And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”Īnd it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”Īnd at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” Whether He says “yes” or “no,” God works through our supplications to execute His plan.The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”įinally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. We must pray believing that our intercession impacts events because our sovereign Lord hears us and uses us to bring about His purposes. We may not know God’s eternal decrees, but we do know that He really uses prayer to accomplish them.

The Lord used Elijah’s prayer to reveal and fulfill His intent. God planned to end a drought and show Ahab His power, but this purpose was hidden from him beforehand (1 Kings 18). Today’s passage tells us Elijah’s prayers affected Israel’s rain. Yet prayer does change things in one sense. 29:29), and nothing can alter this plan (Num. In His hidden will (unrevealed to man), the Lord has already determined what will come to pass (Deut. First, we must affirm that prayer cannot change God’s eternal decrees. Supplication is that part of prayer where we feel the tension with providence most strongly. Yet thanksgiving empowers our walk with God and deepens our sanctification by reminding us that every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). Finally, the Lord does not feel slighted if we fail to thank Him. Similarly, our Father knows our sins, but “confession is good for the soul.” There is no greater relief than to confess your sins and thereby gain a new sense of God’s forgiveness.

But if we were created to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever, we cannot fulfill our purpose if we do not praise Him. He got along just fine without our worship before we were born. Obviously, the Lord does not need for us to adore Him. Consider prayers of adoration, confession, and thanksgiving. In his Institutes, John Calvin concluded these questions are asked only because we do not realize that we pray more for our own benefit than for God’s (3.20.3).

Does praying for these needs that He already knows mean we believe that He needs updates from us? Any discussion of God’s sovereign providence invariably makes us ask, “Why, then, should I pray?” This is not an invalid question if the Lord has already ordained the outcome of all things, how can our prayers change anything? Furthermore, God knows our needs before we ask (Matt.

Elijah bible study rain