“Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.” Micah 3:4
They called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention (1 Kings 18:26-29).
What a pitiful scene! Elijah versus 450 prophets of Baal standing atop Mount Carmel contesting who had the real god. Trying desperately to get a response from Baal, the prophets prayed until they bled. We hear Elijah’s 1 small prayer spoken to the God of heaven and 450 prayers sent to Baal. One success. Four hundred fifty failures. Why?
Five times each day mosques call Muslims to stop their work and unroll their rugs to pray. Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall is lined with Jews wedging their prayer notes between the huge stones. Benedictions, beads, rituals, petitions, and repetitions from Buddhists to Hindus, American Indians to Mormons are mimed every day. Nearly every religion includes ways to contact a supreme being. As with Elijah and the prophets of Baal, the difference is that God hears the prayers that come from the believing hearts of his own. All other so-called prayers are useless babble.
God’s children receive many blessings, including a future in heaven, forgiveness, a guilt-free conscience, daily peace, comfort, and strength. Let us not forget the blessing we have in prayer, an exclusive gift available only to those within God’s family. Just like children share a common bond with their fathers, so prayer unites our heavenly Father with his children. Proverbs 15:29 says it well: “The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”
Think of other blessings that are exclusive to God’s people.
Prayer is a mighty weapon
that God has placed in our hands.
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