I Kings 18:17-46

The prophet Elijah had issued a challenge to the prophets of the popular god Baal, to see who could pray down fire on a sacrifice. It would be also one of the most momentous days in the life of the nation.

The prophets of Baal were not false prophets; they were prophets of a false god.

They prayed for hours seemingly willing to pray as long as necessary to have their prayers answered.

What an example of persevering determination in prayer.

We are more often like the prophets of Baal than we are like Elijah, the prophet of God.

Elijah began with a spiritual challenge to the people:

"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." (v. 21)

Paraphrase: "It's time to get off the fence and declare faithfulness to one or the other - to the true God or to Baal, which is the god of your own choosing." (v. 21).

We sometimes try to serve God on Sundays and the gods of our own choosing during the week.

Then Elijah rebuilds the altar of God (v. 30) - the place to which they were to come to get in touch with God.

As Elijah prayed, fire suddenly exploded on top of the sacrifice and No one doubted that God had started the fire on that altar.

There is no greater need in the Church today than for the fire of God to fall upon us - the anointing of the manifest presence of God.

The Manifest Presence of God brings with it an awareness of His holiness and our unworthiness.

The manifest presence of God brings deep conviction over sin.

The manifest presence of God consumes everything that is unholy.

When God's presence is real we will yield to His lordship in the way we have been doing things, and the Holy Spirit will begin to preside over the operation of our lives.

First, you must realize how much you need it.

For the most part, our nation, our churches, our homes, and our lives today are void of the glory and presence and power of God, which is really our greatest need.

The real tragedy is that we have come to the place that we are content to live without the manifest presence of God.

If we are content to live without God, we will.

Second, you must really want the supernatural rather than the spectacular.

The real fire of God will come only when we determine that we can't go on without it.

Third, you must expect God to work in new ways.

Our first and major concern ought to be that nothing is more important than God showing up - and whatever happens after that will be in His sovereign control.

Jeremiah 33:3 says, 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

Fourth, if you want to experience the manifest presence of God, you must be willing to pay the price for it.

Elijah's prayer on Mount Carmel was brief because it was actually the closing of a prayer he had begun quite a while before.

God never sends fire on an empty altar. There will be no fire until the sacrifice has been offered.

Are you ready and willing to pray right now, "O God, put within me a passionate desire for the fire of holiness that will expose my sin, consume my iniquity, and set my life aflame with Your love!"?

MAKING IT PERSONAL (A Time of Commitment)

I recognize today that I can accomplish many things without You but they will have no eternal significance. I have allowed the work of the Lord to become more important than the Lord of the work.

Forgive me for playing church, pretending that as long as things look well and go well, they are well. I am guilty of putting You in a box and limiting what You are able to do by my lack of faith. I do not want to continue on through another day without a conscious awareness of Your presence.

Help me today to release the things in my life that have become more important than You. I commit myself to paying the price, whatever it is, in order that the Holy Spirit will have freedom to develop the life of Jesus in me.