Faith like no other

I was listening to a sermon by James Merritt about faith and the story in 1 Kings 18 about how the Lord answered Elijah’s Prayer on Mount Carmel. 

This story has several different messages, but the part of the story that I want to share with you is how Elijah challenged Obadiah and his 450 prophets of the god Baal to a duel of sorts.

1 Kings 18:22-24 Then Elijah said to them, “I’m the only one of the Lord’s prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves. Let them cut it into pieces. Then let them put it on the wood. But don’t let them set fire to it. I’ll prepare the other bull. I’ll put it on the wood. But I won’t set fire to it. Then you pray to your god. And I’ll pray to the Lord. The god who answers by sending fire down is the one and only God.”

You see Elijah had so much faith in his God that he knew he would not fail. Man, I pray that I could live in faith like that all the time. Oh there have been times when I had that much faith and God showed up. But I wish I could always have that much faith in God and not to rely on myself or other humans to do things in life.

So the story continues where the 450 prophets of Baal pray and pray and pray for the fire to start.  Elijah even eggs them on by saying that maybe their god is asleep or away on vacation.

1 Kings 18:27 At noon Elijah began to tease them. “Shout louder!” he said. “I’m sure Baal is a god! Perhaps he has too much to think about. Or maybe he has gone to the toilet. Or perhaps he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s sleeping. You might have to wake him up.”

Finally Elijah asks them to stop and give him his chance. So Elijah rebuilds the altar and then not only knows that his God can and will ignite the fire, he then tells the others to drench the altar in water, 3 times! (BTW – Elijah also knows if this doesn’t work, he’s a dead man.)

1 Kings 18:36 When it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward. He prayed, “Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Today let everyone know that you are God in Israel. Let them know I’m your servant. Let them know I’ve done all of these things because you commanded me to. 37 Answer me. Lord, answer me. Then these people will know that you are the one and only God. They’ll know that you are turning their hearts back to you again.”

38 The fire of the Lord came down. It burned up the sacrifice. It burned up the wood and the stones and the soil. It even licked up the water in the ditch.

WOW. Having that kind of faith is intense, to say the least. Again, I have seen God working in my life when I have faith in Him. This is what “faith” is all about. I am not sure this is the kind of faith that today’s world has though, especially in America.

So when people ask you about your faith, can you tell them that you have enough faith in God, that He will ignite the fire in you?

Go read the entire story about Elijah and Obadiah. 1 Kings 18 I think you truly see faith like no other.