Great Prayers of the Old Testament” – Part 4

The next prayer considered by Mr. Alfred Thomas, in his book of the above title, is that to which reference is made in the general epistle of James:

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”¹

“It is pre-eminently in the matter of prayer that Elijah is proposed to us as an example in the New Testament. From the long list of Hebrew saints and worthies he has been selected by James to prove and illustrate the proposition that ‘the supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.’ (R.V.) His prayer(s) for drought are not mentioned by our historian, but his prayer for rain may not unreasonably be supposed to be referred to in the account of 1 Kings 18 : 42-45.”

We here encounter, then, a situation still more remarkable than any heretofore in con­nection with this book. We have, among the cases already considered, met prayer expressed —and unexpressed—and situations and events, strange but symbolic : redolent of the spirit of prayer—and even a case of the spiritual yearnings of waking hours taking the form in dream of acceptable request and rich reply ; but here we have no record whatever of any prayer by Elijah in connection with either the withholding or the releasing of rain! Yet the author essays to contemplate (and does so, profitably in the main) the petition associated with the latter event, at least; and which we know, (as with the former), certainly was made, from the categorical recital of the facts by God through His servant James, as quoted at the outset. But there is so much left unsaid by James, that in order more fully to understand the praying for rain, and its relation to the earlier pleading for drought, and to equip ourselves with an appreciation of the historical context, we will leave aside for the moment the latter prayer and its consideration by Mr. Thomas in the book before us.

As to the former prayer, quite apart from the disclosure by James, we would, for our own part, have felt quite certain at least that God had, in some circumstance or other, granted to Elijah foreknowledge of (what Jesus refers to as) the coming of “a great famine over the land ;” ² for had He not done so, then Elijah’s announcement to Ahab, blunt and bold, “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,” ³ would have been nothing less than a daring display of presumption such as would have met with prompt and deserved divine rebuke.

More­over, it is inconceivable that his terrible words were uttered in his own name, when the two prefatory phrases are taken into account. The prophet rams home to the renegade Ahab, two facts which his acts all too loudly proclaim he has forgotten. (1) Jehovah, God of Israel, liveth (howsoever much the temporary king of some of Israel’s descendants may ignore it) ; and (2) Elijah himself (whose very name, Eliyahu, signifies, “He is my God”) “stands before” Him; a term which we take as being used for the twofold purpose of indicating that Elijah in all humility viewed himself as a servant, standing before his King, ready to perform His every expressed wish : and that in this instance, therefore, Ahab is clearly to understand that in the sacred office of the Almighty’s accredited messenger, as herald of Heaven he now solemnly proclaims the begin­ning of a fearful, blighting drought.

Allowing, now, the light, (which, through James, the Spirit shed), to play on this situation, we know that Elijah had “prayed earnestly that it might not rain,” and as his prayer(s) to that end must obviously have preceded the announcement of the nation’s awful fate, that announcement must have been consequent upon God’s having answered his prayer by direct instruction as to what he should proclaim. How often, or over how long a time, this righteous prophet had earnestly put forth his plea, we do not know, but now, the answer had been given ; and, in the account of his giving to Ahab the message, the very next verse records further direct divine instruction of the kind we have been compelled above, to deduce ; this time telling him to flee eastward and to hide himself by the brook Cherith.

Appetite is whetted as we pursue the matter of this former of Elijah’s unrecorded prayers, which, though not dealt with by our author, is most profitably linked by James as we have seen. It leads to a discovery of close parallels between the two in regard to motive (in oppo­site circumstances) and in relation to God’s known purposes. All of which is of great help to ourselves in understanding the principles which must always characterise our own prayers if they are to be acceptable to the same “God of (Abraham, Isaac and) Israel.” It is apposite, then, to enquire, “But why should this man of God have ‘prayed earnestly that it might not rain,’ when he well knew the shocking suffering and hardship, destruction and death, that any affirmative answer he may receive would inflict on man and beast ?” And the answer is that he earnestly believed that it is always best, in any circumstance, whatever it involves, that the will of God be done ; and strange as it may seem, by his earnest prayer that it might not rain, he was virtually saying, (like the Saviour himself, later, similarly involving submission to the suffering of very great hardships—for a greater good involved), “Thy will be done!” And here is the proof :—

Elijah could discern the unmistakable “signs of the times.” They told him clearly that the very circumstance, the exact condition of affairs, which his God had foreseen five hun­dred years before, and concerning which He had revealed His will precisely—had now arrived ; and that is what drove him to his knees, as a man of faith, to supplicate God to perform what he knew was determined before to be done, as being well deserved—and of course, therefore best in that deplorable situation. Here is the warning word of pro­phecy which Elijah had in mind—shining in the “dark place” of his day and pilgrimage: “Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them ; and the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit ; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.” “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust : from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” ⁴

And what was the contemporary scene as Elijah saw it ? God’s record says, “Ahab the son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Eternal more than anyone before him. It was the least of his offences that he lived in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat ; he actually married Jezebel, a daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Phoenicians, and then turned to serve the worship of Baal ! He erected an altar to Baal in a temple of Baal which he had built in Samaria. Ahab also made an image of Astarte ; Ahab did more to vex the Eternal the God of Israel than all the kings of Israel before him.” We can appreciate, therefore, that not only was the Eternal vexed, but also the one who “stood before Him,”—he would vex his righteous soul from day to day, and year to year, with such lawless deeds ; and when he saw that because sentence against his evil works was not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the son of Omri was fully set in him to do evil, he would pray ; and he would pray with increasing earnestness as he saw that the cup of iniquity was rapidly filling.

And when at last the longsuffering of God came to an end, his prayer was answered by his being made the bearer of the message to the chief offender ; and that message was just one sentence (of words)—a just “sentence” also, (of prophesied punishment) against the crimes which had become insufferable. “He (that is, God) shut up the heaven that there be no rain.” Thus there can be no doubt that Elijah’s prayer was persistent and urgent entreaty that God should, without further delay, carry out His punitive measure as prophesied long before, against this wicked king and people ; for there­by He would fulfil His word, vindicate His honour, and (who could tell ?) perhaps, by the grim chastisement, induce repentance and open the ears of the straying sheep to the message of truth from the True Shepherd of Israel in the mouth of His almost despairing prophet.

But when God at last responded, and His servant, by message crisp and precipitous, delivered them to their fearful fate, why did Elijah announce : neither dew nor rain, “but according to my word” ? The thought that it might be taken as a case illustrating so close a relationship between God and His prophet

that “my word” may mean God’s word, to be spoken later by His representative mouthpiece (in the same sense as Jesus, later, spoke of his words being not his, but His that sent him) —must, on reflection, be set aside ; yet the exact sense (as it appears to us, that is) still compels acknowledgment of that close re­lationship of Master and servant, apart from which Ahab has no hope of an end to the drought. It does read as if he was now able to turn on and off the nation’s water supply just as he wished: a kind of chief “rain-maker” —an office to which many pretend, of course, in the east. In fact Moffatt (whose words we followed above, in stating the case against Ahab) makes him say, “except as I give orders” ! But an ignorant Galilean may per­haps be forgiven for thinking that though the words may, perhaps, be capable of bearing (amongst others) that possible construction, they must not, in this instance ; for the simple facts of the situation are against it. Whereas the words of the A.V. (unaltered by thc R.V.) are capable of conveying a sense (not super­ficially apparent) quite in harmony with facts known.

It is pertinent at this point to ask,

“What did Elijah know respecting the duration of the drought he introduced (at God’s behest and on God’s behalf) ?”

When he was told to get out of the way and hide, he knew it was to be a matter of years ; for the announcement, extremely short as it was, included that dis­closure by using the words, “these years.” That he would know the exact span is extremely doubtful.

God remained in sole control of the situation, and when He judged the time ripe to move again in the matter, He sum­moned the prophet, saying, “Go, show thyself unto Ahab.” He was thus apparently in a position parallel to our own ; knowing the time roughly, wondering “How long exactly ?” and watching and praying respecting the hoped-for and certain deliverance in due time.

There was more than one reason why it would not have been good for the time to have been revealed precisely :

• It would not have been good for Ahab to know the measure of the chastisement about to be inflicted ; for one can brace to the easier bearing of most trials, the exact duration of which is known : and he deserved no such easement.
• It would not have left God (the only One to “give orders” respecting it) free to exercise His mercy whensoever signs of repentance might be forthcoming in His people, who, though recalcitrant, were still free agents.
• It would not have been as beneficial for the character of Elijah—a feature the study of which could be extended with profit.
• It would not so well accomplish the necessary honouring of this servant of God, in the emphasis of his credentials before the nation, as would the leaving of it somewhat indeterminate, and the making of the lifting of the awful curse contingent on the prophet’s own intercession and supplication.

Now in the light of the facts as we know ; them thereafter, that is exactly what God did ; and this leads, we are convinced, to the most likely meaning of those words in question, used in that solemn sentence—no dew (even) nor rain “these years, but according to my word.” It was to be no short, sharp punish­ment, but an affliction stretching over years ; and the ending of the woe would depend (1) on their reaction and response, and (2) in some way on His representative, Elijah. God remained the only Rain Restrainer and Rain Maker ; but Elijah was to play the part before Israel of personal pivot-point of the drought’s end. And when the time for that drew nigh we certainly find Elijah taking command of the situation, and also issuing commands and being obeyed. Preparatory to the trial by sacrifice for the true God, we see Ahab, in fact, issuing commands at Elijah’s command! And again, when the day of the nation’s glad release from its suffering came, we find Ahab going, literally, up hill and down dale as Elijah gives orders. The prophet commands and the king complies. But all this, we are convinced, is beside the point at real issue. He was in no place to, and he never in fact did, command dew or rain, any more than he had, in the first place, commanded its cessation. The phrase, “according to my word,” cannot mean “at my order” or “word of command.”

There is another sense, which, also, we think we must eliminate ; notwithstanding that it would in this case be true, as taking it to mean that rain would come only as he brought word of it—which of course it did. But we don’t want to grasp a shadow and lose the bone. The real point seems to be this : Elijah may be in no position ever to control rain, but he obtained it !—as suppliant. Rain came at his request. “No dew, no rain, but according to my word—OF PRAYER, to the Giver you ignore : the God you reject.” That seems to be the only sense which fits all the facts, and it removes entirely that superficial impression of the prophet during those “years,” intermittently procuring and preventing the flow of water somewhat after the fashion of a child playing with a water tap. The true simile is that God was the Great Water Con­troller and Elijah His key to Israel’s “stop-tap,” The key, being really a person who could speak to the One Who used it, even pleaded to be used ; and was used : God turned off (“according to its word” or plea in prayer) Israel’s water—and threw the key away—as far as the banks of the brook Cherith ! Nothing could be done about their plight until God fetched back His key, when He saw signs of repentance in His national “son.” On sight of the key, the king charged him with being the cause of all the trouble (an acknow­ledgment at least of his key position) but we saw in our previous article how the “halting” people came over to the right opinion after the vindicating test by sacrifice with the apostate leaders ; and when, by this same key (again “according to its word” or plea in prayer), God had “turned their heart back again,” the awed, convinced and convicted people “fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, He is the God ; Jehovah, He is the God’ ;” and nothing now prevented God’s further use of His commissioned key to “turn on” His rain, like a river of blessing—but again, as we shall see, only “according to the word” or plea in prayer of that key!

It remains only for us to supply from Scripture the short link between the stunning triumph of Jehovah, and the joyous event which nothing now could long hinder ; and we shall then be ready to join Mr. A. Thomas in his study of the (unrecorded) prayer for rain, the leading text of which it was which stimulated questions clamouring for answers. The pursuit of these seemed not only necessary to a right understanding of the gripping narrative, but also essential to a riper understanding of the nature, and relationship to God’s purpose, of acceptable prayer ; and we trust that the above passing along of a portion of our findings will be found not unhelpful to others, also, whose deep desire is that their reading and prayers may be directed and devoted to the one end, that when he appears, who “is our High Priest there to incense faithful prayer” they, and not only Elijah, may “stand before him,” and await his divine instructions how best to deal with all modern Ahabs, near and far, lest they perish from the way, and to the end that every knee before him bend, acknow­ledging that “Jehovah, He is the God.”

As we make this link-up, however, there is one point we must not overlook ; namely, that before his (final) prayer for rain, even before his renewal of contact with Ahab and the famous Carmel contest, the prophet knew that God was about to re-open “His good treasury, the heaven, to give the rain.” Elijah had left the dried-up Cherith, and had been sustained by a widow woman at Zarephath. And when there was”sore famine” in Samaria, “the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, ‘Go, show thyself unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the earth’.” ⁵ So it is quite clear that when the prayer is made, it is for something which God had purposed and specifically promised ; never­theless God’s pleasure was to be earnestly besought by a righteous man for its bestowal.

The contest over, then, there remained the necessary proof of repentance : carry out the Law ! For God had clearly commanded concerning anyone who publicly or secretly solicited that they “go and serve other gods” —whether false prophet ; or one’s own brother, son, daughter, wife or friend—such should not be heeded, pitied, spared or shielded : “but thou shalt surely kill him. . . . And all Israel shall hear and fear . . .” ⁶ It was Ahab’s responsibility, as king, in this situation, to have caused this to be carried out ; but Elijah, on God’s behalf, takes charge, and orders the people to apprehend the 450 priests of Baal. This they do, and he leads them down to the brook Kishon and slays them there. It cannot be that he took them to that spot to be slaughtered on account of the con­venient abundance of pebbles which would be lying in the dried-up bed, adequate to imple­ment the “stoning” specified in the Law, for we know (from what Ahab told his terrible wife when he got home) that they were “all slain with the sword.” It could be that God guided him in the selection of the place ; but if not, then we see a further manifestation of his faith : that God would shortly send a raging torrent down that ravine, which would wash away every vestige of those wicked apostates from His land. Whether the prophet had divine endorsement for his substitution of swords for stones, again we know not ; but we can appreciate that the legislation suited to the killing by stoning, of one by many, was quite impossible in this exceptional case ; for, the moment they were released for the necessary distance, numbers

alone would have defeated the object : both parties would have rushed for nature’s missiles, and casualties would have by no means been confined to Baal’s priests ! In any case, it is ever the spirit in God’s laws that matters, rather than the letter.

Whether Ahab gave, or was asked, any formal assent to this honouring of the Law, is not recorded. Opposition would in any case have been futile, and the role of silent and sullen bystander best became him. We know that he went down to the brook and witnessed the Kishon killing, for Elijah’s next recorded act was to say to him, “Get thee up, eat and drink ; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” He must accept the situation, whatever his mental reactions. His unspeakable Jezebel had slain the prophets of the Lord ⁷ in wicked revenge for the curse for which she held Elijah responsible ; and Elijah had slain the prophets whom she sponsored, in righteous vindication of the God Who could now bless His people. In any case he must eat ! And up there, at the scene of the accepted sacrifice there would be prepared the customary sacrificial feast. “So Ahab went up to eat and drink.”

The “sound of abundance of rain” may have been a Spirit-revealed prescience in the prophet’s own soul, or a literal Spirit-sent soughing through the Carmel tree-tops, by way of prompt recognition of such signal magnifying of His Law by His “key” servant, whom He was now about to use to “turn on” His promised blessing on His repentant people. We incline to the latter, for we can deduce from what quickly follows that a sea-breeze was blowing^– which soon became a thorough-going westerly gale. We know that from Mount Carmel’s summit one had a wide uninterrupted view to the west of the Medi­terranean Sea. We also glean that Ahab must have climbed in due course to the vicinity, at least, of the summit—perhaps to watch with mingled anxiety and curiosity for the first signs of a little of that precious element which in immeasurable profusion stretched before his eyes to the horizon, being sent down from above upon the ground, parched to metallic hardness, upon which he stood—and the transference of which he was as powerless as Baal to effect. We know, too, that although we read, “And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel,” whilst at the top in a general sense, he must have been at a spot (1) which was below where Ahab stood, and (2) from which the sea was not in view, for he finds it necessary, in order that his servant may obtain a sea-view, to “Go up . . .”

It was at that spot that (we have no doubt whatever) Elijah, as James says, “prayed again,”—this time, that the heaven may give rain. The posture of his body as he prays, we may be sure is recorded that from it we may learn the disposition of his mind as he approached God on so very onerous an occasion, for he brought the intolerable burden of the nation to the feet of the Eternal, Who alone could remove it. We are told, “he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.” ⁸ To visualise this attitude, we must see him throw himself prostrate to the ground in reverent adoration of the Almighty ; to his knees in this case, his body continuing to bend and totally to sink, in emphasis of the humility of his plea, until his face was between his knees, his fore­head probably touching the ground for the restored fruitfulness of which he interceded. Thus, whilst the Scriptures do not record the prayer, they give to us the most powerful portrayal possible of the humility, earnestness and intense fervour of its content.

As he prays, his servant is with him. Whether or no, tradition be right for once ⁹ in holding that this servant was the son of the widow of Sarepta (Zarephath) who, through a previous prayer of the prophet had been restored to life, one cannot be certain of course, but as the cautious Speaker’s Com­mentary remarks, “Certainly, the faithfulness and patience shown in executing” the order he received on this occasion, “without a murmur, imply devotedness of no common kind.” For, after praying, Elijah said to him, “Now go up, look out to sea ” ; and upon his return and hearing his report “There’s nothing,” he directed him to “Go again seven times.” And he did. A splendid example (from one, to us, without a name !) of humble, faithful, devoted obedience. And, on Elijah’s part, surely an outstanding object lesson of “continuing instant (proskartereo­steadfastly, perseveringly) in prayer.” ¹⁰ As to the “seven times,” we may take it to our­selves as indicating the need to persevere in prayer without limit ; similarly, in sense, to the injunction of Jesus respecting our required limitless forgiving of a repenting offender ; but in the case before us, it was of literal performance, for (passing over in silence the six disappointing, negative and non-productive, up-and-down trips to that summit) we read, “And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud is rising yonder, out of the sea, as small as a man’s hand.” A small thing, true. But what a thrill ! It was the tiny rent that shortly was to rip their brassy heaven apart in released bounty ! Like that tiny “500 nondescript Jews” seen by latter-day watchmen as a mere handful in that eastern firmament, but which had multiplied in size 200 times by 1914 (when this reviewer began, with a fascination which soon increased to faith, to watch it), and now looms large in the eastern sky as The State of Israel—sure sign of the Coming King who will “rend the heavens and come down,” and of the Kingdom of God, bringing a flood, which on the one hand will sweep away all trace of the adversary, and on the other enrich all Israel, natural and spiritual ; and indeed all peoples of “them that are left,” with every good thing.

May God give us a faith like that of His faithful prophet, whose old heart was as true and thrilled beyond expression, as the lad’s eye was clear to behold such a sign, and his feet fast to carry such a story ! That cloud was big enough, to tell him his faith was well-founded, his prayer was heard, and the curse was rolling away as the water-loaded clouds would soon roll overhead ; for he immediately commanded his willing and much-exercised servant to “Go up” yet again, and to tell that miserable monarch on the mountain top, that real “troubler of Israel,” to scurry home before God’s abundant outpouring bogged him down and prevented him from telling his infamous queen all about what he knew would furiously enrage her. And in a very short time, “the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain!”

Respecting the tiny cloud phenomenon, it was not an unnatural or unknown one among the many wonders of His ways. It was in the timing of it to coincide with this prayer of faith, that the direct manipulation by the Spirit of God was to be seen producing visible evidence that God had “heard”—that is, answered, the prayer. The Speaker’s Commen­tary says, “Sailors know full well that such a cloud on the far horizon is often the forerunner of a violent storm.” Clarke remarks that the Hebrew means, “like the hollow of a man’s hand,” in the form of a hand bent, the concave side downmost, and adds, “I have witnessed a resemblance of this kind at sea previous to a violent storm, a little cloud the size of a man’s hand first appearing, and this increasing in size and density every moment, till at last it covered the whole heavens, and then burst forth with incredible fury.” He also quotes the following very interesting observation by a Mr. Bruce who mentions ¹¹ a similar appear­ance in Abyssinia : “Every morning in Abyssinia is clear, and the sun shines. About nine, a small cloud, not above four feet broad, appears in the east, whirling violently round as if upon an axis ; but, arrived near the zenith, it first abates its motion, then loses its form, and extends itself greatly, and seems to call up vapours from all opposite quarters. These clouds, having attained nearly the same height, rush against each other with great violence, and put me always in mind of Elijah foretelling rain on Mount Carmel.”

Returning now to the book, Mr. Thomas is brief in his treatment of the prayer. He stresses, first that it was the prayer of a righteous man ; remarking that sometimes the prayers of the unrighteous, also, are heard, but only their supplications for grace and pardon. The prayer of the sinner in Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican clearly exemplifies that truth ; and God’s being entreated of the evil king Manasseh when he humbled himself, is a factual case in point.¹² “The intercessions of the wicked for others are of no avail, any more than the prayers of the impenitent for themselves.” As David reflects : “If I had regarded iniquity in my heart the Lord would not have heard me.” It would manifestly be unfitting for God to grant the requests of impenitent rebels. “Get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother,” was the stinging greeting of Elisha to Jehoram, king of Israel, the very sight of whom he could scarcely bear, when as one of three kings he sought to “enquire of the Lord by him.” And to Israel’s approach, after persistent and recurring apostasy, God’s res­ponse was, “Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen ; let them save you in the time of your distress.” Though, with regard to the last citation we feel constrained to observe that upon abject abasement in their dire distress, and production of practical proof of sincere amendment of life, such was God’s compassion that He did again “hear” them, and, as exemplified earlier in their history, by the hand of Jephthah delivered them again ; this time from the inroads of the Ammonites. “The Lord is nigh,” however, “unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth, He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him ; He also will hear their cry, and will save them.” ¹³

Noting, next, that it was the prayer of “a man of like passions with us,” the author exhorts that we are not to think of Elias as standing on a pedestal apart from the rest of his kind. He is not pictured as being perfect like the heroes of many biographies, and Mr. Thomas sees fear and unbelief betrayed in his flight ; im­patience and discontent in the desert, etc. He is not sure that the great day of Carmel itself passed without sin. We feel it more fitting for us to leave the particularisation of any faults he may have had to Him Who will judge us all, whilst still accepting, of course, the reminder by James that Elijah was of identical nature with us, who, by that fact may be encouraged by his acceptable, availing prayer, ourselves to come boldly to the throne of grace, though we be compassed about with infirmity, and stained with many sins of imperfection and of ignorance.

His third point is that it was a fervent prayer ; one “of complete self-abstraction, of intense inward entreaty”—revealed as we noted above, by his attitude. “Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, that seek Him with the whole heart.” “Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.”¹⁴ He says, ” ‘Seeking early’ does not mean seeking in youth, but seeking eagerly, intently,” We find that in certain passages the R.V. in either text or margin gives, diligently,”¹⁵ and in others, “earnestly.” ¹⁶ He compares, also, the phrase “rising up early,” which God frequently uses concerning His earnestly entreating His people. “Someone has said that there are not many persons who really and truly pray half a dozen times in their lives. We offer up formal or lukewarm petitions and then marvel that we receive no answers. Prayer must be ektenesteron (very earnestly)”¹⁷ as illustrated by our Lord’s agonising supplication at Gethsemane. It is not that God is hard to persuade ; it is that He will have us mean what we say. There is no difficulty with Him. We are straitened in ourselves.”

Fourthly, Elijah’s prayer was persevering. His servant’s laconic, first report did not daunt him. It is not enough to pray. We must pray and not faint. “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” ¹⁸

The prayer was touching God’s kingdom, the proper subject for our intercessions. It may always be doubted whether many of the blessings we would fain crave for ourselves would be good for us, but when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we know it is according to His will. Were we to pray for dry weather or wet, there would often be a streak of selfish­ness; but Elijah desired the drought and rain, in turn, only as a means of influencing Israel for their good, and the advancement of God’s work. “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.” ¹⁹

Elijah’s prayer was believing. He knew what God had promised ; believed He would grant it in due time. Unbelief makes God a liar.

Elijah’s prayer was humble. In utter self-abasement, he prayed to God Who giveth grace to the humble and has respect unto the lowly of heart ; and was heard in that he feared. It “availed much,” and availed immediately. “The answer almost anticipated the prayer.”^,20

It is almost time to “restore again the kingdom of Israel.” There is another strong breeze blowing in the tree-tops of Carmel. It is time to seek the heights and fling ourselves to our knees, and pray as we have never prayed before. “God is truly more ready to give than we to pray!”