In our last episode we saw that the fire had fallen on the sacrifice that Elijah had presented at Mount Carmel with such veracity that the wood, the sacrifice, and even the stones of the altar were reduced to ashes in a moment.  In addition the people of Israel who had gathered on Mount Carmel saw all of this and instantly they reached the conclusion that Yaweh of Sinai was and is the only one true God and they all fell on their faces and shouted, “Yahweh he is God, Yahweh he is God.”

Elijah was aware of the importance of that moment. There could be no more middle ground, so the prophet challenged the people to recommit themselves to Yahweh and Yahweh alone.  They could prove themselves by taking the 450 prophets of Ba’al to river of Keyshawn and execute them, which they immediately did.

Only two men remained on atop Mount Carmel with Elijah.  One was the man who made the commitment to be a servant of the prophet and the other was King Ahab.  The king had not left the mountain top and had observed the execution of the prophets of Ba’al in the valley below. Elijah turned to Ahab at this point and gave him instruction.

Go up and eat and drink, for there is an abundance of rain. So Ahab began to eat while Elijah made his way to a mountain top that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. And there he fell on his knees and began to pray.

Now the bible does not specifically say he prayed here, but only that he bowed down with his head between his knees.  But we know he was praying  because the words were found in James 5: 17-18, it says that Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on earth in three years and 6 months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

The question for today is, is that God promised that it would rain, which it did, why did the Elijah have to pray for the rains to come?

 Pastor Harris will address this question in this episode. 

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