Why Prayer Works
What happens when we pray? What’s the difference in praying for what’s in us versus what we want? How do we restore the altars of our life to meet God?
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1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” 6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12 I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. 13 Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”
15 Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”
Elijah on Mount Carmel
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then 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.
27 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.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 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.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 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.’”
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
When I moved to Memphis, a house at the end of our street was severely broken down. I imagine it had not always been that way. Decades ago, I’m sure it would’ve been a place any of us would’ve been glad to call home. But the first time I saw it, it was a mess and in dire need of repair.
That house always reminded me of 1 Kings 18. I imagine that’s how Elijah felt when he found Israel after God sent him to rescue the nation. It was experiencing a rapid and ravaging moral and spiritual decline under the evil King Ahab.
1 Kings 16:30 points King Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of the kings before him.” He provoked the anger of the Lord with his detestable sins but he also considered them trivial. It’s one thing to sin but quite another to think our sins are no big deal!
The supernatural hand of God was on Elijah. He was sent with a message: Turn back to God. And when Elijah appeared on the scene, miracles began to happen.
What Happens When We Pray?
1) Miraculous Supply
A widow who was about to run out of bread dough and cooking oil received a miraculous supply that lasted her over three years. “The jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not dry up.”
2) Children Healed
A little boy who had gotten very sick and stopped breathing was raised from death. The Bible says Elijah cried out to God, and “the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.”
3) Fire From Heaven
Fire fell from heaven when Elijah prayed—That’s some good praying!
God told Elijah to confront Ahab, and everything came to a head on Mount Carmel. In one corner were 450 prophets of Baal, and in the other was Elijah, all by himself. The parameters were set: Baal’s prophets and Yahweh’s prophet were to set their altars, lay their sacrifice, and both parties would pray to their God for fire. The god who answered by fire was the victor.
Elijah allowed Baal to go first. The prophets set their altar, danced, chanted, and cut themselves before calling on their false god to send fire. “And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.” Baal didn’t have enough power to start a fire and roast a marshmallow.
Then, Elijah said to all the people, “‘Come here to me.’ They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins.”
The altar to Yahweh was all broken-down, like that house I told you about—once a beauty but now ruined. The text says, “Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob…and built an altar in the name of the Lord.” He repaired the ruined altar.
The word “altar” is used over 400x in Scripture. It represents a place to:
Have an encounter with God,
Remember what the Lord has done and give thanks,
Sacrifice and to surrender self,
Dedicate our lives to God,
Maintain a strong relationship with God, and finally,
Pray; Not to bargain with God for what we want but to trust God for what He wants.
The altar had not always been broken down. At one time, it was in great shape and used often. It was also a place of power. We see many of the Bible’s greatest heroes at the altar is where:
Abraham built and used an altar to Yahweh wherever he went or returned. He knew he couldn’t live without an altar to Yahweh!
Moses met with God,
Joshua received directions about how to conquer Jericho,
Gideon found the courage to fight the Midianites,
Samson discovered where his real strength was found, “Blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord.”
Samuel saved the nation from destruction.
But now the altar was broken-down and in dire need of repair.
That makes me wonder, are the altars of our lives broken-down and in dire need of repair? Have we gotten used to being less than our best for God because we neglect the altar? Is this neglect why there is such little sacrifice, surrender, and dedication of our lives to God? Perhaps, most importantly, what about prayer?
“The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayer-less studies, prayer-less work, and prayer-less religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”
God’s Church is a Praying People
What does Scripture say about prayer:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but pray about everything.”
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Upon release from the Sanhedrin for preaching in Jesus’ name, Peter and John went to the early Christians, and “they all raised their voices together in prayer.” They prayed for miraculous signs and wonders to continue in the name of the holy servant Jesus. Scripture tells us that after they prayed, the ground of their meeting place was shaken—Prayer in Jesus’ name is powerful!
“I believe that what the church needs today is not more or better machinery or more novel methods. She needs Christians whom the Holy Spirit can use – Christians of prayer, Christians mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods but through people. He does not come on machinery but on people. He does not anoint plans, but people – people of prayer!”
Heart Check
In the last 30 days, can you remember going alone before God and laying your life before Him? “Lord, I am Yours, all to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.”
In the last 30 days, have you spent even a few minutes in urgent prayer? I mean crying out prayer, pouring out prayer.
In Lamentations 2:19, the phrases “cry out” and “pour out” appear together: “Arise, cry out in the night…pour your heart out like water in the presence of the Lord.” I’m not sure we can teach prayer; instead, it must be born out of an environment of felt need. In some ways, we must be driven to pray.
What Does Crying Out To God Do?
1) Affirms Our Dependence on God
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
2) Suggests an Intensity of Spirit.
“I cry out with my whole heart…I cry out to You…save me…I cry for help.”
We must learn to cry out to the Source of true help again. Sometimes this crying out is not an audible noise but an inward cry boiling over—a yearning and a burning after more of God. It presents a deep desire for God to show up and do mighty things. We need to drive prayers into our doubts, fears, and every other problem we have.
3) Suggests Intentionality of Spirit.
It won’t happen if we passively wait for prayer to happen. We have to make time to pray intentionally.
4) Distinguishes the Faithful From the Unfaithful.
Unfaithful Israel thought they knew God, but God said, “You do not know Me because you do not cry out to Me from the heart.” The word “cry” in this context suggests a calling out together as the people of God. The Church is a praying people!
Heart Check
In the last 30 days, have you cried out, “O God, fill me with the power of your Spirit—I have to have it. I can’t leave Your Presence until you fill me?”
In the last 30 days, have you cried out with a passion for your family – God, touch my family, bring them to you, and bring us together in you? Bless our mess, whatever it takes!
Gather Heart and Pray Again
Some of us have quit crying out because we are discouraged and tired. We have lost heart.
“The enemy uses the routine of adversity, the gradual decay of our hopes and loves, the quiet despair of ever overcoming the chronic temptations, with which we have again and again been defeated, to wear our souls out by attrition” -C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters
Prayer is the way we continue to keep our hearts alive in Him when things are hard. We tell God what is in us, not what to be in us.
In Chris Tiegreen’s book 90 Days Thru the Bible, she says, “It is sadly common for Jesus to become Someone we talk about rather than Someone we talk to” (At His Feet). We need to talk to Him and listen to Him. Have you ever paused in prayer and said, “Lord, speak to me! I am listening!”
Have we become so sophisticated that we’ve forgotten how to cry? Are we so skilled in the art of suppression that we’ve learned to live lives of quiet desperation? Maybe today begins a new day in our lives where we learn to cry out to God.
When Elijah repaired the altar and prayed, the power of God came. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice…” “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord – He is God! The Lord—He is God!”
May the world know He is God because we are crying out to Him to send the fire!
Circling back to that house on our street, someone bought and invested in it. They made it beautiful again. We can hope for the same. Let our prayer be that God would do the same in our Church.
TL;DR
What Happens When We Pray?
Miraculous Supply
Children Healed
Fire From Heaven
The altar was commonly where God met His people. Are the altars of our lives broken-down and in dire need of repair?
What Does Crying Out to God Do?
Affirms our dependence on God.
Suggests an intensity of spirit.
Suggests intentionality of spirit.
Distinguishes the faithful from the unfaithful.
Prayer is the way we continue to keep our hearts alive in Him when things are hard.
We tell God what is in us, not what to be in us.
Related Reading
How to Problem Solve with God by Bro. Chris Carter
When God Visits You by Bro. Chris Carter
Discovering Goodness and Mercy for Your Life by Rev. Paul Lawler
About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services
